General Tips | Cleaning | Cooking & Preparation | Eggs
Food Storage | Freezing | Fruits & Nuts | Grilling
COOKING & PREPARATION:
Brown Sugar (to soften): Two quick methods for softening brown sugar that has hardened include 1) Place hardened brown sugar in a bowl; cover with a damp paper towel and microwave for about twenty to twenty-five seconds. Do not overcook as the brown sugar may melt and become somewhat runny, or 2) Place hardened brown sugar in a baking pan; warm in a 250-degree F oven for about five minutes. If the sugar still has not softened, continue warming (but check it every few minutes) until sugar becomes soft.
Cabbage Cooking Odors: To minimize odors while cooking cabbage, put half-a-lemon in the water while boiling to keep the smell from filling the kitchen. Overcooking also makes cabbage smell stronger, so try and keep the vegetable crisp.
Clear Coffee: For clear coffee, put egg shells in the brewing basket while perking.
Coffee Without the Coffee Pot: If your coffee pot ever quite working and it's not convenient to go and purchase a new one, never fear. You can still make coffee the old fashioned way - or what my Father refers to as "Sheepherder's Coffee." Simply place a cracked egg shell in a large cooking pot with about one gallon of water. Spoon in the amount of coffee to your taste. Boil and brew your coffee this way, and the grounds will sink to the bottom. The brew might be a bit stout, but it will do nicely in an emergency. You'll also learn how to adjust the amounts of ground coffee into the water to suit your taste eventually.
Cooking Beets: If beets lose their color when boiled, add a little lemon juice to the water.
Cooking Burgers Fast: To cook hamburgers quickly, poke a hole in the middle of the burger patties while shaping them. The burgers will cook faster and evenly, and the holes disappear when the meat cooks.
Cooking Cauliflower: To keep cauliflower white while cooking, add a little milk to the water.
Cooking Ground Beef Small: When cooking ground beef, use a hand-held potato masher while simmering the meat. This will break up the large pieces and create "smooth" hamburger.
Cooking Pasta: To keep the pasta water from boiling over, spray the inside edge of the cooking pot with a bit of nonstick cooking spray. Tip from Mr. Food.
Cooking Pasta #2: Cover the pot of water in order for it to reach the boiling point quickly. Tip from Mr. Food.
Cooking Pasta #3: Add salt to the cooking water just before adding pasta; it will enhance its flavor and enable it to absorb sauce. Tip from Mr. Food.
Cooking Pasta #4: Only rinse cooked pasta if it's not being sauced and served immediately. Rinsing it washes away its natural taste and texture. Tip from Mr. Food.
Cooking Vegetables Fast: Onions, broccoli and Brussels Sprouts will cook faster if you carve an "X" shape in the base of the vegetable.
Creamier Mashed Potatoes: When making homemade mashed potatoes, substitute the milk with liquid Coffee Mate. You'll notice a big difference in the taste. It's much creamier. Lactose-intolerant people can enjoy it as well, as Coffee Mate is lactose-free.
Fluffier Rice: For fluffier, whiter rice, add one teaspoon of lemon juice per one quart of water during the cooking process.
Iced Tea Tip: Add a bit of hot water to instant tea before adding the cold water. This will dissolve the crystals completely.
Keep Bacon From Curling: To keep bacon from curling while frying, snip the middle section of each raw bacon slice with a knife or scissors before adding to the frying pan to cook.
Keep Onions Fresh: After an onion has been cut in half, rub the cut side with butter or margarine to keep it fresher longer.
Keep Sausage From Breaking: To prevent sausage from breaking up while frying, boil the meat in water first (for about 10 minutes). The sausage will shrink less and not break-up. Also try rolling the sausage in flour before cooking to prevent breakage.
Keep Strawberries Fresh: Strawberries will stay fresher longer when kept in a colander in the refrigerator. Don't wash until just before using.
Make Your Own Celery Flakes: Cut and wash leaves from the celery stalks; place them in the oven on low heat or in the hot sun until thoroughly dry. Crumble and store in an air-tight container.
Moist Baking: To make baked food more moist, place a separate pan on a lower rack underneath the item being baked. Fill the pan half-way with water just before closing the oven door. For longer baking times, re-fill the pan with boiling water as needed. This method works very well when baking roasts. Use extreme caution when pouring boiling water into a hot oven. From "The Joy of Cooking, 90's Edition" via Gene Ha.
Moist Ham: To bake a moist ham, empty a can of coca-cola into the baking pan and wrap the ham in aluminum foil. Bake for about thirty minutes, and before the ham is finished remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the cola for a wonderful brown gravy.
