What Are Your Favorite Cooking Tips And Tricks?

[Brian_Tuite]

@Elliot Steele

@Chris Blum

@T. Melloni

I follow a similar technique for the par-boiled spuds but without sugar in the water…

Potatoes (and sweet corn) start out young and sweet. Over time, that sugar turns starchy. By the time we get potatoes in the store, they’ve lost their sweetness. The sugar water just gets them “young” again.

Also throwing in some baking soda to the boiling water helps increase the PH thereby making them quicker to brown.

Add a little baking soda in the water when hard boiling eggs and the shells will never stick.

[Scott_Butler]

I looked up the garlic thing, pretty cool!

How To Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds

http://lifehacker.com/5844865/peel-a-head-of-garlic-in-less-than-10-seconds-with-two-bowls

[Brian_Tuite]

1. When making Caesar dressing, approx 1/2C, I always add heaping spoon of sour cream. It thickens up the dressing making it stick to the lettuce rather than draining to the bottom of the salad.

2. I freeze hot peppers that I have in excess after growing season is over and when I need some for a recipe I run them over a cheese grater while still frozen.

3. Baking and cannot find a toothpick to test doneness? Grab a piece of dry spaghetti.

4. I don’t know about you but when I need egg yolks I separate them in my hand and let the whites run between my fingers.

5. I juice my excess lemons and limes and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. My freezer always has zip lock bags full of pre measured fresh squeezed juice.

[Brian_Tuite]

@Bill Tex Landreth

Bring water to right at 100 Deg C to cook pasta.

Because at 101C it is steam and very hard to cook with.

[Brian_Tuite]

@Elliot Steele

3.) Best way to peel an entire head of garlic super fast is to stick the head of garlic in between two stainless steel bowls and shake away. The entire head and all the skins will be entirely peeled within 10 seconds. Shake

I used to use a mason jar but had mixed results. I still smash them under the blade of my knife.

Anyone use this? I have a few but are a pain to keep clean so it’s my knife again.

I don’t like the way moist items cling to the microplane so I use my garlic press a lot as well. As a rule I mince for sautéing and press for dressings and/or smooth sauces.

[Elliot_Steele]

When making popcorn at home on the stovetop instead of using the lid that goes with your pot use a splatter guard on top. It allows the steam to escape and the popcorn doesn’t get all soggy and gross.

[Elliot_Steele]

@Brian Tuite

Add a little baking soda in the water when hard boiling eggs and the shells will never stick.

Didn’t know that trick. The trick I use is a steamer basket. The high heat cases the membrane to shrink very quickly and that prevents the shell from sticking. It also cooks the eggs way quicker because the steam is so much hotter than boiling water. 4-5 minutes in the steamer basket and you’ve got perfectly soft boiled eggs that are ridiculously easy to peel. The trick only works though if you put the steamer basket in when the water is boiling.

[Mel_Hill]

+1 on steam cooking HBEs

[ERPark]

Tired of always having to prepare minced garlic for every meal? My wife will put batches of freshly minced garlic (food processor is great for this) into gallon freezer plastic bags. She forms them into sheets, separates them into little squares inside of each of the bags and freezes them flat. Anytime you need minced garlic, you break off as many squares as needed. Saves you time, and the taste is indistinguishable compared to fresh (especially in preps where you brown garlic in oil first before the rest of the ingredients go into the pan/pot).

[Michae1_P0wers]

@Brian Tuite

1. When making Caesar dressing, approx 1/2C, I always add heaping spoon of sour cream. It thickens up the dressing making it stick to the lettuce rather than draining to the bottom of the salad.
   
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2. I don’t know about you but when I need egg yolks I separate them in my hand and let the whites run between my fingers.

As for 1, I find that parmesan serves the same purpose, I’m not wild about the idea of sour cream in my Caesar dressing…

As for 4, I agree, and a good use for that egg white is to vigorously shake it into a batch of whiskey sours, pisco sours, gin flips, etc.

