Blanch

This post is for Beth. She suggested I take the time to define some cooking lingo. I didn't even realize how I had taken my knowledge for granted. haha oh and beth paper shmaper?

blanching isn't too bad. It's basically making something really hot then stopping the cooking really fast by making it cold suddenly. First put a big pot of water on the stove over high heat to boil. Then get another big bowl and fill it with ice and water. Add salt to boiling water then add whatever vegetable you are blanching (it's usually veggies in this technique) Let it boil for 2 minutes or until veggies are really brightly colored. Then immediately! put in the ice bath. Allow veggies to cool in ice bath (cold water).

The point of this is to keep the veggies crisp during other cooking methods. It's also nice because you can blanch veggies ahead of time, store in a plastic bag and put in the fridge, then pull out when you want to use them and saute them for a minute to heat through. You can do lot's with this technique but sauteeing the veggies with caramelized onions/shallots and bacon fat usually makes the veggies taste pretty good haha.