My Science School

• A surplus of spuds?

If you have peeled too many potatoes for a potato salad or casserole, don’t get rid of the uncooked extras. Put them in a bowl, cover with cold water and add a few drops of vinegar. Now they will keep in the fridge for three to four days.

• Bag your lettuce

Lettuce will keep longer if transferred from a plastic bag to a larger paper bag before storing it in the fridge. Lettuce likes a little air, but you don’t need to remove limp and discoloured outer leaves; they may not be edible, but these leaves help to keep the inner leaves crisp.

• A gentle touch in the crisper

Line the crisper drawer of your fridge with paper towels, which will absorb the excess moisture that stops the vegetables inside from staying fresh. Replace the towels as they become damp. Another way to dehumidify the drawer is to tuck two or three brand-new kitchen sponges among the vegetables, squeezing out moisture as needed.

• Toast freshens lettuce

You can keep lettuce crisp in the fridge for longer if you store it in a sealed plastic bag with a slice of almost-burned toast. The ultra-dry toast will absorb some of the excess moisture that would otherwise cause the lettuce to wilt. As long as you replace the toast when it becomes soggy, the lettuce should stay crisp for up to two weeks.

• Keep greens fork fresh

Keep kale, spinach and other greens fresh for longer by storing them in the fridge along with a stainless-steel fork or knife. Just open the storage bag, slip in the utensil and reclose.

• Special care for celery

It’s crucial for celery to be crisp, so when it starts to go soft try this: put limp stalks in a bowl of cold water with a few slices of raw potato. After an hour or so in this starchy bath, the stalks may be restored to their crunchy best. To stop celery from going brown, soak it for 30 minutes in 1 litre cold water mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice before storing — a trick that will also crisp celery just before it’s served.

• Get the most out of a lemon

When a recipe calls for just a few drops of lemon juice, simply puncture the rind with a toothpick and gently squeeze out the small amount of juice you need. Then cover the hole with a piece of tape and store the lemon in the fridge for later use.

• Oiled eggs

Prolong the life of fresh eggs by dipping a paper towel into vegetable oil and rubbing the shells before storing in the fridge. The oil will keep the eggs fresh for an extra three to four weeks.

• Vinegar and cheese

To keep cheese fresh, wrap it in a piece of soft clean cloth dampened with vinegar. It should come as no surprise that washed cheesecloth is ideal for the purpose.

• Store potatoes with ginger

Unused potatoes will last longer if you add a piece of fresh ginger root to the bin that you store them in. It’s said that one root vegetable helps to keep another root vegetable fresh — and a potato tuber is a kind of root.

• Longer-lasting milk

If you buy more milk than you can use before the use-by date, extend its life with a couple of pinches of bicarbonate of soda. Bicarbonate of soda reduces the acidity of milk and will slow down the rate at which it goes off. But don’t add too much or you’ll notice the taste of the bicarb in your milk.

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• Stop the drip

Wrap a towelling sweatband, headband or bandana around a bottle of olive oil to prevent drips. When the wrap becomes too oily, just throw it in the washing machine.

• An aid to elbow grease

If you struggle to twist the lid off a new jar of jam or marmalade, turn the jar upside down and give it a tap with the heel of your hand; you should hear a popping sound, signalling the release of air. Now turn the jar over and you may be able to twist off the lid with ease.

• Separate packaged bacon

Before opening a packet of bacon, curl the packet up with your hands a few times, turning it over each time. When you open it, you should find it easier to peel away the individual slices.

• Keep wooden tools in good shape

Sprinkle wooden salad bowls and chopping boards with salt and then rub them with a lemon to freshen them. The salt-and-lemon treatment will help your salad bowl to impart freshness, not smells, to the ingredients. And when you chop, slice and dice, your knife won’t lift any dried wood bits from the board.

• ‘Micropeel’ garlic

Here’s a tip to make working with garlic ultra-easy. Microwave garlic cloves for 15 seconds and the skins will slip straight off, allowing you to slice, crush and chop without delay. Another hint: as you chop garlic, the juices released make tiny pieces stick to your knife. Sprinkling a little salt on both the chopping board and the garlic will go a long way towards solving a small problem that can be surprisingly annoying when you’re trying to get the job done.

