Good tips, good tricks.

When marinading, avoid placing the marinade in a metal bowl as the acid can react with the metal and effect the taste of the dish, leaving an undesirable metallic tang.

Plastic can be used, but many marinades will stain or leave an oily residue that is difficult to remove.

The best things to use are glass or ceramic bowls, disposable plastic containers or snap lock bags.

Good tips, good tricks

Limes are notorious for not producing as much juice as their citrus counterparts.  Considering the fact that they usually cost their weight in gold to purchase, you want to get the most out of them. 

The way to achieve that is to place your hand on top of the lime and apply pressure as your roll it forwards.  This  technique massages the limes to soften their structure, producing more juice than an un-massaged lime.  

Good tips, good tricks

Have you ever gone to buy an avocado and all you can find are rock hard, under-ripe avocados that look like they won't be ripe for a week?  This happens to me all the time and I usually want to use the avocado within a day or two.

There is a trick to make avocado's ripen faster.  I can't guarantee how quickly it will happen, however, if you place the avocado in a brown paper bag with a banana, apple or tomato, the avocado will ripen faster.  True story.  Just remember to store the bag at room temperature out of direct sunlight. 

Did you know?

Tomatoes should be stored over 12 degrees to ensure their texture and flavours remain at a maximum.  Storing tomatoes in the refrigerator will lead to an inferior tomato. 

I usually store my tomatoes in a kitchen cupboard as the cool, dark space will keep tomatoes at their peek.

Good tips, good tricks.

When buying eggplant, you want to choose one that is heavy for its size.  So, grab two that are equal size and weigh one in each hand.  You'll usually be able to tell which one is heavier and that is the one you want!

Good tips, good tricks.

Ever eaten a piece of bacon and half choked on a stringy, warm, uncooked piece of bacon fat? I have, and it usually turns me completely off bacon until I've forgotten the experience.  

When cooking bacon in a frying pan or grill pan, it should always be placed in a cold pan and allowed to heat as the pan does.  This will ensure the fat is rendered from the bacon which will produce a much more palatable result and also help to avoid shrinkage.  As the bacon renders it provides the lubricant in which the bacon itself cooks and adding extra oil is not needed.    

Good tips, good tricks.

This is going to sound crazy, but it's true.

When whipping cream or egg whites or when making mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce, always beat in the same direction.  If you start going clockwise keep that up through the entire process.  Why?  To save time!  

If you continually change from clockwise to anticlockwise and zig zag through the mix it will take longer to reach the final product.  Crazy, but true!

Good tips, good tricks.

When beating egg whites to stiff peaks there is a quick test to tell whether or not they are ready.  Simply tip the bowl upside down over your head!

When egg whites are ready, you can invert the bowl and they will stay perfectly in place.  If they start to slide around as you tip the bowl they need a little more beating.

How to - Quinelle

A quinelle is a technique used in restaurants to present mousse, ice cream, sorbet, mascarpone, whipped cream, etc.  It is an elliptical shape made by passing the mixture back and forth between two spoons.  It takes a little practice to get perfect (I'm not quite there yet!) but is an easy way to add a classy touch to a dish when presenting it to friends and family.

What you'll need:

• Hot water
• Two dessert spoons of equal size and shape
• Whatever it is you're quinelling

This is difficult to describe so here goes...

Step 1 - Dip spoons into hot water, remove and shake off excess.  Do not dry spoons as the water residue will assist in achieving the desired effect. 

Step 2 - Holding a spoon in each hand, take a spoon full on the mixture and then run the empty spoon on top of the full spoon from back to front, scooping up the mixture as you drag it through.  Repeat a few times, until you have a smooth, even, three sided shape (as pictured) and carefully drop in onto the plate.

Mascarpone

Mascarpone is an Italian cheese that is used in both sweet and savoury dishes.  It is similar in flavour to cream but is much thicker and is used in many recipes including savoury dishes like risotto and pasta and as a finishing touch or component of a dessert.

There are two main ways I use mascarpone. The first is to mix it with double cream, vanilla and a little icing sugar and spread it over cakes, as a filling in pavlova or anywhere whipped cream would normally be used.  However, my favourite way to use mascarpone is to flavour it and serve with desserts.  

