HomeRecipe Articles Links Forum Sign In Register Categories Search for Recipes Ethnic Main Dishes Soups & Stuff Baked Goods Fruits, grains & veggies On the Side Sweets & Desserts Snacks & Appetizers Holiday Foods Special Diets Miscellaneous Pizza Famous Recipes Free Newsletter Get the Chef's top picks right in your inbox! Your Email Subscribe Unsubscribe Ask The Chef Can't find the recipe your looking for? Have a cooking or food preperation question? No problem. Ask The Chef! Latest Recipes Top Recipes Our Friends Cooking Tips and Hints • To quickly clarify butter: Melt butter in the microwave and let stand until milk solids separate from the butterfat. Skim the foam off the surface and pour off the clarified butter, leaving the milky liquid behind. • To keep baked beans fresh and hot: put them in an insulated ice bucket with the lid taped on securely. • To revive crystallized honey: Place the honey jar in a pan of simmering water. Let honey heat until sugar crystals have melted and reincorporated. Remove honey from the water bath. Honey should remain uncrystallized for about 2 weeks. • Peel fresh garlic cloves quickly and easily by microwaving 10 seconds. Grasp one end of the warm garlic clove and squeeze the garlic out of it's skin. • Instead of trussing a stuffed turkey or chicken to hold in the stuffing, cover the stuffing with the heel piece from a loaf of bread. The bread will seal in the stuffing and keep juices from dripping out. • For extra rich mashed potatoes, use heavy or whipping cream instead of milk when mashing. • Many fruit filled pies bubble up and run over while baking. Place a foil lined sheet pan directly beneath the pie while baking to avoid a mess in your oven. • Give your scrambled eggs a velvety texture by adding a tablespoonful of softened cream cheese to the pan. • After chopping garlic or onions, wash your hands with toothpaste and cold water to remove odors. • To keep your plastic wrap from clinging together, store it in the refrigerator. The cold, moist air eliminates static cling. • Jazz up ham salad by adding 1 tsp. orange juice per tbsp. of mayonnaise. • Next time you make a peach pie try drizzling 1 to 2 tsp. fresh orange juice over peaches to enhance the flavor. • Spice up taco seasoning mix by using tomato juice instead of water. • Cutting dessert bars is easier if you score the bars as soon as the pan comes out of the oven. When the bars cool, cut along the scored lines. • Add uncooked rice grains to your salt shaker to keep salt free-flowing. • Stained Corning Ware dishes can be cleaned by filling the dish with water and adding 2 denture cleaning tablets. Let stand 30 to 45 minutes. Wash well before using. • Rinse out a jello mold with cold water before pouring in mixture to be chilled. The mold will release easier after the mixture is set. • To avoid greasy hands when greasing pans or casserole dishes, slip your hand inside a waxed sandwich bag. • Baking powder will remove tea or coffee stains from china pots or cups. • To extend their life, refrigerate unpeeled ripe bananas. Although the skin will turn dark the flesh will stay good for 3 to 4 days longer than at room temperature. • Add zip to freshly brewed tea by adding dried lemon or orange peel to tea ball along with tea leaves. • To keep soft cheeses like mozzarella from sticking to the blades of your food processor, toss each cup of cheese with 1 tsp. flour before blending. • When using a dry taco seasoning mix when preparing taco meat, add tomato juice instead of water for added flavor. • Love beans but not the gas? Eliminate the gas by adding a little ground ginger during cooking. • When making dough for pie crust, add a little grated orange or lemon peel for a unique flavor. • When buying honey, the lighter the color the milder the taste. • To prevent sour cream or yogurt from separating when heated, let the container come to room temperature before adding to the dish. • Your nutmeg grater will come cleaner if you use a stiff bristled toothbrush, instead of soap and water, after each use. • Use toasted wheat germ as a healthy alternative for ground nuts in cookie recipes. • Use leftover mashed potatoes to thicken soups and gravies. • Baste your turkey with buttermilk while roasting. It will nicely brown and crisp the turkey skin and make a great pan gravy. • Raw grated apple adds moisture to meatloaf without adding fat. • Use pureed fresh or unsweetened frozen berries or fruits for naturally sweet low-calorie dessert sauces. • Try using plain yogurt as a healthy alternative to sour cream in a muffin