Preservation Secret: Frozen Avocados

Extended Shelf Life for: Avocados

Did you know...you can freeze avocados and use them later?

You sure can! Thanks to Pinterest, I learned this lesson. Thanks to dumpster diving we had an abundance of avocados for me to give this preservation secret a shot. My avocados are definitely in worse shape than what other avocado preservers are likely to freeze, however, the process is the same.

Halve you avocado.

Remove the seed.

Scoop out the pulp.

Wrap in plastic wrap.

Place in freezer bag.

Freeze.

Use for breads, brownies or, if your avocados are relatively pretty when you freeze them, you can even make guacamole!

Beef and Chorizo Chili

Extended Shelf Life for: Peppers, Jalapenos, Tomatoes

When it comes to chili, I lack an official recipe. I do however have a few tricks-of-the-trade or preferences and a new discovery (or two!)

To begin, I just got a cast iron kettle and it just makes chili seem that much more delicious, amazing and perfect for the cold winter night.

Next, let me tell you that doing a combo chili which is 50% Beef and 50% Chorizo is brilliant!

Now, on to some tricks-of-the-trade.

I've just recently learned this little gem of advice that comes from my good friend SJ's grandmother:

• When preparing ground meats, add enough water to cover the base of the kettle or skillet to the meat. As the meat cooks, the water will evaporate and you'll end up having a very uniformly ground meat to support your soup or go into your tacos. (Perhaps this isn't revolutionary to most folks, but there's just something about this perfectly ground meat that makes the chili that much more enjoyable.)

Another trick-of-the-trade, espeically for divers or gardeners:

• If you have an abundance of peppers, go ahead and roast the whole batch in the oven until they're fragrant, run them through a food processor or a juicer with mincing capabilities, throw them in an ice cube tray and then into the freezer for future use in soups, sauces and of course chili! 

One more thing I like to do for our chili, especially when we have an abundance of tomatoes: 

• Run fresh tomatoes through a mincing juicer or food processor rather than throwing in canned tomatoes, fresher and ultimately a bit healthier (tomatoes in cans can have dangerous interactions with the aluminum considering the acidity of tomatoes).

And finally, our personal preference when it comes to eating a bowl of chili is to add raw onions, cheese and corn chips.

Watermelon Slush Cubes

A not-so-recent-river-side-picnic resulted in my returning home with half a watermelon filled with home-made watermelon sorbet - I'm guessing the original recipe was something like this one.

Unfortunately, it was no small task to break out some that watermelon sorbet, so it sat in our freezer a little longer than I'd like to admit.

Then, I had an idea.

Ice Cubes.

Because they are easy and accessible.

So, during a Sunday of cooking/baking adventures, I pulled out the melon and let it thaw.

Scooped it into the blender, added a touch of pineapple juice and then poured into some ice trays.

Now, I can have the occasional hard cider (homemade by the hubs) with the nice taste of watermelon added to the mix. Or, I can throw a couple into a smoothie or even some (n)ice cream sandwiches (more on those later).

So, yeah, it was a good idea and now that watermelon sorbet is being put to use!

Kitchen Tip: Hard Boiled Eggs with Electric Kettle

I've always been a bit embarrassed by my inability to produce perfectly hard-boiled eggs. I think it generally has to do with time. Regardless, I wanted a new way to prepare hard-boiled eggs and recalled a conversation I had with my husband when he came home after a day of working at his Korean Middle School. He said to me, "Did you know you can make hard-boiled eggs in an electric kettle?" I gave him the I-think-your-crazy-look and asked "How?" He couldn't give me a complete answer and just referred to one of his co-workers arriving at work that day, plopping some eggs in a kettle and shortly thereafter eating a hard-boiled egg.

Fast-forward a few months when I'm doing my best to eat breakfast regularly and need a few new treats to prepare quickly either the night before or in the morning.

I decided to give it a shot and it works! Amazingly well in fact!

Here's what needs to happen:

Layer a few - 4-5 eggs in the bottom of your electric kettle. I've discovered that if I stack them, they bang against each other and crack, making a mess of cooked egg whites in your kettle, so just fill the bottom with eggs, no more than that.

Next, fill the kettle with water, make sure each egg is completely submerged.

Flip the switch and bring the water to a boil.

Once the water has boiled and the kettle turns off, set a timer or watch a clock, for 15 minutes.

Carefully pour out the hot water, remove eggs from the kettle (I use tongs) and run under cold water until the eggs are cool.

Peel when ready to eat or prepare egg salad or deviled eggs or what have you.

Easy as flipping a switch.

Home-made Yogurt Tips: South Korea

I've already explained a few things about making your own yogurt and I hope more and more people will attempt it because it incredibly easy and worth the small effort and hours of waiting, because waiting is not that painful. However, I wanted to take a moment to offer a few things I've learned about yogurt making, specific to South Korea.

First of all, my favorite way to prepare yogurt now is to use a stone pot (often used for dol-sot bibimbap, kimchi-chigae, etc.) I find these everywhere including the little markets near our home, I'm fairly certain I paid about 12,000 won for mine, so it's worth the investment and can safely be used on the stovetop. From there I just heat a full pot of milk to 110*F (43*C), you can get thermometers here from BakingSchool.co.kr or here from BeerSchool.co.kr

As for milk, I've had the best luck with Seoul Milk in the plastic container - I prefer higher fat content, but that's just preference. And, as for yogurt, I try to choose one that seems to be fresh and plain and have had decent luck, I recently used Yoplait and now just use my own yogurt to start the next batch, but Denmark Yogurt would also work out well.

Once you've heated the milk and added the yogurt to the stonept, simply remove the pot from the stovetop and wrap in a blanket (no need for heating pads or crockpots) and let it set 5-8 hours until it's set and the consistency you desire. No hassle, really. I bought a large glass jar from a Daiso for about 2,000 Won and happily fill it every week or so with fresh, plain, home-made yogurt!

Kitchen Tip: Boiling Water for Pasta/Potatoes/Etc.

While browsing Pinterest as I too often do, I came across a tip I thought seemed a bit ridiculous...

Use a wooden spoon to prevent water from boiling over while preparing pasta, potatoes, etc.

Unfortunately, now I am unable to find the link which lead to this tip, but here's the thing, it works! It was absolutely amazing and embarassingly freeing. Rather than keep an eye on my boiling pot of water I just did the dishes and played with Lady until I figured the pasta was ready. Fabulous! Definitely worth investing in a wooden spoon if you don't already have one! (Or you can try sticking a metal spoon over the pot or in the pot, however be careful touching a metal spoon that's been in or near boiling water...and I only assume that a metal spoon would because of folks discussing the subject at AnswersYahoo - take it for what it's worth)