• Super lid opener

Too-tight lids on jars can make you feel like a weakling if they just won’t budge. A simple way to get them open is to pull on a pair of rubber dishwashing gloves. With your grip secured, the lid will twist off with minimal effort.

• Don’t forget the ice-cube tray!

Whether you’re preparing baby food, storing leftover sauces or making perfect-sized portions of no-cook fudge, a flexible plastic ice-cube tray is your invaluable multitasker. It’s a versatile kitchen aid you don’t want to forget.

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• No lemon?

If a recipe calls for lemon juice, a lime is the best bet as a substitute. If not, you can use the same amount of white wine.

• Cut the salt — not the taste

A chef’s trick for reducing the amount of salt in a recipe is to replace it with half as much lemon juice. If a recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of salt, substitute 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice and there’s no need to use the salt.

• Vanilla imitators

If you run out of vanilla just as a recipe for batter calls for it, you can substitute an equal amount of maple syrup or a sweet liqueur such as Bailey’s Irish Cream.

• Powder for powder

Cake recipes often call for baking powder, but if you’ve run out, try this: for each teaspoon called for, substitute a mix of 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda. The mixture won’t store well, so make it fresh in case you ever need it again.

• Instead of breadcrumbs

If you're making meatballs or hamburgers, but are running short of breadcrumbs, substitute porridge oats, crushed unsweetened cereal such as cornflakes, and crumbled crackers or instant mashed potato flakes instead.

• A surprising non-stick solution

You’ve chopped the vegetables, got the meat ready and you’re about to fire up the barbecue when you find you’re out of oil. Rub the grill with half a potato and your food won’t stick.

• Sour cream stand-in

Make an easy substitute for sour cream by blending 225g cottage cheese, 40ml buttermilk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth. The lemon juice will sour its creamy partners.

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• Hair dryer as salad drier

If you have rinsed and spun your salad, but the leaves are still wet, set your hair dryer on a cool setting and wave it gently over the leaves.

• A teaspoon as a ginger peeler

When you find it impossible to peel ginger without losing some of the flesh, try this. If you’re right-handed, hold the ginger in your left hand and, using a teaspoon, firmly scrape the edge of the spoon along the knob with your right. The papery skin will peel straight off.

• Dental floss as slicer

Held taut, fine floss can slice layer cakes, soft breads, soft cheeses, butter and plenty of other soft foods more effectively than a sharp knife.

• Plastic drink bottle as a funnel

Cut off the top third of the bottle and turn it upside down. Now you can easily funnel left-over sauces, gravies, kidney beans or even grease into containers for storage or disposal.

• A handsaw as a rib separator

A sharp (clean) handsaw works wonders when you’re serving a juicy rack of ribs. Slip the blade between the bones, give it one or two saws and the ribs will separate cleanly and perfectly.

• A coffee filter as a gravy strainer

Beef and poultry drippings from a roast make the most delicious, flavour some base for gravy, but are often packed with grease. Save the flavour and lose the fat by straining the cooking juices through a paper coffee filter.

• Scissors as herb chopper

Use clean household scissors to snip fresh herbs and spring onions into salads or mixing bowls. Scissors are also perfect for cutting steam vents in the crust of a pie before it goes in the oven.

• Flowerpots as kitchen tool caddy

Store serving spoons, whisks, tongs and other kitchen tools in flowerpots on the benchtop. To make the pots more decorative, you could paint each one in a different pastel or bright colour.

• Wood rasp as lemon zester

A clean, fine metal rasp from a toolbox works perfectly as a zester for lemons, limes, oranges and other citrus fruit. Its tiny raised nubs scrape the fruit’s skin to create perfect zest.

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• Marinate in plastic bags

Eliminate washing up bowls, spoons and even pots by marinating meat and poultry in large self-sealing plastic bags. Open the bag and pour in the liquids and seasonings — soy sauce, tomato sauce, ground ginger, black pepper, crushed garlic, herbs and so on. Zip the bag shut and shake it to blend. Now add the meat, zip the bag and shake. Refrigerate 6-8 hours or overnight. Occasionally take the bag out of the fridge and shake it to redistribute the marinade.

• Butter stops the dribbles

Dab a bit of butter onto the spout of your milk jug and you will put an end to the drips and dribbles.

• Oil your measuring cup

Sticky liquids like honey and syrup are difficult to measure and pour and a little always remain behind. Oiling the measuring cup will make it harder for viscous liquids to stick and will give you a more accurate serving.

