Double cooking of vegetables


Double cooking of vegetables
When you cook vegetables, it's not easy to capture and preserve the flavours.
It is easy to undercook, but you can make up for it, or overcook, and then it is unfortunately a bit cooked (in the sense of "ruined").
But above all, how to get the maximum of the taste of the vegetable in the pan, then in your plate, and not in the air of the kitchen or the cooking water?
It's not easy, many cooks will tell you that cooking meat is relatively simple, but that vegetables...
21 K 4.1/5 (27 reviews)
Grade this page:
Keywords for this post:CookingVegetablesBoiling waterSaltDoubleTip
Last modified on: July 12th 2019
For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend
Double cooking of vegetables
Add to all this that, in addition, it is difficult to generalize, that is to say that for such and such a vegetable it is better to do like this while for others it is better to do like that.

Insoluble?
No, not exactly, in fact there is a method that gives very good results for almost all vegetables, it is the double cooking.

How does it work?
The general principle is that we cook a first time in boiling salted water (cooking called"A l'anglaise", by the French), then a second cooking with a little fat, butter or oil for example according to your taste. This double cooking, even if it is a little longer, is the quasi insurance of a taste of the vegetable revealed and preserved.

But rather than discuss it, I'll take an example with Brussels sprouts, which are tasty vegetables (but that it is easy to completely mess them up by overcooking them, like at the canteen when you were little).

The double cooking of Brussels sprouts
1) Peel and wash

lavage et découpe choux de bruxelles


Peel, cut in 4 if the cabbages are big to have pieces not bigger than a sugar cube, and wash with water.


2) First cooking

première cuisson


The cabbages are plunged into a large volume of salted water (1 tablespoon of coarse salt per litre of water), and cooked until they are tender, but not melting, it is very important

3) Cool quickly

légumes refroidis et égouttés


Remove the cabbages from the cooking water with a skimmer and plunge them into very cold water, to stop cooking immediately, then drain carefully.

Note that the cooking water at this point is no longer simple salt water, it is already starting to be a vegetable broth, and you should keep it in the fridge after cooling, for other cooking of other vegetables.

4) Second cooking

Deuxième cuisson


In a saucepan or a frying pan, heat a large knob of butter or a little olive oil, once hot, add a finely chopped shallot, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute, without colouring. Then add the vegetables, well drained, and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, hardly more. Serve immediately.

If you don't know, or have never practiced, you might be very surprised by the delicate taste of the vegetables treated this way. Making for example a dish with 3 or 4 different vegetables, in season, with this method, will give you a rather simple dish, just vegetables, but also exceptional in taste and finesse.

Some more info-
For an even more delicate taste, use instead of boiling water, a vegetable or poultry stock.
- For the seasoning, just salt and pepper you have seen, but some finesse is quite possible, like a little fleur de sel just before serving, or a sophisticated pepper.
- Obviously, and as always, it is much better with seasonal vegetables.

To sum up: The next time you have vegetables to cook, try the double cooking, boiling salted water, then pass in shallot, or onion, sautéed in butter or olive oil.

Lasts posts
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...
May 19th 20251,125 15
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".
April 25th 20251,5605
The thermometer is your friend
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...
April 10th 20251,8475
Travel cakes
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27th 20253,331
The aromatic power of sugar
The aromatic power of sugar
In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...
December 25th 20243,7895

Other pages you may also like
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7th 2017128 K 14.1
A few tips for effective kneading at home
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.
June 23th 2021276 K 23.7
Kitchen ovens
Kitchen ovens
You certainly have one in your kitchen, an oven, the essential tool for all kinds of cooking, whether in the kitchen of course, but also in pastry, bakery, pizza, and many others. Here is some information on its structure and operation.
May 16th 202029 K4.4
Steam for baking bread
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...
June 16th 2021140 K4.5
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.
June 21th 201762 K 24.2
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page