Who knew that cooking could be so fun and easy!
Whether you’re living on your own, feeding a large family, or working as a chef in a restaurant: these handy cooking tips can help everyone. Sometimes you forget how fun and easy cooking can be. Let’s get to work!
1. Bake an omelet au bain-marie
Au bain-marie: you have probably already heard of this technique, but usually we only use it to melt chocolate. Did you know you can throw an omelet together au bain-marie just as well? It’s simple. Take two heat-resistant metal lids and place them in your frying pan. Place the beaten eggs into the lids and fill the rest of the pan with boiling water. Let them bake for a bit and behold: perfectly round mini omelets!
2. Stock or wine in an ice cube tray
Do you have leftover stock or wine? Unfortunately, you cannot keep it in the fridge for too lang, and throwing it away would be wasteful. Luckily, both liquids can be kept in the freezer! Put them in an ice cube tray: you can preserve them for much longer this way. And isn’t it practical to always have some wine or stock on hand when you’re in the kitchen? This trick is fun, easy and saves money!
3. Let your fruit ripen faster
Do you have a green banana, a rock-hard mango, or other unripe fruit you need to use sooner rather than later? With this trick, your fruit will ripen a lot faster: place the unripe fruit in a paper bag together with an apple. You’ll notice this speeds up the ripening process by a lot!
4. Knowing when an avocado is ready to eat
Picking avocados always feels like a huge guessing game. You never know whether it’s perfectly ripe on the inside, or rather too hard or too soft. Luckily, there is an easy way to find out whether an avocado is really ready to eat. Simply remove the ‘button’ at the top and look at the color. Is the avocado green at this point? Then you can open it! Is it brown? Then it’s likely to be past its prime. Is it hard to remove the button? Then the avocado is probably not ripe enough just yet.
5. Heating your frying pan
You may already know that it’s best to preheat a pan before adding oil or butter. But for how long exactly? Three minutes seems to be a good guideline. As a result, your food is usually cooked a bit more quickly.
6. Use mayonnaise on the BBQ
Huh?! Apparently, the best way to grill fish on the BBQ is to coat the fillets with mayonnaise. This prevents the fish from sticking to the grid and allows them to cook evenly. So, rub your fish fillets all around with mayo before placing them on the BBQ.
7. Peel potatoes super quickly
Potatoes are incredibly versatile and delicious. No wonder we often put them on the table! Do you think that peeling potatoes is a boring chore? Then this trick is for you! First, cut the potato crosswise with a knife. The cut should just go through the skin. Subsequently place the potatoes in a pot with boiling water and let them cook. After fifteen minutes you can pull the peel right off!
8. The creamiest scrambled eggs
To prepare deliciously creamy scrambled eggs, add a spoonful of mayonnaise when you whip up the eggs. For a slightly healthier version, go for a dash of while milk. Delicious!
9. Peeling garlic with ease
Garlic is indispensable in the kitchen for many, even though it can be very inconvenient to peel the little cloves. Fortunately, we have a handy kitchen hack for that too! Put the garlic in a glass jar and shake it vigorously. The skins will peel off much faster. Or use the trick below, where you gently pry the cloves apart with a fork.
10. Hamburgers with cheese filling
Love cheeseburgers? Then you should really give this combination a try. Make your own minced meat burger and place a Babybel cheese on top. Top with a second hamburger and press together. Bake as usual and voilà: a thick hamburger with cheese filling!
11. Heat your pizza without a microwave
Do you have leftover pizza? We often heat it up in a microwave, but this does not always make for the best quality pizza. The crust often turns soft and a little too soggy in the microwave. It’s tastier when you simply heat it in a frying pan. The crust will stay crunchy this way, and the pizza as a whole will retain more flavor.
12. An easy way to cut meat
Meat has a distinct texture that can be hard to cut through. Looking to cut nice cubes or strips? Then put the meat in the freezer for 15 minutes. This is just long enough to firm up the meat, without freezing it. Cutting the meat into even pieces will be much easier.
13. Very clever way to cut herbs
Fresh herbs really complete a dish. Did you know you can easily cut them by using a pizza cutter? Put the fresh herbs on a cutting board and roll over them a few times with the large round disc. Easy as pie!
14. Crushing garlic
Even without a garlic press you can distribute the flavor of garlic evenly through your dish. Use a mortar and pestle to crush a few cloves of garlic. This releases many delicious aromas!
