Hoisin Sauce: What Is It and How Do I Cook with It?

Thai Pasta Salad

Hoisin sauce is an Asian condiment, in some ways similar to ketchup.  I first came across it when I ordered Peking Duck at a restaurant.  This sauce, which is a deep, rich brown, appeared in a bowl when the duck was served.  The waiter advised spreading some on the accompanying pancakes and then adding slices of duck .  I was enchanted with the flavor of the sauce and assumed it was part of the Peking Duck recipe.

Years went by before I tasted hoisin sauce again.  Then I discovered it’s a key ingredient in Thai Chicken Pizza, one of the offerings at the California Pizza Kitchen chain.  In that instance hoisin sauce is mixed with peanut butter to make the ‘pizza’ sauce.

Mom Money-Saving Tip 59

If you can’t find beef pre-cut for stew or if the pre-cut beef looks too fatty, buy a chuck roast and cut it into small pieces yourself.  Remove as much fat and gristle as possible.  In some cases, a chuck roast will be cheaper than stewing meat but not always. 

Chuck Roast

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We Need a New Food Group

“If I have to eat another piece of broiled fish, I’ll scream.”  So announced my life-long friend, whose dinner plans now revolve around her husband’s diet. 

I know the feeling.  My husband wants the same thing for lunch every day—a tortilla filled with black beans, melted cheese, hummus, salsa and hot sauce.  On the bright side that’s one less meal I have to think about, but I don’t want to eat that day after day.

I’m hoping someone will discover a new food group, something totally different from the usual options.

Mom Cooking Tip 64

Cornstarch (left), Flour (right)

If you want to cut down your calorie intake, use cornstarch instead of flour to thicken sauces.  If the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons flour (28 calories per tablespoon), you can substitute just 1 tablespoon cornstarch (30 calories per tablespoon).

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Question for Mom

My Favorite Gadgets (from bottom left: apple corer, meat thermometer, potato masher, nut cracker, egg slicer, 2 lid openers, cheese slicer, mini-grater, whisk)

Which kitchen gadgets do you use most often and which aren’t worth having?  --George G.

Some people like to have every gadget ever invented, just in case they might need it.  I used to be that person, until my drawers got too full and I could never find the gadget I wanted.  One day I shoved most of them into a box and retired them to the garage.  However, that did not solve the problem.  Friends and family members gave me gadgets as gifts. 

Your question prompted me to retrieve the box and also clean out my gadget drawer.

The picture above displays the gadgets I most use, including my grandmother’s potato masher.

Mom Cooking Tip 63

Lava Cookies (from "Chocolate on the Brain")

Remove freshly baked cookies from the baking sheet as soon as possible because the residual heat of the baking sheet will keep baking them.  

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Tomato Glut

Is it possible to have too many home-grown tomatoes?  If you asked me in December, I would say NO.  But in July, my answer is YES. We get big bags of ripe tomatoes all through the summer from our gardener friend Kenny, who doesn’t cook but can’t resist planting them every year. 

Nothing tastes better than a tomato picked ripe from a vine, but how many a day can you eat?  I’ve already confessed to making blueberry jam, but I don’t think I want to start canning tomatoes.  I’ve thought about oven-drying some, but plum tomatoes are best for that procedure.  The ones on my counter are big and round.  Better to use them in dishes where you can appreciate their flavor. 

If the tomatoes are ripe and still firm, try Salade Nicoise.  With such key ingredients as green beans, tuna, potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, this French salad is hearty enough to be a main course.

Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce is another option.  Hot cooked noodles are added to chopped fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and goat cheese.

Tomato Glut

Is it possible to have too many home-grown tomatoes?  If you asked me in December, I would say NO.  But in July, my answer is YES. We get big bags of ripe tomatoes all through the summer from our gardener friend Kenny, who doesn’t cook but can’t resist planting them every year. 

Nothing tastes better than a tomato picked ripe from a vine, but how many a day can you eat?  I’ve already confessed to making blueberry jam, but I don’t think I want to start canning tomatoes.  I’ve thought about oven-drying some, but plum tomatoes are best for that procedure.  The ones on my counter are big and round.  Better to use them in dishes where you can appreciate their flavor. 

If the tomatoes are ripe and still firm,

Mom Money-Saving Tip 58

Repurpose leftovers.  I could only eat so much of the potato salad left over from my July 4th BBQ, so I put it in a colander and washed off all the dressing.  Luckily I had used red potatoes, which hold their shape.  I patted the potatoes dry and fried them.  A perfect new side dish! 

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Mom Cooking Tip 62

Use a potato peeler to cut small amounts of cheese.

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Yet Another Way to Eat Chocolate

Chocolate Chip Bagels

I suppose it’s possible that chocolate chip bagels are not high on your bagel shopping list.  I understand.  I am a chocoholic, and even I would not like to have my smoked salmon on a chocolate chip bagel. 

Luckily a chocolate chip bagel doesn’t need any topping.  There’s something special about eating one fresh from the oven, when the yeasty bread taste sets off the warm, gooey chocolate.  Heating the bagel in a toaster will produce a similar effect.

Bread and chocolate have been an irresistible duo for me since I ate my first chocolate croissant.  Frankly, chocolate croissants are way too complicated to make, but making your own chocolate chip bagels is easy. So is eating them.

Question for Mom

What’s the best way to peel hard-boil eggs? -- Alice K.

Start by poking a hole in the egg shell before cooking the egg (click on this link).  The hole pierces the egg’s membrane.  After the egg is cooked and then cooled slightly, roll it around on a counter to create a web of cracks.  The shell will just slip off.  Without the poke, the shell will often stick to the cooked egg. 

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Mom Money-Saving Tip 57

One Grilled Chicken Thigh with Noodles and Baby Bok Choy

Serve smaller meat portions and larger portions of vegetables and grains or pasta.

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Arborio Rice: What Is It and How Do I Cook It?

(left) Arborio Rice     (right) Long-Grain Rice

If you’ve ever eaten Risotto, you’ve very likely eaten Arborio rice.  It’s an Italian short-grain rice that is creamy when cooked.  Arborio Rice is more expensive than long-grain rice and thus tends to be used for specialty dishes like Risotto and Rice Pudding, where its creaminess is valued.  You’ll find it at gourmet food stores and some groceries, as well as online.

I first tasted this rice at a fancy Italian wedding, where plates of Risotto were plopped down in front of 500 guests.  It was a poor choice for an appetizer because it arrived at the table cold and looked like a large lump of brown coal.  Everyone at my table picked at it before the waiters took it away.  I’d heard that Risotto was a real delicacy and decided I must have heard wrong.

Mom Cooking Tip 61

Here's a new way to remove tomato skins.  Microwave the tomato for 30 seconds.  Then cut out the stem end and pull away the peel with your fingers.

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