Cooking Hints & Tips Archive 17
Cooking Tip: To make lemon zest, use a sharp grater, removing only the yellow outer skin.
Cooking Tip: When cooking with butter, prevent it from burning by adding a little olive oil to the pan. The olive oil has a higher smoke point than butter and helps keep the butter from scorching. For best results, use light olive oil since it has a higher smoke point than extra-virgin or virgin olive oils.
Cooking Tip: Most recipes can be multiplied up to four times without changing the ingredient proportions. Cooking times, however, may be increased.
Cooking Tip: For safe reheating of leftovers, reheat to an internal temperature of 165F degrees or higher. For best results, stir food occasionally while reheating to help distribute the heat more evenly.
Cooking Tip: To toast coconut, spread it in a skillet. Cook on medium heat until lightly browned, stirring constantly.
Cooking Tip: For each 1 cup buttermilk called for in a recipe you can substitute: 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream; or 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup; or 1 cup milk plus 1 3/4 tablespoons cream of tartar; or 1/4 cup buttermilk powder and 1 cup water.
Cooking Tip: For each 1 cup corn syrup called for in a recipe you can substitute 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar or firmly packed brown sugar plus 1/4 cup liquid (use liquid called for in recipe).
Cooking Tip: For each 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar called for in a recipe, you can substitute 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses plus 1 cup granulated sugar.
Cooking Tip: You can substitute baking powder for baking soda (but not vice versa) in some instances. You will need to add more which may affect the taste. Baking powder contains baking soda but is not an equal substitute for it.
Cooking Tip: For 1 cup coconut milk, substitute 3 tablespoons canned cream of coconut plus hot water or warm low-fat milk to equal 1 cup; or substitute 1 cup whole milk plus 1 teaspoon coconut extract.
Cooking Tip: To unsalt nuts for a recipe, drop salted nuts in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes; drain. Dry on a baking sheet in a 200F degree oven. Cool and use.
Cooking Tip: Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to cranberries while cooking them and they will not require as much sugar.
Cooking Tip: When cooking with wine, leave the pan uncovered so the alcohol will burn off. The resulting liquid will have a rounder, firmer, fruitier flavor.
Cooking Tip: Roll fruits, raisins and nuts in flour before adding to cake batter. The will be less likely to sink to the bottom of the cake.
Cooking Tip: An apple cut in half and placed in the cake box will keep a cake fresh several days longer.
Cooking Tip: To remove the skin of almonds easily, soak them in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
Cooking Tip: Sprinkle a little flour on potatoes before frying them and they will be extra crispy and crunchy.
Cooking Tip: When breading chicken, coat the pieces with mayonnaise instead of egg. The mayonnaise clings to the chicken and doesn't drip like the egg does. Plus, it adds nice flavor.
Cooking Tip: If you are only using half an avocado, leave the pit in the unused half and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap. This will retard discoloration.
Cooking Tip: To make the tops of cakes level, fill cake pans about two-thirds full and spread batter well into corners and to the sides, leaving a slight hollow in the center.
Cooking Tip: Do not store olive oil in the refrigerator as it solidifies at 36 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cooking Tip: Nuts can turn rancid rather quickly so always store all nuts airtight in the freezer or refrigerator. In the refrigerator nuts last well for nine months; in the freezer at zero degrees they will last for two years. Bring them to room temperature before using.
Cooking Tip: Bring eggs to room temperature before hard boiling. This helps prevent cracking due to the sudden shock of temperature change and ensures a properly cooked egg.
Cooking Tip: Bring cheese to room temperature before melting. Melt cheese over a low heat to help prevent toughening and separation of oils and liquid.
Cooking Tip: Substitute 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa and 1/4 cup shortening for 4 ounces of baking chocolate.
Cooking Tip: Keep bacon slices from sticking together; roll the package into a tube shape and secure with rubber bands.
Cooking Tip: For easy peeling of hard boiled eggs, add a few drops of oil to some water. Crack the eggs and let stand in oil and water solution for a few minutes.
Cooking Tip: A slice of soft bread placed in the package of hardened brown sugar will soften it again in a couple of hours.
Cooking Tip: If you don't have time to make a cream sauce for vegetables, just combine equal parts mayonnaise and water used to cook the vegetables. Season to taste.
Cooking Tip: To keep cake moist, put half an apple in the cake box.
Cooking Tip: To peel tomatoes, fill a saucepan with enough water to cover tomatoes; bring to a boil. Immerse tomatoes about 30 seconds; drain and cool. Remove stem ends and slip off skins.
Cooking Tip: To seed tomatoes, cut tomatoes in half crosswise. Gently squeeze each half, using your fingers to remove seeds. To reserve the juice for use in dressings, sauces or soups, seed the tomato into a strainer held over a bowl.
Cooking Tip: To roast tomatoes, preheat oven to 450F degrees. Halve tomatoes crosswise. Place halves, cut side down, on a shallow baking pan; brush with oil. Roast until lightly browned, about 20 minutes; cool. Remove skins and stem ends.
Cooking Tip: To slow-cook tomatoes, preheat oven to 300F degrees. Remove stem ends; slice tomatoes. Place slices on a shallow baking pan; brush with oil. Cook until tomatoes soften and shrink, about 45 minutes.
Cooking Tip: To make tomato shells, cut a 1/2 inch slice off the stem end of each tomato. Using a spoon, scoop out the pulp.
