Kitchen confidential: what every cook should know
- The Guardian,
Secrets of the kitchen. Photograph: Guardian
Keep halved avocados green
To keep cut avocados from turning brown, refrigerate them flesh side down in a bowl of water into which you have squeezed some lemon juice. They will keep beautifully for a few days.How to squeeze a lemon
Here's how to slice lemon wedges so that they won't squirt in your eye when you squeeze them. Cut a wedge and make three or four small vertical slits across the edge of it. These cuts prevent the juice from squirting out forcefully.Grilling vegetables
Sprinkle with sea salt. It helps draw out moisture and promote caramelisation.Peeling garlic
Blanch the cloves in boiling water for about 15 seconds and then shock them in ice water. Alternatively, position the broad side of a chef's knife on a clove of garlic. Gently smack the knife with the heel of your hand. You will hear a quiet "crack" when the skin breaks open.Freeze herbs
Freezing works best with delicate herbs that don't taste very good when dried, such as basil, dill, chives and parsley. Chop the herbs, portion them into ice cubes and add a little chicken broth. The cubes will give a flavour lift to vegetable sautes, rice pilafs and soups. I do this with mint, too, but I use water instead of chicken broth, so I can add mint to iced tea and other drinks. Alternatively, freeze herbs whole on baking sheets in the freezer. Once they're frozen, transfer to a plastic bag. They retain most of their vibrant flavour, and hardier herbs such as rosemary and thyme can practically be interchanged for fresh ones. Leafy herbs such as basil and parsley suffer in the looks department, though, turning mushy, so they're best only for cooking.Slicing onions
Lengthwise – you're cutting with the grain of the onion. These slices hold up better during cooking, so they're a good choice for dishes such as French onion soup, in which you want to see pretty strips of onion. Crosswise – you're cutting against the grain. These slices cook down and lose their shape quickly. This is ideal if you want melt-in-your-mouth onions for a marmalade or for topping a steak sandwich.Storing potatoes
Avoid storing them near onions – it will result in them spoiling sooner.Spaghetti toothpicks
I like to make stuffed chicken breasts and have found that a short piece of dried spaghetti easily punctures the meat and substitutes nicely for a toothpick. When the dish is finished, the spaghetti is cooked, and you don't need to worry about removing it (or forgetting to take out the toothpick).No-mess butter pats
Rubbing butter under the skin of a chicken used to leave me with slick, greasy hands and butter everywhere. A better way is to work with frozen pats: I slice the butter with an egg slicer to get even pieces, then put them in a plastic bag in the freezer. The frozen pats slip easily under poultry skin.Soften butter in minutes
I often forget to bring butter to room temperature ahead of time when a recipe calls for it. To do it quickly, fill a water glass with very hot tap water and let it sit for several seconds to warm the glass. I empty the water and turn the glass upside down over the amount of butter I need. The butter softens in less than a minute without melting.Poach leftover egg yolks
I recently prepared a recipe that called for egg whites and I had several yolks left over. Instead of putting them in the fridge and forgetting about them, I poached them in simmering water just as I would whole eggs, then crumbled them into a potato salad.Stop scrambled eggs sticking
Don't pour raw eggs into a cold pan. This allows the eggs to get any nicks or imperfections in the pan's surface, and the eggs will literally cook in the pan. Heating the empty pan first will expand the metal and effectively seal those imperfections, so your eggs will cook on the surface, not below it. You don't want the pan too hot or you'll end up with fried eggs.Save an oversalted dish
If the recipe contains an acid – citrus juice, vinegar, wine – you can try adding a bit more to balance the salt (likewise, a dish with too much vinegar or other acid can be balanced by adding salt).Cake success
Beating butter and sugar together for three to five minutes may seem excessive, but a lengthy creaming time ensures that enough air bubbles are created to lift the cake.Blend a slurry in a cocktail shaker
When I need a quick thickener for sauce or gravy, I make a slurry by putting flour and water in a cocktail shaker and giving it a few good shakes. This produces a much smoother mixture than I've ever been able to make by stirring. And the shaker has a built-in strainer that prevents any lingering lumps getting into the sauce.Use both ends of a pestle
When crushing hard spices such as peppercorns, it's easier to turn the pestle over and use the small end. You can exert more pressure on the small peppercorns so it's easier to break them.Keep cookies soft for days
To preserve the softness of freshly baked cookies and brownies, I put a slice of bread in the storage container. The moisture from the bread keeps the cookies soft and makes them taste fresh from the oven. When the bread becomes dry, replace with another slice.Flour stops raisins sinking
I've found that dusting raisins with flour keeps them from sinking in cake batter. This technique also works for chocolate chips in cakes.Use shower caps as plastic wraps
I always bring home complimentary plastic shower caps when I stay in a hotel. They're perfect for covering bowls of food, easier than using regular plastic wrap, and they're reusable.Remove spots with vinegar
Stainless-steel saucepans can sometimes develop white, cloudy spots on the surface. These are mineral deposits left after boiling water, particularly hard tap water. Clean the pan with a little vinegar and warm water and the spots will easily wash away.Keep foil flat on baking sheets
Lightly wet the underside of the foil – that little bit of moisture acts like glue between the foil and the pan.Baking soda cleans anything
After repeated soakings and scrubbings failed to clean a pan with a layer of scorched milk, I sprinkled on some baking soda, added enough water to cover, and waited a couple of hours. The baking soda lifted the burnt milk. I've tried this with other stuck-on foods – it always works.Sharpen knives on a mug
The unglazed bottom rim of a ceramic or porcelain mug is an ideal surface for honing the edge of your kitchen knives. Hold the knife perpendicular to the rim's surface, and then reangle the blade so it's at a 45-degree angle (half of the previous 90-degree angle). Re-angle it again to half of the 45-degree angle and start sharpening.Removing the smell of garlic
Lemon or lime juice and a little salt will go a long way towards reducing the odour of both garlic and onion on your chopping board. Sprinkle your cutting board with table salt. Cut a lemon or lime into quarters and use these quarters to rub the salt into the board, squeezing the juice on to the board as you go. Let the board sit for two to three minutes, and then wipe it clean with a damp cloth.Use a colander to collect waste
To save time taking things to the bin when prepping ingredients, put a small colander in the sink and use it as a rubbish bowl to dispose of peels, egg shells and other waste. Versatile chopsticks Slide one or two under the lid of a pot when you want it partially covered. Slide a couple under a hot pot in place of a trivet to protect your table or countertop. Lay two chopsticks across the top of a pot of boiling pasta water while the pasta cooks. Then set your serving bowl on top of the chopsticks for a few minutes to warm it.
Tell us your top tips for the kitchen Edited extracts from How to Squeeze a Lemon by Fine Cooking Magazine, published by Taunton Press, £14.99. To order a copy for £11.99 with free UK p&p, go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop or call 0330 333 6846. Available from 30 January
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