Here are a few cooking tips that I have learned over the years that might be interesting to some of you.
1. Wire whips are great for all kinds of things.
- Cutting shortening into flour when making pie dough or biscuits
- When browning ground beef for sauces or burritos, you can either use it in the pan to break
down all the lumps, or after browning, put the meat into a metal colander to bust up the
lumps (this eliminates a lot of grease too)
- If you have a lot of hardboiled eggs to chop for salads, etc. put them all in a bowl and take
that wire whip to them.
2. Rule of thumb for cooking vegetables
- if they grow under ground, start them in cold water
- if they grow above ground, start them in hot water
3. When breading fish, chicken, or veg, use 3 bowls, 1 for flour, 1 for the egg wash, 1 for the
coating. Keep one hand for the dry stuff and one hand for the wet, (or use a fork for dipping
in the egg)
4. If you are using batter or breading on your chicken or fish and it is still frozen, make sure all
the ice crystals are thawed off first or the batter or breading will "blow" off when you put it in
the fryer.
5. When putting food into a fryer or hot skillet with oil in it, lay the item in, by moving your hand
away from you. Use a smooth motion and you won't get burned
6. If you burn yourself, especially with grease, if you put vinegar on it immediately, it not only
takes that burning feeling away, it can also keep the burn from blistering. I like to pour the
vinegar onto a paper towel and keep applying it as long as it takes for it to stop hurting.
7. When cutting onions or garlic, use a stainless steel knife. When done, wash the knife off under
running water, making sure you rub any of your fingers that you used along the blade and
under the running water at the same time. All the odor will be gone. There is no need to buy
extra "aroma" eradicators. Actually, any piece of stainless steel will work as long as you hold
it under the running water while rubbing it along your hands or fingers. I like using the knife
though, cause then it is clean too. The sooner you get the aroma off your hands, the better.
8. Don't put your good knives in the dishwasher! In fact, they shouldn't have soap on them at all
as it dulls them.
9. Peanut Oil is great for frying. It doesn't have any cholesterol, it has a high smoke point, and if
you use it in your fryer, you can use it to fry both fish and potatoes or chicken, as it has no
transfer of taste. This is the only oil where this is true. Though expensive, it pays off since you
can use it longer.
10. Perfect roasts can be acheived by putting all your ingredients (carrots, celery, onions, meat,
a bit of liquid, etc.) into the roaster, cover with a lid or foil and pop it into an oven that has
been pre-heated to its' highest temperature for 30 minutes. Then turn the oven down to
325° or 165°C for 2 hours. Your roast comes out wonderful, brown, and tender. No need to
fuss with browning, etc. I got this from Jamie Oliver, just to give him credit.
11. When eating kiwis, just cut them in half and scoop out with a spoon. No need to peel them!
12. Bread dough is fun for kids to play with for an hour or so. When they are done playing, have
them make it into whatever shape they want, including decorations with seeds, cover and let
rise in a warm place. Then bake! It won't be the most perfect looking bread, but kids love it.
Yeast dough is not as delicate as many people think.
13. When making pizza or focaccia, after oiling your pan, sprinkle a bit of cornmeal on it. Makes
for a nice crust.
14. Use a serrated knife for cutting tomatoes.
15. You can use joghurt as a binder for ground meat instead of eggs. Adds a nice flavor too.
16. For meatballs, sausage patties or bacon - put them on a baking sheet and bake them.
No need to stand there turning them and they come out an evenly brown.
17. Use an ice cream scoop (the kind with a lever) to make all kinds of things. I use one for
cookies, meatballs, salmon patties, hushpuppies. You can buy them in different sizes. You can
go back an roll the meatballs a bit, or form the patties, but it eases the work a lot and makes
a nicer looking product. This is great for parties, or bake sales, where you want everything
to be the same size.
18. If you will be making hardboiled eggs, buy them 2 weeks ahead of time.
Start them in cold water, bring to a boil, turn heat down to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat & immerse in cold water. Your eggs will peel perfectly. I don't know why
older eggs peel better, but they do. This might be a good Mythbuster question.
Miss Jo says, have fun cooking and send me your tips too. Anything that makes life easier and more fun is fine with me. If you found any of these helpful, let me know.