• Keep salt on popcorn

If you want salt to stick to popcorn, give it something to cling to by lightly coating just-popped corn with a vegetable-based cooking spray. Avoid olive oil cooking spray because the flavour can overwhelm the taste of popcorn.

• Add tang to sauce with ginger ale

A little ginger ale will perk up tomato sauces, but be careful not to overdo it. About 80ml ginger ale added to a medium-sized saucepan of tomato and garlic sauce or a tomato juice-based beef stew will help to enhance the flavour.

• Brighten the taste of juice

For fresher tasting orange juice, add the juice of 1 lemon to every 4 litres. By the glass, squeeze in the juice of a quarter of a lemon, and then place the peel on the rim for a bit of visual flair.

• Add flavour to plain chips

It’s so easy to make your own garlic-flavoured potato chips. Just place a peeled garlic clove in a bag of plain chips, fasten the bag shut with a clamp or clothes peg and let it sit for 6-8 hours, shaking the bag occasionally to even out the flavour. Then open the bag, discard the garlic clove and crunch away.

• Dress up a syrup dressing

Adding chopped strawberries and a little lemon zest to the syrup you top pancakes with will make it a lot more interesting. Combine 120ml golden syrup, 100g strawberries and 1/2 tea-spoon grated orange peel in a microwaveable bowl and heat on High for 30-60 seconds. Top pancakes, waffles or French toast with the syrup and then tuck into what is now a much tastier and healthier dish. (Strawberries are packed with vitamin C and manganese.)

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• Easy creaming

This important step in many a cake recipe —creaming the butter and sugar — can be a tedious and lengthy task. If the butter is cold, you can speed up the creaming process by warming the sugar a little on the stovetop. Or soften the butter by warming it briefly in the microwave oven on a very low setting.

• One-egg replacement

If you are baking a cake that calls for one more egg than you have available, you can substitute 1 teaspoon cornflour.

• Or go fruity

Replace one egg in a cake or sweet bread recipe with one small mashed banana or 120ml pureed apple. For lovely moist chocolate cake, try substituting mashed prunes.

• Spaghetti cake tester

If you don’t have a wire cake tester, use an uncooked strand of spaghetti instead. Gently push the spaghetti into the centre of the cake and pull it out. If your spaghetti comes out clean, the cake is done.

• Improvised cake decorator

Use a washed plastic mustard or tomato sauce squirt bottle as a cake decorating tool. Fill it with icing, then simply pipe scallops, flowers and other designs onto cakes with ease. Or use it to make squiggles of pesto or cream on top of soups or chocolate on desserts.

• Pie bubbling over?

If a pie starts bubbling over as it is baking, cover the spills with salt. You’ll prevent the spill from burning and avoid the terrible scorched smell. Best of all, the treated overflow will bake into a dry, light crust that you can wipe off easily when the oven has cooled.

• Make piecrust flakier

Flaky piecrusts are the talented baker’s hallmark. You can improve the flakiness by replacing 1 tablespoon iced water in a crust recipe with 1 tablespoon chilled lemon juice or white vinegar.

• Fruit piecrusts too soggy?

To keep the juice in fruit from seeping into the crust of a baking pie, crumble up something to absorb it. A layer of plain, crisp flatbread will absorb the juice and introduce a savoury note to the pie, while biscotti or amaretti cookies will keep it tasting sweet.

• Slice meringue with ease

Your knife will glide through a meringue-topped pie if you butter it on both sides before slicing. It’s a 10-second solution, if that.

• Thrifty chocolates

If you’re a chocoholic, have extra freezer space and love saving money, buy chocolate Easter bunnies and Santas after the holidays when prices are low. Store them in the freezer and shave off chocolate curls to use in cooking. Or melt to create new chocolate shapes. Or, if you prefer, just thaw a Santa or bunny and gobble it up whenever you need a chocolate fix.

• Have coffee over ice

To make a coffee granita, pour cooled, freshly brewed black coffee into several small containers such as clean yogurt pots, to freeze. When frozen, remove the pots and then put the frozen coffee into a food processor. Process on Low until crystals form. Spoon the crystals into the cups and freeze again for about half an hour before serving.

