Ms. Presilla advises the use of a large comal (a cast-iron pancake griddle is fine) to produce hotter and cooler cooking surfaces; also, it lets you cook more than one tortilla at a time.
Difficulty: easy Makes: 600ml Preparation: 10 mins, plus cooling Cooking: 8 mins Planning ahead This pastry cream can be made up to 2 3 days in advance and kept covered in the fridge.
Serves 6 Preparation: 25 mins, plus 1 hour resting and 30 minutes cooling Cooking: 50 mins Special equipment: blender or food processor, 20cm tart ring, baking stone (optional) Planning ahead: you can prepare this dessert a few hours in advance.
Difficulty: medium complexity Makes: 10 Preparation: 40 mins, plus cooling Cooking: 25 30 mins Special equipment: 2 piping bags, 1.5cm and 5mm plain nozzles Planning ahead: You can prepare, cook and freeze the éclairs in advance; defrost 1 hour before needed, then fill and glaze them.
You may save the meat for later cleaning, quartering, butchering, cooling, cooking or freezing.
Cooks everywhere have discovered the santoku knife, but in "Cool Tools: Cooking Utensils from the Japanese Kitchen" (Kodansha International, $28), Kate Klippensteen discusses many more utensils, like slender chopsticks used in cooking, ceramic pots, special graters and graceful bamboo colanders.
Cooked tubers, especially potatoes will re-crystallize when allowed to cool after cooking.
I prefer a firmer, barely cooked pepper, so I just leave them on a plate to cool after cooking; the skin slips off without a problem.
Let beans cool in cooking liquid.
