KITCHEN TIPS

I thought it was time to start a
page for general kitchen tips, please send us yours to add – june@hintsandthings.co.uk
–

• If you stick you tongue out while chopping onions
  it will stop you crying. Alternatively, chop the onion close to a running tap.  
  Apparently the chemicals in the onions go for the nearest source of liquid.

Contributed by Mark Shileds (12 years
old!)

• A quick and effective way to “Smoke”
  food at home –

Take the tea out of about 10 tea bags (or use loose
tea) and mix together with 8 oz. of demerara sugar and 8 oz. of long grain rice.

Line a Wok with tinfoil, put the above mixture on
top and cover with another piece of foil. Lay your trout, salmon, chicken breast or duck
(whatever you are cooking) on top of the foil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover
with lid.  Leave to cook on a gradual heat for about 15/20 minutes.

This will give the food a delicious
“smoked” taste.  Be warned, however, it does make a rather pungent smell in
your kitchen.

If you don’t fancy smoking
your own food then there are companies out there offering excellent
smoked meat
and other produce at very competitive prices.

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• After cooking Corned Beef in the pot use the stock
  for Pea and Ham Soup; you can freeze the stock and use later or make the
  soup straight away and freeze or eat the next day, we found it to be
  lovely.

Maureen Hutchinson

• Put two or three lumps of sugar in with the cheese
  to stop it going green mouldy.

• If you want your pork chops to taste even better,
  sprinkle with soy sauce as you grill them on the cooker or barbeque.

Thanks to Harvey Alexander for
these two tips

• When peeling garlic, thump the clove with the side of
  a knife or cleaver and the skin will lift away easily.

Thank you Michael Paterson.

• To bake a moist ham, pour a can of Coke into the baking pan, cover with
  aluminium foil and bake.  Remove the foil 30 minutes before the end of cooking time.
    The dripping combined with Coke provides a delicious brown base for gravy.

This tip was sent in by Doreen
and Craig Stocker as well as “Siren”

• To remove fat from soups or gravies, take the outside leaves from a
  Romaine lettuce which you would normally throw away and wipe them over the soup or gravy.
    The fat adheres to the leaf beautifully.

Thank you Jo-Ann Giuggio.

• To open stubborn caps and lids on kitchen items, take a church key
  (bottle opener) and place end under the cap and slowly pry upward until you hear the air
  release and then open.

Thanks to Robin for this one.

• Piercing the cap with a skewer or other suitable metal
  object to release the air also works.

• If you have to cook a hen (i.e. older bird) which usually take much
  longer than the young chicken place a heavy metal knife and fork (MUST BE ALL METAL NO
  WOOD OR PLASTIC) inside the boiling water along with the bird and you will cut the cooking
  time by more than a half.  This also works well with most hard to cook meats (turkey,
  pork) it even works with potatoes.

Thanks for this very original
tip Mary Valencia

.

• After being advised to put skewers in baking potato’s to reduce
  cooking time, which worked, I took this method one stage further and
  applied it to beef, pork, lamb and chicken, which also worked and thus
  reduced my energy bill by at least half an hour each time.
  

  David Burton
  

   
  
  
  N.B.  DO NOT do this when cooking in a
  microwave and BE CAREFUL when removing the skewer as it will be extremely
  hot!
  

   

  
  

• When preparing tuna salad, chicken salad or potato salad, pre-chill all
  the ingredients first.  This keeps this potentially hazardous food from getting to
  temperatures where harmful microorganisms will grow.  Most people believe that the
  mayonnaise is the culprit, but actually because commercially prepared mayonnaise contain
  lemon or other stabilizers, it actually insulates the meat and potatoes.  You must
  then place into a refrigerator at a temperature of 41 degrees.

Thank you Sandra Girard (Health Inspector)

• Instant potatoes are excellent for thickening gravy, soups etc. it
  doesn’t make lumps like flour.

Bette sent in this one – thank you.

• Pastry too flaky or you haven’t got time to let it rest – then tightly
  cover your surface with some cling film, sprinkle with a little flour, place the pastry on
  the film, then cover again with lightly floured film.  Once you have made a cling
  film sandwich simply roll out the pastry, take the top layer of film off, flip the pastry
  into your flan case or baking tin.

Charlotte Ward makes this sound so easy –
thanks Charlotte.

• Rub your hands with vinegar before and after slicing onions – this will
  eliminate the smell.

Thanks to Tina for this one

• If you forget to do the above – When
  peeling onions and the scent is on your hands, just run the cold water
  and rub hands on the chrome fixture. Works like magic.

Contributed by Jan Cornelius

• To remove the smell of onion and/or garlic from your fingers: Wet
  your hands and rub your fingers on something stainless steel – the
  sink, a splashback, the kettle, a large implement like a ladle. I
  didn’t believe it would work, but it does!

Sarah Nicholson

• To avoid stinky garlic smelling fingers for what seems days on end
  here’s a tip……….. before peeling and chopping, coat your
  finger tips with a little olive oil. When you’re done, just wash
  normally with soap and there’s no smell. Cheaper than that more
  expensive metal soap bar.

Ms. Watfa yassine