Food Tips - better ways with them....

[Kayelle]

When I open a cheese, I do not take the whole wrapper off, I only remove as much as I need to access the cheese. I noticed that most mold growth starts where you have touched the cheese, so I don't touch what I will be storing.

I wipe the wrapper with vinegar before storing, also.

Maybe I originally heard this from you PF, but since I've been doing this, I haven't had any moldy cheese.

I'm convinced.

 

[Kayelle]

Although more expensive, carrots bought with the greens attached always have more flavor than loose carrots. Loose carrots are easier to store for garnish, but when I buy
greens attached they are intended for cooking within a couple of days.

 

[creative]

I don't think the person who posted that was talking about a little nub of green, but the entire green tops.

Yes I fully realise that. I was lending a little support by saying what kind of carrots I buy, i.e. that they still have a little green stub on them. I now see Kayelle (post above this one) has shared her support for the flavour of carrots having their leaves.

(I have lost my sense of smell, so my ability to taste food is somewhat marred).

 

[Kayelle]

IN the store, the carrots I buy look like they were just pulled out of the ground complete with stems and leaves. This tells me they haven't been in the store very long. I'm convinced they have more flavor. I have the bag person twist off the tops for me and I use them within a couple days. I can see how fresh they are for sure. Who knows about those big flavorless carrots in the bin.

 

[Addie]

IN the store, the carrots I buy look like they were just pulled out of the ground complete with stems and leaves. This tells me they haven't been in the store very long. I'm convinced they have more flavor. I have the bag person twist off the tops for me and I use them within a couple days. I can see how fresh they are for sure. Who knows about those big flavorless carrots in the bin.

Now those are the carrots that we used to pull from the garden and wash from the hose. They were along with other growing veggies were our lunch. The hose and the garden were all we needed so we wouldn't have to go inside and be put to work.

 

[Mad Cook]

I checked this section and couldn't see this topic, so here goes. How to get the most out of your food, re. selecting, brief storage (before eating) etc.

Globe Artichoke
Once I get it home, I take a very thin slice off the stalk base, then place the artichoke in a sturdy cup with water to slightly cover the base of the stalk.

Celery
As above, but I cover the stalks with the upturned plastic bag.

Strawberries
Wash before hulling, since otherwise the water penetrates the fruit

Limes
I have recently read (and found to be true) that buying the yellow ones have more juice. Also, rolling the lime on a table will yield its juice more (same for lemons and oranges)

Re limes and other citrus fruits. If you warm then a little in the m/wave before rolling they are inclined to let go of even more juice

 

[Addie]

And if you don't have a MV, let them soak for a few minutes in hot water.

 

[GotGarlic]

When I open a cheese, I do not take the whole wrapper off, I only remove as much as I need to access the cheese. I noticed that most mold growth starts where you have touched the cheese, so I don't touch what I will be storing.

I wipe the wrapper with vinegar before storing, also.

I leave the wrapper on, too, but I put the whole thing in another plastic bag, unsealed, because DH usually rips open the wrapper Wiping the wrapper with vinegar is a great tip

 

[Mad Cook]

Yes great! Thanks for contributing.

If someone has a successful way of storing cheese, i.e. without it going sweaty or mouldy, I would like to know. I have tried wrapping it in greaseproof paper and then in foil but it is not very effective. I read today that it needs some air (to not go mouldy) and that storing it in a loose plastic bag that has some kitchen paper towel in it, crumpled is good. Anyone tried this or have another method?

Many years ago I read that cheese should not be refrigerated which bore out what my grandmother used to say.

I have two old-fashioned cheese keepers that work well:-

One is a stoneware pot with a raised area in the bottom that allows the cheese to sit above a pool of vinegar. The pot has a lid but not an air-tight one. No idea why or how it works but it does and that's good enough for me.
Mine's a British made version of this:

Crystal Ball Article - Cheese Preservers:Â* Complaints & User Instructions

The other is a china plate with a china cheese dome, shaped like a wedge of cheese with a hande and a small ventilation hole in the top. See the blue and white one below

Pretty enough to put on the table and keeps the cheese fresher than the 'fridge.

I put unwrapped cheese in them and keep them in a cool part of the kitchen away from any sunshine. The cheese doesn't "sweat" or go mouldy. The cheese in the china dish can dry out if you leave it there for a very long time but the cheese in the stoneware one doesn't

I found one in a thrift shop and the other was a gift from a friend.

 

[taxlady]

I leave the wrapper on, too, but I put the whole thing in another plastic bag, unsealed, because DH usually rips open the wrapper Wiping the wrapper with vinegar is a great tip

Haha, sounds like my house. Yeah, I didn't mention leaving the original wrapper on the cheese before putting it in a bag. We buy so much cheese, I wouldn't know which kind it was without the original wrapper.

 

[creative]

I like the idea of the cheese dish - however, it strikes me that it would require quite a slab to place there else it might dry out a much smaller piece.

So, I am now discarding my usual method of cheese storage (wrapping tightly in greaseproof and then in foil) and have wrapped it loosely in greaseproof and placed this in a plastic bag in fridge. Think it will work!