Or add milk and sugar to your coffee before freezing. Good toppings for granita include whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

• Flour taste test

If you can’t remember whether the flour in a storage jar is plain or self-raising, taste it. If it’s salty, it’s self-raising flour, so called because it contains baking powder and salt to make it rise.

• Is your baking powder fresh?

If you’re not sure how long your baking powder has been in the cupboard, you can easily tell whether it’s still OK to use. Scoop 1/2 teaspoon of the powder into a teacup and pour in 60ml hot water. If it bubbles up, it’s fine to use; if it barely fizzes, it’s time to replace it.

• Make dough rise more quickly

Heat makes dough rise more quickly. But if it rises too quickly the flavour will suffer —something that cooks who have tried microwaving dough for a few minutes on Low could probably tell you. Instead, position the bowl or pan over the pilot light of a gas stove or on a medium—hot heating pad.

• Keep hands clean when kneading

When working with dough, don’t flour your hands to stop the mixture from sticking to your skin. Instead, pour a few drops of olive oil into one palm and work it into your hands as you would hand lotion.

• Easy greasing

Save the waxy wrappers of packs of butter and put their buttery residue to good use. Store them in a plastic bag in the fridge. When a recipe calls for a greased pan, bring one or two of the wrappers into service.

• Set cupcakes free

If cupcakes have stuck to the bottom of a metal tin, while the pan is still hot, set it on a wet towel. The condensation in the bottom of the tin will make the little cakes easier to remove.

• Steam for a better loaf

When you’re baking bread, at the same time as you put the loaf tin into the oven, put a second tin containing 6-8 ice cubes on one of the oven racks. The steam that results will help the bread to bake more evenly and give it a crispier crust.

• Lighten up quick breads

If your banana and walnut bread, cinnamon coffee cake or carrot cakes are tasty but heavy, substitute creme fraiche for the milk in the recipes; it should lighten the texture of any quick bread you bake. Experiment to find what gives you the best results: all creme fraiche, equal parts creme fraiche and milk, and so on.

• Butter replacement

If a baking recipe calls for so much butter that you feel your arteries clogging just reading it, substitute a 50:50 mixture of unsweetened pureed apple and buttermilk. Best used in light-coloured or spiced cakes and breads, this substitute imparts a slightly chewier texture — so you may want to replace plain flour with a lighter, special cake flour.

• A honey of a biscuit

Honey will help home-baked biscuits stay softer and fresher for longer. Replace sugar with honey cup for cup, but decrease other liquids in the recipe by 1/4 cup (60ml) per cup of honey.

• A quick fix for bland soup

Boost the flavour of a so-so soup by dissolving a beef or chicken stock cube in a little hot water and whisking it into the soup.

• Soup stretchers

If you’re heating up leftover soup for two or more people and it’s looking skimpy, stir in cooked rice, pasta or pearled barley, all of which are great soup stretchers.

• In the bag

As you prepare salad ingredients, put them into a small plastic bag. When you’ve finished, hold the bag closed with your hand and shake well. The ingredients will be thoroughly tossed and you will be able to refrigerate them in the bag until it’s time to serve.

• Hold the tomatoes

Even when you need to make a mixed salad ahead of time, add sliced tomatoes only after the salad is on the plate. The greens in your salad bowl will stay crisper in the fridge without tomatoes, which make lettuce wilt.

• ‘Fast Italian’ broccoli salad

For an easy and delicious salad, toss steamed broccoli florets cooled to room temperature in a dressing of 1/2 cup (125ml) plain tomato pasta sauce, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley and salt and black pepper to taste.

• Keep it fresh

Use this chef’s trick to keep lettuce fresh for up to two weeks. Pull the leaves off the core, fill a sink with cold water and submerge them for 20 minutes. Remove, dry thoroughly, wrap in paper towels and store in the crisper section of your fridge.

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• Rescue wilted vegetables

You can revive wilted vegetables by soaking them for an hour in 500 ml water mixed with a tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Pat dry and prepare as usual. Or plunge limp vegetables into hot water, remove and then plunge them into a bowl of ice water mixed with a little cider vinegar.

• Easy cheesy creamed spinach

If you like creamed spinach, try this yummy recipe. Saute a clove of finely crushed garlic in 1 tablespoon butter for 30-40 seconds. Add about 500g washed spinach leaves and toss until they are just wilted. Stir in 55g ricotta cheese and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

• Liven up green beans

Add extra flavour to steamed green beans and give them a little kick as well by tossing them in this mixture: 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder plus a dash or two of garlic powder.

