It’s election day, making me think no one will read this post. But then again, maybe you want a distraction and plan to distract yourself with tacos! In that case, we’re in business.
As a culinary instructor who’s been teaching cooking classes for over twenty years, I love sharing cooking tips that make recipes easier and more efficient. I share these little nuggets in my cooking classes. They’re nothing earth-shattering, but over time, they can save you some serious time and energy in the kitchen. And if you can’t attend one of my cooking classes in person or through my online cooking school, this “Smart Tip” series allows me to share.
I’m not a fan of kitchen gadgets, but if I have something clogging up my kitchen drawer, I want it to be multi-purpose.
One of the tools in my kitchen that gets used creatively is my pastry blender. Typically used to blend butter into flour for pie crusts or pastry (or, in my grandma’s case, Crisco). But it’s also the perfect tool for breaking up ground meat while it cooks. You can use a pastry blender when you’re sauteing ground beef, turkey, chicken, pork or lamb that you’re using for tacos, lettuce cups, stuffed peppers or pasta sauce.
What’s a Pastry Blender?
As we mentioned above, a pastry blender is a kitchen tool used to mix fat into flour when making pastries. It features a handle with several sharp metal wires or blades that cut through the fat, creating a crumbly texture perfect for flaky crusts.
Typical Uses of a Pastry Blender
Making Pie Crusts: The sharp blades help blend cold butter with flour.
Scones and Biscuits: Helps create the perfect crumbly texture for baked goods.
Crumble Toppings: Mixes butter with flour, sugar, spices and nuts to make crumble toppings for crisps, crumble-topped desserts, or muffins.
Mashing Fruit: Breaks up cooked fruits for fillings, preserves or sauces.
How it Works for Ground Meat
When cooking ground meat, getting an even, crumbly texture is key for tacos, Bolognese or ragu. Here’s where your trusty little pastry blender comes in handy. It works way better than the 4-sided ground meat tools. As the ground meat cooks, use the pastry blender to break it up and separate it into little pieces. The sharp handheld tool lets you easily and quickly crumble the meat into smaller pieces, helping it cook evenly and enhancing flavor absorption from spices and sauces.
You might want to be careful about using a sharp gadget on your pots and pans, but I’ve done it for years without ruining any of mine. It helps me make ground meat recipes come together fast. Anything that gets dinner on the table faster is a win in my book.
Here’s a recommendation for an inexpensive plastic-handled pastry blender. I love the look of this wood handle. You can also get this set and use the bench scraper to move ingredients from your cutting board to your pan.
That’s it for today, friends. Make some saucy election tacos, and grab your pastry blender to help them turn out even better.
Thanksgiving Cooking Class!
I will have occasional cooking classes for paid subscribers (both monthly and yearly peops). First up, Smarty Pants Thanksgiving Cooking Class (gobble gobble!) on Zoom. This class is for paid subscribers only. Get my favorite Thanksgiving recipes, my family’s menu, organization tips, and time with yours truly. All paid subscribers will be invited and receive the recipes and Zoom link. Mark your calendars for Thursday, November 14, at 4 p.m. CST. Are you a member of my online cooking school? Hold tight because you’ll be invited as a bonus class for November!
Order my award-winning cookbook, Dinner is Done! It includes over 100 weeknight and family-friendly recipes, including chapters on meatless mains, fish and sauces, appetizers and snacks, cocktails, desserts and more.
Share this post