RedGage

Kitchen Tips

Flavored Coffee: make your own by adding orange peel, vanilla extract, almond extract, (any flavored extract could be used depending on your tastes), cinnamon, allspice, ground up roasted nuts. For six (6) cups of coffee use ¼ teaspoon of the flavor you want and mix with coffee grinds before you brew. Add more or less to taste. Enjoy!!

Boil over: Pasta or rice boil over, add a tablespoon of butter to the water when you add the pasta or rice.

Over cooked spaghetti: If you left the noodles cook to long quickly run them under very cold water, this will stop the cooking process and make the starch contract. If your making a dish with tomato sauce, heat them back up directly in the sauce, the acid will help stiffen up.

Keep pasta warm: Place a large mixing bowl underneath the strainer as you drain the pasta. The hot water will fill the bowl and heat it up. Once the bowl is warm empty out the water and put the pasta in the warm bowl and cover.

Sweet Corn: Add ¼ cup of powdered milk to the pot while your boiling.

Husk corn: The easiest way I found to husk corn is to cut off both ends then roll on the kitchen counter for a moment, the husk will peel right off.

Leftover Onion: Rub the cut end with butter then wrap in plastic wrap to keep it fresh longer.

Potato buds: To keep you potato from sprouting buds put an apple in the container with the potatos, the apple will slow down the sprouting process.

Peeling Garlic: To get garlic to peel from the skins easily put the clove in the microwave on high for 5-10 seconds, this should allow the clove to slip away from it's skin.

Carrots: Keep carrots fresh by storing with their tops removed. The top will pull moisture from the carrots.

Peel a banana: Hate the strings while peeling a banana, peel from the bottom up and you won't get strings

Ripen fruit: Put unripened fruit in a plastic garbage bag and tie with a knot but leave knot a little loose so it can ventilate. The gases released by the fruit will cause it to ripen.

Separate eggs: Put the smallest funnel you have over a container, gently crack the egg and put in the funnel. The white will slide down into the container and the yolk will stay in the funnel.

Beating egg whites: Leave the eggs sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before using them, the egg whites will have more volume.

Peel an egg: Put boiled egg in a container filled with cold water and close the lid, shake well until the egg cracks. The skin will separate from the white and stay out of the way while you peel the egg.

Breaded cutlets: If your breadcrumbs fall off while cooking try this, coat the cutlets with breadcrumbs let breaded cutlets dry for 10minutes then cook.

Bacon shrink: Rinse bacon under cool water to keep the bacon from shrinking so much.

Juicy burger: Let them set out covered at room temperature for about an hour before you cook them as long as it isn't over 75 degrees.

Dried fish: Over cook the fish and it's dry mix equal parts butter and lemon and spread over fish. The butter will moisten the fish and the lemon will help it hold together.

Freezing meat: When freezing burgers or chops put a piece of wax paper between each piece to make it easier to separate when ready to use.

Slicing Meat: Cutting meat, chicken, steak, pork is a lot easier if you do it while the meat is half frozen.

BBQ sauce: BBQ sauce should be added only at the end of the grilling process otherwise the sauce will burn easily.

Over salted: If you over salted soup or stew add a raw potato or two into the soup, let simmer for 15 minutes, then remove the potato and you soup will be a lot less salty.

Cheese stuck in grater: Put grater in freezer for a few minutes or run under cool water for a few minutes to keep cheese sticking to grater.

Easy serve pies: After you have crimped the edges of the crust go around the edge again carefully lifting the crust up slightly from the pie dish. This will help it from sticking to the pie dish while it bakes, so you can serve a piece of pie without it falling apart.

Dry, hard cookies: Put a few apple slices into the cookie jar to keep cookies fresh, if your cookies have hardened brush them with a little milk and heat at 225 for about 5 minutes.

Raising dough: If you use plastic wrap over a bowl when letting dough raise it may get stuck to the plastic wrap, use a shower cap instead, the elastic will keep it snug around the bowl and give more room for your dough to rise.

Light as air pancakes: Use club soda instead of water for light as air pancakes.

Mushy potato chips: Put the chips in the microwave for 30-45 seconds they will stiffen up again.

Marshmallows stuck: If your marshmallows are stuck together add a bit of cornstarch to the bag and shake vigorously, the cornstarch will absorb the moisture and separate the marshmallows.

Honey crystals: If your honey gets crystals after you've had it for a while, place the open container in the microwave and heat on high for 10 seconds and stir. Continue microwaving for 10 seconds and stirring until it's back to normal.