Frugal Fun
(featured column)
Peel
Appeal
by Shel
Horowitz
A lot of people tell me they'd cook more
interestingly, and more often, if cooking were easier. For me, it's no big deal.
I can cook a complete multi-course meal for four people in 20 or 30 minutes. I
enjoy it, cooking is a creative outlet for me, and of course it's much cheaper
than using convenience foods or eating out.
*
* *
So... every once in a while, this column will
provide cooking tips that make it easier for you to cook your own meals. Today's
lesson: Easy and quick ways to remove peels.
Garlic: Place the flat side of a large knife on top of the clove. Press
hard, and the outer paper will crack open and easily peel back. Fresh garlic is
so much better to cook with!
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, eggplant, winter squash: All peel
very easily after baking or boiling. It can take half an hour to peel some of
these when they're raw, but you can scoop out the contents in a minute or two
once they're done.
Carrots, cucumbers: A good sharp potato peeler makes short work. Or buy
organic and don't even bother to peel--just wash.
Ginger, tomatoes, radishes: No need. Recipes may call for peeling, but
you can almost always skip that step.
Apples: If you're making pies in quantity and peeling a lot of apples,
invest in a hand-operated peeler-corer, available from kitchen specialty stores
or country-kitchen catalogs. If you usually just eat the apples, eat the
skins too--and for the once in a while you make a pie, use your potato peeler or
a sharp small paring knife.
Oranges: Cut in quarters and peel each quarter away from the skin.
Coconuts (getting them out of the shell, not exactly peeling): Drill two
holes and drain the milk (save it). Wrap the coconut in a plastic bag, tie it
shut, and drop from a height of about four feet onto a very hard surface. I use
my brick walkway.
There--doesn't that make cooking more fun?
* * *
Copyright
© 2004 by Shel Horowitz, author of...
The
Penny-Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty With a Peasant's Pocketbook
Grassroots
Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World
Principled
Profit: Marketing That Puts People First
Marketing
Without Megabucks: How to Sell Anything on a Shoestring
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