Cleaning Black Iron Cookware

Most black iron pans and cookware are protected by a clear, non-toxic oil which needs to be removed before the pan can be used properly.

The first step is to season your cookware with oil, this will form a natural film on the base of your pan. This natural film will improve and form over time and with regular use your pans will become practically non stick. With continued and regular use of these pans at a high temperature the oil and food being cooked will add to the layers, meaning your pan will actually get better with increased usage. At these higher cooking temperatures these layers formed pose absolutely no risk to those who will then consume food being cooked in these pans.

If your black iron pots or pans are not used for a period of time, they can occasionally go rusty. This however is no means the end of these pans lifespan! We recommend that you clean you pan thoroughly and make sure that you remove any rust with a scouring pad. After all the rust has been cleaned, re-season your pans and the process begins once more.

With regards cleaning your black iron pans after cooking, the cleaning process is actually quite simple but it is important that it is adhered to to ensure the longevity and improved cooking performance of your pans in the future. We recommend that you clean your pan in hot water using a small amount of washing up liquid. After washing you should hand dry your black iron cookware immediately ensuring that any dampness is sufficiently dried. You should then coat your pan with some oil, leaving it ready to be used again.

PLEASE NOTE - Under no circumstances should black iron cookware ever be cleaned in a dishwasher. This can cause irreparable damage to the pans and may actually destroy the pans.

It is recommended that after each time you use any piece of black iron cookware that it is wiped clean with paper towels. This will help to ensure that the pan is completely dry which helps to prevent rusting forming on the pan. As discussed above, if rusting should form on the pan you will be required to thoroughly scour the pan, removing all traces of rust, and re-season. Over time and constant use, your pan should reform its protective layer and you should notice a vast improvement in the performance of your pan over a period of time.

You should never use a dry pan under any circumstances, always ensure that your pan has been seasoned and that oil has been added before cooking.

Tips For Freezing Leftovers

Leftover foods can easily be reinvented into a whole new meal. Your family will never guess they are eating food prepared yesterday or even days before if you get into the habit of freezing leftovers. It's such a waste to throw the food away. More often than not, when leftover food is stored in the fridge it gets forgotten and eventually it is tossed out. The trick is to freeze the leftovers and then use them to prepare a different meal altogether. Keep this in mind when you are cooking and have a plan for those leftovers.

One great example is having a roast chicken for a weekend meal. Shred the leftover chicken and freeze it in ziplock bags. Be sure to squeeze the air out of the bags for best results. You can use the frozen chicken during the week for a stir-fry or a chicken salad.

Another idea is when you are preparing chili, fry up a large batch of ground beef and onions and combine it with a can of tomato puree. Freeze it in meal-sized portions and when you defrost it add your choice of seasonings and heat it up for an instant meat filling for tacos or the beginnings of a beef noodle casserole!

Roast beef dinners provide another opportunity for freezing leftovers. Chop up any leftover roast and freeze it. It can later be turned into barbeque beef (just defrost the meat and add some bottled barbeque sauce and simmer). Other ideas include filling for fajitas, or a quick beef stroganoff. Having frozen meat prepared ahead of time cuts down your cooking and preparation time significantly.

Leftover vegetables are great for freezing too. You can keep a container in your freezer just for this purpose. Just put any leftover veggies the container and when it's full you have the beginnings of a vegetable soup! Just use canned broth to make it super quick.

Next time you finish a meal take a second look at your leftovers. There are many more meals that can be prepared with your them. Even though you'll still be doing some cooking, it's generally much less, and quicker, if you start with cooked meat or vegetables from the freezer. You can reuse your leftovers to create new meals and save substantial time and money. Having homecooked foods frozen and ready to reheat is much healthier than the frozen store bought variety. Keep this in mind after your next meal and don't toss out that food, freeze it!

Tips to Save Time Cooking Indian Food

If you are not very familiar with cooking Indian food, you may be under the misconception that it takes a lot of time to cook. But that is hardly the case. All cuisines have dishes that take too much time as well as things which can be cooked in a jiffy. It is true that Indians usually prepare most dishes from scratch and use ingredients that are fresh and in season. In fact, that is why Indian food has a flavor that matches none. If you are starting out with cooking Indian cuisine, you will definitely have lots of recipes to try from which don't require a lot of time. Regular dishes that are cooked in households for daily meals are easy to prepare and take little time, as long as you have the ingredients available. Indian cuisine makes abundant use of a few basic ingredients and if you have them prepared beforehand, it just reduces the cooking time more. Here are top tips to save time cooking Indian.

