Let Me Give You a Tip...Or Twenty!

Today I thought I would share with you some cooking tips! I've used a lot of these tips and tricks to improve my cooking experience, as well as the taste of my food. I hope you find something useful from this list!

1. After stewing a chicken, cool in broth before cutting into chunks. It will have twice the flavor.
2. To slice meat into thin strips, as for stir-fry dishes, partially freeze it so it will slice more easily.
3. A roast with the bone in will cook faster than a boneless roast. The bone carries the heat to the inside more quickly.
4. When making a roast, place dry onion soup mix in the bottom of your roaster pan or slow cooker. After removing the roast, add 1 can of mushroom soup and you will have a good brown gravy.
5. For a juicier hamburger, add cold water to the beef before grilling (1/2 cup to 1 pound of meat).
6. To freeze meatballs, place them on a cookie sheet until frozen. Place in plastic bags. They will stay separated so that you can remove as many as you want.
7. To keep cauliflower white while cooking, add a little milk to the water.
8. When boiling corn, add sugar to the water instead of salt. Salt will toughen the corn.
9. To ripen tomatoes, put them in a brown paper bag in a dark pantry.
10. To keep celery crisp, stand it upright in a pitcher of cold, salted water and refrigerate.
11. When cooking cabbage, place a can half full of vinegar on the stove near the cabbage. It will absorb the color.
12. Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 minutes before baking will bake more rapidly.
13. Let raw potatoes stand in cold water for at least a half hour before frying in order to improve the crispness of french fries. Dry potatoes thoroughly before adding to the oil.
14. Use greased muffin tins as molds when baking stuffed green peppers.
15. A few drops of lemon juice in the water will whiten boiled potatoes.
16. Buy mushrooms before they "open." When stems and caps are attached firmly, mushrooms are truly fresh.
17. Do not use metal bowls when mixing salads. Use wood, glass, or china. 
18. Lettuce keeps better if you store it in the refrigerator without washing it. Keep the leaves dry. Wash lettuce the day you are going to use it. 
19. Do not use soda to keep vegetables green. It destroys Vitamin C.
20. Don't worry if you oversalt gravy. Stir in some instant mashed potatoes to fix it. Just add a little more liquid in order to balance out the thickness.

courtesy of Morris Press