How to Cut a Soft-Boiled Egg in Half

Have you ever gone out for a bowl of ramen and wondered how they manage to cut the soft-boiled egg in half without making a mess of the yolk? The question has certainly crossed my mind, so I seized an opportunity to ask a waiter at a local izakaya. He explained that it’s done with either dental floss or fishing line. Brilliant! But the problem is I use mint-flavored floss and I don’t fish. Besides that, the line would have to be held under tension, and I have neither a third hand nor the desire to drive a nail into my counter to secure the end of it. There must be another solution!

Enter the cheese harp, a handy little tool used for cutting soft cheeses.



Turns out it’ll do a bang-up job on bries and blues and soft-boiled eggs too.



Not a drop of yolk is spilled to mar the white, which makes for a smart-looking presentation.



So there you have it, a cheese harp is the secret to making a perfectly bisected soft-boiled egg to top a bowl of ramen.

Get your own cheese harp here. They’re also available from time to time at HomeGoods.

Adventures in Extruded Pasta

Many months ago I saw FXcuisine’s account of making macaroni from scratch and his tale of homemade casarecce, and I immediately fell in love with his gorgeous pasta extruder the idea of making extruded pasta myself. Both the hubby and I love pasta. I scoured the internet searching for the sleek, shiny pasta extruder with the gleaming bronze dies, since it is said that only a bronze die will produce a pasta with the rough-textured surface to which sauce will adhere. Finding this Rolls-Royce of home pasta extruders became an obsessive mission for me. You can imagine my frustration when I discovered that it’s only available in Europe. For a small fortune. And that it only works when attached to the Kenwood Kitchen Machine. Which costs a not-so-small fortune. I can’t believe I seriously contemplated getting the extruder and the huge machine to attach it to and paying to have the heavy things shipped over here. Actually, yes I can—did I mention I was obsessed? I can just imagine parking a second stand mixer next to my KitchenAid! Who needs all that counter space anyway?

Maybe at this point I should take a moment to explain what extruded pasta is and how it’s different from other pasta. Extruded pasta is made by forcing a dry semolina-and-water dough through a die. Spaghetti, rotini, fusilli, penne, bucatini, macaroni, and rigatoni are all examples of extruded pasta. Fresh extruded pasta is rare, but most of the dried pastas sold at the grocery store are actually extruded. Rolled pasta, on the other hand, is made by rolling out a flour-and-egg dough, either with a rolling pin or with a pasta sheeter, into a thin sheet and then cutting the sheet into strips of the desired width. Examples of rolled pasta include lasagna, linguini, fettuccini, tagliatelle, and pappardelle. When pasta is made at home, it’s usually the rolled type of pasta. A myriad of other traditional pasta shapes like cavatelli, orecchiette, and trofie are made by shaping pieces of dough by hand. Special dies can be used to make extruded versions of many rolled and handmade pastas.

The alternatives to spending the entire year’s food budget on the pasta extruder of my dreams? Well, it just happens that Pastaworks, a fine Portland-area specialty market, has outstanding fresh extruded pastas which they make themselves. Unfortunately, several delightful Pastaworks pasta dinners only strengthened my desire for homemade extruded pasta. I resorted to making orecchiette from scratch, but the pasta rope was longer than my attention span. The home pasta extruders available in the U.S. have mixed reviews at best, so a relatively cheap, Italian-made hand-cranked model seemed like the way to go. It worked fine, but to be honest, a manual machine is a pain in the butt.

So over a year later, I was still pining for the Kenwood pasta extruder. I think KitchenAid must’ve heard my prayers because they just came out with a Stand Mixer Pasta Press Attachment that, while not as sexy, is every bit as functional. I happen to know that personally because I’m the proud new owner of one. Thanks for my early birthday present, Mom and Dad! I absolutely love it!

