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Aunt Runner's
Cooking Tips Page #2
If you have any great cooking tips, please Email me.
Whirl almost any kind of LEFTOVER SOUP (minus bones) in blender to get a sauce or gravy for vegetables
or meat.
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Make your own CELERY SALT for a fraction of what you'd pay at the store. Dry celery leaves thoroughly,
crush to a powder or rub them through a sieve and mix with salt.
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If you like well-browned pancakes, add 1 teaspoon molasses to the batter. It will make the difference.
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Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon baking powder to a frying batter for an especially delicate crust.
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Beaten Egg Whites will have more body if you whip in a little sugar toward the end of beating - when whites
stand in soft peaks. Add sugar a little at a time, whipping as you go. (Do not add sugar too soon or too
much at a time or you'll get a thin marshmallowy sauce that won't thicken.
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To clarify a quart of stock, beat 2 teaspoons water with 1 egg white, then add the eggshell (crushed in
small pieces) and stir into the stock. Boil 1 or 2 minutes, then strain through a square of fine cloth
draped over a large strainer.
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Mushrooms freeze well. Wash quickly, dry, then put them, sliced or un-sliced, in a plastic bag and freeze.
Use them without defrosting. In any cooked dish, they will taste exactly like fresh mushrooms.
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Cauliflower cooked in an aluminum pot will darken. Use a different kind of pot and add a little sugar,
lemon peel or vinegar to the cooking water to keep cauliflower white.
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Add a pinch or two of curry to spaghetti sauce or tuna salad. You will be surprised at the difference
it makes. This ingredient is a must for these two dishes. I can really tell the difference. Do not put
too much in to begin with. Put a pinch, sitr, taste, add another pinch, etc. until you get it the way
you want it.
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If you plan to un-mold a baked custard, beat the eggs only slightly before you add them to the liquid.
This will keep the custard firm when baked. (Too much beating produces a light, porous custard)
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Add a little honey to the butter in which you saute onions for an out-of-the ordinary dish (Add onions
when butter/honey mixture begins to sizzle)
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For garlic-flavored potato chips, put a peeled garlic clove in a container with chips several hours. Discard
before serving chips.
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For a juicy grilled hamburger, add a little cold water to the ground beef (1/4 cup to 2 pounds of meat
is enough). I found this hint in some of my Mom's notes and had forgotten that I had seen her do this
many times.
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When you freeze bacon, there is no waiting for thawing if you arrange the strips flat, slice by slice,
on waxed paper, then roll them up. Put them in a plastic bag in the freeze. To use, unroll and peel off
the necessary number of slices.
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Toast coconut in the microwave. Watch closely, as it browns quickly once it begins to brown. Spread 1/2
cup coconut in a pie plate and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring every 30-seconds after the first 2 minutes.
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To keep celery crisp, stand it up in a pitcher of cold, salted water and refrigerate
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After stewing a chicken for diced meat for casseroles, etc., let cool in broth before cutting into chunks.
It will have twice the flavor.
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Do not use soda to keep vegetables green. It destroys Vitamin C. |
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Place an open box of hardened brown sugar in the microwave oven with 1 cup hot water. Microwave at high
for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes for 1/2 pound of sugar or 2 to 3 minutes for 1 pound of sugar.
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