Writer's Block: Gobble Gobble

[thebitterguy]

[Error: unknown template qotd]

I am a 363 days of the year cook. I cook around teh house for 363 days of the year. The wife takes over for Christmas and Thanskgiving. And possibly Easter on leap years.

I help her when I can, mind you, but she's very possesive of the kitchen when she's in charge.

Speaking of cooking, I did our semi-regular curry last night, and tried something different. Instead of dicing the onion, I grated it instead. I couldn't really tell any difference, other than feeling like I'd just been zapped with the springtime freshness of mace.

I used garlic on the smaller grater instead of using the big jug of pre crushed garlic. It worked out pretty good. Maybe a nice press would do a better job.

Anyone know if grating does a good job or a bad job for prepping garlic and onions? I use them in a lot of dishes, so it's good to know if I'm messing them up entirely.

Comments

[waiwode.livejournal.com]

If you prefer your garlic taste milder, I was taught, chop or grate it. If you prefer it stronger, more "up front," use a press.

I haven't done any real testing on this, I generally chop because I'm lazy, and cleaning knives is easier.

Doug.

[thebitterguy]

When you put it like that, a press sounds like a good idea. I wonder if the Ashley sale is still on.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

I've never grated garlic or onions -- I find they're just too juicy and disintegrate into mush. Systematic dicing into smaller and smaller bits works just fine. My dad uses a tiny little electric food processor when he needs to reduce a single onion into its smallest components.

Plus, grating onions will spray a lot of onion juice into the air. I hate getting onion in my eyes, it takes forever to go away.

[thebitterguy]

I was just thinking since the point of cooking the garlic and onions is to get them soft enough to mix into the dish when you add the other ingredients, it would get them off to a good start.

Megadittoes on the onion juice, though. Springtime fresh feeling of mace.

At least I wasn't cutting jalepenos, too. That's something I'd prefer never happen twice.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Personally, I like the onions to have a bit of a broiled flavour by the time they're soft enough to mix in.

[sunnydaysfornow.livejournal.com]

shredding makes the pieces smaller so they are more likely to break down and disappear while you cook them. It's a good trick to get kids to eat things they normally won't cause they can't see them.

I like to make garlic puree, which is chopping the garlic very fine, and then repeatedly squashing it with the flat blade side of a knife while mixing it with salt. This breaks it down into a fine paste and ensures that it's distrubuted totally even, and nobody gets a piece of it full-on.

yummmm ....