Cooking Methods
Steaming, Boiling, Roasting
Steaming
Steam is perhaps one of the healthiest methods of cooking.
A tiered steamer is a really useful tool in your kitchen. You can cook your potatoes at the bottom of it for 10 minutes and then add your vegetables to steam in the top for the next 10.
Boiling
Cooking things in too much water was something I became aware of early on in my career. I was called 'an English water cook' by one of the chefs in my first kitchen. He was a real character, happy days!
About the only thing that gets boiled now, with a little salt are potatoes, pasta and rice. Rice particularly lends its self to having things added like a few bruised cardamom seeds, and a pinch of ground cumin or coriander. Pasta should always be cooked with some salt and olive oil in the water.
Roasting and Baking
Take a little oil in a bowl with salt and pepper, crushed garlic and rosemary, add your prepared potatoes or vegetables and mix thoroughly.
Pre-heat both the oven and roasting dish. Put the items to be roasted in the hot dish and return to the oven for 40-50 minutes, turning 2-3 times. Choose a menu that has other things to be cooked in the oven, to maximise space and energy.
Frying Methods
Stir Frying
A wok uses the principal of cooking food over as large a space as possible, using quite a high flame with a little oil. You then add a small amount of liquid to create the steam required to tenderise vegetables very quickly.
This is an exciting way of cooking, as all the sizzling and stirring adds a touch of theatre to the proceedings. It is one of my favourite ways of cooking vegetables, really keeping the flavour in.
Pan Frying
This is similar to steaming or stir-frying. It is the one I use for green beans, and even cauliflower or broccoli cut into small florets. Using a thick-bottomed saucepan with a lid, heat a little oil then put in your vegetables. They should sizzle.
Give them a quick stir then put the lid on and turn up the heat slightly. Stir them once or twice over the next two minutes.
Add a cup of water, covering again to keep the steam generated in the pan, for the next 2 minutes.
Your vegetables will tenderise very quickly ending up with hardly any water left, again with all the flavour and goodness left in, not drained out during boiling.
This leaves you to add a dressing of a little lemon juice and hemp/olive oil.
Any remaining liquid can be saved to use as a stock. This vegetable juice is quite concentrated and will keep in the fridge to be used to flavour another sauce another day.
Shallow Frying
The most useful of cooking methods and one I use most, is to shallow fry things, with a good quality lighter olive oil. Just cover the bottom of the pan, over a moderate heat, and add the items to be fried. Give them a few minutes on either side until golden brown. This is best for most things.
You can always add a drop more oil when you turn the item for the first time.
Deep Fat Frying
Haven't used a deep fat fryer in years. To help replace chips, potatoes lightly boiled then shallow fried till golden, with a seasoning of salt and pepper are a good, healthy alternative.
A teaspoon or two of paprika and some chilli powder sprinkled on the potatoes makes great homemade spicy wedges, which kids love.
Things that are normally deep-fried can be cooked in the wok, with an inch or two of sunflower/vegetable oil, turned regularly.
Olive oil is not good for deep-frying; it is to rich and thick, but great for everything else.
Griddle pans
Perfect for cooking with little or no oil, you can brush some oil on the items first, then place them on the hot gridlle. If your griddle has ribs you can tickle your fancy and experiment with great patterns on your vegetables.