31
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Does preheating a pan before sautéing aromatics make a difference?
I prefer to cook aromatics starting from a cold pan/oil, whenever possible. Starting with a cold pan makes it easier to avoid singeing the ingredients. (You really don't want a "sear" in ...
- 26.9k
26
votes
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Pulled beef in pressure cooker: Is it necessary to sauté beef before pressurizing?
The reason for steps like this when slow-braising meat is to brown the meat (or, if we're being fancy, to cause the Maillard reaction), which will make the dish taste...more like browned meat. You'll ...
- 1,881
21
votes
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How well does it work to just throw in all the ingredients and boil?
Ah, One Pot Pasta....
As loads of bloggers, authors and cooks - possibly inspired by Martha Stewart and her team - have confirmed: dumping the pasta, sauce ingredients and a carefully meassured ...
- 58.5k
20
votes
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How to saute dried and fresh mushrooms together?
I would .. hydrate the dried mushrooms in enough near-boiling water to cover, plus a bit, for as long as you like. Lift the mushrooms out and reserve the soaking liquor. Sauté the soaked mushrooms ...
- 1,865
16
votes
Accepted
Should you ever add aromatic veggies to a dish without sauteing them first?
If the recipes were truly interesting in 'releasing the flavors', they'd be sweating the onions, not sauteing them. Sauté is a higher-heat method that will cook the vegetables to create other ...
- 80k
16
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Does preheating a pan before sautéing aromatics make a difference?
It depends heavily on what you're cooking.
For Indian or central Asian styles of cooking, for example, the spices get tempered in the hot oil first, and the oil absolutely needs to be heated first. ...
- 952
10
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Do not saute baby spinach
I've sauteed baby spinach many times and I've never had it become slimy. I've never seen a cookbook or article that stated that either.
- 75.4k
6
votes
Sauté meat then vegatables, or vegetables then meat?
Generally, browning meat is done at high heat, with a preheated pan well over 400°F, and will leave a bunch of tasty brown stuff (fond) stuck to the bottom of the pan. Vegetables contain a lot of ...
- 13.2k
6
votes
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How should you saute in butter?
Sauteing in butter is not really all that different from sauteing in any other oil: it just takes an awareness of the smoke point, and avoiding it. Consider investing in an IR thermometer that can ...
- 5,683
6
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Should you ever add aromatic veggies to a dish without sauteing them first?
That is really a matter of choice. If you cook the veggies for a while, they will also release their aromatics.... but they taste different. Especially if using onions. and especially if you sautee ...
- 1,387
6
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How to saute dried and fresh mushrooms together?
Realize that the flavor of dried mushroom is different from fresh. You will probably use less, depending on the mushroom. However, to answer your question specifically, rehydrate first.
- 73.8k
6
votes
Pulled beef in pressure cooker: Is it necessary to sauté beef before pressurizing?
I'm answering your second question, which is:
Also, I've noticed there's a lot of similarity between making pulled beef and beef broth. Can it be done in one go?
Yes, you're making beef broth in the ...
- 4,084
5
votes
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How do you get the flavor out of dried peppers?
In some recipes (eg chinese kung bao, some thai and south indian soups), you score the peppers or cut them into coarse pieces, so cooking oil or a broth with some fat or alcohol content can enter and ...
- 15.3k
4
votes
Should you ever add aromatic veggies to a dish without sauteing them first?
Thai soups (Tom Kha, Tom Yum etc) are an interesting counterexample - where shallots, peppers, onions ... are just thrown in the broth in many recipes. Moreover, there are lemongrass, galangal, kaffir ...
- 15.3k
4
votes
Accepted
What are the pros and cons of using clarified butter as opposed to regular butter?
Pros:
Higher smoking point. Regular butter's smoking point is 325-375F while clarified butter is around 485F. But it can still smoke and burn! However the higher smoking point means it'll be much ...
- 8,863
4
votes
Accepted
What is the reason my veggies cook unevenly?
Let's see how to GUARANTEE this undesired effect happening (if you do/have all or most of the things on the list):
-Unevenly cut onions
-Onions from different varieties mixed
-Pan very hot
-Not ...
- 15.3k
4
votes
Accepted
Doubling a recipe: how much oil for browning, sauteing?
The main issue I would be wary of is that you have sufficient space in the pan for all of the meat to brown well.
Generally, it's better to do the meat in batches so that it has room and doesn't cool ...
- 16.5k
4
votes
Accepted
What "begin to flake" means in the context of sauteing a fish?
When the fish cooks, the meat will start turning opaque; at one point, you will see that the fish will start to "split" into flakes or layers.
see this video (at about 2:15 and onward) you start to ...
- 20.5k
4
votes
Accepted
How do I know when my wine is properly reduced?
The goal is to evaporate alcohol and concentrate flavor. If adding wine to a mirepoix, or sofrito...some sort of early stage aromatic vegetable... reduce the wine almost until the pan goes dry, but ...
- 73.8k
4
votes
Accepted
Has the oil started to smoke here?
The smoke point of extra virgin olive oil is about 375F (190C), which is above the boiling point of water. Most likely the pan temperature is close to 350 or so for sauteing in the first recipe, or at ...
- 75.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Can I saute in one pan and bake in another?
You certainly can. To make cleaning up easier I would line it with parchment paper rather than add oil, although a little bit of oil would work too. There shouldn't be any reason to preheat the baking ...
- 10.6k
4
votes
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What is the historical origin of the sauté cooking technique?
According to The Oxford Companion To Food (1999 ed.):
Originally, in France, a sauté was a dish of meat of poultry cut
into pieces and cooked only in fat, but the French now also use the
term ...
- 61.2k
3
votes
Accepted
How do you know when your flavor base is thoroughly sauteed?
Usually when sauteeing (or more precisely, sweating) vegetables meant to form an aromatic base, you're doing three things:
Breaking down cell walls
Developing new flavors through mild caramelization
...
- 14.9k
3
votes
Sauté meat then vegatables, or vegetables then meat?
Meat first - adds some of the meat fat to the pan, and adds flavors from the meat to the pan, which carries them onto the vegetables.
Other direction - veggies don't pick up meat flavor, oil or ...
- 15.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Can you cook off the acidity in wine?
You can' "cook off" acidity, but you can balance it. Typically in marinara, that is done with a small amount of sugar, or, better yet, half of a grated carrot per 28 oz can of tomatoes, sweated with ...
- 73.8k
3
votes
What is the authentic way to cook pierogi?
First boil them. Remove from water and brown some butter and pour the butter over the pierogi and toss in a large bowl. Later you can either fry them or warm them in the microwave.
- 31
3
votes
How do I ensure that I cook scallops all the way through?
My question was answered about letting my scallops warm up a little at room temperature. But searing scallops all the way through makes them tough as shoe leather.
First of all, I pat my scallops ...
- 31
3
votes
Is there a decent way to rehydrate and sauté dried chili peppers?
Frankly drying is not the way to go if you want to retain flavor and texture. When you dry fruit (chilis are fruits, not vegetables) you make a load of irreversible changes in texture and flavor. A ...
- 75.4k
3
votes
Does preheating a pan before sautéing aromatics make a difference?
For sweating aromatics, I find no disadvantage with tossing everything in a cold pan and slowly heating.
- 73.8k
2
votes
Tips on tossing a frying pan
Practice with a couple handfuls of dry beans or rice in a curve-sided pan. If you're going to be doing it a lot, i.e. at a job, learn to press your elbow against your side and use your body as a ...
- 21
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