Week 5 -- Boil Simmer Poach

Applying the correct cooking method to vegetables is more difficult than protein products like chicken or beef because of the wide variety of vegetables that require different care. A chicken breast is a chicken breast, but a vegetable can be a tough carrot or a tender mushroom. The one thing essential to great taste in vegetable cooking is correct cooking method.

  • Moist Cooking Methods
    • Boil 212F, large, violent bubbles, busting up delicate items, toughening products quickly
    • Simmer 185-205F, this is the way most things should be cooked, soft bubbles around the edge of pot, soft agitation
    • Poach 160-180F, products we want to treat gently, soft agitation, barely anything moving, for things like eggs and fish
    • Blanching
      • Cold Blanch: Start out with cold liquid and cold product, and heat together to simmering. Possible use, making stocks or to remove impurities from beef, start by putting beef in cold water, then heat the water and beef together to release impurities (fats and proteins form "scum" that rises to the surface)
      • Hot Blanch: Start out with water/stock already simmering. Vegetables and fruit, use simmering water, not large violent bubbles
        • Fruit: eg., tomatoes, peaches, blanch then shock with cold water to remove the skin easily
        • Vegetables: sets the color, destroys bad-tasting enzymes, softens the fibers, then apply another cooking method as desired, eg., good for preparing carrots for a stir fry when adding mushrooms later, carrots less hard, mushrooms still firm
    • Steaming (see Wk 6 -- Steaming Method)
    • Don’t boil most things, use simmering water
    • Treat vegetable products individually, eg., don’t cook carrots and mushrooms together initially, because the carrots will be hard or the mushrooms will be mushy, get to know your vegetables and treat them accordingly

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  • General Vegetable Cooking Methods
    • Cooking affects vegetables in four ways: texture, flavor, color, and nutrients
    • Don’t mix different types of raw vegetables when cooking, methods and times may vary
    • Basic prep: trim, peel, cut vegetables to uniform sizes for even cooking
    • Blanching and steaming vegetables
      • Blanching – cooking process wherein a food (usually fruit or vegetable) is scalded in simmering water, removed after a brief interval, then shocked in cold water to halt the cooking. Often used for tougher vegetables such as carrots, when they will be finished off in a stir fry with other more tender vegetables such as mushrooms
      • Steaming is the ideal method for fragile vegetables—higher temp, less agitation, less nutrient loss
    • Poaching or Steaming Vegetables
      • Bring salted water or stock to boil, do basic prep for the vegetables
      • Add vegetables to water or steamer basket, bring water or stock to low simmer
      • Check for desired doneness frequently, drain quickly to avoid overcooking
      • Shock to cool and use later, or finish recipe and serve
    • Sauteeing and Pan Frying Vegetables
      • Sauteeing – cooking in a small amount of fat
      • Pan Frying – cooking in more fat, longer time, lower heat than sauteeing
      • Both methods can be used for finishing blanched vegetables
    • Baking and Roasting Vegetables
      • Starchy vegetables (potatoes) are baked from raw state because of the effect dry heat has on texture
      • Any vegetable with enough moisture can be baked effectively
      • Vegetable casseroles are baked because slow all around heat allows the product to cook undisturbed. Agitation and stirring of range top cooking is not always desirable
      • Dry heat produces effects like browning, caramelization of sugars, which can be delightful for vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, or brussel sprouts

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  • Controlling Nutrient Loss
    • Vegetables are major source of vitamins
    • Many vitamins are lost via improper cooking
    • Factors of nutrient loss: high temperature, long cooking, leaching, alkalis
  • Controlling Color Changes of Vegetables
    • Pigments give vegetables their color; different pigments react differently to heat and pH
    • White Vegetables – Flavones are white pigments in onions, cauliflower, potatoes. They stay white in acid, turn yellow in alkaline. Too much acid will toughen the vegetable. Cooking quickly maintains color
    • Red Vegetables – Anthocyanins are red pigments in beets, red cabbage, red onions. Acid turns them brighter red, alkalis turn them blue or blue-green. Red pigments dissolve easily in water. Don’t overcook and use only as much water as necessary. Cook beets whole and unpeeled to retain color. Use liquid as a sauce
    • Green Vegetables – Chlorophyll is green coloring in all green plants. Acids are enemies of green vegetables. Acids and long cooking turn to drab olive color. Protect the color of green vegetables by cooking uncovered to allow plant acids to escape, cooking for shortest time possible. Steaming is preferred method for cooking most green vegetables, because it lessens dissolving of flavor and nutrient loss
    • Yellow and Orange Vegetables – Carotenoids are yellow and orange pigments in corn, carrots, tomatoes, yellow peppers, orange and red peppers, sweet potatoes. These pigments are very stable, little affected by acids or alkalis. Long cooking dulls the color. Short cooking keeps color and nutrients

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  • Corned Beef and Cabbage
    • Ingredients
      • 2.5 lb to 3 lb corned beef brisket, with spice packet
      • 2 onions, quartered and divided
      • 4 carrots, large chunks
      • 2 stalks celery, chopped
      • Water, enough to nearly cover the brisket in the Dutch oven, more as needed (start with about 2 cups)
      • 1 tbs brown sugar
      • 3 bay leaves
      • 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
      • 1.5 lbs red or yukon potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
      • 1/2 head of cabbage, quartered
    • Procedure
      • Trim excess fat off the brisket
      • In Dutch oven, brown the brisket, especially the remaining fat
      • Add spice packet contents, 1/2 of the onions, water, bay leaves, and brown sugar together to the Dutch oven, bring to a simmer, skimming off foam that rises to the surface
      • Cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours
      • Add the rest of the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots, simmer another 1 hour
      • Add potatoes and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are almost tender, about 30 minutes more
      • Place cabbage pieces on top of and around meat, add more water as needed, cover the pot, and simmer until cabbage is tender, 20 to 30 minutes more
      • After 4 hours of simmering the corned beef should be quite tender, also the vegetables that were added later
      • Remove meat to a cutting board and let rest 10 to 15 minutes, cut across the grain and serve

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