Hints & Tips - C

Chestnut
Chestnuts come from the nut-bearing Castanea tree, which is rare in the United States due to a blight in the early 20th Century. They are now cultivated in Europe and are imported fresh from September through February. Chestnuts are unrelated to horse chestnuts (which are inedible and dangerous to eat) and water chestnuts (a tuber with an apple-like crispness that is widely used in Asian cooking). To roast fresh chestnuts, make a one-inch slash on the flat side of the nut's shell with a sharp knife, just barely revealing the flesh. Place the nuts on a cookie sheet in a preheated 400º oven until the skins split and the flesh begins to brown (about ten minutes). Peel away the shell with the help of a knife. Chestnuts can also be blanched. After boiling for 3-4 minutes, wrap them in a towel and squeeze hard to crush the skins and extract the meat. Keep fresh chestnuts up to one week in a cool, dry place, or two weeks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Chicken Breast - How to Bone
With a little practice you can trim your grocery bill by learning to bone your own chicken breasts. Remove the skin from the breast by just sticking your fingers under the edge and pulling gently. You can also leave the skin on as it will help to keep the breast moist during cooking. Take a very sharp knife and scrape away the thin layer of meat above the wishbone of a whole chicken breast. Stick the tip of your knife under the bone and cut towards the end. This will expose the wishbone joint which can then be cut or pulled apart. Then cut into the breast along one side of the breastbone. Now with the tip of your knife continue to cut the breast away from the bone using slow, easy strokes with the knife edge turned towards the bone not the meat. After removing the other breast, trim away any pockets of fat. The bones can then be wrapped and frozen to make stock at some future time. Finally, do not forget to disinfect your knife and board using a bleach solution to prevent bacterial growth.

Citrus - How to Section
Removing the sections of citrus intact from the tasteless membrane seems more complicated than just peeling and eating an orange. However, with patience, a little practice, and a sharp paring knife it will become a breeze. Begin by cutting off the top and bottom of the fruit down to the pulp using a back and forth sawing motion. Place the fruit on a cutting board and cut away the peel in strips from top to bottom using the edge of the previous cut as the starting point for the next. Remember to stay close to the pulp and maintain the sawing motion. Then, holding the fruit in one hand over a small bowl, slowly cut through it along one of the membranes down to the center using the sawing motion. Gently repeat this with the membrane on the other side of the section, which should then come free. Carefully place the section in a container for later use. After you have removed all of the sections, pour the excess juice into the container. You now have perfect citrus sections to use as a flavor component or garnish for salads, appetizers, entrees, or desserts.

Coconuts: Opening, Grating and Liquado
Opening Coconuts:
Open the coconuts by flinging them onto a cement or rock surface (this is how the monkeys do it!) Don't worry about losing the liquid, as it's not the coconut milk called for in cooking. Each coconut should break in 3 to 4 pieces. It is also possible to open a coconut by piercing the eyes of the coconut with a screwdriver or ice pick, draining the liquid through the holes and placing the coconut in a 400 degrees F oven for 20 minutes. Wrap the coconut in a towel and hit it with a hammer to loosen the shell and split it into pieces. Pry out the white meat and then pare off the dark skin.

Grating Coconut Meat:
To grate the white meat, put the meat through the grating disk of a food processor or use a hand grater. You should get about 7 cups of grated coconut from the two coconuts, which will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

Coconut Liquado:
To make the coconut milk, combine the remaining 3 to 4 cups of loosely packed grated coconut with the milk (use 3/4 cup of coconut for each 1 cup of milk) in a heavy saucepan. Heat slowly, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and cool. Strain the milk, pressing down on the coconut meat to extract all the liquid. Squeeze all the coconut through a towel to get any last drops. Discard the coconut.

Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies
Bakers usually classify cookies by the way they are made. Drop cookies, such as oatmeal and chocolate chip, are made from soft, thick dough that is dropped onto a pan with a spoon or a scoop. Sugar and shortbread are two examples of cookies made from dough that is stiff enough to roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. Icebox cookies, such as checkerboards, are made from dough that is shaped into rectangular or cylindrical blocks and then refrigerated. You can pull the dough from the refrigerator, slice, and bake it at a moment's notice. The dough for bar cookies, such as spice bars, is shaped into logs that are flattened on a pan and baked. After cooling, you cut them diagonally into thin, chewy bars. Sheet cookies are baked in a thin layer and can be either cake-like or chewy – brownies and blondies are just two examples. Regardless of the type, make cookies uniform in size and carefully space them to ensure even baking. Remember, cookies bake for just a short time, and will continue to bake after you pull them from the oven. Watch them carefully and remove them about a minute before they are completely done.