Onions: This vegetable is widely used in Indian cooking, whether as a paste, sliced thinly or chopped fine. It is the base for most gravies and is used as an ingredient in vegetable as well as meat and fish dishes. If you are cooking Indian food, rest assured that you will be using onions a lot. That's why it makes sense to prep them. You can peel, chop or grind onions and keep them frozen in plastic containers to use them in recipes that require them. You will be saving a lot of time this way.

Garlic and ginger: These are again typically Indian ingredients used regularly in the kitchen. You can obviously get ginger and garlic paste easily in a can but it is much better to make them at home. Garlic is tiring to peel and chop and it makes sense to do it in a batch. It is a good idea to have garlic and ginger peeled and chopped so that you can use them as they are or grind them according to what a recipe demands. Always put ginger or garlic separately in an airtight container to prevent them from creating bad odor in your whole freezer.

Dough: Chapatis, rotis and parathas are prepared on a daily basis in Indian households. Preparing the dough takes some time and doing it every day may be a bit of a hassle. Dough prepared from flour and besan can be easily stored in the refrigerator in airtight containers and kept for 3-4 days. Preparing rotis and chapattis with this dough is easy and takes a lot less time.

Using the pressure cooker: Lentils take a considerable time to cook and since they are an integral part of Indian meals, cooking them in the pressure cooker saves a lot of time. Cook lentils in the pressure cooker and then pour the hot 'tadka' (ghee, spices and aromatics on high heat) on it to prepare beautiful dals in no time at all.

Easy Indian Cooking Tips

You may be a girl who has entered the kitchen for the first time after getting married. Or you may be a young student living alone, trying to grasp the basics of cooking. Or you may be someone who is not Indian at all, but wants to try cooking Indian food! Whoever you are, it may be a bit overwhelming when you first try your hand out cooking Indian. Rest assured, it will not be so difficult as time goes by and you get the hang of it. Rustling up an Indian meal is not time consuming, if you know your way around. Fresh ingredients form the basis of most Indian cooking and many households will cringe at the thought of cooking with anything that comes out of a can! Going to the local market for fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and fish is a ritual all Indians are fond of. This article will give you tips to cook Indian that will make you a happier cook.

1. Spices are an integral part of Indian cooking. Lots of spices and aromatics are used daily in the Indian kitchen. Without them, dishes would be bland and lifeless. So unless you have a basic understanding of spices, cooking will not be fun. But don't worry, it is really not as tough as it seems. In fact, you will be able to learn more about spices as you go about cooking daily meals. Turmeric, chillies, coriander, cumin, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and start anise are just a few of the spices used regularly. Apart from this, ginger, garlic and onions too are used. Different spices lend different flavors. Some are best used as a 'tadka' (a concoction of spices spluttering in hot oil or ghee) and some are used best when grounded or as a paste.

2. It is very important in Indian cuisine to have the pan hot and the oil hotter before putting in the spices or the vegetables. So turn on the heat!

3. We know that Indian spices smell awesome. But it would be a good idea to open the kitchen windows when cooking Indian food unless you want your nostrils to be invaded by the smell of strong chillie powder.

4. If a recipe calls for grinding spices like coriander or cumin, it is important that you roast them first in a pan before grinding. This will ensure that all the lovely flavors are released.

5. Use the pressure cooker as much as you can. It reduces the cooking time of meat, vegetables and lentils. In fact, some lentils will take hours to cook on the stove and so using the pressure cooker is just smarter. Take notice of the cooking times though.

6. When a dish calls for using curd or yogurt, it is a good idea if you can make it fresh at home. Store- bought yogurt just doesn't have the same taste or flavor as homemade.

7. Indian cooking relies on fresh ingredients. So as much as possible, avoid anything that comes out of a can!

How to Cook a Steak to Perfection - Five Tips

There are many ways to cook a steak but these five tips are a must for making a great steak. No one wants to buy an expensive cut of meat and then ruin it by cooking it until its tough and chewy. I know this has happened to me a few times and it is quite the disappointment. So to ensure you don't end up with some inedible piece of meat follow these tips to create a moist, tender and juicy steak. Let's learn how to cook a steak to perfection every time!

1. Always start with a quality cut of steak

Cuts such as prime rib or New York Strip are excellent choices. These cuts of meat from the loin and rib area are the most tender and tasty.

2. Look for lots of marbling in the steak

These are the white veins or lines you see in the meat. These veins will become liquid when heated and will help to tenderize your steak making it nice and juicy.

3. Don't cut the steak open to check for doneness

Cutting the steak while it's cooking will dry it out. You want the juices to remain trapped inside and cutting allows the juices to escape.

