TILL'S TIPs OF THE DAY
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FUN FOOD FACTS
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#1 - For a non-flip over-easy fried egg, cover the pan with a lid. The trapped heat will cook the egg from the top.
#5 - Use dried herbs at the beginning and during cooking. Use fresh herbs at the end to give extra flavor. #10 - Adding oil to butter will NOT keep it from burning. Use clarified butter or Ghee instead. #16 - To keep a halved avocado from browning, spray the cut surface with cooking spray. #20 - To make cheese grating easier, spray the grater with cooking spray. #21 - To crisp up wilted greens, soak them in cold water and add a splash of white vinegar. #24 - When poaching eggs, add 2 tbsp of white vinegar to the water to help set the whites faster. #27 - Use Kosher salt. The larger flakes stick to your food and are easier to sprinkle. #35 - Soften brown sugar that has hardened by microwaving it for 30 seconds. #38 - When cooking meat in a crock pot, sear or grill the meat first. This will bring extra flavor to the dish. #46 - For kebabs, always use two skewers. This will prevent your food from spinning. #57 - To peel tomatoes, core the stem and cut a shallow X in the top. Place the tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds and then transfer them to a bowl with ice water. Let them cool for 1 minute and the skin will slide right off. #68 - Use an egg slicer to cut button mushrooms. #85 - Learn to use a honing steel and keep your knifes sharp. A dull knife is a dangerous knife! #96 - Know your oven! Use an oven thermometer and measure temperatures in different spots. Compare the results to your dials. Chances are they will be off... Don’t trust your dials! #107 - Use a food processor to turn stale bread into bread crumbs. #143 - Invest in a good pepper mill. Never use pre-ground pepper; your taste buds will be rewarded. |
#2 - Honey never spoils.
#13 - Eggplant is a fruit, more specifically a berry, not vegetable! #21 - The lime tree flowers continually and bears fruit all year long. #35 - Guava is part of the same family of plants as nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and eucalyptus. |
STOP SLIP SLIDIN' AWAY
A cutting board that does not sit securely on the counter while you’re playing with knives could easily get you a trip to the medicine cabinet, or worse the ER. Get yourself a roll of non-adhesive rubber shelf liner. Place the liner on top of your cutting board and cut a piece that is 1/2” smaller all around. If you have different size cutting boards cut a couple of pieces to work with most of your boards; one small and one large is probably all you need. Every time you use a cutting board, make sure you place the mat on the counter and the board on top. No more slippin’ boards. You can wash the mat by hand or place it in the dish washer on the top rack.
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CUTTING THE EASY WAY
Invest it a good quality set of kitchen shears. If you are not all too confident in your knife skills, these will become your best friend. Use them to cut almost anything. Cut fresh herbs, trim roots off vegetables, butterfly a chicken, trim a pie crust, clean green beans, cut a pizza, chop whole canned tomatoes right in the can, trim artichokes and on and on and on . . .
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EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY
To get the most juice, roll the lemon or lime back and forth on the counter applying pressure with your hand. This will soften the lemon and break the cells inside. If you don’t have a dedicated lemon or lime juicer use your kitchen tongs to squeeze them dry.
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GET RID OF THE STINK
Peeled some garlic, diced a few onions, filet a fish, ? The best way to get the smell of your hands is to rub them against stainless steel under running cold water. You can buy a stainless-steel bar at most kitchen stores but why spend money when you can use what you already have in your kitchen? If you have a stainless-steel sink use that. You can also use a stainless bowl or kitchen utensil. Once the smell is gone, just wash your hands normally with soap and warm water.
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