10 kitchen tips for better cooking
With the festive season comes a lot of cooking and food preparation for family and friends. Burnt rice and over salted stew are common mistakes when cooking. Here are some tips to ensure all is not lost.
1. Over salting food is not the end of everything, here is a quick and easy way to ensure the salt is reduced; peel a potato and put it into the stew while it is whole, it will absorb extra salt as you keep checking the stew then once satisfied with the amount remove the whole potato and discard.
2. For those wishing to take beans but are afraid after thinking of the high acidity contained, soak them over night and discard the water or add carrots while boiling them to reduce acidity.
3. No one likes the smell of burned rice and it is a common occurrence in kitchens. Here is an easy way to get rid of the burnt taste from your rice; just put a slice of bread at the top of the burnt rice while still in the cooking pot till the rice cools down, remove the bread and discard then serve your rice without scrapping the burnt parts.
4. Keeping bread in the freezer is also a brilliant way of ensuring it stays fresh for long, remember, keeping it in the normal fridge compartments can lead to it going bad very fast so ensure it is in the freezer compartment.
5. To obtain sour porridge without having to soak the flour or buy special flour, put a table spoon of apple cider vinegar or tamarind juice and you will have sour porridge.
6. Everyone likes sparkling white rice, how do you achieve this irrespective of the brand used in cooking, just squeeze a halved lemon into the boiling water.
7. Food preparation often starts the previous evening for households that wish to have a grand party, here is how to ensure your potatoes stay fresh overnight after peeling; rinse them well then put some clean water in the bowl containing the potatoes, add a slice of bread then store in the fridge. Also, putting a spoon in the water with the stored potatoes ensures they remain fresh till the next day.
8. Cracked eggs during boiling are common but guess what, it can be prevented just by adding vinegar to the boiling water and your eggs will be whole.
9. When boiling foods that take time to boil, put a metallic spoon inside the sufuria then cover and continue boiling, this speeds up the process and ensures your cereals or arrowroots/cassava/potatoes boil faster.
10. Want a chilled drink and there are no ready ice cubes in the freezer? Put some hot water in the freezer and it will thaw faster than cold water.