1. Wire whips are great for all kinds of things.
- Cutting shortening into flour when making pie dough or biscuits
- When browning ground beef for sauces or burritos, you can either use it in the pan to break
down all the lumps, or after browning, put the meat into a metal colander to bust up the
lumps (this eliminates a lot of grease too)
- If you have a lot of hardboiled eggs to chop for salads, etc. put them all in a bowl and take
that wire whip to them.
2. Rule of thumb for cooking vegetables
- if they grow under ground, start them in cold water
- if they grow above ground, start them in hot water
3. When breading fish, chicken, or veg, use 3 bowls, 1 for flour, 1 for the egg wash, 1 for the
coating. Keep one hand for the dry stuff and one hand for the wet, (or use a fork for dipping
in the egg)
4. If you are using batter or breading on your chicken or fish and it is still frozen, make sure all
the ice crystals are thawed off first or the batter or breading will "blow" off when you put it in
the fryer.
5. When putting food into a fryer or hot skillet with oil in it, lay the item in, by moving your hand
away from you. Use a smooth motion and you won't get burned
6. If you burn yourself, especially with grease, if you put vinegar on it immediately, it not only
takes that burning feeling away, it can also keep the burn from blistering. I like to pour the
vinegar onto a paper towel and keep applying it as long as it takes for it to stop hurting.
7. When cutting onions or garlic, use a stainless steel knife. When done, wash the knife off under
running water, making sure you rub any of your fingers that you used along the blade and
under the running water at the same time. All the odor will be gone. There is no need to buy
extra "aroma" eradicators. Actually, any piece of stainless steel will work as long as you hold
it under the running water while rubbing it along your hands or fingers. I like using the knife
though, cause then it is clean too. The sooner you get the aroma off your hands, the better.
8. Don't put your good knives in the dishwasher! In fact, they shouldn't have soap on them at all
as it dulls them.
9. Peanut Oil is great for frying. It doesn't have any cholesterol, it has a high smoke point, and if
you use it in your fryer, you can use it to fry both fish and potatoes or chicken, as it has no
transfer of taste. This is the only oil where this is true. Though expensive, it pays off since you
can use it longer.
10. Perfect roasts can be acheived by putting all your ingredients (carrots, celery, onions, meat,
a bit of liquid, etc.) into the roaster, cover with a lid or foil and pop it into an oven that has
been pre-heated to its' highest temperature for 30 minutes. Then turn the oven down to
325° or 165°C for 2 hours. Your roast comes out wonderful, brown, and tender. No need to
fuss with browning, etc. I got this from Jamie Oliver, just to give him credit.
11. When eating kiwis, just cut them in half and scoop out with a spoon. No need to peel them!
12. Bread dough is fun for kids to play with for an hour or so. When they are done playing, have
them make it into whatever shape they want, including decorations with seeds, cover and let
rise in a warm place. Then bake! It won't be the most perfect looking bread, but kids love it.
Yeast dough is not as delicate as many people think.
13. When making pizza or focaccia, after oiling your pan, sprinkle a bit of cornmeal on it. Makes
for a nice crust.
14. Use a serrated knife for cutting tomatoes.
15. You can use joghurt as a binder for ground meat instead of eggs. Adds a nice flavor too.
16. For meatballs, sausage patties or bacon - put them on a baking sheet and bake them.
No need to stand there turning them and they come out an evenly brown.
17. Use an ice cream scoop (the kind with a lever) to make all kinds of things. I use one for
cookies, meatballs, salmon patties, hushpuppies. You can buy them in different sizes. You can
go back an roll the meatballs a bit, or form the patties, but it eases the work a lot and makes
a nicer looking product. This is great for parties, or bake sales, where you want everything
to be the same size.
18. If you will be making hardboiled eggs, buy them 2 weeks ahead of time.
Start them in cold water, bring to a boil, turn heat down to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat & immerse in cold water. Your eggs will peel perfectly. I don't know why
older eggs peel better, but they do. This might be a good Mythbuster question.
Miss Jo says, have fun cooking and send me your tips too. Anything that makes life easier and more fun is fine with me. If you found any of these helpful, let me know.
4 comments:
That's it, I'm getting a wire whip!
Your blog is great. Wonderful tips for cny cook in your 1st blog. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to reading you next blog.
Thanks for all the great tips, especially the eggs. Mine never peel perfectly.
I love multiuse tools..i too use the ice cream scoop for meatballs, patties, making cupcakes and more!
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