Old cook, new tricks

I’ve never had a cooking lesson and don’t watch cooking shows, so a lot of kitchen knowledge bypassed me. I’ve managed to feed myself for a half-century, but there’s still a lot I could learn. Skimming a gift for my sister, Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything: The Basics, I picked up tips.

If you’re an accomplished cook, Bittman may have nothing to tell you. Everyone else, did you know that:

• Oil and vinegar emulsified in a blender or a food processor will stay creamy for hours. 

• Cooked potatoes or rice can replace cream in puréed soup.

• Nonwatery vegetables can be cooked ahead, refrigerated, and sautéed just before serving. 

• Cooked legumes can be frozen in their cooking liquid and will keep for months. Defrost them in the refrigerator or microwave.

• Short- or medium-grain rice siting in water for 30 minutes will absorb most of the liquid before boiling. The rice will be chewy and easy to eat with chopsticks.

• Thick asparagus can be as tasty as thin but should be peeled.

• The stalks of broccoli are edible, but peel them and cut off the bottom inch. They need to cook longer than the florets. 

• A bell pepper is the same vegetable whatever its color. Peppers turn orange, yellow, or red when left on the vine longer to reach their full sweetness. For cost reasons, not all peppers are allowed to ripen.

• Cooking button mushrooms with some fresh shiitake or reconstituted dried porcini mushrooms enhances the flavor. 

• Yukon gold is the closest thing to an all-purpose potato. 

• Comice is the best available pear, but a ripe pear of any variety is better than an unripe Comice.

• Mayonnaise can be made in a blender from egg, oil, lemon juice or vinegar, and seasonings. 

• Shorten baking time for potatoes by turning the oven up to 450 degrees. Microwaved potatoes are steamed, not baked. 

• Before hard-boiling an egg, poke a hole in the shell with a needle to make it easier to peel. Boil for 12 minutes — or a minute or two less for an underdone yolk.

• Heat a skillet for a minute or two before adding butter or oil to sear and crisp the food. 

• Brown spots indicate that bananas are at their peak, not that they’re overripe. 

• Drained pasta should be put into a hot bowl so it doesn’t cool.

Carnivores will note that I skipped Bittman’s advice about meat and fish.

A clerk at the supermarket looked at the bananas I’d put on the conveyer belt. “Do you mind buying bananas with brown spots? Most people won’t,” she said. “They’re at the peak of ripeness,” I answered, proudly quoting Bittman. A few months ago, I would have been one of the folks who look for bananas with unblemished skins.