Question: I have tomato paste in a can but the recipe calls for tomato puree. How can I substitute the paste for the purée. Is there any difference beyond the consistency? — Anonymous, West Palm Beach
Answer: Consistency is the main difference between paste and purée, as well as tomato sauce. Among other differences are added ingredients, with the paste having the least. The paste, as the name suggests, is the most concentrated, thick enough to hold its shape when spooned out on a plate. Ripe tomatoes are cooked and puréed, then strained and cooked again for several hours until thick. It may have added salt and spices, or nothing at all depending on brand.
Puréed tomatoes are cooked briefly then puréed and strained. As in the case of paste, it may have salt and spices added, or nothing but tomatoes. To substitute the paste in place of the purée, you can get 1 cup of puree by adding two-third cup water to one-third cup paste. Tomato sauce is somewhat thinner than tomato purée, and has sugar or high fructose corn syrup put in, in addition to salt and spices.
All three canned products are convenience foods and have a definite place in your cupboard. They can quickly add taste and texture to soups, sauces and gravies. We sometimes use the paste even in Indian-style curries.
Q. How should you cook hard-boiled eggs to come out without the gray-green cast surrounding the yolks? Also what can you do to make the peeling easier? — Several readers
A. Here is how we do and the results are consistently good. Place the number of eggs you need — very gently to avoid any cracks — in a single layer in a large enough pot. Fill with cool water to come up about half inch above the eggs. Place on the stove turned to high.
As soon as the water has come to a boil, shut off heat, if you have an electric range, as we do. Cover and let the pot remain on the ring for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the eggs. If you have gas, reduce heat as soon as the water boils, cover and let the pot simmer gently for about a minute. Shut off heat and let the eggs sit as above.
When time is up, drain and place the eggs in cool water. Pick up the cooled eggs one at a time, crack the shells all over by tapping on the counter and roll it between your palms to loosen the shell. Doing it under running water will keep shell fragments away. Halve each egg with a sharp knife. There should be no gray-green ring around each uniformly cooked yellow. The ring comes from overcooking, when the sulfur in the white reacts with the iron in the yolks.
As for peeling problems, you can add a few cubes of ice to the cooling water to let the sudden temperature difference help loosen the shell. But the only sure remedy is to use older eggs. Buy an extra carton and let it sit in the fridge for a week, if you are planning on serving hard-cooked eggs. (The Egg Board hates the word “hard-boiled,” which probably misleads people into overcooking).
Q. For a cookie recipe, I need some hazelnuts. Can you tell me how best to remove the brown skin from the nuts? — E.R., West Palm Beach
A. I don’t know if hazelnuts’ great taste is entirely intrinsic or is enhanced by the degree of difficulty encountered in obtaining the sweet meat within the somewhat bitter skin. There are several ways of skinning the nuts and each has its adherents. Try and take your pick.
Method 1: Place nuts in a single layer on a tray and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes until the nuts are fragrant. Allow the nuts to cool completely before trying to rub the skins off with a terry kitchen towel. A variation on this theme suggests enclosing the hot nuts in the towel to allow steam to help loosen the skin.
Method 2: Bring enough water to boil in a suitably large nonreactive pot, add the nuts and a couple of tablespoons baking soda. (Be careful, it will fizz a lot.) Boil about 3 minutes. Drain and add cool water. Drain again and rub off skin in a terry towel. Bake the dried nuts as above. Variation: Do not add soda; may compromise taste, although the soda adherents assert it does not.
Easy out: Buy the amount of hazelnut paste you need. Getting sweetened paste will be easier. For unsweetened, look in well-stocked gourmet and health food stores. Try Whole Foods Market (561-691-8550) or Publix Greenwise market in your area.