Does anyone else feel like the month of May flew by? Well, here at COOK, time does indeed fly when we’re having fun! If you’d like to bring some of that fun into your home kitchen, check out these tips and tricks from recent chefs at COOK. 

Tip #1 Wrapping Brisket 

Holy smokes! Justin Swain of Rex 1516 brought a smoked brisket into COOK for a Southern-inspired private event. His trick to keeping it juicy: butcher paper! Justin smoked the brisket until the internal temperature was 175 degrees. After that he wrapped the brisket in butcher paper and transferred it to a 300 degree oven for roughly 2 hours to let it finish cooking. Covering the brisket in butcher paper helps with maintaining moisture – no more dried out BBQ!

Tip #2 Frozen Flour

Warm weather means fresh strawberries, blueberries, cherries, etc. If you love baking and want to wow some friends and family with a delicious fruit pie, this tip is for you. Brian Lofink of The Railroad Street Bar & Grille suggested to keep your flour in the freezer. Not only will this prolong its shelf life, but it will also help to keep the butter cold when making pie and pastry dough. The key to a flaky pie crust is having chunks of butter throughout it. The best way to keep your butter in chunks is to keep it cold, and having cold flour will delay the butter from melting further.

Tip #3 Sweet & Spicy

If you’re looking for a bit of a kick in the morning, then you have to make a batch of Malik Ali‘s spicy maple syrup. Malik, now at Cescaphe, treated COOK guests to a soul food brunch featuring fried chicken and waffles with his spicy syrup concoction drizzled over top. Making the spicy syrup is simple, just combine your favorite maple syrup with some cayenne pepper and hot sauce. Malik brand of choice: Crystal! Add cayenne and hot sauce to personal taste.

Tip #4 How To Clean Those Pesky Pans

Early in May, Joncarl Lachman came into COOK to celebrate Noord‘s 5 year anniversary! He put on a five course feast that dazzled guest’s eyes and stomachs. During class someone asked how he cleans the pans, following Joncarl’s cooking magic (see photo above!). Joncarl then proceeded to demonstrate his process. He took a dirty pan with stuck-on food and put it on a burner over medium-high heat. Then he added some white wine to the pan to remove the bits, essentially deglazing the pan; you can either discard after you’re done, or this can serve as the base for a sauce. Joncarl noted that vinegar works particularly to remove food that is glued to your pots and pans.

Tip #5 Sting Like A Nettle 

Do you know those leafy greens that grow like weeds all over your lawn? Chances are they are “stinging nettles”. These little perennial plants can be quite irritating, both to your lawn and to your body. Nettles are covered in tiny hairs that can irritate your skin. However, when carefully cooked, nettles can be a healthy and tasty addition to any dish. Scott Megill of Grace Winery loves to cook with seasonal ingredients and decided to incorporate springtime nettles into his rainbow trout dish. When cooking with nettles, Scott advised people to wear gloves to avoid touching the pointy hairs. After you wash the nettles, cook them however you desire; sautéing or boiling them will make them safe to eat. Nettles can be found all over the place and this is the time of year they are most plentiful. So get out there and start picking… just don’t forget your gardening gloves!