Things You\’ll Need

• Knife

• Pot

• Bowl

• Ice

• Slotted spoon

• Cloth

Green poblanos are usually enjoyed fresh.

The mild spiciness of poblano peppers complements a variety of dishes, including salsa and sauces. Dried, ripe-red poblanos are called ancho peppers, and are typically used as a seasoning or ground into a pepper paste. The peppers are harvest at their green-mature stage for use as a fresh pepper. Blanching, the process of cooking briefly in steam, allows you to freeze the poblanos for later use. Blanching only lightly cooks the pepper and renders it more tender. You can still roast or cook it using other methods prior to serving.

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Step 1

Wash the poblano in cool water. Rub the skin with your thumbs to remove any dirt or soil.

Step 2

Cut the stem end off the poblano. Pull out the core and discard. Leave the seeds in the poblano for a spicier pepper or remove them if you prefer milder pepper.

Step 3

Leave the pepper whole, or cut into strips or a dice, depending on your preferences and intended use. You can also cut the pepper after blanching, if preferred.

Step 4

Bring a pot to a full boil. Set a bowl of ice water on the counter while the water comes to a boil.

Step 5

Submerge the poblanos in the water. Boil the peppers for 3 minutes.

Step 6

Lift the peppers from the water with a slotted spoon. Immerse them immediately in the ice water. Soak in the ice water for 3 minutes.

Step 7

Drain the water from the poblanos. Pat the peppers dry with a clean cloth. Freeze or prepare them as desired immediately.

Warning

Wear gloves when handling hot peppers so the spicy oils don't cling to your fingers.

Things You\’ll Need

• Assorted fruits

• Knife

• Mixing bowl

• Plastic wrap

• Maraschino cherries

Soak fruits in Everclear to create an adults-only fruit salad.

Everclear is a brand of potent grain alcohol available in 151- or 190-proof varieties. While Everclear definitely packs a punch, this alcohol has very little flavor, which makes it a good choice for soaking fruit. Use Everclear to create alcohol-soaked melon balls, pineapple, apples, pears and any other fruit you enjoy. Just be sure to keep your grown-up fruit salad away from kids. Also, remember that it may be easy to over indulge when eating alcohol-soaked fruit, as it is almost impossible to determine exactly how much Everclear you are consuming.

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Everclear Fruit Salad

Step 1

Peel and chop assorted fruits and place them in a large mixing bowl as if you were making a fruit salad. Small fruits such as strawberries, grapes and cherries may be left whole.

Step 2

Pour Everclear into the mixing bowl until the alcohol covers approximately 1/2 of the fruit in the bowl. If you completely cover the fruit with Everclear, you will need to drain off some of the liquid before serving because the fruit will not be able to absorb all of the alcohol.

Step 3

Stir the fruit salad gently to wet all of the fruit pieces with Everclear. Take care not to smash the fruit while you are stirring.

Step 4

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in your refrigerator overnight. For best results, stir the fruit several times while it chills to evenly distribute the Everclear.

Step 5

Remove the bowl from the refrigerator just before serving.

Everclear Cherries

Step 1

Open a jar of red or green maraschino cherries and carefully pour out and discard the liquid.

Step 2

Fill the jar with Everclear and replace the lid tightly.

Step 3

Chill the cherries in your refrigerator for at least 12 hours to give them time to absorb the alcohol. You can store the cherries for several months and they will become more potent over time.

Step 4

Add the Everclear cherries to cocktails as a garnish.

Things You\’ll Need

• Pot

• Timer

• Colander

• Bowls

• Ice cubes

• Cranberry juice

• Baking spray

• Food dehydrator

• Glass jar

Cranberries add bright color and a tart flavor to your dish.

Cranberries are a flavorful source of vitamin C and delicious when added to meals, baked goods and cold salads. While cranberries are seasonal in autumn, you can enjoy them all year around. One way to preserve fresh cranberries is to dry them. Dried cranberries can be stored in your pantry for several months and used as is or reconstituted for baked goods and other recipes.

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Step 1

Set the cranberries on the counter and allow them to come to room temperature if they were in the refrigerator. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. While the water is coming to a boil, fill a large bowl one-third of the way with ice cubes and one-third of the way with water.