Cooking Tip: Bouquet garni are little bundles of herbs and spices tied together with twine or wrapped in cheesecloth. These packets are added to soups, stocks, sauces, braises, or any other dish with a lot of liquid and a long simmer. A bouquet garni (pronounced boo-kay gahr-nee) keeps all the herbs together, making them easy to remove.
Cooking Tip: You can tie a bouquet garni with twine, but if you're using small spices like peppercorns or cloves, or if you're worried about thyme leaves getting into a clear soup, you should bind everything in a more secure wrapping. Cheesecloth is ideal (some chefs call this kind of bouquet garni a sachet), but leek leaves or wide celery ribs also work. If the leek leaves are especially thick and difficult to fold, soften them first by dropping them briefly in boiling water or zapping them in the microwave.
Cooking Tip: When freezing large fruit, sort them carefully, remove pits, cores and stems and pare where necessary. Treat fruits that tend to discolor, such as apple, peaches and apricots with lemon juice. If these fruits are packed in combination with citrus fruits this step may be skipped.
Cooking Tip: Fragile berries and cherries should be washed in ice water to firm them before freezing. And any commercial or suspect fruit should be washed to clean them. Drain well on paper toweling. After culling, hulling and stemming they are ready for freezing with or without sugar. Blanch blueberries to soften skins. If whole strawberries are packaged without sugar, prick them with a fork to release the air. Unsweetened raspberries may be frozen in a single layer on trays and packaged after freezing to keep them whole and uncrushed. This way they will weep less if thawed and used whole as garnishes.
Cooking Tip: Apple, raspberry, plum, cherry and grape juice freeze well as do ciders. For each gallon add 1/2 tsp. Ascorbic acid or 2 tsp. lemon juice. Cherries, plums and grapes have better flavor if cooked first as there is flavor to extract from the skins. Raspberries are best frozen whole with sugar and the juice extracted after they are thawed. Fruit for jelly may be frozen unsugared and the juice extracted later.
Cooking Tip: To make celery more crisp, put it in a bowl of water and add ice. Leave it in the refrigerator a few hours.
Cooking Tip: Place overripe tomatoes in cold water and add some salt. Overnight they will become firm and fresh.
Cooking Tip: To retain honey's texture, always store it at room temperature; never in the refrigerator. If your honey becomes cloudy, don't worry. It's just crystallization, a natural process. Place your honey jar in warm water until the crystals disappear. If you're in a hurry, place it in a microwave-safe container and heat it in the microwave on HIGH for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Remember, never boil or scorch honey.
Cooking Tip: Let cookies cool completely before storing. Store different types of cookies in separate containers so they'll keep their original flavor and texture.
Cooking Tip: To keep homemade cookies just-baked fresh, put a slice of white bread in the jar or container.
Cooking Tip: Biscuits will be crisp on the outside and flaky in the center if you roll the dough thin and fold it over once before cutting out biscuits. They'll also split open easily when you're ready to butter them.
Cooking Tip: To speed up the process of bean soaking, place washed beans in a large covered bowl with water and microwave until it comes to a full boil. Let sit in the microwave for about 1 hour and you have pre-soaked beans; then cook as desired.
Cooking Tip: To keep marshmallows from turning hard, store them in the freezer. When thawed, they're like fresh.
Cooking Tip: Keep your coffee fresh. Buy only a week's supply at a time. Store ground coffee in a tightly covered container in your refrigerator.
Cooking Tip: Use unflavored dental floss to slice evenly and cleanly through a cake or torte. Simply stretch a length of the floss taut and press down through the cake.
Cooking Tip: Freeze light and heavy cream, evaporated milk and half-and-half for up to two months. Heavy cream may not whip after thawing. Thaw in the refrigerator and use for cooking.
Cooking Tip: Chocolate should be stored in a cool, dry place at a temperature of about 60F. If the chocolate becomes too warm, the cocoa butter rises to the surface and forms a dusty gray film known as "bloom." This "bloom" is not harmful and, once the chocolate is melted, it returns to its natural rich brown color.
Cooking Tip: An egg stored under refrigeration for one week will be fresher than one stored at room temperature for just one day! The inside of an egg may be bacteria free, while due its porous nature, the shell may hold a high bacteria count.
Cooking Tip: The best way to store fresh celery is to wrap it in aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator - it will keep for weeks.
Cooking Tip: If you are only using half an avocado, leave the pit in the unused half and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap. This will retard discoloration.
Cooking Tip: Look for firm, smooth, well-shaped potatoes all year round. Avoid those with sprouts, green coloring or bruises. Generally, you'll find all-purpose, baking, red (best for boiling) and sweet varieties of potatoes.
Cooking Tip: Store potatoes in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place. Protect potatoes from moisture and light since both can cause the potatoes to turn green. Never refrigerate potatoes because cold changes the starch to sugar and affects the taste. Scrub potatoes just before using.
Cooking Tip: Choose a firm head of cauliflower with compact florets and crisp green leaves. Avoid any heads with yellow or brown spots. Store unwashed cauliflower in a perforated resealable plastic bag in the refrigerator and use within 4 days of purchase.
Cooking Tip: Asparagus should be green with firm stalks and closed, compact tips when bought. To store, stand fresh asparagus spears upright in a container filled with about 1 inch of water. Cover loosely with a plastic bag and refrigerate.
Cooking Tip: To restore most of the original crispness to slightly limp carrots, soak them in ice water for 30 minutes.
