Tips, Tidbits & Tricks: Grilling Kabobs

Kabobs may seem a bit mundane. But they aren't.

Mix your choice of protein, whatever veggies you've got in the fridge, and a tasty marinade, and you've got an easy supper.

- Marinate for optimal flavor. Tonight I went for Mediterranean flavors with olive oil, garlic, and oregano. Lemon juice would work great, but since we didn't have any lemons I used red wine vinegar as my acid in the marinade. Go Creole with some cajun seasoning, Asian with soy sauce, garlic, lime, and peanut oil.

- Traditionally you see kabobs with the components layered -- meat, pepper, onion, tomato, meat, pepper, onion...you get the idea. The problem with that is the cooking time for each of the kabob components is different. So by the time your meat is cooked through, the peppers are charred and the tomatoes have all but fallen in the fire.

Though it's not as fancy, I put each separate ingredient on it's own skewer. That way the chicken can cook for 12 minutes, peppers and onions for 7 and tomatoes for 2.

From Kabobs

- Use a medium-high heat. I had the grill around 400-425 which worked perfectly. Nice grill marks, juicy chicken, tender-crisp vegetables.

From Kabobs

- I like metal skewers rather than wood. There's no need to soak them ahead of time which I often forget until the last minute, so then supper is pushed back another 20 minutes. But forgetting to soak the skewers does allow time for another pre-dinner cocktail, so we'll call it wash. Better than the no-soaking is the lack of splintering as you spear the food onto the skewer.

- Don't mess with the kabobs too much once they're on the grill. The food is more likely to fall off.

- Enjoy al fresco while you can, my friend. Cooler weather is fast approaching.

From Kabobs

Tips, Tidbits & Tricks: A Great Salad

Farmers' Markets are popping up again with fresh asparagus, peas, and other spring vegetables. Spring is the perfect time for lighter fare, like fresh salads with ingredients from your local produce stand. Perfect for dining al fresco!

- The word “salad” comes from the Latin sal (salt). The word first appeared in English as “salad” or “sallet” in the 14th century.


[epicurious.com]

- The record for the largest lettuce salad belongs to the settlement of Sde Warburg, Israel. The salad weighed 10,260 kg.

- In Western culture, there are three basic types of dressing: vinaigrette, creamy dressing (think ranch), and cooked dressings (I have no idea what cooked dressings are, but Wikipedia says that they “resemble creamy dressings, but are usually thickened by adding egg yolks and gently heating”).

- In Asia, sesame oil, fish sauce, and soy sauce are common ingredients in salad dressings.


[Dailypress.com]

- Don’t add vinaigrette to salad until serving. Oil penetrates the surface of vegetables and drives out air, and with it the veggies’ bright color.

- Adding beans is a great way to add texture and protein. Other great add-ins include dried fruit, toasted nuts, and leftover roasted veggies.

- Want tomatoes in your salad, but they aren’t quite ripe yet? Put them in a paper bag or plastic container – tomatoes generate ethylene, which causes ripening. Conversely, if you want ripe tomatoes to last longer, put them in a well-ventilated place so ethylene can disperse.


[World Community Cookbook]

- Drink water instead of wine with salad. The acid in most dressings will destroy the flavor of wine. Note: my solution to this is to drink wine while preparing the salad.

- Should you wash prewashed salad greens? The testers at America’s Test Kitchen agree with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: there’s no need. Prewashed produce is likely to have fewer bacteria (or none at all) than your kitchen sink or counter, and washing the greens may actually introduce bacteria.

- Use a sippy cup to make dressings. Pour ingredients into cup, secure lid, shake vigorously (while covering the spout, of course!) and pour. The small spout will keep you from overdressing your greens.


[Green baby guide.com]


Salad recipes:
Blue Cheese and Pear Salad with Port Vinaigrette
Spinach Strawberry Salad with Sesame Seed Dressing
Caesar Salad with Hard-Cooked Eggs
Greek-Italian Chopped Salad

What's your favorite salad?

Tips, Tidbits & Tricks: Baking Soda

Tidbits:
• Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3.

• The ancient Egyptians used natural deposits of natron, a mixture consisting mostly of sodium carbonate decahydrate and sodium bicarbonate, as a cleanser.

• In 1846 two New York bakers, John Dwight and Austin Church, established the first factory to develop baking soda from sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide.

Tips and Tricks:
• Remove strong odors from your hands by rubbing them with baking soda and water.

• Relieve canker sore pain by using it as mouthwash.

• Turn baking soda into homemade Play-Do by combining it with one and 1/4 cups of water and one cup of cornstarch.

• Sweeten your tomatoes by sprinkling baking soda on the soil around your tomato plants.

• Add a teaspoon or so of baking soda to your shampoo to remove buildup.

• Baking soda can be used to smother a small fire.

• Baking soda should be replaced every 6 months (when used for baking).

• To clean pans with food crusted on the bottom, add a good amount of baking soda and enough hot water to cover bottom of pan. Let soak, then wash!

• To help clean drains unclogged, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain followed by a cup of vinegar then a quart of boiling water.

• Sprinkle ½ cup of soda over dirty laundry, then stick in the washer. The soda will help brighten clothes and remove odors.

• Stinky shoes? Pour some baking soda in the toes of old socks, then stuff the socks into your shoes and leave them overnight.

• To clean jewelry, use a paste of 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water, apply the mixture the piece

• Sprinkle baking soda wherever ants are entering your home to help keep them out.


What's your favorite use for baking soda?

Resources: Life Hackery, Green Living Tips, Wikipedia

Tips, Tidbits & Tricks: Lighting

Fun facts about lighting and electricity
• The average energy-saving bulb emits 70 percent less heat than the incandescent kind
• Electricity travels 186,000 miles per second
• If you had a light on the moon connected to a switch in your bedroom, it would take only 1.26 seconds for it to light up, 238,857 miles away.
•Thomas Edison is credited with 1,093 inventions, the most famous being the incandescent light bulb
• Red light has the longest wavelength while violet light has the shortest wavelength


Using a combination of lamps and installed lighting (chandeliers, scones, pendants) is more visually comfortable that a single light source.



Questions to ask when choosing a chandelier:
1. How high is your ceiling? Taller ceilings demand larger fixtures.

2. What is the size and shape of your table? island? The chandelier should complement, not overpower, anything you plan to suspend it over.

3. How big is the room you are trying to illuminate? Again, be sure the chandelier is not too big or too small for the room.

4. What is the form and design of the chandelier? Light, airy fixtures tend to look larger.



In your dining room, choose a chandelier first to define the space, then add complementary accent lights.





A chandelier should have a diameter 12" less than width of table. The bottom of chandelier should be 30" above table.



How much light do you need? A quick formula: roughly two watts per square foot, so a 12 by 12 room would need approximately 300 watts -- or four lamps with 75-watt bulbs.



Sconces are mounted to a wall (either hardwired or plug-in) provide warm and subtle illumination.



Hang a pendent table or install sconces to help save space on your bedside tables.



References: Pegasus Lighting Associates and American Lighting Association