• The benefits of a milk boost

Adding milk to cooking water can enhance the taste of certain vegetables. Two examples are:

1. Keep cauliflower whiter by adding 80ml milk to the cooking water.


2. Sweet corn-on-the-cob becomes sweeter when a little milk is added to the water.

• ‘Almost the real thing’ vegetable lasagna

This recipe is suitable for strict vegetarians and may fool even the most die-hard carnivore. Replace the meat in a lasagna recipe with a mixture of diced zucchinis, lentils and ground walnuts — a combination that closely resembles minced beef.

• Quick-bake potatoes

Cut potato baking times in half (without the help of a microwave) by choosing smaller potatoes and standing them up in the cups of a muffin tray before putting them in the oven.

To reduce the baking time for a medium whole potato by 15 minutes, try inserting a skewer into the flesh. This will help to distribute the heat throughout the potato more quickly.

• Keep baked capsicums upright

Stuffed green capsicums sometimes lean to one side while cooking. Give them a firm footing by setting each capsicum in the cup of a muffin tray sprayed with a little non-stick cooking spray to ensure easy removal.

• Cola-caramelised onions

For the best caramelised onions, you need only three ingredients: 2-3 sweet onions, barbecue sauce and cola. Slice the onions about 1.5cm thick and set in a microwaveable dish. Pour cola over the onions to cover. Stir in 2 teaspoons barbecue sauce and microwave on Medium for 30 minutes. No trouble, great taste!

• Save those vegetable tops

Beetroot leaves? Fennel fronds? Carrot tops? Don’t throw them out. Cut them away from their respective vegetables, wash and dry well, chop, then saute them in a bit of olive oil with garlic to taste for a healthy side dish. Or mince them finely and mix together with scrambled eggs, salad leaves or leftover pasta.

• A toothbrush as a mushroom cleaner

Use a new soft-bristled toothbrush to clean mushrooms and other soft-skinned vegetables before cooking. A medium or hard-bristled brush is more suitable for potatoes.

• Foolproof ways to slice dried fruit

Have you ever tried to cut dried fruit into small pieces, only to have your knife stick on the fruit? Just squeeze lemon juice over the fruit you’re about to cut. The knife should then slice through with ease.

• More juice from your lemons

Store lemons in a sealed jar of water and when it’s time to squeeze them, you will get twice as much juice. Another trick is to prick the lemon skin once or twice with a sharp knife and then microwave it on Medium for 15 seconds before slicing and squeezing.

• Enrich omelettes and scrambled eggs

Give scrambled eggs and omelettes a silken texture and add a sinful dollop of richness by whisking in a tablespoon of good-quality mayonnaise for each egg.

• No more cracks

Keep the shells of hard-boiled eggs intact by rubbing them with the juice of a cut lemon before cooking. The shells won’t crack and will be much easier to peel once they are cool. Achieve the same result by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or a small wedge of lemon to the cooking water.

• Devilishly easy

When you are preparing devilled eggs, take two steps towards perfect alignment. Keep the yolks centred as the eggs boil by stirring the water non-stop. Then cut a thin slice off opposite sides of the hard boiled eggs so that the halves sit up perfectly straight on the serving platter when they are stuffed with filling.

• Perfect slices

Ensure that slices of hard-boiled egg are neat and clean by lightly wiping or spraying the knife blade with vegetable oil or cooking spray. If you don’t have oil or spray on hand, run the knife under cold running water just before slicing.

• Spray before grating

A cheese grater can be a nightmare to get clean when the small holes are clogged with cheese, but you can make the job easier by taking action in advance. Just spray the grater with cooking spray or use a clean rag to rub it with vegetable oil before using.

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• The ideal meal stretcher

An extra guest or two for dinner — even at a casual meal — can foil the most carefully laid plans. Head straight for the pasta — it’s your best bet as a filling meal stretcher, along with a can of chopped tomatoes. Boil the pasta, heating up the tomatoes at the same time. Drain the cooked pasta, put it into a large bowl and toss with the tomatoes and plenty of grated hard cheese, preferably parmesan. (If you don’t have tomatoes, toss the pasta in a little olive oil and grated hard cheese — a surprisingly delicious combination.) Add the steaming bowl of pasta to the table and you can bet your guests will be satisfied.

