The process of preparing food can be not only utilitarian, but also meditative, and yet we often want to quickly deal with cooking, and even more so with cleaning and storing food. Having learned some culinary techniques, you may not even notice how quickly and easily the time spent in the kitchen will fly by.
1. Not simple, but golden
An egg from a fairy tale will turn out if you shake it vigorously for 2-3 minutes before cooking. Children will be delighted.
2. Eggs in water and oil
Test the eggs with water before cooking. If they do not sink, but float up, then they are stale. And before putting the eggs in the refrigerator, grease them with vegetable oil, so they will keep fresh for 3-4 weeks longer.
3. Chicken frosting
Vegetable oil, soy sauce, store-bought mustard and a pinch of sugar can be used to mix an excellent icing for baking chicken breast on the bone in the oven. And it is most convenient to spread it with a silicone brush - it is also useful for economically lubricating a pancake pan or baking sheet with oil.
4. Waste-free production
If from the purchased bunch of greens only a couple of twigs were useful for cooking, the rest can be finely chopped and frozen. Even if the shoots have slightly wilted and turned yellow, butter will save them - pour vegetable or melted butter into portion molds and pour greens there. Then such pieces are great to add to pasta or salads.
5. Stationery pin
If you pierce the egg from the blunt end with a clerical pin before boiling, then after it it will be easy to clean both the shell and the thin skin.
6. Quick defrost
Divide food into several bags before freezing large quantities. A thin layer of minced meat will defrost faster. And it is convenient to put grated carrots in a bag with a not too thick sausage - so you can see by eye how much to break it off, for example, for a recipe with half a medium carrot.
7. First-class ice
Ice, crystal clear, like in a restaurant, comes from water boiled once or twice.
8. Clear broth
If you need to get a beautiful transparent broth, turn down the heat immediately after boiling - the broth should only slightly gurgle.
9. Poached one-two-three
Unless you have a special poached dish or a suitable small saucepan, poached eggs can be boiled in a skillet. Before dipping into boiling water, break each into a separate small bowl.
10. Groats without cooking
Many people know that oatmeal can be steamed with boiling water instead of boiling. Buckwheat can be prepared in the same way - if you pour one glass of this cereal with three glasses of boiling water in the evening, then in the morning it will only need to be heated and salted.
11. Soft meat
If the pieces of meat for stews seem to be harsh, then you can sprinkle them with baking soda a little. It will soften the protein fibers and make the meat more tender.
12. Wash or not wash
Recently, doctors have come to the conclusion that meat and poultry need not be washed before cooking - high temperatures will kill all bacteria and microbes, but splashing water from raw food will spread pathogens throughout the kitchen.
13. Coffee aroma
Finely ground coffee can be added to desserts, for example, ice cream or tiramisu - this will give them a pleasant aroma and taste with a hint of coffee.
14. Odor absorber
A couple of tea bags on the shelves or on the refrigerator door will absorb odors just as well as a store-bought adsorbent. At the same time, they are much more profitable in price and generate less waste.
15. Peel the ginger
A spicy root of a complex shape is best cleaned not with a knife, but with a teaspoon - this way less pulp will go to the trash along with the peel.
16. Ice cream spoon
With such a hemispherical spoon, it is easy to take out seeds from zucchini and cucumbers. It is also useful for making jelly balls.
17. Shield of bread
The cut cake will not stale if you attach pieces of bread to the slices and secure them with toothpicks. The bread will take the hit.
18. Clean banks
To the leftover mayonnaise in the jar, you can add a little vinegar, olive oil and your favorite seasonings - you get an excellent salad sauce. In addition, it will be easier to clean the jar afterwards.
This method works for desserts too. Pour hot milk into an almost empty Nutella jar, close the lid and shake. That's it, you can drink delicious cocoa and don't take out the brush to clear the can of chocolate paste.
19. First aid
If you burn your finger in the heat of cooking, first put it to the earlobe - this is the coldest part of the human body. And after a few seconds, you need to start up cold water and hold the burned place under the stream.
20. Fish and lemon
A lemon pillow will make your fish baked or grilled even more delicious. The same citrus will help to rid your hands of the smell of fish after cutting - wipe them with a slice of lemon or its juice.
21. Fresh berries
To prevent blueberries or wild strawberries harvested with such difficulty, they can be moistened with a mild vinegar solution.
22. Onions and garlic
You can make holes in paper bags with a hole punch and store onions and garlic in them - this will protect them from mold for a couple of months, just so that you have time to use them. By the way, if you want to spice up the dish, you can simply wipe the serving plate with a chopped clove of garlic.
23. Substitution of a player
The recipe says that the dish needs hard cheese, but you only have soft cheese? You can put it in the freezer for half an hour, and it will become hard, crumbly and will not stick to the grater. The latter problem is also easy to solve by spraying the grater with cooking spray.
24. The perfect scrambled eggs
Fried eggs are often overexposed because this delicate product continues to cook in an unheated skillet or even on a plate. Try turning off the burner when it is still at the runny yolk stage, cover the pan with a lid and let the dish grab a little.
25. Crispy crust
Excellent breading for chicken and fish is made with semolina, cornmeal, crushed nuts, or breakfast cereals. It is the latter that will help make the same crust as crispy wings in fast food restaurants.
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