or cake recipe. • Use powdered sugar instead of flour when rolling out cookie dough. Too much flour makes the dough heavy. • Combine 1/4 cup evaporated milk with each pound of ground beef to make extra juicy, more nutritious hamburgers. • To remove fish odors from hands, utensils and dish cloths, rinse in a solution of 1 tsp. baking soda mixed with 4 cups water. • Cored apples won't crack when baking if you peel a 1 inch band around the middle of the apple. • To avoid spills in the oven when making custard pies, pour in the last cup of filling after placing pie in oven. • For the best baked bisciuts on meat pies, have the meat pie mixture bubbling hot before placing biscuit dough on top. Biscuits will bake faster, be lighter and bottoms will not get soggy. • The back of a small paring knife can be used to trim excess dough from pie shells. • To frost cupcakes quickly, dip tops of cupcakes into soft frosting, twist slightly and quickly turn right side up. • Use a potato masher to break up ground beef while browning. • To cook bacon in the oven: Place slices on a rack in a baking pan. Bake without turning in a 400 degree oven until brown. • For non-soggy rice, put a folded towel between the lid and the pot. When the rice steams the condensation will be absorbed by the towel instead of dripping back into rice. • To avoid messy hands when making meatloaf, combine ingredients in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal bag and "knead" ingredients to blend. • To remove excess grease from browned ground beef or sausage, blot the extra fat from the pan with a slice of bread. • To keep delicate sauces from breaking or curdling, pour into a thermos bottle and keep warm up to 2 hours. • To make peeling butternut squash easier, microwave it for a few minutes. The peel will be much easier to separate from the flesh. • Lay a damp towel under your cutting board to prevent it from skidding around while working. • For quick garlic butter, combine cold butter and whole garlic cloves in a garlic press. Just squeeze out garlic butter. • To clean an electric coffee grinder, add a small amount of dry rice and run grinder until all odors have disappeared. • To clean burnt buildup on your pizza stone, leave it in the oven the next time you run a cleaning cycle. When the cycle is done just wipe the ash off the stone. • When working with sticky mixtures, occasionally dip your hands into a bowl of cold water to prevent mixture from sticking to hands. • To easily seed jalapenos, Cut off both ends of chile. Stand up chile and slice down it's sides, removing flesh from around core and seeds. • To prevent lids from sticking on corn syrup, honey or other sticky substances, wipe the threads on the bottle mouth with a light coating of vegetable oil. • Before freezing extra tortillas, place waxed paper between each one. This will allow you to remove as many tortillas as you need without having to thaw the entire package. • Before measuring honey, dip measuring spoon into hot water and wipe dry. Honey will slide right out of warm spoon. • Make funnels for filling small-mouth jars by cutting off the top half of quart or half gallon plastic bottles. • Use an old toothbrush to clean the crevices of food processor attachments and meat mallets. • Peel tomatillos under warm running water and the sticky, papery husks will come right off. • For less salty anchovies in your recipe, soak anchovies in whole milk for 10 minutes before using. • When making bread, use milk instead of water in your recipe. Milk gives bread a finer texture. • Before scalding milk, rinse pan with cold water before adding milk for easier clean up. • When boiling corn, add sugar to the cooking water instead of salt. Salt will toughen corn. • To keep cauliflower white while cooking, add a little milk to the cooking water. • To slice meat into thin strips, partially freeze and it will slice easily. • If the juice from your apple pie runs over in the oven, shake some salt on the spill for easy removal when the oven is cool. • Clean darkened aluminum pans by boiling them in a mixture of 2 tsp. cream of tartar and 1 quart water for 10 minutes. • You can keep a turkey hot for up to an hour after it comes out of the oven by wrapping the entire roasting pan with turkey in foil and placing a towel on top. • If you don't have a rack to roast your turkey on, place 2 or 3 large carrots in the bottom of the roasting pan and place turkey on top. • When baking deep-dish apple pies, place a thick layer of cookie crumbs underneath the apples to ensure a nicely browned