Grinding Spices
If you don’t already have a spice grinder, get a porcelain grinder with a metal basin and plastic cover
Grating Cheese
- When grating soft cheese, it will go better if you spray your grinder (flat) surface with something like Pam, and if you put your cheese in the freezer for a half-hour before grinding.
Grating other Veggies
- Carrots: If you use grated carrots in something like cole slaw, they will bleed and turn your entire slaw pink. You can avoid this by pouring vinegar on the carrots to set the dye. After they have rested in the vinegar for about five minutes, you can pour off the liquid, rinse your carrots in water, and you are then good to go.
- Ginger: Use the edge of a spoon to peel your ginger. If you just want the flavor (not the fiber) you can grate the ginger and then S-Q-U-E-E-Z-E the juice out. It will measure spoon for spoon as grated ginger.
Microplane Grating
- Use a microplane for removing the zest from an orange, lemon or lime. Don’t go too deep. You don’t want the white pith.
- I like to keep whole nutmeg in a jar. About 8 seeds will last you for about a year. Since they are whole, you can squeak 12-15 months out of it, rather than 6-9 months that the pre-grated stuff will last you. Microplane these right into your mixture.
Peeling
- Avocado: CLICK HERE for Avocado Tips and Tricks.
- Garlic: I will give you this one first – Just buy peeled garlic. It is not much more expensive than whole garlic, and will save you a lot of grief. It is ALMOST as good as fresh. Don’t keep it more than a month though.
- Garlic: You can separate cloves and then cut the tips off. Put the clove in a ball created by two bowls – rim to rim – and then shaking the hell out of them. The skin will simply fall off.
- Garlic: The old fashioned method is to crush the clove lightly with the side of your knife, then removing the skin.
