3 The next morning, place a colander in the sink. Pour the soaked beans into the colander and rinse thoroughly.
4 Place the drained beans, 4 cups (1 liter) water and ¾ teaspoon salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. It is okay if the water gets frothy. (For kidney beans use 5 cups (1.25 liters) of water.)
5 Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover the saucepan. Simmer until the beans are very soft, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.
6 Keep 2 cups (500 ml) of the cooking liquid (broth) and discard the rest. If for some reason you do not have at least 2 cups (500 ml) of the cooking liquid, add some water to make up the balance. (For black-eyed peas keep 1½ cups (375 ml) of the cooking liquid.)
Blanching and Slivering Almonds
Though referred to as nuts," almonds are actually the dry fruit from the almond tree. In this book, I use almonds that have been blanched and slivered, which means the brown skin has been removed (blanched) and the almond is sliced into thin longitudinal strips (slivered). Blanched and slivered almonds are usually found in small clear packets in the baking section of grocery stores. If you do not find them, it's easy to blanch whole almonds at home as described here. My mother tells me eating almonds improves your memory, and that it is good to eat a few daily. She soaks them overnight in water, peels and eats them along with her breakfast.
To blanch almonds, immerse them in a small bowl of water and microwave them on normal level for 1 minute. Let them cool and then remove the skin with your fingers (the skin should easily slip off). You can also immerse the almonds in water in a small saucepan and boil them on the stovetop for two minutes. Let them cool and then slip the skin off with your fingers. Alternatively, let the almonds sit overnight at room temperature in a small bowl with water. In the morning the almonds will be puffed up and tender, and the skin can be easily slipped off with your fingers.
To sliver the blanched almonds, place an almond on a cutting board and use a knife to cut the almond lengthwise into thin strips. Repeat with the other almonds.
Grating, Chopping, and Peeling
Ginger
Using the sharp edge of a small knife or the side edge of a small spoon, scrape off the thin tan skin from just the amount of ginger you want to grate. Grate it using a microplane or on the small holes of a box grater.
Grating
Grating means to shred, and produce, like onions, carrots and ginger can be grated. It can be done using a box grater or mini food processor. Before grating, peel the onion, ginger or carrot (peeling carrots is optional). Use the largest holes on a box grater for onions, and the smaller holes for carrots and ginger (see Box Grater on page 16). A microplane can be used for grating ginger as well. Remember to grate onions just before ready to cook them so they will not smell bad.
Garlic
To chop or mince fresh garlic, first pry off a clove from the garlic bulb with your fingers or by carefully using the tip of a small knife. Place the clove (with the peel on) on a cutting board and lay the side of a chef's knife flat on a clove with the blade facing away from you. Then firmly push down on the knife to smash the clove, which makes it easy to remove the papery white peel. After removing the peel with your fingers, mince or chop the clove with a knife, or you can use a garlic press (and with some presses you don't even need to take the peel off). You can also grate the peeled garlic clove using a microplane or on the small holes of a box grater.
Chopping and Mincing
Chopped food is bite-size or smaller pieces, and minced food is cut into very small pieces (smaller than diced), almost to the point where the food seems crushed, such as minced garlic or minced onion. Mincing food is handy when you do not want to bite into a big piece of garlic or onion, but you would still like your dish to have the flavor evenly dispersed. Mincing garlic can also be done using a garlic press.
Boiling the Potatoes
Boiling potatoes are an easy task, but you do have to factor in the half hour it will take when making a recipe that will use them.
1 Wash the unpeeled potatoes with cold water. In a large pot, add the potatoes, covering them with about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water. Make sure that the level of the water is at least 2 inches (5 cm) from the top of the pot so that the water does not boil over.
2 Cover the pot. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue boiling for about 30 minutes, or until you can easily insert a knife into the potato. (Make sure you do not boil them to the point where they become too tender and easily fall apart, especially if you are going to cube or dice them.)
3 Drain the potatoes in a colander and let the potatoes cool slightly so you can handle them, or you can run cold water over them to cool them faster.
4 Using your fingers or a small knife, peel the skin off the potato and discard. The potatoes are now ready to be used in a recipe, or cover and refrigerate them up to 1 day.
NOTE: You may boil the potatoes up to one day in advance. They may be refrigerated already peeled or with the peels on, though it is easier to peel the skin off potatoes when they’re still warm.
Cutting Methods
Fresh Cauliflower
The first time I prepared fresh cauliflower at home without my mother by my side, I was not sure how to cut it. For those new to using fresh cauliflower, here is how to cut it into florets:
1 Pull away the green leaves and discard. Using a small knife, gently scrape away any brown marks on the cauliflower head.
2 Slice off the stem at the bottom of the cauliflower head and discard.
3 Turn the head upside down so that it is stem-side up. Insert a small knife inside the head right next to the core to cut loose the florets from all around the internal stem (core). (The core can be chopped and enjoyed raw or it may be chopped and cooked along with the florets.)
4 Cut all the loose florets into small bite-size pieces.
5 Place the florets in a colander and wash with cold water.
Half-moons
Sometimes I specify a half-moon" cut for onions, which is a semi-circle made by slicing an onion crosswise into rings, and then cutting the rings in half to create half-moons. Or, an onion may be cut lengthwise in half, and then both halves should be thinly sliced across to create half-moons.
Fresh Broccoli
1 Cut off any leaves on the broccoli stalk and discard.
2 Cut off the thicker bottom portion of the stalk. (The stalk can be peeled and chopped and cooked along with the florets.) You will now be left with the crown of the broccoli.
3 Use a small knife to separate the crown into individual florets. If some of the florets are big, cut them gently through the stem.
Cubes and Dice
The standard size cube size is