• Stop spaghetti showers

We’ve probably all done it — you’re rummaging through a kitchen cupboard and accidentally knock over a half-used packet of spaghetti — and the dried strands cascade onto the floor. How can you stop it from happening again? Save an empty Pringles chip box (tall and cylindrical with a plastic lid) and recycle it as a dry pasta canister.

• Carrot ribbon pasta

Carrots add additional nutrients and some vibrant colour to a simple pasta dish. Clean and peel the carrots, then use a peeler to shave wide carrot ribbons. Saute the ribbons in butter and seasonings, such as ginger, black pepper and salt, then acid to cooked, drained pasta. You don’t need a tomato-based sauce — simply toss with parmesan cheese.

• Keep pasta from boiling over

Before adding water to a pasta pan, coat the interior lightly with nonstick cooking spray. The water won’t boil over, even when you add the pasta. If you don’t have spray on hand, add a teaspoon of olive oil to the water as it cooks. This trick works for boiled rice as well.

• What to do with leftover pasta

Don’t throw it out. Toss it in a nonstick, ovenproof pan with a teaspoon of olive oil, pour 2 beaten eggs over it, sprinkle with cheese and bake until golden brown. Slice the resulting frittata into wedges and keep it for another dinner with a small green salad. It’s money-saving, simple and delicious.

• Jazz up rice

Instead of boiling rice in plain water, try using chicken or beef stock, tomato juice or even equal parts of orange juice and water. Or you could sprinkle dried oregano, cumin, turmeric and any other herb or spice into the water before adding the rice. You could also add finely chopped onion, garlic or plenty of lemon or orange zest to turn rice from a bland accompaniment into a brand-new dish each time it appears on the table.

• Fluff it up!

It’s easy to keep rice grains from sticking together as they cook. Try one of these methods to ensure you’ll spoon out the fluffiest of servings:

1. Soak the rice in a bowl of cold water for 30-60 minutes before cooking. Soaking will also make the rice cook faster. Drain and rinse before cooking.


2. Put the rice into a colander and rinse it under cold running water several times to remove the surface starch that makes the grains stick together.


3. Add the juice of half a lemon to the cooking water. Grating the lemon rind and adding the zest will give rice another taste note and some visual interest.

• Perfect rice noodles

Before being cooked, rice noodles need to soak in water at room temperature for at least 1 hour, preferably several hours. If you’ve soaked them but you can’t cook the noodles immediately, keep them moist by sandwiching them between damp paper towels.

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• Hamburgers with a difference

To add flavour and moisture to hamburger patties, add 1/4 cup (30g) finely chopped onion and 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Blend the ingredients into the beef or turkey mince with freshly washed hands, taking care not to overwork the mixture.

Variations of the ingredients are endless —you can add everything from crushed garlic, or finely chopped celery or other crisp vegetables paired with sweet chilli sauce, tomato sauce or Worcestershire sauce. You could also mix a teaspoon of chilli powder or cumin (or 1/2 teaspoon of both) into the meat to give the patties a slight Mexican flavour or even a sprinkle of curry powder to add some Indian spice.

• Speed defrosting with salt

Defrost frozen meats quickly and safely by soaking them in cold salt water for several hours. Mix 50-100g sea salt or any other coarse-grained salt with 2 litres water, then submerge the meat and refrigerate it. Once the meat has thawed, just discard the salt water and cook as usual.

• Making better burgers

Although your usual hamburgers probably taste absolutely fine, you can notch up a burger’s wow factor with a few easy tricks.

1. Keep them juicy For a juicier grilled burger, add 100 ml cold water to the mince and shape the patties as you normally would. Prepare the patties shortly before you grill them.


2. Flash freeze Keep hamburger patties from breaking up during grilling by freezing them for 5 minutes just before they go on the grill.


3. Dented burgers Use your forefinger to make two or three dents in the centre of a patty before placing it on the grill. This distributes heat more effectively so that the burger will cook faster.


4. Toast some herbs You can easily flavour and scent grilled burgers on a barbecue by giving the hot coals a herbal treatment. Place fresh herbs like basil and rosemary directly onto the coals.