 

[menumaker]

Hi Got Garlic,
That was me . I usually take off most of the green myself but leave a couple of inches of stem intact. I have always found it works for me but I see that I hadn't made my method clear. Apologies

 

[CWS4322]

I'm pretty sure you are right. The word "leaves" was used.

The only time I store carrots is in the winter. They go in a bucket with sawdust (stored vertically like they come out of the ground). The tops are left on (they die back), but in the spring, they will sprout new tops. Otherwise, I only pick carrots on an as-needed basis.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I like the idea of the cheese dish - however, it strikes me that it would require quite a slab to place there else it might dry out a much smaller piece.

Don't give up on the idea of a cheese dish. I have one of these small, 4 1/2"X6", Sandland Ware cheese dishes from the 1950's. It is just right for keeping a quarter pound of cheddar on the kitchen table at room temperature for a few days. A glass or ceramic butter dish would also be a good choice for a small household.

 

[taxlady]

Don't give up on the idea of a cheese dish. I have one of these small, 4 1/2"X6", Sandland Ware cheese dishes from the 1950's. It is just right for keeping a quarter pound of cheddar on the kitchen table at room temperature for a few days. A glass or ceramic butter dish would also be a good choice for a small household.

What an interesting looking cheese dish. I'm not about to start putting cheddar in one. It would get eaten far too fast.

I have a cheese bell something like this, but with a marble base. We use it for Brie and Camembert:

 

[Aunt Bea]

What an interesting looking cheese dish. I'm not about to start putting cheddar in one. It would get eaten far too fast.

I have a cheese bell something like this, but with a marble base. We use it for Brie and Camembert:

I have a small glass bell similar to that one also, I just set it on a pretty salad plate and use it for butter or cheese.

I only keep cheese out at room temperature once in a while these days.

When I was growing up my Mother always had a pound out on the table, times change.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I leave the wrapper on, too, but I put the whole thing in another plastic bag, unsealed, because DH usually rips open the wrapper Wiping the wrapper with vinegar is a great tip

I put it in another bag, too! That just didn't make my post somehow. I have menopause brain...

 

[Mad Cook]

Yes great! Thanks for contributing.

If someone has a successful way of storing cheese, i.e. without it going sweaty or mouldy, I would like to know. I have tried wrapping it in greaseproof paper and then in foil but it is not very effective. I read today that it needs some air (to not go mouldy) and that storing it in a loose plastic bag that has some kitchen paper towel in it, crumpled is good. Anyone tried this or have another method?

The 'fridge isn't really the ideal place to store cheese. I have an antique cheese preserver made of stoneware by the Langley pottery (IIRC or it could be the Moira Pottery). It looks like a stoneware casserole dish but the base inside, has raised fins. Like this one

Rare Vintage Moira Stoneware Cheese Preserver w/ Lid (08/12/2008)

You put vinegar in the bottom and the cheese on top of the fins clear of the vinegar, put the lid on the container and put it in a cool place out of the sun and Bob's your uncle and Charlie's your aunt. We used to use it at the caravan in the days before caravans had 'fridges (Yes, I AM that old!) and it worked very well. I inherited it and it still works. I don't put it in the 'fridge so the cheese is always at the right temperature for eating and never goes clammy or mouldy. I think the fumes of the vinegar (I use malt vinegar) must deter the mould spores.


This is similar but, obviously, not stoneware

 

[Mad Cook]

IN the store, the carrots I buy look like they were just pulled out of the ground complete with stems and leaves. This tells me they haven't been in the store very long. I'm convinced they have more flavor. I have the bag person twist off the tops for me and I use them within a couple days. I can see how fresh they are for sure. Who knows about those big flavorless carrots in the bin.

I buy what are called "horse carrots" for the Wonder Horse and he very kindly lets me have some for home. The only reason they are "horse" carrots is because they are mis-shapen in some way so won't meet the supermarkets' demand for perfectly formed, even-sized and otherwise matching carrots. I buy them at the greengrocer who gets them direct from the grower so they are fresh and delicious. They cost £2.50 for a 12 kilogram netting bag as opposed to £1 for a 500 gram plastic bag and the empty netting bag is useful for scrubbing the WH's water trough and feed buckets. Happy horse and happy cook!

 

[Mad Cook]

It's fine to wash mushrooms with water. In fact, for some kinds of mushrooms it's a huge mistake not to.

Here's Harold McGee on the topic:

"I was skeptical about the mushrooms-absorb-water idea and so did the soaking experiments with standard white mushrooms for “The Curious Cook” back in 1990. I’ve since tried a number of others, and if you make sure to shake the water out of the nooks, fresh mushrooms absorb little if any water. I’d also say that since they’re already around 90% water, a little more or less isn’t going to make much of a practical difference in the subsequent cooking....

So I wash my mushrooms with a clear conscience.

Harold"

My grandmother (the one who was a great cake maker but a bad cook with anything else, used to soak mushrooms in salt water for a minimum of half an hour "to make sure they weren't poisonous" (don't ask!). By the time they came out of the water they were soggy and waterlogged and they stewed rather than fried so you never got a lovely fried mushroom with a firm texture and nice browned edges.