Master Tricks from Master Chefs

By Christopher

Ingredients

• n/a

Preparation

Step 1

PERFECT RICE
The late Patrick Clark of Tavern on the Green told me how to make perfect rice. Instead of following package directions...
Trick: Over medium heat, sauté the rice in a little oil until well coated, then add water equal to the amount of rice. Bring to a boil. Stir. Reduce to a simmer. Then cover for 10 minutes. Remove pan, and let rice sit covered for 15 minutes. Fluff and serve.
And cookbook writer Paula Wolfert suggests this for salvaging burned rice...
Trick: Leaving behind the burned bottom layer, scoop the rice into a new pot, and place a single layer of onion skins on top of the rice. Cover the pot, and let sit for 15 minutes. The onion skins remove the smoky, acrid taste from the rice. Discard the onion skins before serving.
FAST ROAST CHICKEN
Chef Anne Rosenzweig of New York City’s Lobster Club has this trick for getting all the flavor, juicy meat and crispy skin of an oven-roasted chicken -- and its two-hour cooking time -- onto your dinner table in just seven minutes.
Trick: Have your butcher debone a three-and-a-half- to four-pound chicken, keeping the breast and thigh meat in one piece. Preheat oven to 400°F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat one tablespoon of oil at medium-high in a skillet. When hot, add the chicken, skin-side down, cooking until skin crisps, about two minutes. Place pan in the oven for about five minutes until chicken is done. Cut into joint -- it’s done when juices run clear.
FAST STEW
In the wintertime, it’s hard to beat a hearty meat stew. The key to a great stew is long, slow cooking in order to get tender meat. The late Chef Felipe Rojas Lombardi’s trick for tenderizing stew meat with wine corks cuts the average cooking time in half.
Trick: When you start simmering the stew in its liquid, add three or four corks (yes, corks!) to the pot. Enzymes in the cork help tenderize the meat quickly, delivering that slow-simmered taste faster. Remember to remove the corks before serving. Corks can be reused.