Best cooking tips

[battered]

NordicCrankShaft said:

Home cooks don't make the best chefs

Balsamic vinegar......Don't waste you'r money buying the expensive stuff when it's exactly the same as the cheaper one, probably even from the same distillery. (Unless it's the proper traditional made stuff that is casked once a year)

Always toast your unground spices.

Make sure that pan is super smoking hot before cooking your meat.

Learn to use salt properly.

When preparing live mussels/cockles etc for consumption, soak them in water with pepper in it. As they circulate the water they will spit the pepper with any sand/grit that is contained in them.

Don't shallow fry with olive oil.

A dash of vinegar is always good for giving soups and sauces a hint of acidity.

Work clean.

I think that you mean vinegar brewery for balsamic. Balsamic isn't distilled.

I do the mussels trick with oatmeal, they suck it up and eat it, and the sand comes out as they do so. Not seen it done with pepper, good idea.

[DMN]

Wash your hands after handling chillies before using the toliet.

[Davey S2]

Let meat rest for the same amount as the cooking time.

[toasty]

Don't oversharpen knives. No one wants flakes of metal in their food.

[Stig]

Brown mince (to caramelise) on a baking tray in a hot oven for chillis, tacos and spag bol. A much deeper, richer, beefy flavour and doesn't end up a boiled wet mess.

[BRISTOL86]

DMN said:

Wash your hands after handling chillies before using the toliet.

Or the wife.

[battered]

toasty said:

Don't oversharpen knives. No one wants flakes of metal in their food.

True for most kitchen knives. A butchery knife needs a polished edge though.

[Tony Angelino]

BRISTOL86 said:

DMN said:

Wash your hands after handling chillies before using the toliet.

Or the wife.

Wash your wife? I prefer them dirty....

[Huff]

On knives - pick one, good-quality, medium-sized one that suits you: forget flash, or what you may be told to get by some celeb, find a good kitchen shop and heft a few. If it feels good in the hand and is a softish steel - not a really hard 18/8 (304) stainless - so it takes & holds an edge, you'll find you use it for everything. No need for hundreds of the damn things, nor expensive labels either.*

Then learn how to use a stone to sharpen it, when and only when needed. And how to use a steel to hone it occasionally meanwhile.

I got lucky, had a toolmaking grandfather who had me sharpening plane blades to his satisfaction at 6yrs old '..and don't tell your mother' - so knives no problem. Then I got given a lovely old-school Sabatier 7" cooks knife in decent steel at 18 prior to going to uni - and I still use it every day, >25yrs later. It, and a 4" paring knife, all I need for everything.

• One of the best-balanced, best-judged for balance and shape knives I've ever owned was beaten out of a van leaf spring by a guy on Borneo for a few ringgit; I had to leave it there, couldn't fly home with it

[dazco]

Davey S2 said:

Let meat rest for the same amount as the cooking time.

Are you sure about this?

[jas xjr]

thelittleegg said:

Add cream to your baked beans .

i always add butter

[Whoozit]

Clear up as you go along. Saves a huge amount of time and avoids the I can't be arsed feeling,

[Mr Gearchange]

dazco said:

Davey S2 said:

Let meat rest for the same amount as the cooking time.

Are you sure about this?

I'd question that too. Might be good guidance for a medium rare steak - but not for for something thats been in the oven for 90+ minutes


Cook meat from room temperature.

[StangGT]

Anyone got any tips for de-veining prawns?

[Fermit The Krog and Sarah Sexy]

Chilli always tastes better re-heated. Cook, leave to cool, then re-heat prior to eating.

[captainzep]

Develop a store cupboard. And a herb garden, even if it's an old bucket full of compost.

We all plan a big meal from time to time which involves a big and very specific shopping list. -That's fine but much of the joy of cooking is what you rustle up during some rainy Thursday night or a lazy Saturday lunch. With a decent store cupboard of spices, sauces, flavours you've got so much more choice and dishes taste of... what they ought to taste of.

Toasted sesame oil makes left over rice into proper egg fried rice. Fish sauce, lime juice and a handful of basil/mint helps make a salad into a Thai or Vietnamese dish with the help of some grilled pork or chicken or cheap steak. Etc. Etc.

[HarryFlatters]

StangGT said:

Anyone got any tips for de-veining prawns?

If shell-on you can peel the prawn back but leave the tail on. Give this a squeeze and a pull and the vein should come out with the tail.

Shell-off, use a sharp knife and in one long cut, slice the prawn length ways from the neck to the tail, but not all the way through to the other side. You should be able to lift the vein out, or rinse it under cold water to remove.

[omniflow]

When preparing green beans, only the stalk end needs to be trimmed. If you keep them in the plastic bag, spread the beans out and tap it a couple of times, you can trim the entire packet with one cut through the bag and the beans at the same time.

[NordicCrankShaft]

I make fresh beef stock every few monts and end up with about 10 litres. I add gelatine to it, let it cool then cut it into nice sized cubes and freeze it down ready to use. Then just drop it into whatever I need it for and let it melt away.

[sgrimshaw]

NordicCrankShaft said:

I make fresh beef stock every few monts and end up with about 10 litres. I add gelatine to it, let it cool then cut it into nice sized cubes and freeze it down ready to use. Then just drop it into whatever I need it for and let it melt away.

If you put it in ice cube trays to freeze, you could save on the gelatine.