I can't believe my last post was almost a year ago!! So I'm long overdue for a discussion of food! First, I thought I'd write a list of indispensable things that make cooking easier and more fun. Great culinary inventions, if you will.
Non-stick cooking spray is something I wouldn't want to live without. For obvious reasons: it keeps the food, especially things like eggs and hash, from sticking to the pan. It lets the slices of hash stay round and nicely browned, and keeps the yolks from breaking when you turn over eggs. If you're baking chicken, you can go without the oil if you want, and still get crispy results. I usually use oil anyway, but it's nice to know that in a pinch, I can go without it.
I can't say enough good things about oven cooking bags. Of late I can only find Reynolds brand where I shop, but if you're able to find a generic or store brand at your local grocery store, they work just as well.
They show a turkey on the box, but I rarely roast a turkey in them. I find they are perfectly suited for barbeque style meats, such as ribs (beef or pork) or chicken pieces with barbeque sauce slathered all over it. It's so easy and foolproof to make melt in your mouth, fall off the bone meats by cooking at very low temps in the bag. And it doesn't take that long either. It must be the steam that does it.
My favorite ready made sauces are Sweet Baby Rays-all the varieties are good, but the sweet and spicy blend is especially good. I recently tried Trader Joe's Carolina style sauce, that is mustard based. Yummy!! There's an endless number of sauces on the market, or you can make your own. No matter what you put on the meat, a cooking bag pretty much guarantees a delicious outcome.
My last kitchen helper for today is the Orgreenic pans. I was fortunate to get a set of them marked down 75% at the drugstore. They really are nonstick and work great as long as you don't abuse the pan with Brillo pads. I see they now make Orgreenic cookie sheets too, so I'll have to pick up a couple when I get a chance.
What are your favorite kitchen helpers? Feel free to share yours.
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