More Lemon Juice: To get more juice out of a fresh lemon, submerge the lemon in hot water for about 15 minutes before squeezing, or warm the lemons in an oven for a few minutes.
Non-Greasy Gravy: To eliminate most of the grease from gravy, add a bit of baking soda.
Non-Stick Meat Loaf: Meat loaf will not stick if you place a slice of bacon on the bottom of the pan before baking.
Onions & Weeping: To avoid "weepy onion eyes," try peeling the onions under cold water, or freeze them slightly before chopping.
Oven Hint: Never line the oven with aluminum foil. If you do, the heat will not circulate.
Peeling Garlic: Microwave garlic cloves for fifteen seconds and the skins should pull off easily.
Peeling Garlic II: Tap the outside of a garlic clove with the handle of a knife (preferably one with a heavy handle). The skins should peel off easier. Tapping the clove on a countertop also has the same effect.
Perfect Noodles: For perfect noodles, add the uncooked pasta to boiling water, then turn off the heat and let stand for about 20 minutes. Noodles won't stick to the pan, they won't overcook, and you won't have to stir the noodles in the pot.
Perk-Up Soggy Lettuce: To perk-up soggy lettuce, add lemon juice to a bowl of cold water. Soak the lettuce in the water for an hour in the refrigerator.
Prevent Clogged Salt Shaker: To prevent a clogged salt shaker, place a few grains of raw white rice in the shaker with the salt.
Prevent Spattering While Frying: Sprinkle a bit of salt into the frying pan to prevent spattering while cooking.
Preventing Boilovers: To prevent boilover's, add a lump of butter, or a few teaspoons of cooking oil to the water. Rice or pasta will not boil over, or stick together.
Reheating Squash: When re-heating squash, add some maple syrup before warming to improve the taste.
Remove Excess Fat: Refrigerate excess fat in a large container, and then after it hardens, skim the fat off from the top and discard.
Remove Excess Fat #2: Remove fat from soups and stews by dropping ice cubes into the pot. As you stir, the fat will cling to the cubes.
Remove Rind From Ham: To remove the rind on a ham, slit the rind lengthwise on the underside before placing the ham in a roasting pan. As the ham cooks, the rind will pull away for easy removal without having to lift the ham.
Restoring Overcooked Potatoes: If you add too much milk to mashed potatoes, they can become soggy and have a consistency akin to soup. To restore your spuds, sprinkle on some dried powdered milk, or instant potato flakes, and mix well. They will become fluffier, and not as runny.
Ripen Avocados: To ripen avocados, bury them in a large bowl of flour.
Salty Stew: If your stew seems too salty, add raw-cut potatoes to the mix. Discard the potatoes after they have cooked and absorbed the salt.
Scalded Milk: Add a bit of sugar (without stirring) to milk in a pan to prevent it from scorching.
Soften Butter Quickly: To soften butter quickly, try grating it first.
Softening Brown Sugar: To soften up brown sugar, add a slice of bread to the package and re-seal it tightly. In about two hours, the brown sugar will be soft again.
Softening Brown Sugar #2: To soften brown sugar quickly, microwave more than you need for about ten or 20 seconds. Repeat if necessary. Tip from Gene Ha.
Soggy Chips: Heat soggy chips under a broiler for a few minutes and they will crisp back up.
Smooth Potato Salad: When making potato salad, instead of cubing the cooked potato, use a potato masher instead. If you run the masher through the cooked potato a few times, this will break up the big pieces and leave a creamier texture. This method will also allow any spices you add to absorb into the potatoes quicker, bringing out their flavors. Tip from Claudene Stahle, Bountiful, Utah.
Stop Food From Sticking to Pan: Boil vinegar in a brand-new frying pan to prevent food from sticking during cooking.
Tastier Fried Chicken: For a better-tasting fried chicken that turns a golden brown, roll the raw chicken pieces in powdered milk instead of flour before frying.
Tenderizing Cube Steak: To tenderize cube steak, place the meat between wax paper or plastic wrap, and pound out with a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin. Brown the meat until it is very dark but not burnt. Then add a can of either mushroom soup, beefy mushroom soup or golden mushroom soup to the pan to make a gravy. Cook very slowly on simmer. When the meat is done, it should be very tender and tasty to boot. Tip from Claudene Stahle, Bountiful, Utah.
Yellow Corn: To keep corn-on-the-cob yellow, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the cooking water about one minute before taking it off the stove.
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