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Cooking Tips

These cooking tips from the experts in our Organic Kitchen are simple livesavers that can give your confidence a boost and your taste buds a treat.

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Apples

Apples are a cook's delight. They're extremely versatile, adding texture and flavor to salads, soups, chutneys, and relishes, as well as desserts and sauces.

Apples are members of the rose family and are classified as pomes (Latin for apples), meaning they have seeds in a compartmentalized core. Apples are generally divided into four categories: eating apples, cooking apples, cider apples, and crabapples. Many varieties are suitable for both eating and cooking (baking), so which you choose is simply a matter of personal taste. In general, tart and firm-fleshed varieties are ideal for cooking; sweet, crisp apples are best for eating out of hand. Excellent choices for cooking are Granny Smith, Gravenstein (used in commercial applesauce), Pippin, Idared, Braeburn, and Rome Beauty.

To prepare apples, always wash them first under cool water. Peel, if desired (remember that the peel is what has all that healthful quercetin), using a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Then remove the core with an apple coring tool or by cutting around the four sides of the core. Once apples have been peeled or sliced, they turn brown (or oxidize) quickly. To slow this process, mix them with apple juice, cider, wine, or cold water with some lemon juice added.

Avocados

Botanically speaking, the avocado is a fruit, not a vegetable. It's generally eaten as a vegetable, however, because it isn't sweet. It's rarely served as a dessert in this country.

Using avocados is simple. To pit, cut lengthwise (through the stem end) by running a small, sharp knife all around the fruit until the knife touches the stone (or pit); then twist apart the two halves. If the pit doesn't slide out easily, pry it out with the tip of a teaspoon, or push the blade of a knife into the pit, then twist to lift and remove it. Peel the avocado by pulling back the skin from the stem end, or simply scoop out the soft flesh with a spoon.

Avocado flesh discolors (or oxidizes) when exposed to air for an hour or two. Serve avocados as soon as possible after cutting them — or to delay darkening, add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice to all cut surfaces. If you mash the avocado, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to retard oxidation. If the surface of your avocado or guacamole turns brown, simply scrape off the top layer; it will be green underneath.

Baby Spinach

Cultivated for thousands of years, spinach is a versatile leafy green that appears in just about every cuisine on the planet.

Baby spinach is available every month of the year. Look for leaves that are intensely green, dry, and unbruised. If you have more spinach than you can use, steam it until just wilted, squeeze out the excess water, and then refrigerate or freeze it for later use.

One pound of baby spinach looks like a lot, but once cooked, your pound of leaves will reduce to about 1 cup, losing roughly 80 to 90% of its volume. To calculate yields, plan on 1/2 cup cooked spinach per person. Mature bunched spinach, either flat-leaf or curly, can be substituted for baby spinach in any of our recipes, but you should blanch it first for best results.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower, cousin to broccoli, is the most elegant member of the cabbage family — or as Mark Twain famously declared, it's "cabbage with a college education." This cruciferous vegetable is so called because it bears cross-shaped flowers (florets) on clusters of stalks. In cooking parlance, the undeveloped flowers of the cauliflower are called the "curd," a term you'll see in some recipes.

Add a handful of celery leaves or 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds to cauliflower cooking water to reduce the "cabbage-like" odor.

Chard

A member of the beet family, chard is one of the most versatile greens. Its texture and taste are similar to spinach, just slightly heartier. This vegetable has no waste — both leaves and ribs (stems) are edible.

Baby chard can be sautéed whole in butter or oil, or you can toss the tender, raw leaves into salads. Mature chard is best separated into leaves and stems. Slice the leaves and add them to soups or stews, or steam whole leaves for 5 minutes. For a special treat, cook them in a small amount of heavy cream; when the liquid has reduced, add a handful of grated parmesan cheese.

The ribs can be blanched until crisp-tender and added to stir-fries or salads. A poor man's alternative to asparagus, they are delicious served with melted butter or Hollandaise sauce.

Collard Greens

A member of the cabbage family, this heart green has a mild flavor. Unlike some more bitter greens, it can be added raw to soups or stews. It combines well with pork or ham and complements lentils as a contrasting texture.

Discard stems, and wash and dry the leaves thoroughly. Cut into diagonal strips. Heat oil or butter or a combination of both in a large skillet and add the greens. Cook over medium-high heat until they begin to wilt, then add about 1/3 cup of stock and cover the pan. Braise over low heat for 10 minutes, then remove the cover and cook until the moisture evaporates. Serve with additional butter, if desired.

