Topic: Chef Sharwin Tee

Keeping Your Cool

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Summer time is beckoning and as much as people look forward to the sun and the outdoors, the heat could wreak havoc on our food, and then our moods. Keep your kitchen cool with these tips.

Tip # 1 Ice Ice (Water) Baby

One of the most important things in the summer is to keep everything cold. During picnics, trips to the beach or outdoor barbecues, keep your uncooked meats, salads and drinks cold by placing them in ice with a little bit of water. The water will help spread the “coldness” of the ice throughout the entire ice box, making things colder faster, as opposed to just ice. It’s a good tip to remember also when chilling wine and champagne.

Fresh, Dried, Canned or Frozen

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Everyone knows that with food, fresh is almost always better. That’s in an ideal world, though, where every woman has Nigella’s or Giada’s time and Ina’s resources, or every guy has Emeril’s boundless energy and Bobby’s unseen assistants. In the real world, where everyone (well, almost everyone) works for a living and/or takes care of other people, some shortcuts may be taken. Which ones won’t compromise your food too much?

Cooking up a romantic Valentine’s Day date

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Rather than rushing to make reservations, suffering though traffic, and squeezing into packed restaurants, many are planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day by cooking for their significant other. Here are some tips on cooking and still feeling the love.

Tip # 1: Short Stories, Not Novels
You’ll want to spend as much time with your significant other as possible, so it’s best to keep the course count low. An entrée and a dessert, or maybe a three course meal would be more than enough to show that you have worked hard for your Valentine’s Day date. As much as degustation meals are trendy, it’s a mood killer to leave the table to prepare the next course 14 times!

Leftover Management

Leftover management by Shef Sharwin

The awesomeness of the holidays is thanks in no small part to the wonderful holiday meals we all have. What may follow, however, is the “dealing with leftovers” part. Holiday food like ham, queso de bola, or paella are all great, but having them for five days straight is too much to ask. That’s why it’s important to manage your leftovers before you die of boredom. Need to rework your leftovers? Here are some tips.

Tip # 1: Fry! Fry! Oh my!

One of the best ways to rework leftovers is to change their texture and frying is one of the quickest (and yummiest) ways to do it. Leftover ham, cheese, turkey, chicken or pork are all good candidates to be crumbed and fried. Flour, egg and then bread crumbs, fry and then serve with a simple green salad. It’s a completely new dish. It’s not limited to meat either. Mashed root veggies, or leftover rice can be given the same treatment to make croquettes.

Surviving (Cooking for) the Holidays

Litsong Beef Tenderloin

The holidays are approaching and as they bring in joy, warmth and love, they also bring in the pressure of cooking and entertaining. Here are some tips for doing all the work — and still having enough cheer and energy left over to enjoy the event.

Tip # 1: Train!

Think of cooking as a sport. The more you train, the better you will get at it. The best thing to do when cooking for your family or entertaining friends is to cook something you’ve cooked before. Love that new recipe you got from the TV show or the internet? Shelve that for less stressful times. The holidays call for your specialties, the mechado you’ve cooked dozens of times and the no-fail lasagne your mom taught you. If you must have a new recipe on the table, then take the recipe on a test run or two in the weeks running up to the big day.

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