[johngonzales]

@CJ Beazley

@Joe Chanley

@Elliot Steele

2.) The best way to get a crisp and well browned grilled cheese, tuna melt, or any sandwich that hits the pan is to use a light layer of mayo instead of butter. Works like a charm but watch your sandwich or it will burn. It browns and crisps much quicker than butter.

If you have an extra two minutes, toasted the inside of the bread before building the sandwich lends a nice extra crunch

I’ve done this for years, thought I was the only one. Actually my MIL saw me do it and now she does also.

You are not alone. I did it last night. I find that one can over toast the inner face, so go lightly.

[Jason_T]

What a great thread. So many ingenious tricks here!

[PeterH]

@Bill Tex Landreth

Bring water to right at 100 Deg C to cook pasta.

Tough to do if you are thousands of feet above sea level.

P Hickner

[Eric_Ifune]

Learned this from my mother, who learned it from her mother, who was a professional cook in Hawaii.
Add a pinch of sugar to any savory dish, and a pinch of salt to any sweet.

[alan_weinberg]

@Bill Tex Landreth

Bring water to right at 100 Deg C to cook pasta.

or 212 deg F if you don’t like Celsius!

[CWun]

@Bill Tex Landreth

Bring water to right at 100 Deg C to cook pasta.

Actually i’m in the camp of low quantity of water, and don’t-care-if-it-doesn’t-regain-boil technique. Less time waiting for the water to boil. pasta doesn’t need boiling water. lots of guides and articles about this.

[Chris_Freemott]

Never underestimate the value of foil and parchment to aid cleanup.

Reheat pizza in a skillet. Start in the oven but finish on range top. Crisps the crust back up.

Never let my wife cook if you want to enjoy the food.

[CWun]

I use the “fry-steam” technique a lot to stir fry vegetables to reduce oil required and cooking time.

Let’s say i’m making sichuan green beans (or garlic stir fried green beans if meatless)

1. For a pound of green beans, I’ll saute over high heat for 6 minutes with 2-3TB of oil (you can use even less but the cooking times will vary more) You’ll see the skin to start to pucker. In the last minute I’ll add minced garlic. I love garlic in this dish so I use 4 -5 cloves.
2. Pour in 2TB of water and cover immediately. reduce heat to med-high and set timer for 2 minutes.
3. after 2 minutes, open the lid and test eat a big green bean and see if the doneness is to your liking. If not, cover for another 30 seconds, and retest.
4. Let the water cook off a bit if it’s not already gone and stir/saute again for literally a few seconds. Then off heat, I’ll add a little sauce (soy, rice wine, sugar, sesame oil and if desired: chili oil and sichuan pepper corns…if you find it doesn’t coat well then add a little cornstarch to thicken over heat a few secs)

[Kenny_H]

@Elliot Steele

2.) The best way to get a crisp and well browned grilled cheese, tuna melt, or any sandwich that hits the pan is to use a light layer of mayo instead of butter. Works like a charm but watch your sandwich or it will burn. It browns and crisps much quicker than butter.

I think I can add to the conversation on this one and it is something I started doing on my own.

First, I think the reason there is trouble with butter and a thick browned crust is trying to stuff a semi-solid emulsion into a lightly porous sandwich bread crust. You can only get so much in and the rest melts into the pan after the crust forms because the butter and bread toast in a way that inhibits soaking action.

The reason mayo works so well is the egg content adds significantly more protein content to the fat portion. That means thicker browning and quicker maillard.

Solution? With a hot pan quickly rub a stick of butter to form a nice pool. Sop it up with the piece of bread. Repeat as desired, flip and do the same. Since the butter is constantly in liquid form and the bread is soft you can soak the bread very quickly because it passes through pores rapidly.

Why? For me because it is quick and clean, not even a butter knife to clean. Also as you say, butter browns more gently. And lastly, mayo typically has undesirables particularly soybean oil. Butter is better. Give it a go, it makes spectacular toast with a very thick browned crust. To me essentially Texas toast but more deliberate.

[Jay_Miller]

Not exactly a secret but … roasting is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to prepare most vegetables.