Grapefruit

Nothing is more welcome during the cold, dark months of winter than the bright color, sweet juiciness, and succulent flesh of citrus. Although most home cooks are comfortable working with oranges, their tangier cousin the grapefruit presents a bit more challenge.

Segmenting citrus (or to "supreme" in culinary vernacular) means releasing the individual segments or sections of a citrus fruit from the membranes that hold the fruit together. The membranes of a grapefruit, in particular, tend to be tough, bitter, and chewy; removing them creates a much more attractive presentation.

First, slice off the tops and bottoms of the grapefruit (or orange). With a small, sharp knife (a serrated knife also works well), cut off the peel, cutting deeply enough that the bitter white pith is removed. This can be done either in a circular motion, moving around the globe of the fruit, or by slicing from the top to the bottom of the fruit, following its contour. Work over a bowl to catch the juice.

Next, insert your knife along one side of a membrane, and slice toward the center of the fruit, keeping the knife as close to the membrane as possible. One side of the segment will now be separated. Turn the blade of the knife so it now faces outward, and slice along the membrane on the other side of this section until the segment is completely freed. Once you have released all the segments, squeeze the juice from the empty mass of membranes into the bowl.

Herbs (fresh)

A simple rule for using fresh herbs: triple the amount. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of dried basil, use 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) of fresh basil.

Kale

With its mild, pleasant, slightly piquant taste, kale is not overpowering or bitter like some greens. It holds its texture when cooked, yet it's tender, not tough. An excellent source of vitamin A, dietary fiber, and iron, this versatile vegetable can be added raw to soups and stir-fries.

Remove the stems and cut the leaves into ribbons. Steam or blanch the kale until tender (5 to 10 minutes). Add cooked kale to omelettes, meat loaf, vegetable tacos, or quiches. Kale is also delicious braised in stock or sautéed with garlic and onions.

Kiwifruit

Despite a brown and dowdy exterior, the kiwi is a vine berry that holds a treasure trove of nutritional goodness. The fruit is high in vitamin C, dietary fiber, potassium, magnesium, and vitamin E. The kiwi's thin skin is actually edible — full of nutrients and fiber — although most often it's is peeled for aesthetic reasons. Best of all, kiwis are low in calories and fat, making them a great snack habit.

Kiwis can, however, be problematic when combined with gelatin or dairy products. They contain an enzyme called actinidin, which curdles milk and prevents gelatin from setting. Raw kiwis can be cooked briefly to deactivate the enzyme, which is a handy thing to know if you're thinking about substituting kiwi for another fruit in ice cream or a frozen soufflé. On the plus side, actinidin breaks down protein, so kiwis are a great tenderizer for less expensive cuts of meat and tough seafood like octopus or squid.

Lemon

With its bold, refreshing tang and aromatic oils, the lemon awakens the palate and refreshes the taste buds. This versatile citrus can play a starring role in any course, enhancing both sweet and savory dishes.

Always wash lemons thoroughly before using. Much of a lemon's flavor comes from the aromatic oil in its skin, which is why so many recipes call for grating (or zesting) the rind. When zesting a lemon or other citrus fruit, remove only the colored part of the peel with a citrus zester or vegetable parer; the white membrane (pith) that lies just beneath the peel is very bitter. Alternately, you can remove the peel by grating with the fine side of a grater. By the way, it's easiest to zest or grate lemons before juicing them.

To get the most juice from your lemon, roll a room-temperature fruit on a counter, pressing firmly with your palm until it feels softened. This will loosen the juice from the flesh and increase the yield of juice. Cut in half crosswise, then squeeze, using your fingers to hold back the seeds. If you aren't using the zest, save the lemon shells and freeze them in plastic bags. When you need zest at a later date, simply grate the frozen shells.

Spaghetti Squash

Often called dieter's pasta, the cooked flesh of this unique yellow squash separates into thin strands that resemble spaghetti.

There are several methods of cooking a spaghetti squash. If you have a lidded pot that's large enough to accomodate the squash, you can either boil or steam it until it is tender, about 30 to 45 minutes (a bit less if you elect to steam it). Otherwise, place the squash on a baking tray and cook in a 325 F oven for 1 hour or until it is pierced easily with a fork. When it's cool enough to handle, cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scrape the pumpkin-like seeds and the gooey fibrous matter from the center of the squash and discard — but be careful not to remove too much of the actual flesh. Then, using a spoon or fork, scrape the strands of "spaghetti" lengthwise from the sides of the squash shell and place in a bowl, separating and fluffing them with your fingers.