To test for doneness just press on the steak with your finger. You can learn how it should feel by using the "finger test". Press on the fleshy part your hand beneath your thumb this is how a raw steak feels. Now touch your baby finger to your thumb and touch that same area under the thumb with your finger; this is how a well done steak will feel. Now touch the finger next to your baby finger to your thumb and press again to see how a medium steak will feel. The next finger is medium rare and the last finger will be rare.

It takes some getting used to but it is the best way to test for doneness. If you really don't feel comfortable with this the next best method is using a meat thermometer as it will pierce the steak in a much smaller area.

4. Use a marinade

Marinating a steak gives it loads of flavour, more so than just sprinkling it with seasonings, it also helps to tenderize and this in turn keeps your steak juicy. Steaks can be marinated in the refrigerator overnight or for several hours before you plan to cook it.

5. Bring the steak to room temperature before cooking

The sudden and extreme change in temperature could cause it to turn out tough. Also, it is wise to let the steak rest for at least a couple of minutes after cooking or grilling to allow it to settle and become more flavourful.

Cooking Tips From Iron Chef Contestant Matt Stone

In my segment Beers with Brad, I enjoy a beer with some well known hospitality professionals.

This segment sees me interview Chef Matt Stone from The Greenhouse in Perth.

Matt is very confident and well accomplished for a Chef so young. His performance on Iron Chef against Neil Perry was certainly impressive.

Here's the interview we had over a pint of Coopers Pale Ale:

Q. What beer are you drinking?

A. Coopers pale ale my favourite beer.

Q. Why is it your favourite?

A. Coopers pale ale in Margaret River, if you're not drinking it as Settlers Tavern, you're not considered a local, and um, I've just been sort of sixteen hanging out in the pub and that's what everyone drank so that's what I drank, that's what my old man drank and we're lucky enough to have it on tap here so I'm pretty stoke with that one.

Q. Why has the Greenhouse been such a success?

A. The Greenhouse has been a massive hit in Perth in the last, well it's just two years that we've been open. I suppose we've really brought a point of difference to the hospitality industry not only in Perth but in Australia, with the..way we build our restaurants, the way we run our restaurants, through to the products that we serve, products that we source, and serve them on a plate, which here isn't really a plate, you know we've got lots of sort of quirky different things that we serve our food on... it's a very interesting place, it's very visual and ethically it's.. you know, it's where we think a lot of people should be heading, with not only hospitality but offices and just urban environments. We're up here on the rooftop where we.. have twenty four cubic metres of growing space in the middle of St Georges terrace in the city so there's no excuse that people can't be growing their own herbs, fruits, vegetables, whatever it may be, on their small terrace balcony or whatever it is in the city. Yeah, you know there's so many different elements that make up the Greenhouse and I think a lot of, a lot of our customers take it for different things, a lot of people use it as a cafe, a lot of people use it for..a night time cocktail bar,... lunches, that sort of stuff so we really appeal to a really broad market in a lot of different ways.

Q. Tell us a little about your background and how you got involved in cooking?

A. I started cooking almost ten years ago now. I left school really early down in Margaret River, school wasn't for me. I started cooking..in a pretty average cafe down there, washing dishes, really loved the environment, the atmosphere and the people. Went on to work at Leeuwin Estate winery which is an internationally acclaimed winery in Margaret River.. I worked there for about two years with some really good Chefs before moving up to Perth and working with David Coomer for about five years. I was originally a business partner and helped open Pata Negra on Stirling Highway Nedlands and then about two and a half years ago signed up for this gig and haven't looked back since.

Q. What's the most important thing you look for in a restaurant when you eat out?

A. When I'm looking for a restaurant to eat at? I'm lucky enough that I get to travel a lot through the East Coast and through Asia and Europe so and stuff like that so I'm probably a little more spoiled than some, but um. Here in Perth I mean it's quite hard, there's a lot of bad food in restaurants, there's a lot of produce going to waste in silly ways, but.. I suppose people that are really trying, people that have a bit of an ethos as to how they source their food, people that are creating cool fun environments, and I think that the Perth food scene is really kicking off, and the small bar scene is coming along nicely. There's a lot of development in the city so I suppose I'll keep my eye on that and see what's happening, but places like Rockpool come to town and spend ten million dollars on an amazing fit out and serve some of the best beef in Australia if not the world, so there's obviously those sort of draw cards but at the same time of got a couple of local restaurants in Vic Park, like the Prophet and Good One BBQ Restaurant that are cheap, cheerful and just awesome, you know, with mates and a couple of beers on the weekend and stuff like that, so it's a time and place thing, who you're with, what you're looking for, but.. I suppose at the end of the day if you're going to be serving... good food... being friendly as well..there's nothing worse than someone, sort of looking down at you and making you feel scummy for being in their restaurant, whatever, it's just you want a comfortable, friendly environment where everyone's cool, the food's cool and they're not trying to rip you off which is often the case in Perth.

