Having the kitchen as my “playground” for over 50 years, I have developed some tricks of the trade, and unfortunately, some from mistakes which resulted in having to throw the end dish away!
Always smell before using a product. If it smells funky or especially moldy in Hilo, do not use it. Even a teaspoon of that ingredient could ruin the end product. It happened the other day with just a little sour cream in the container. Needing to finish the pie crust, I used the four tablespoons needed, but it resulted in a finished pie crust that had a blue cheese taste. Needless to say, it had to be dumped.
If you over whipped your heavy whipping cream, as long as you didn’t whip it to total separation and made butter, adding a tablespoon more of whipping cream will often save the product for use in a dessert.
I never thought much about this but breaking your raw eggs on the counter and not on the bowl makes a difference. When you crack them on the edge of the bowl, the egg shell shatters and creates tiny shards that could get into your egg. It is especially important when baking and the recipe asks for a bunch of eggs.
Speaking of eggs, when separating egg yolks from whites, crack the whites into a clear glass Pyrex bowl before putting them into the mixing bowl. You will be able to see any bits of shell or egg yolk. The fat in the egg yolk will not allow the whites to beat properly.
And speaking of egg whites that need to be whipped for a dessert like a meringue pie, I love my copper bowl that is inserted into my Kitchenaid bowl for my standing mixer. The copper ions that leach into the egg whites help to stabilize the foam. Here’s the scientific explanation from thekitchen.com: “the neat thing about whipping egg whites in a copper bowl is that as the whisk hits the bowl, tiny bits of copper break off from the surface of the bowl and mix in with your egg whites. Since copper can bind sulfur groups, those tiny bits of copper bind to the egg white proteins and therefore, those sulfur groups are unable to form the strong disulfide bonds than can lead to gritty, dry whipped egg whites. Therefore, egg whites whipped in a copper bowl stay glossy and firm without as much risk of becoming over whipped or grainy.” So if you are a serious baker and love to make meringue pies, it may be worth the investment to get a copper bowl.
I place most of my recipes in a page protector to protect them from spills and splashes.
I grate my cheeses into a sheet of parchment paper so there is no waste. The parchment catches any cheese so there is very little clean up.
If you have leftover red wine in the bottle, freeze them in ice cube trays and freeze them. When you are cooking a dish that needs a touch of wine, add a cube or two.
If you store your unsalted butter in the freezer and you need to bake something, grate the frozen butter. It will soften much faster.
When making a quick bread like banana bread, make sure the bread is fully cooked. Usual time for most quick breads is one hour in a 350 degree oven. If you remove the loaf pans too early before it bakes fully, the bread will drop in the middle as it cools. At this point, you cannot do anything to save it. The half a pound of butter, the most expensive ingredient will be wasted as it will be needing to be thrown away.
Whenever I need oranges, I first use a Victorinox peeler (which is super sharp and removes just the surface of the rind without any whites) and make candied oranges. This can be added in breads, etc for a nice citrus flavor. To make candied oranges, I cut the strips into slivers about one-quarter inches and boil them in water for five minutes. I drain the water, which at this point turns orange colored, rinse the skins in a sieve, add water, boil 5 minutes, rinse under cold water in a sieve again. At this point, add about 1/2 cup sugar and place in it on a half pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in a low oven, about 250 degrees until the orange peels are dried and coated with sugar.
Sharp knives are important and the real test is when cutting a tomato. If it can’t cut through a tomato, it needs sharpening. Also, when chopping onions, there will be less tears.
Cleaning up while cooking really makes things easier in the end. I don’t like a pile of pots, pans and bowls in my sink after cooking. Just looking at that mess tires me out.
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.