With the experience of using the hand-cranked machine under my belt, my first attempts at using my new extruder couldn’t have gone better. Should you be inspired to acquire a pasta extruder yourself and make your own homemade extruded pasta, there are a few things you ought to know…

First, the dough should be very dry—so dry that it won’t even come together into a single mass.


I made one batch with half semolina and half all-purpose flour and another batch with all semolina. Both times, I used 10 ounces of flour in total to about 4 to 4 ½ ounces of warm water. I will use even less water next time. A dry dough will be easy to feed into the extruder, and the freshly extruded pasta will be less likely to stick together. By the way, one 14-ounce batch of pasta will be enough for 2 very generous servings.

Second, feed the dough into the extruder a crumble or two at a time. Larger amounts of dough tend to bind up in the extruder as they reach the auger.


Once the pasta is extruded and cut, arrange it in a single layer on a pasta drying screen or rack.


If you don’t have one, use a baking tray that’s either lined with a clean kitchen towel or dusted lightly with flour. Let the pasta dry for a few hours.


Cook the homemade extruded pasta as you would any other pasta, in a large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente. Cooking time will vary depending on how wet the dough was and how long the pasta was dried.

Finally, disassemble the extruder, remove any large gobs of dough, and let the rest dry overnight before attempting to clean the parts. The dough will flick right off once it’s completely dry.

And now, may I present my first batch of homemade extruded rigatoni with tomato sauce with Italian sausage.


In case you’re wondering if it all was worthwhile—without a doubt, the object of my desires really lived up to my expectations. Making pasta with an electric extruder is surprisingly easy, and watching the dough squeeze its way out of the die is definitely my idea of fun. And the pasta itself is more toothsome and flavorful than anything you can buy. Most definitely worthwhile.

Next up: More Adventures in Extruded Pasta.

Peeling Tomatoes, Stone Fruit & More

Have you ever noticed that, while the flesh of tomatoes and stone fruit will soften, the skin seems to remain intact no matter how long it cooks? And that the leathery bits of skin can just about ruin whatever dish they’re in? Tomato sauce or peach pie with scraps of tough peel—yuck. But how do you peel tomatoes or stone fruit without ending up with bruised fruit and a big juicy mess? Knives and vegetable peelers are no help here.

Well, do you remember Blanch? It’s been a while since I introduced you. Blanching is the answer! Blanching fruits such as tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots will loosen their skins and make peeling a breeze.

To peel tomatoes or stone fruit, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. The larger the pot and the more water, the faster the water will return to a boil after the fruit is added, and the faster the skin will release. And the faster the skin releases, the more appealing the appearance, texture, and flavor of the fruit will be. Keep in mind that the goal is to loosen the skin but not cook the fruit. Add plenty of salt, enough to make the water taste slightly briny. Using a paring knife, cut a small X in the bottom of the fruit.


Add the fruit to the pot of boiling water and boil for 20 to 30 seconds.


The skin of the fruit will usually start to crack. Using a slotted spoon or wire skimmer, quickly transfer the fruit to a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking process, this is known as shocking.


Once the fruit is cool, drain it thoroughly. Use the paring knife to remove the peel, starting at the X.


The skin will slip right off.


This technique can also be used to peel pearl onions, fava beans, and almonds, but it’s not necessary to score them with an X first. Blanch them for about a minute, then shock them in ice water. Use a paring knife to cut off the root end of pearl onions. Break open fava bean skins with your thumbnail. Then squeeze each pearl onion, fava bean, or almond between your thumb and forefinger, and it will pop right out of its skin.

If you’re peeling a large quantity of one of these foods, blanch it in batches.

Roasted Peppers & Chiles

Homemade roasted peppers and chiles have a wonderful campfire character. They’re far superior to jarred roasted peppers in both flavor and texture, and their smokey goodness is delicious in everything from sandwiches and salads to soups and sauces.

