cooking tip

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/7/07 7:44:30 PM, vegan4animals writes:

 

 

This may be really obvious, but could you give me some tips on the best way to rinse and drain small grains like quinoa, millet, etc. without wasting a lot?

 

 

Hi Melissa and All, I'm so far from a vegan chef as I rarely cook anything fancy, but when I cook quinoa and millet, I cook it in just enough water so that the water is fully absorbed by the time the grain is cooked. I'm left with just the cooked grain and no extra water. If you buy grains in bulk there are no instructions but you can check out a package of grain or a cookbook which would give you the ratios of water to grain and cooking instructions: times & level of heat to get this result. Good luck! Lisa

[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

I know there are vegan chefs out there. This may be really obvious, but could you give me some tips on the best way to rinse and drain small grains like quinoa, millet, etc. without wasting a lot?

 

I've been draining them with a strainer and paper towels and it just makes a big 'ole mess and wastes paper towels as well as the grains. I know that's not very environmentally-conscious, so I'm looking for some help. I've tried 3 different size strainers, but the holes are all too big for the small grains, so I use the paper towels to absorb them but then the grains stick to the towels.

 

 

Is there some special kind of strainer thing that I'm clueless about?

 

Thanks,

 

Melissa

[Guest guest]

You should be able to find a fine-mesh strainer in a cooking store that

will work. Mine is a cheap little plastic thing, and unfortunately, the

name has rubbed off.

But it works perfectly for quinoa. They do make strainers fine enough

for tiny things. It might be called a consommé strainer, b/c a consommé

has to be strained

very carefully.

You could also buy and use cheesecloth, which is reusable, instead of

paper towels. It's a bit of a hassle to rinse the cheesecloth and then

hang it to dry, but it works.

And then you'll have the cheesecloth you need to make Millennium's

recipe (in the first cookbook) for seitan sausage--yum!

 

Alex

 

 

vegan4animals wrote:

> Hello,

>

> I know there are vegan chefs out there. This may be really obvious,

> but could you give me some tips on the best way to rinse and drain

> small grains like quinoa, millet, etc. without wasting a lot?

>

> I've been draining them with a strainer and paper towels and it just

> makes a big 'ole mess and wastes paper towels as well as the grains. I

> know that's not very environmentally-conscious, so I'm looking for

> some help. I've tried 3 different size strainers, but the holes are

> all too big for the small grains, so I use the paper towels to absorb

> them but then the grains stick to the towels.

>

> Is there some special kind of strainer thing that I'm clueless about?

>

> Thanks,

>

> Melissa

>