Tom’s Top Ten Taste Tips

Tom’s Top Ten Taste Tips

I dare you to say that five times fast. I don’t have a love for the culinary arts, rather what I do love is good food. So my time in the kitchen is a means to an end. That is probably why I look for quick and easy sure fire ways to improve the taste of the meals I do choose to take the time to prepare. I have found that each of these tips raise the bar on both taste and consistency. Nothing earth shattering or new but these tips are money!

1. Instant read thermometer- This single item raised the level of my cooking big time. It helps me serve perfectly cooked chicken, steaks and roasts every single time. No more guess work and no more over cooked protein which I think is the death to any meal. Meat is generally the most expensive part of the meal and so cooking it perfectly should be a priority. They are relatively cheap and all come with cooking charts.
Extra tip- Remember to pull the meat from the heat source 10 degrees cooler than your target temperature. Tent it with foil and as it rests for 10 minutes, the internal temperature will increase another 10 degrees.

2. Freshly Ground Pepper- Grinding pepper releases flavorful volatile oils that begin to evaporate after time. Pre-ground pepper has lost most its flavor.
Extra tip- Adding pepper to a dish before cooking will make the entire dish peppery. Adding it afterwards gives the dish a more hit and miss peppery flavor that many enjoy.

3. Kosher Salt- Replacing table salt with Kosher salt will elevate your cooking in three ways. First, the large coarse grains are easier to pinch and sprinkle. Second, Kosher salt is less salty so it is more forgiving. Correcting an over salted dish is next to impossible. Finally, it is large enough to be more visible, looking better on meats and when garnishing veggies.
Extra tip- Replace your salt shakers that normally clog up anyway with a small bowl or ramekin of Kosher salt for easy serving.

4. Fresh Garlic- We now use fresh garlic exclusively. The only time we use garlic powder, never garlic salt, is when making a meat rub. Simply push the head of the garlic down onto the cutting board with the palm of your hand to break it open and separate the cloves. To skin cloves simply press it with the side of a knife and the skin falls off. We have used the same Pampered Chef garlic press for 20 + years. Most others break.
Extra tip- Fresh garlic becomes bitter if it cooks too long or too hot. Stop cooking before it turns brown.

5. Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper- As easy as microwave popcorn is, it never tastes as good as that popped on a stove with a Whirley Pop. I almost hate sharing this tip because it is our favorite wedding gift to give and I don’t want others doing the same. Anyway, because the kernels are constantly turning, you can put as little cooking oil as you wish.
Extra tip- Take the time and only pop popcorn on medium heat. The crunchiest popcorn is one that looks like an explosion of white in varied directions and NOT the dreaded round ball. If your popcorn looks like round balls, your temp is too hot and they will be tough and hard to chew. I know this sounds strange because most the commercially popped popcorn and caramel corn you buy at the store are round ball shaped with the dark kernel at the bottom. This is specially engineered popping corn that holds it’s shape during shipping and yet still is crunchy. Believe me, the kernels we all buy to pop are different than these commercial ones.

6. Throw away your Bullion cubes. They add little flavor and way too much salt. Think of them as salt cubes and get rid of them. Replace with ‘Better than Bullion’ pastes. They are concentrated and you add by the spoonful to hot water. Of coarse homemade stock is always better but we don’t seem to take the time. These jarred pastes come in beef, chicken and vegetable and always come out on top of taste tests. We buy ours at Costco and once opened they will still keep for 18 months in the fridge although we go through a jar in about 8 weeks.
Extra tip- For pork I use the beef base rather than chicken, it is a bit richer.

7. Take advantage of Taste Tests. My favorites come from America’s Test Kitchen. They have a magazine and a website. They are the Consumer Reports of food. Because they don’t accept advertisers they taste test everything and then recommend food by brand names. Epicurious is another good taste tester sight. These tests changed the brands we buy.
Extra tip- Examples, best ketchup is Hunts, best peanut butter is Peter Pan, best hot dog is Hebrew National, best spaghetti sauce is Barilla's Tomato and Basil and best vanilla ice cream is Ben & Jerry’s for premium and Breyers for non premium.

8. Roast vegetables. Don’t boil when you can roast. Sprinkle any raw vegetable with olive oil and salt and pepper and roast them on a sheet pan in the oven at 400 degrees. The roasted flavor is second to none. Our favorite now is roasted broccoli.
Extra tip- A great way to use up any left behind raw vegetables is to roast them all up as mentioned along with an onion and two garlic cloves. When roasted, put them in a blender with two cups of chicken stock, salt, pepper, basil and couple of table spoons of brown sugar. Add a little cream or a half cup of half and half for an incredible homemade roasted vegetable soup.

9. Baking Bacon- We lay our bacon out on either a broiler pan (preferred) or a sheet cake pan and bake it at 400 degrees until crispy. No more cook top splatter.
Extra tip- Sprinkle fresh ground pepper and/or brown sugar on the top of the slices before baking.

10. Bake with a ‘Sil-Pad’- this rubber like nonstick mat is well worth the small investment. It helps cookies, rolls, roasted potatoes etc, cook evenly and with crunchy bottoms without burning or sticking to the pan.

Extra tip- They can be used for freezing and candy making as well and clean up with soapy water.