Techniques

Proper Browning

This is probably the most essential of all techniques I use in my cooking, probably because there are a good amount of meat dishes in my repertoire.  This is equally important for beef, lamb, chicken, pork, fish, tofu, eggplant, and many other firm-fleshed consumables, so take heed even if you're a vegetarian.

When browning, you have to do a few things - be patient, use enough fat, and leave the pan alone.  Put the meat (or whatever) in the pan and let it be.  You're looking for a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction, where the sugars and proteins undergo a process not unlike caramelization.  You don't want grey meat, you want brown and black meat.  See the grey around the bits of brown?  Many people would stop when they see this, and they would be doing themselves a disservice.  Let it brown until it really sears, to the point that the meat releases itself from the pan on its own terms (or very nearly so), and you will have much more flavor in your finished stews, soups, stir-fries, sears, or whatever you're making.

From my most popular recipe, Kokkinisto

Making Jams and Jellies

This one took me MANY tries to figure out.  It turns out that you have to treat jams just like making candy, and get the sugars up to the proper temperature to gel.  For the blackberry preserves we just made, this turns out to be just below the thread stage - bring the temperature to 220-221 degrees.  You might think this is not a big deal, but the temperature jump from 215 to 220 required a good boost of heat, and made all the difference from a runny batch of preserves to a nicely jellied batch that is shelf stable.  Recipe to follow.