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Daily Mirror
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
Expert says we're cooking frozen peas wrong and shares method
Frozen peas are a kitchen staple, but you might be cooking them all wrong - according to a culinary expert who says boiling them makes them 'mushy' and 'bland' Boiling frozen peas might be the standard method of cooking them for many, but a culinary expert has warned that this technique can turn them "mushy" and "bland". When you boil peas, you're essentially leaching out their flavour as the sugars leach into the water, according to Erica Walker, co-founder of Favorite Family Recipes. In contrast, she recommends sauteing the little green gems to unlock their natural sweetness, creating a tastier and more visually appealing side dish. She said: "There's actually a correct way to cook frozen peas, and it isn't boiling! You can have sweet, crisp, vibrant green peas in less than 10 minutes." This common cooking error not only diminishes the taste but also results in the loss of key nutrients, boiling away vitamins C and B. By gently frying your peas with a little bit of butter, you'll elevate their flavour and retain a delightful crunch, steering clear of overboiled, soggy peas. Plus, you'll find that sauteing frozen peas not only preserves their flavour, but it's also quicker since there's no waiting for a pot of water to boil, reports the Express. How to make frozen peas taste better Simply throw peas, butter, sugar, and garlic into a large frying pan. Adding sugar may seem unusual, but it will help underline the inherent succulence of the peas while nullifying any potential bitterness. Erica said: "Add a little sugar to the peas. Just enough to enhance the natural sweetness of the peas. It's ok, it won't taste weird and it will bring out the natural sweetness." She also shared the perfect moment to season your peas for maximum flavour. "Don't add salt until ready to serve," she said. "Salting them too early can dehydrate them and they (obviously) won't be as sweet. Salt them after they have cooked and you can salt to taste." Dish out these perfectly seasoned peas and you'll be treated to a side that's bursting with taste, a delightful change from the usual bitter, overdone greens that can sometimes seem like a tedious task to get through.
Daily Record
19-05-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Stop boiling frozen peas as another method makes them taste 'sweet and vibrant'
If, like millions of people, you boil your frozen peas, there's a better way that makes them taste much better Cooking frozen peas is possibly one of the easiest steps when preparing a meal, but one expert says we need to stop tossing them into boiling water a few minutes. In fact, boiling your peas is a sure fire way to make them 'bland' says Erica Walker, cook and co founder of Favorite Family Recipes. So if you've been happily making the popular accompaniment this way for years, it might come as a surprise to learn it's incorrect. Instead, we need to sauté peas to maintain their vibrant flavour and their nutrients which is lost when boiling them. The process of adding them to boiling water and cooking this way dilutes the flavour and causes their natural sugars to seep out into the water. Peas are packed with vitamins including vitamins C and B and these are lost in the process of boiling them, says Erica. "You can have sweet, crisp, vibrant green peas in less than ten minutes." Instead, it is much better to sauté peas as it will enhance their natural sweetness so you will have a more vibrant vegetable that is more flavourful and appetising to eat. She said to always take the time to sauté peas with a little bit of butter as it greatly improves the taste and also gives them a better texture as they will be slightly firm rather than a mushy overcooked mess. Erica said sautéing frozen peas makes them tastier and actually makes them much quicker to cook, as you do not have to wait for the water to boil, reports The Express. How to make frozen peas tastier You will need: One bag of frozen green peas Three cloves of garlic (crushed) Two teaspoons of sugar Six tablespoons of butter Salt and pepper Instructions To begin, add the peas, butter, sugar and garlic to a large frying pan. It may seem odd to use sugar but it helps bring out the peas inherent flavour and balances their slightly bitter aftertaste. Erica said: 'Add a little sugar to the peas. Just enough to enhance the natural sweetness of the peas. It's ok, it won't taste weird and it will bring out the natural sweetness.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Once the the peas and fully cooked, turn off the heat and then season them with salt and pepper. If you wish you can also add other toppings such as mint, lemon juice or even parmesan cheese for more flavour. Erica said: 'Don't add salt until ready to serve. Salting them too early can dehydrate them and they (obviously) won't be as sweet. "Salt them after they have cooked and you can salt to taste.' Your peas will be a delicious side dish that is bursting with flavour rather than a bitter overcooked vegetable you feel obligated to to eat. Place the frying pan on a medium heat and cook the peas for five to seven minutes until the butter has melted. Make sure to stir them so none of the peas stick to the bottom of the pan.
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Rumbly, squeaky, screechy MBTA trains can emit up to 115 decibels, a Globe review found. That's wicked loud.
