Save Time in the Kitchen. Cook Pasta the way Restaurant Chefs Do – Food
Save Time in the Kitchen. Cook Pasta the way Restaurant Chefs Do
Skip Lombardi
Have you ever wondered how a restaurant can get a dish of pasta to your table in about four minutes when you know it takes ten minutes just to cook the pasta Does the water on their stoves boil at a higher temperature than the water on yours Do they know a trick that you dont As a matter of fact, they do.
They parboil, or partially pre-cook their pasta; so when an order comes in to the kitchen, a cook can turn out a dish of perfectly al dente pasta in a minute or two. Pre-cooking is a worthwhile technique for home cooks, because it enables them to pull together a great sit-down meal in practically no time, no matter how busy their day may have been.
Its also a great method to use when you plan to serve pasta for a crowd. I once catered a party for fifty, where I had a "pasta bar." With the assistance of one helper, and two propane burners, I served fifty portions of freshly cooked pasta al dente without holding anyone up in the buffet line.
To parboil pasta at home, bring a large pot of salted water at least six quarts to the boil. Add one pound of pasta and stir until the pasta wilts in the case of spaghetti or linguine and becomes submerged. When the water returns to a full, rolling boil, cook the pasta for exactly two minutes, then drain, shock in ice water, and drain again. Note: Strand pasta like spaghetti or linguine will be brittle, so handle them with care.
Place the pasta in a container large enough to hold it, then add enough olive oil to just coat each strand. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Parboiled pasta will keep, refrigerated, for four to six hours.
Note: Coating pasta with olive oil flies in the face of conventional wisdom that says, "Never coat pasta with olive oil. The sauce wont adhere to the pasta." Well, conventional wisdom aside, sauce sticks to parboiled pasta like glue. What else can I say
When its time to cook dinner, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the pasta Youll note that the pasta has softened over the time youve had it refrigerated. This is perfectly fine., cook for one or two minutes, then drain in a colander. Be sure to taste after a minute or so. The pasta cooks quickly. Serve as you would any pasta that you had cooked for eight to ten minutes.
Again, this is a great, worthwhile technique to use at home, because you can parboil the pasta at a time of day when youre not juggling three or four other tasks, like preparing a sauce, or a salad. And when its time to prepare the rest of dinner, youll feel more confident in the outcome, because you can focus more of your attention on the other parts of the meal.
Try this technique once, and you could be hooked. You may not be serving fifty or sixty people per night, but youll be cooking just like a chef in a neighborhood Italian restaurant.
About The Author
Skip Lombardi is the author of two cookbooks: "La Cucina dei Poveri: Recipes from my Sicilian Grandparents," and "Almost Italian: Recipes from Americas Little Italys." He has been a Broadway musician, high-school math teacher, software engineer, and a fledgeling blogger. But he has never let any of those pursuits get in the way of his passion for cooking and eating. Visit his Web site to learn more about his cookbooks. http://www.skiplombardi.com or mailto:info@skiplombardi.com.
A New Way to Use Old Snapshots – Weddings
A New Way to Use Old Snapshots
LeAnn R. Ralph
If youre like me, you have hundreds of photographs sitting in envelopes. Pictures from birthday parties, weddings, family gatherings, anniversaries, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas. You have already put the best snapshots into albums and these are leftovers. You dont want to throw them away, but you also dont know what to do with them.
Instead of letting your snapshots take up space and contribute to the clutter in your home, use them to make collages at a cost of less than $10 each that you can give as Christmas gifts to family and friends. Heres how:
Assess your collection of pictures. Do you have several dozen of your spouse or significant other Your parents Your children Grandparents A friend A beloved pet Decide which person would like to receive these pictures and divide them into groups accordingly.
Buy a picture frame with glass either 5x7 or 8x10 for each collage you are going to make. Department stores sometimes have sales on picture frames, and you can often purchase a suitable frame for $5 or less.
Cut a sheet of paper use cardstock, 24# paper or light cardboard to match the size of the opening on the picture frame.
Cut out the background of the pictures, leaving just the people or pets. Cut out enough pictures to cover the sheet of paper.
Arrange the cut-out pictures on the paper. Mix and match and experiment. Try placing the pictures at different angles.
After you have an idea of how you would like to arrange the pictures, glue them to the paper. Check the label to make sure that you can use the glue with photographs. Cover the entire sheet of paper with pictures.
When the glue is dry, insert the paper into the frame.
Collages are not only a good way to use your old snapshots, but the recipients also will cherish them for years to come as a special and thoughtful gift.
© 2003 LeAnn R. Ralph
About The Author
LeAnn R. Ralph is a freelance writer in Wisconsin, is the editor of the Wisconsin Regional Writer the quarterly publication of the Wisconsin Regional Writers Assoc. and is the author of the book: Christmas In Dairyland True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm August 2003; trade paperback http://ruralroute2.com
bigpines@ruralroute2.com
The 21st Century Way To Build Equity – Mortgage
The 21st Century Way To Build Equity
B F Boggan
Here to stay and firmly established in the U.S. mortgage market, biweekly mortgage payments are gaining momentum. First introduced into the U.S. in the early 1980s by several small Northeastern Banks, the idea of biweekly mortgages has its origins in Canada.
This concept soon became the popular choice nationally within less than a decade after its arrival placing the biweekly payment plan in the forefront of Canadas mortgage industry around 1972 for several good reasons. Consider the following:
1. Most people are paid weekly or biweekly, therefore, it is reasonable to have as an option "biweekly mortgage payments".
2. On a biweekly mortgage payment schedule, one half of a loans monthly payment is made and credited to the account holder every two weeks. This is equivalent to making 13 monthly payments instead of the usual 12 monthly payments reducing the loans payoff time.
3. Faster accumulation of equity build up of up to 300%, plus a reduction in interest owed on the loan due to your prepayment is the result of using a biweekly payment schedule; thats without any increase to your monthly output. In other words, youll get more value per dollar and save thousands as well; as much as 25% to 30% in interest over the life of the loan.
Combine the benefits of a biweekly payment schedule with a union between an Electronic Funds Transfer EFT mode of account servicing that is governed by Regulation "E" of the Federal Reserve to a plug into the internet and you will find a super-efficient, safe, consumer-friendly method of paying a monthly obligation that wont take a huge bite from one paycheck. It doesnt take nuclear physicists to understand why this type of arrangement is frequently referred to as the "Common Sense Mortgage".
Now that theres breathing room because money has been "freed-up" and also saved by using a service such as this, go on an excursion for some sunshine, sand and surf, have dinner at a five-star restaurant, or better still, invest in your financial future. Its your money. Once youve tried this equity acceleration program EAP for yourself, youll realize its value.
With more available choices, creating enjoyable lifestyles and looking out for your familys financial well being is easier today than it ever has been. The bad news is that time is not on you side with a standard monthly mortgage payment on a 30 year loan. As a matter of fact, you are not getting the most for your money. The good news is that help is here; the technology does exists giving consumers unparalleled conveniences plus an advantaged boost.
Welcome to the 21st Century.
About The Author
Better Business Bureau BBB member, Bridgeco Central BCC is a distributor and national service provider in the U.S. of the on-line resource the Mortgage Manager Hi-Tech Mortgage Payment Service. To obtain an application to apply for the biweekly payment service at no cost visit http://www.eMortgageManager.net. A password-protected mortgage-auditing program is also included at no cost to the consumer after 6 months of using the service.