15. Creamy boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes
A dash of cream improves just about any dish, but have you ever thought about cooking your potatoes or vegetables in cream? Of course, it’s best not to make this into a daily habit healthwise, but from time to time you can treat yourself with this delicious method. Simply replace boiling water with boiling cream and cook the potatoes in it. Alternatively, mash for creamy mashed potatoes.
16. Baking wafer-thin crêpes
Do you want to bake very thin pancakes, but are you unable to distribute the batter evenly? Use a plastic bag instead of a spoon to scoop the batter into the pan. Pour the crêpe batter into a plastic bag, cut a small hole at the bottom and spread the liquid over the frying pan this way. Turn the pan well and bake your wafer-thin crêpe until golden-brown.
17. Use an apple cutter to make fries
An apple cutter has more uses than just making perfect apple wedges. You can also use it to divide your potatoes into beautiful wedges of equal size. Very practical, since your potatoes are sure to cook or fry evenly. And it saves a lot of cutting too!
18. Stable chopping board
A chopping board that keeps shifting across the counter is not only inconvenient, it can pose a real danger. Try putting a dishcloth or a piece of paper towel underneath your chopping board. This will keep it from moving around so much.
19. Greasing a grater
Grated cheese is a valuable addition to many dishes, but it does leave us with a dirty grater. Usually, bits of cheese stick to the cheese grater and cleaning it is no fun. However, there is a solution! From now on, grease the grater before use and you’ll see it’s much easier to clean afterwards.
20. Hack for a juicy peace of meat
A well-kept secret for real chefs: use an ice cube to make your meat extra juicy! Take an ice cube and place it onto the steak or burger as soon as you put it in the pan. Press it firmly into the meat and bake or grill the burgers. The results are impressive!
21. Getting all the juice from a lemon
Squeezing all the juice from a lemon can take a real toll on your hands from all that clenching. Did you know it becomes a lot easier if you put the lemon in the microwave for 10 seconds first? Then roll the lemon out on the counter. This releases the juices. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze – now it’s a piece of cake!
22. Removing the crown from strawberries
Strawberries are deliciously sweet, but their green crown is less tasty. Fortunately, you can easily remove it by pushing a straw into the bottom of the strawberry and pushing it up. The crown will come off by itself, and the strawberry will keep its shape.
23. Making tomato sauce less sour
If you want to store a delicious tomato sauce, chances are it will taste rather sour the next day. This is because the tomatoes slowly acidify and lose their flavor. You can prevent this by adding a peeled carrot to your tomato sauce when you reheat it. This preserves the delicious flavor better.
24. Giving more flavor to fish
The unique taste of fish is best preserved when the fish is baked in the oven, rolled up in baking paper. If desired, add vegetables and herbs: the fish will absorb their flavors. Delicious!
25. Preserving fresh herbs
Fresh herbs are indispensable in the kitchen, but often you’ll see a large part of the bunch wither before your eyes before you get around to using it in the kitchen. Tip: your fresh herbs keep for much longer when you put them in a glass of water and then cover them with a plastic bag. Keep them in a cool place or in the refrigerator.
26. Making crispy chips at home
We often open a bag of chips, but have you ever thought of making them yourself? Cut potatoes into wafer-thin strips (4.5. millimeters is a good guideline). Rinse them with cold water and drain. Place the chips in a frying pan filled with 6 glasses of water and 1 glass of vinegar. Bake for 30 minutes and then drain. Let the chips dry and move to an oven-safe dish. Fill the dish up to 10 centimeters with oil and bake in the oven at 150 ° C, until the chips are golden brown and crunchy.
27. Cutting through soft foods
A warm bread fresh from the oven or a nice roll of cake: it’s a shame to cut them up into uneven pieces, but keeping your knife straight when cutting through soft foods like these is not always easy. Try cutting pieces with dental floss! This often works better than sawing through your food with a knife.
28. Saving soup when it’s too salty
Oops, accidentally poured in too much salt or stock? Don’t panic, just add an apple or a potato when you cook your soup. Cut a raw potato or apple into pieces and let it boil in the soup for 10 minutes. This will restore the balance of the flavors.
29. Baking fluffy cookies
Are you struggling to make cookies that are as crunchy and fluffy as those from the bakery (or grocery store)? From now on, add a little pinch of milk powder to the cookie dough and you’ll notice how much of a difference this makes.
30. Make waffles with potatoes
Using a waffle iron to prepare potatoes? It’s possible! Grate your potatoes, add pepper, salt, and herbs, mix into a batter and bake for around 20 minutes in a greased waffle iron. This makes for beautiful potato waffles. Also great with an egg or an avocado on top.
Source : www.tips-and-tricks.co