Veteran riders won't be surprised to learn that several stops with reputations for noisiness were, indeed, piercing. Inside the Government Center stop at peak screech, the sound level hit an average of 105 dBA. At Park Street Station, trains rounding a tight corner averaged 111 dBA. And at Boylston Station, the screech of trains heading east hit an average of 104 dBA, with a peak reading of 115 dBA, Advertisement That is way too loud, said Dr. Erica Walker, a sound researcher at Brown University who has analyzed noise levels in Boston and the way that bothersome sounds 'We shouldn't automatically say that the louder the decibels, the more irritating it is, because it just depends on the individual,' Walker said. 'But I can safely assume that 115 decibels for a train pulling into the station is outrageous. I think it could be viewed as a major community irritant.' The loudest sounds tend to come when the tracks are bendiest, as they often are downtown, when the flange of train cars' wheels press and grind against the rails. But they are also noisy on straightaways, when fast-moving trains — including the older ones that have worn and warped with time — rumble in their tunnels, and as train shoes make contact with electrified third rails. The T has been using sound-dampening equipment on its newer cars to cut down on this noise. A Globe reporter used a sound level meter to capture the decibel readings on the Green Line. Danielle DuBois/Globe The long-beleaguered T has shown signs of improvement lately, not least of which are the removal of 'slow zones' after lengthy shutdowns in recent years. But noise at stations is a stubborn, hard-to-miss side effect of a twisty, turn-y system built eons ago. To put numbers to the sounds T riders love to hate, the Globe took readings over the course of several days at a selection of infamously noisy spots, using a Tadeto SL720 digital sound level meter. Advertisement It recorded sound levels from the run-of-the-mill to the extreme. Some areas averaged 85 dBA, including on the westbound platform of Boylston stop, a level considered safe for sustained exposure. A Globe reporter used a sound level meter to capture the decibel readings on the Green Line. Danielle DuBois/Globe Other sections of track reached much higher readings, even without the characteristic screeching on the Green Line. While riding inside Red Line trains between Park Street and Alewife stations, for example, most trips registered at between 80-90 decibels. But on one day of testing, noise inside a train traveling between Porter and Harvard peaked at 110 dBA, which, Related : On another day, the meter went even higher, hitting 111 dBA between both Porter and Davis stations and between Davis and Alewife stations. The difference between the lower and higher readings is big: Just a 10 decibel increase in sound is perceived as twice as loud by human ears, experts say. The T, which also records decibel levels emitted by its trains, said it can be hard to rule out background sounds when taking readings. The agency said T staff who recently rode a new and empty Red Line train from Park Street to Alewife found average decibel levels in the mid-70s. The Globe experiment didn't control for the many variables on a busy subway train, including speed, weather, or time of day. While this reporter has been riding the T for years, he is not a sound scientist. The sound of MBTA Red Line trains rumbling through the tunnels between Park and Alewife averaged around 90 dBA, but in some cases leaped to above 110 dBA, a Globe analysis found. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff But in test after test, the T lived up to its reputation for noisiness. Advertisement Here are some of the results, averaged over multiple visits on separate days, in dBA: Inside Boylston Station, as trains headed west: 85 On a Red Line train traveling from Harvard to Porter: 90 On a Red Line train traveling from Porter to Harvard: 92 Inside Boylston, as Green Line trains headed east: 104 Inside Government Center, as trains entered the station: 105 Inside Park Street, as Green Line trains entered the station: 111 All of these sounds can be unpleasant. But are they damaging? Probably not, because, according to Meaghan Reed, clinical director of audiology at Mass Eye and Ear, when it comes to sound, timing is everything. 'Generally, most riders are not exposed to sound for that long,' Reed said. 'So while it can be irritating and uncomfortable while you're exposed to it, unless that level is significantly louder than that, I wouldn't expect it to be at a damaging level.' Related : Headphones, especially when people turn up their music to drown out the sound of public transit, may be doing more damage. 'People are listening to headphones much longer than they're going through a little corner on the Green Line,' she said. For its part, the T is aware of how noisy its trains and stations can be. It records decibel levels during routine inspections, agency spokesperson Lisa Battiston said, and has tried to make it better. More than 70 'rail lubricators' have been installed to reduce screeching, Battiston said, and new cars have 'greasers' that reduce friction. 'This lubrication effort is very nuanced,' Battiston said. 'Our teams are always working to make sure enough grease is deployed to mitigate the noisy friction, but not so much as to interfere with train operations and braking.' Advertisement Name that tune. There can also be noisy trade-offs. The removal of slow zones on the Red Line, for example, has allowed trains to travel faster. On the Braintree branch, trains are now moving at 50 miles per hour And faster trains are noisier. 'As the older Red Line fleet of trains travels faster, there will likely be an increase in the ambient noise,' Battiston said. 'However, the sound will be mitigated as we continue to replace the fleet with newer cars.' Public transit is far from the only source of sound in a city. Trains are noisy, but so are lumbering delivery trucks, barking dogs, helicopters, HVAC systems, the clang-clang of construction work, and on and on. Over the past week of testing, largely downtown, peace and quiet waxed and waned. When the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common, a frequent site of noisy protests, was vacant on a recent Wednesday, it registered about 55 dBA. Inside the Tatte coffee shop next to the Boylston stop, the sound of Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' over the cafe's speakers registered at 74 dBA. A jackhammer being used by a construction crew outside the Old State House, meanwhile, topped out at 110 dBA. Trains are also not the only noisy things in a T stop: A busker who was singing into a microphone at the State Station's Blue Line platform registered at 110 dBA. It's not clear if lowering all but the loudest of subway noise can meaningfully reduce stress in a city, said Walker, the noise researcher at Brown. Advertisement 'Mitigating sounds from the MBTA as much as we can would be a great benefit,' Walker said. 'But if we quiet that sound, there's going to be a million other sounds we have to quiet, and a million other stressors we have to deal with.' Cities, she said, can make a big difference by prioritizing other noise sources, for example by updating building codes to suppress sound that travels through walls and floors. That way, even if your commute is jackhammer-loud, your bedroom is a place to be at peace. 'We have unlimited wants and we have very limited resources,' Walker said. 'I'm always like, 'Pick your poison.' ' Globe correspondent Emily Spatz contributed to this report. An MBTA Green Line train pulled into the platform inside Kenmore Station. Lane Turner/Globe Staff Spencer Buell can be reached at