• Bathe flank steak in ginger ale

Lend flank steak an Asian touch — and make it more tender — by marinating it in 150 ml ginger ale mixed with 3 crushed garlic cloves, 150 ml orange juice, 1/4 cup (60m) soy sauce and  1/2 teaspoon sesame oil. Cover and keep in the fridge for 4-8 hours. This recipe makes enough marinade for 700g flank steak.

• Wake up a bit of brisket with coffee

This innovative method for cooking brisket of beef uses coffee and chilli sauce to give what can be a toughish meat a new twist. To enjoy this twice-cooked dish for yourself, combine 2 cups (500ml) brewed coffee with 1 -1/4 cups (310ml) chilli sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir in a chopped onion, 2 tablespoons each brown sugar and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Place a 2-kg brisket in a roasting dish, then pour the sauce over the meat. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and bake for 2 hours in a preheated 160°C oven. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the meat to a platter to cool. Now slice the meat, lay the slices in the sauce in the pan and cover again. Bake the joint at 160°C for another 2 hours or until the brisket is completely soft and tender (when a fork inserted into the meat goes in with little resistance).

• Mix up in a bag

Put mince, breadcrumbs, chopped onions and seasonings for a meatloaf or hamburgers into a large self-sealing plastic bag and squish it about with both hands to evenly distribute the seasonings throughout the meat. Turn the bag inside out into a prepared loaf tin, gently press it into shape and bake. Your hands will be clean and there’s no bowl to wash.

• Keep meatloaf moist

Spray the top of meatloaf with water to keep it from cracking and drying out as it cooks. Open the oven door and brush tomato sauce over the top of the loaf about 15 minutes before it has finished cooking.

• Easy slices without tearing

To slice thin steaks or cubes from a roast prior to cooking, wrap the meat in heavy-duty plastic wrap and freeze for 10 minutes. This method works for any cut of meat.

• Brilliant pork glaze

All you need is apricot jam, soy sauce and powdered ginger and you have the makings of a simple but delicious glaze. Just whisk together 3 tablespoons apricot jam, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 3/4 teaspoon ginger and brush it onto a pork loin or pork roast before cooking. If you are pan-frying pork chops on top of the stove, glaze the browned top of the chops after you’ve flipped them over once.

• A bit of a brew for lamb

To give Iamb stew a beautiful dark colour and great flavour, add 1 cup black coffee to the pot about halfway through the cooking process.

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• Keep fishy smells at bay

Before preparing fresh fish, halve a lemon and rub both hands with the cut ends to help to keep your hands from absorbing the fishy odour. (If you didn’t know you had a tiny scratch or cut on your hand, you will now!) If frying is your cooking method of choice, wash the pan you used and pour in 1 cm white vinegar; the acetic acid should banish any lingering fish smell.

• Make scaling easier with vinegar

When scaling a fish, rub white vinegar onto the scales and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The scales will come off so easily that they may make more of a mess than usual, so put the fish in a plastic bag before you do this. Just scale the fish in the bag with one hand while holding it by the tail with your other hand.

• Keep poached fish firm

When poaching fish, squeeze fresh lemon juice into the poaching liquid to help the fish to cook evenly. For each 500g of fish, use the juice of half a lemon.

• Lock in moisture when baking

Low-fat fish such as whiting, snapper and flat-head can easily dry out as they bake. To seal in the moisture, wrap each fillet or whole fish in aluminium foil before putting it in the oven.

• Freezing fresh-caught fish

When you bring home more fish from a fishing trip than you can eat, here’s the best way to freeze them. Take an empty milk carton large enough to hold each fish, place the fish inside and fill the carton with water. Seal the opening with tape and place the carton in the freezer. When you thaw the fish, you won’t have to worry about scraping off ice crystals or pulling off some of the flesh with the wrapping.

• Cool down prawns

To ensure tender, well-textured meat, place prawns in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before you cook them. Just be sure not to overcook them because you think they need time to warm up in the boiling water — they don’t.

• Make shucking oysters easier

Soaking oysters in soda water for 5-10 minutes will make it easier for you to open the shells.

• Stop lobster squirting

When cracking and twisting the legs and claws off a whole lobster or crab, guard against the occasional squirt by putting a serviette between the crustacean and your hand. Any squirts will hit the serviette, not your clothes.

• Improve the taste of canned seafood

If you detect a slight metallic flavour to canned seafood, soak it as directed below, drain and then pat the seafood dry with paper towels.