bottom crust. • For extra kick in a shake, malt or smoothie, add a splash of club soda. • A tablespoon of vinegar added to the water when poaching eggs will help set the whites so they won't spread. • Add bread crumbs to scrambled eggs to improve flavor and stretch portions. • To keep yolks from crumbling when slicing hard-boiled eggs, warm the knife blade under hot water and wipe dry before each cut. • To quickly clean a blender, fill the dirty blender halfway with hot water and a couple drops of dish soap. Cover securely and blend 30 seconds on high speed. Rinse thoroughly. • To neatly shred semisoft cheese, coat the grater with nonstick cooking spray. The spray will keep the cheese from sticking to the grater. • To cut open hard winter squashes, set squash on a damp kitchen towel on top of a cutting board. Position a cleaver on the squash and rap the back of cleaver with a mallet to drive it into the squash. Repeat until squash is opened up. • When baking bread, a small dish of water in the oven will help keep the crust from getting too hard or brown. • To keep hot oil from splattering, sprinkle a little salt or flour in the pan before frying. • Instant potatoes are a good thickener for stews. • When cooking greens, a lump of sugar added to cooking water will help retain their fresh color. • Boil vegetables that grow above ground uncovered. • When serving cheeses on a silver tray, protect it from acids by lining the tray with lettuce leaves. • Place some fresh or dried mint in the bottom of the cup before adding hot chocolate for a zesty flavor. • If possible, try floating blocks of ice in punch instead of ice cubes. It's not only more decorative but it slows melting and diluting punch. • To transfer rolled pie dough to a pan without tearing, roll up dough around rolling pin. Unroll dough over pan, leaving an overhang. Press dough into pan. • To cut a cake into layers without a knife, wrap a long piece of thread or unflavored dental floss around circumference of cake, crossing the ends. Make sure thread is level and pull tight to cut through cake. • If a cake won't release from the pan, return to a warm oven for 5 minutes to loosen. • Let egg whites stand at room temperature before beating to attain highest volume. Always beat in a clean bowl with clean beaters. • Always preheat oven at least 15 minutes before baking. • To avoid toughening beans or corn, add salt when cooking is halfway through. • When cooking cabbage, cauliflower or other strongly scented vegetables, add a little vinegar to cooking water to cut down on odors. • To bake potatoes quickly, place potatoes in boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes. Prick skin with a fork and bake in a preheated oven. • A few drops of lemon juice in potato cooking water will whiten boiled potatoes. • Fresh lemon juice will remove the scent of onion from hands. • 1 quart of soup yields about 6 servings, unless it's the main course. • Never boil coffee; it brings out the acid and causes a bitter taste. • Nuts in the shell crack more easily when frozen. • Seeds and nuts, both shelled and unshelled keep best when stored in the freezer. • Calorie-free club soda adds sparkle to iced fruit juices and reduces calories per portion. • Run out of that great foaming soap? Save the dispenser and fill with equal parts of your favorite liquid soap and water. Shake to combine. • Rub butter or margarine on the rim of a pot in which you cook rice or macaroni and it won't boil over. • Don't boil corn for more than 3 minutes. Place the corn directly into boiling water, and do not add salt. You will find the flavor is much better than cooking for 10 minutes or more. Corn will never get soft, no matter how long you cook it • Adding a little sugar to the batter of pancakes and waffles will make them brown more quickly. • Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to your icing and the icing will stay moist and prevent cracking. • Perk up wilted vegetables. Soak in 2 cups water, 1 tablespoon vinegar • Store lettuce in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator. If the bag becomes damp, simply dry it out or replace it. Lettuce will keep much longer. • Bacon will not curl when you dip it into cold water before frying. • To give a fruit flavor to your brownies, use flavored soda pop instead of water in the mix. • When breading chicken, coat the pieces with mayonnaise instead of egg. The mayonnaise clings to the chicken and doesn't drip like the egg does. Plus, it adds nice flavor.

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