Q. What's the best way to get started as a Chef/

A. To get started as young Chef, I suppose there's a lot of really good programs in place in high schools these days, there's a lot of students doing pre-traineeships and stuff which wasn't available when I started cooking, I didn't really hang around school long enough to do that anyway, but um, that sort of stuff is really great. I mean I'm not a qualified Chef on paper, essentially so I've never finished an apprenticeship, I suppose it's just having a passion and a love for food, being willing to give up a lot is a big one. Being a Chef you've got to give away your weekends and nights, I basically don't surf any more which I used t do every single day, obviously I live in Perth so it's kind of hard but I just don't have time. So it's a lot of sacrifice but at the same time if you're really in to it it's a really rewarding job to do, but.. just hard work and just read lots and lots of books.

Q. How long does it take to become proficient in the kitchen

A. To stand your ground in the kitchen, I mean the apprenticeship now has been reduced to three years, which I'm quite skeptical on to be perfectly honest, I've got a couple of kids, newly qualified Chefs and there still at the same level as the younger apprentices... it takes a lot of experience. I was in the kitchen for about six years..well it was even seven years before I..stepped up to a senior role. It takes a lot of time, a lot of hard work but like anything if you stick at it you'll definitely get there and it's a matter of working with the right people as well.

Q. If you had one secret to cooking good food, what would it be?

A. The secret to cooking good food..keep it simple, use..nice produce to begin with and don't mess around with it too much, you don't have to... I mean I have the utmost respect for people like Heston Blumenthal and Feran Adria for the food they do I think it's absolutely amazing but it's not food you're going to cook at home, it's not food we can execute in restaurants here in WA especially, Australia..We have amazing produce, we have great producers and just fantastic food around us we don't need to do much with it..I think it shows a lot of confidence as a young Chef to just char grill a piece of beef and serve it with a chunk of lemon and some broccoli... to me stuff like that, that's delicious that's what I want to eat but I suppose it takes a whole new confidence to be able to put that on a plate and serve it, which is what we do here at the Greenhouse... at first it was up and down but now we've sort of stuck to our guns and it's been really well received.

Q. What are some of the problems that young Chefs experience when they start out and what's your advice to them?

A. Problems with young Chefs? I suppose the biggest thing..for me also is just the hours you have to work it's really draining. You're on your feet for..between eight to twelve hours sometimes often without a break..you're lifting heavy bags of flour, you're going up and down stairs it's quite a physically demanding job and I suppose once you can get over that barrier you're half way there but unless you're at the top you're always going to cop stick from everyone the whole way down and that's..just the way it is and I suppose it's not near as bad as it used to be... it's just the hierarchy sort of system which I try not to have in our kitchen but inevitably it sort of does happen so you've just got to have thick skin and stick through it.

Q. Which Chef has had the most influence on your career?

A. The Chef that's influenced me the most in Australia would definitely be Neil Perry... he's opened some amazing venues... of different calibers..steakhouses... amazing Chinese style restaurants... also though he's had a lot of failed restaurants so..he's taken the good with the bad but he's come out on top and he just does amazing things with food. He really takes the Australian approach to food he's not necessarily mixing cultures on one plate but he's knowledgeable on a lot of different cultures, Australian produce... I've admired him from when I first started cooking and I'm now lucky enough to be sort of friends with him, hang out with him, have dinner every now and then..I really sort of looked up to him.

Q. Which cook books do you recommend?

A. Yeah we're constantly reading cook books..it's sort of hard for me now to keep motivated and keep creating new dishes obviously because I'm at the top so I'm constantly teaching and same with my sous chefs as well so we're constantly reading books, at the moment we just got Philippa Sibley's dessert book which is..Philipa Sibley is... probably the most amazing pastry Chef Australia has ever seen. Here and Donovan Cook had Est Est Est in the nineties in Melbourne which really set the bench mark for fine dining food in Australia at that time. Also momofuku, David Chang in New York..He's got a really cool restaurant doing some really cool, not necessarily fusion but sort of Korean American sort of food... which is cool... we just got the Cumulus inc book..which is a restaurant I eat at every time I'm in Melbourne again the serve food..similarly to how we do, very simple using great produce... Constantly we're in book shops buying new books, reading, we might not even read the book we might just flick through, flick through see a picture and that's enough to trigger an idea... I think as a young Chef reading is probably one of the most important things you could be doing.