1. Water-packed tuna Soak in a mixture of cold water and lemon juice for 15 minutes (2 parts water, 1 part juice).


2. Canned crab Soak the crabmeat in iced water for 5-10 minutes.


3. Canned prawns Soak the prawns in a mixture of 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon dry sherry for 15 minutes.

• Cut the salt in anchovies

If you like the taste of anchovies but wish they weren’t quite so salty, soak them in iced water for 10-15 minutes and then drain them well before tossing them in a Caesar salad or arranging them on top of a pizza.

• Balance salt with sugar

If you’ve over-salted a stew or soup, save it with a teaspoon of granulated sugar. It will absorb excess salt and help to balance the taste. Or stir in a teaspoon of honey instead.

• De-grease gravy with bicarb

Sometimes the cooking juices used for gravy are so greasy that they look like an oil slick. Counteract the problem with a pinch or two of bicarbonate of soda: stir just enough into the juices to absorb the grease. (Be careful, though; if you overdo it you could taint the flavour and make it taste metallic.)

• Over-heated curry

Tone it down with pureed apple. Add 30 ml of pureed apple for each 90 ml curry sauce, then taste. If necessary, continue stirring in a little pureed apple until the curry is to your liking.

• Two extra for dinner

It can be a total disaster when you cook the perfect size roast for a small dinner party. Meat shrinks when cooked, so it’s a third smaller than you started out with and then the doorbell rings — with two extra guests to feed. Carve the entire roast into thin strips, toss a large salad, top it with the meat and you should have substantially increased the size of your main course.

• Rescue a cracked egg

If you’re boiling an egg and the shell cracks, simply add a teaspoon of vinegar to the cooking water. It will help to coagulate the egg white and stop it from seeping out.

• Salsa too hot?

Stir in a drop or two of vanilla extract and a hot salsa should cool down. Whether it’s the vanillin, sugars or amino acids in vanilla that take the heat down a notch or two, vanilla extract is the best condiment for the job.

• Too much garlic in the soup

Pack a mesh pouch, gauze bag or metal tea ball with dried parsley flakes or fresh parsley sprigs and drop it into the pan. After 5 minutes or so, the flakes will absorb some of the taste of the offending ingredient. Once the garlic taste has been adequately toned down, simply remove the parsley and discard it.

Credit : Reader's Digest

Picture Credit : Google

• Simple skinning

Skin a piece of poultry, or even a whole bird, with ease. Put it in the freezer until partially frozen (generally 1-2 hours). You will be able to pull the skin off with no trouble.

• Chicken money-saver

Buy whole chickens and cut them up with poultry shears, rather than buying breasts or legs. Freeze in portion-sized freezer bags. If you eat chicken often, you’ll make up the cost of the shears in just a few weeks.

• Butter (milk) up chicken pieces

To tenderize chicken pieces and pack them with flavour, rinse the meat, pat dry and marinate them in buttermilk (or add a tablespoon of lemon or vinegar to regular milk) for 2-3 hours, in the fridge, before cooking.

• Stuffing stopper

When cooking a stuffed turkey, chicken or duck, simply place a raw potato in the entrance to the cavity and the stuffing will stay put.

• Tea-riffic flavour

To give chicken or turkey breasts or thighs a light smokey flavour and help them to retain moisture as they cook, brew 2 strong cups of spice-flavoured tea. Once the tea cools, add seasonings such as black pepper, salt, paprika and garlic to taste, pour into a large self-sealing plastic bag and add the chicken or turkey pieces. Put in a shallow dish and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours before cooking.

• Carrot and celery rack

Instead of using a roasting rack, crisscross whole carrots and celery stalks on the bottom of a roasting dish, then top with your chicken or turkey. Once it’s done, the bird will easily lift out of the dish and the flavour of the gravy will be enhanced by the vegetables.

• Simple roux starters for gravy

Combine excess fat from a roasting pan with sufficient flour until you can roll it into small balls about half the size of a walnut and freeze on a baking sheet covered with a paper towel. When frozen, transfer the balls to a plastic bag and store in the freezer for future use. The next time you need to make gravy, take out a roux starter-ball from the bag and melt it in the saucepan before stirring in the other ingredients. Or, if your cooked gravy is too thin, drop in a roux starter, whisk well, season to taste and serve.