The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 493

FOR
MANY,
MANY

YEARS,
ITHOUGHT
THAT
IDIDN’TLOVE

VEGETABLES


I

mean,someofthemwereOK.Idugsalads,carrotsticks

werecool,artichokeswerefuntoeatifonlyforthenovelty.
Asparagus was even good when it was still green and
crunchy and dipped into Kewpie mayonnaise. But for the
mostpart,vegetableswerepushedovertothe“chokedown
withacupofwaterwhenmymom’snotlooking”cornerof
the plate. I now realize that my dislike of vegetables is
entirely my mother’s fault (sorry to break it to you, Ma).
See, kids don’t dislike broccoli. They dislikemushy
broccoli. They don’t dislike Brussels sprouts. They dislike
Brusselssproutsthatsmelllikefartsandhavethetextureof
old cheese. Ah, if only my mom had known how to
properlyroastorsearaBrusselssproutwhenIwasakid,I
could’vehadagoodcoupleextradecadesoffinevegetable
dining!
In this chapter, we’ll discuss five basic techniques for

cooking vegetables—blanching/steaming, searing/sautéing,
braising,glazing,androasting/broiling—theinsandoutsof
howtheywork,andthebesttimestousethem.Withalittle
luck, I’ll turn every single one of you into a vegetable
believer.
THEFIVEBASICVEGETABLE-COOKING
TECHNIQUESANDWHATTHEY’REGOODFOR