Step 2

Pour the fresh cranberries into the boiling water for 20 seconds. Dump the cranberries and water into a colander in the kitchen sink when the timer goes off, then immediately pour the cranberries into the bowl of ice water and allow them to sit for a minute. The process of boiling the cranberries then submerging them in ice water is called "checking the skins" and helps speed the drying process.

Step 3

Drain pretreated cranberries in a colander.

Transfer the cranberries to a bowl and cover with cranberry juice. Soaking the cranberries in juice pretreats the berries, preparing them for drying. Allow the berries to soak for three to five minutes, then drain them in your colander.

Step 4

Spray a thin coat of baking spray on the food dehydrator trays. This helps to keep the natural sugars in the cranberries from causing the cranberries to stick to the trays. Lay the cranberries on the trays in a single layer, making sure the berries are not too close together so there is room for air to circulate around them.

Step 5

Dried cranberries add flavor to muesli.

Preheat the food dehydrator, then place trays with cranberries in the dehydrator. Cranberries require 24 to 36 hours to become dry. Test the cranberries for dryness, after 24 hours by cutting one open to make sure there's no moisture left inside.

Step 6

Remove the food dehydrator trays from the dehydrator and set them on the counter. Allow the cranberries to cool for one hour.

Step 7

Pour the cooled, dried cranberries into a glass jar with lid, keeping the cranberries in the jar for one week and periodically shaking the jar to move the cranberries around. This process is called conditioning and distributes excess moisture so your cranberries are evenly dehydrated. Once you've conditioned your dried cranberries you can store them, for several months, in an airtight container.

Tip

Cranberries can also be dried in the sun or your oven.

Always dry berries that are fresh, ripe and free of bad spots or bruises for the best tasting dried cranberries.

Soak dried cranberries in a bowl of water for an hour to make them extra juicy for baked goods.

Warning

If moisture forms inside the container in which you're conditioning your dried cranberries, then the cranberries are not fully dehydrated. Dry the cranberries longer to prevent them from getting moldy, then repeat the conditioning process and store your cranberries.

Pearl or boiling onions can be used whole to make shish kebabs. Image Credit: Goodshoot/Goodshoot/Getty Images

Unless you are an onion connoisseur, you may be surprised to learn that the main difference between pearl and boiling onions has nothing to do with their flavor and little to do with texture. These onions gain their names from their size and use and aren't a special variety of onion at all. In fact, you can harvest either pearl or boiling onions from the same variety of onion plants.

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What Is a Pearl Onion?

Pearl onions are those delightful little onions you typically see in pickled veggies. While most are pearly white, pearl onions can be yellow or red as well. Pearl onions measure about 1 inch in diameter and are sweet and crisp and come from any variety of onions. These immature onions have not developed the strong flavor of mature onions. Their delicate flavor complements meats and poultry.

What Is a Boiling Onion?

In the case of the boiling onion, its name refers to its common use and size, not a variety of onion. These onions are often boiled whole in soups or stews or nestled around roasts to add flavor. Like the pearl onion, boiling onions are harvested when they are immature. Boiling onions are slightly larger than pearl onions and average 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter. Boiling onions are typically white or yellow, but can be red as well.

Flavor and Use

The flavor of both pearl and boiling onions varies depending on the type of onion they are harvested from. As a rule, white onions are slightly sweeter, while yellow and red onions have stronger flavors. Because pearl and boiling onions are both immature, sometimes referred to as baby onions, they lack the sharpness of mature onions. Used primarily for pickling with other baby vegetables, or pickled and served a condiment, pearl onions add visual appeal to the meal. Boiling onions, on the other hand, add delicate flavor to soups or stews and enhance the flavor of meats during roasting. When threaded on skewers with meats, poultry and fresh veggies, boiling onions add flavor while making a sharp color contrast to brighten the appearance of shish kebabs.

Common Confusion

Many use the term pearl and boiling onion interchangeably. Those in the grocery or sold at produce stands may be labeled as either. Some sellers refer to only small white onions as pearl onions and small yellow onions as boiling onions. The use of the terms pearl and boiling onion may differ between regions of the United States or from seller to seller. Likewise, the terms may be used interchangeably in recipes.