For roasting, select straight-sided peppers and chiles; avoid irregularly shaped ones as they are difficult to roast evenly. Place the whole pepper directly on the grate of a gas burner and set the heat to high, so that the flame is licking the pepper. If you don’t have gas, you can use a preheated broiler. Cook the pepper, using a pair of tongs to turn it, for 1 to 2 minutes per side.


Continue until the skin is charred and blistered all over.


The flesh of the pepper will still be relatively firm at this point. Transfer the pepper to a bowl, seal with plastic wrap, and let rest for about 15 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.


The steam from the pepper will finish the cooking process and loosen the skin. Once it is cool, transfer the pepper to a cutting board and use a paring knife to scrape off its skin.


Don’t worry about removing every last black speck.


This can be a bit messy, but avoid any temptation to rinse the pepper off with water, or the flavor will disappear down the drain along with the skin. But using a small bowl to collect the waste can make it more manageable.


Cut the pepper open.


Cut out the seed pod.


And then remove any remaining seeds.


The roasted pepper is now ready.


It can be used as is, julienned, diced, or pureed for a recipe.

Green, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers and fresh chiles such as Anaheims and poblanos can all be roasted this way. Roasted peppers and chiles will keep in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for several days.

A Large Pan

Always use a pan that’s large enough to avoid overcrowding.

Preparing Wild Mushrooms

Whether you forage for them yourself like I do, or you pick them up at the market, fresh wild mushrooms, rare seasonal treat that they are, should be treated with lots of care. Wild mushrooms keep best stored in a paper bag in the refrigerator.

To prepare wild mushrooms, simply brush them clean with a dry pastry brush.


You can use a moist paper towel for the most stubborn dirt, but otherwise avoid cleaning mushrooms with water as they will become slimy. Trim as necessary with a paring knife.


Don’t worry too much about removing every last speck, after all, wild mushrooms do come from the forest floor.

To preserve their natural shapes, tear large chanterelle, hedgehog, oyster, and maitake mushrooms into smaller pieces.


Slice lobster, porcini, and morel mushrooms into bite-size pieces with a knife.


The wild mushrooms are now ready to cook.

Blanching

Meet Blanch. Blanch appears in a great many recipes and is a basic but versatile cooking method.

Blanching sets the color and flavor of a food. It can be a stand-alone technique or a way of preparing foods for further cooking. Take, for instance, blanched green beans—as is, they’re a classic component of Tuna Salad Niçoise, but for Green Beans Amandine, the blanched green beans are sautéed. Some foods are blanched to remove excess moisture that would otherwise make the finished dish too watery, like the spinach in Creamed Spinach. Foods such as tomatoes and peaches can be blanched to loosen their skins and aid in peeling.

To blanch a food, bring a very large pot of water to a rolling boil. The larger the pot and the more water, the faster the water will return to a boil after the food is added, and the faster the food will cook. And the faster the food cooks, the more appealing its appearance and flavor will be. Add plenty of salt, enough to make the water taste slightly briny.


Add the food and boil until the desired doneness.


The cooking time will depend on the particular food; it can take seconds to blanch bean sprouts, a couple of minutes for broccoli or cauliflower, or several minutes for green beans. Most vegetables should be just cooked through, which is referred to as “tender-crisp”. The best way to tell if the food is done is to taste it. Half a minute is long enough to loosen the skin on fruit. Quickly drain the food (a colander works, but if I’m blanching a variety of foods or several batches, I prefer to use a mesh sieve so that I don’t have to wait for water to boil between each batch), and immediately transfer it to a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking process, this is known as shocking (again, I like to use a sieve to avoid having to pick ice cubes out of the food).


Drain thoroughly.


What a brilliant color, so appetizing!

If you’re blanching a variety of foods, cook each one separately because different foods have different cooking times. Also blanch a large quantity of any one food in batches.

One last note: blanching is sometimes used to mellow the flavor of certain foods. Bacon can be blanched to remove some of the salt, and citrus rind can be blanched to eliminate the bitterness. In this case, the food is added to a pot with cold water and then brought to a boil.