Some of the flavourings I frequently use include coffee, vanilla bean, chocolate, mint and lemon or lime (both the juice and the rind).  When flavouring Mascarpone, start with a small amount of the flavouring ingredient, mix well and taste.  Adjust based on the dessert and desired effect, like whether or not the mascarpone is part of the dish or just an accompaniment.  Oh, and another good thing is that because it is firm, it's really easy to quinelle!   

The following is a rough guide per 200g Mascarpone:

• Vanilla - 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• Coffee -  1 double ristretto shot and 1/2 tbs icing sugar
• Chocolate - 50g melted chocolate
• Lemon or Lime - zest of 1/2 a lemon or 1 lime with 1/2 tbs juice
• Mint - 1 tbs finely chopped mint

Good tips, good tricks

The ends of asparagus spears can be very woody and unpalatable. Most people line their aparagus up and chop off the stems about 1/3 to 3/4 the way up the stem.  While there is nothing wrong with this, except maybe losing too much good asparagus or not taking enough off, there is a neat little trick that gets it perfect every time.


Hold the asparagus between your thumbs and forefingers, with one hand on the end and the other in the middle.  Bend and asparagus will snap off in just the right spot!

Good tips, good tricks

Do your jars of tomato paste go mouldy in the fridge after mere days?  Mine used to until I learnt this trick.


It is so simple you'll be asking why no one ever told you this before! The secret?  Secure the lid and store the jar upside down in your fridge.


Works a treat! 

Did you know?

Bigger is not always better. 

We live in a society where bigger is usually perceived as being better and this philosophy even extends to our fresh produce.  Unfortunately, many fruits and vegetables lose a lot of flavour and sweetness the bigger they grow.  

When purchasing fresh produce the look, smell and texture of the fruit or vegetable is far more important than its size.  This is important when purchasing strawberries, stone fruit, citrus, chilies and zucchini.  But, the number one thing that is never better bigger is onions, especially the spanish (or red) variety.

Good tips, good tricks

Raw onion has an intense and overpowering flavour that is not always pleasant.  Sauteing onion will bring out its natural sweetness, but what do you do when you need to add raw onion to a recipe before cooking?  

Place sliced, diced, chopped or grated onion into a sieve and pour boiling water over the top.  While it won't sweeten the onion it will eliminate the overpowering and unpleasant raw flavour by par cooking it. Just remember to squeeze out some of the excess water. 

This is a great tip for adding raw onion to muffins, breads, soup, casseroles or any recipe where a raw onion flavour would upset the balance.   

Did you know?

Ever wondered if the eggs in your fridge are still good to use because you can't remember when you bought them? There's an easy way to find out. 

If an egg has gone bad, it will float in water.  This happens because gasses build inside the shell when the yolk and white starts to decompose, hence it floats. A good egg will not float.  So if you're not sure when you bought your eggs, carry out this simple test before breaking the shell.

Check back soon for my Top 5 Breakfast recipes. 

How To - Balsamic Glaze

Balsamic glaze is thick, sweet and tangy.  It is a great way to jazz up a dish and goes really well with vegetable, meat and fruit.  Super simple to make but requires a good quality vinegar.

What you'll need:

• 2 cups Balsamic Vinegar
• A small heavy bottomed saucepan 

Pour balsamic vinegar into the saucepan and bring to boil.  Reduce to low and slowly simmer for 20-30 minutes until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  

2 cups vinegar will make about 1/2 cup glaze.  

Too much salt!

Have you ever gone to season a dish and had the lid fall off and spill salt everywhere, ultimately  ruining the meal you've work hard to create?  I did this once when cooking lasagna, after I'd had the tomato sauce simmering for over 3 hours!  I was just about to take the pan off the stove top and layer up my lasagna all ready to go in the oven and BANG, salt everywhere!

There is a way to fix this, even if you've just over seasoned and need to reduce the saltiness of the dish.  Peel a potato, chop it into quarters or eighths and chuck it in raw.  I don't know how it works, or why, but after further simmering, the sauce is usable and the potato can be discarded.

Cooking with Wine

A lot of recipes call for alcohol, most commonly white and red wine.  The most important thing to remember when cooking with wine is to always use one of good quality that you would be happy drinking.  If you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it!

Prolonged cooking and cooking at high heats will burn off the alcohol content so the meal is suitable for all people.  However, I would not recommend serving anything with a strong flavour of wine or other alcoholic beverages to children or recovering alcoholics.  

Slow Cooking

I love slow cooking, but I don't like slow cookers.  I have a couple of big nonstick fry pans with tightly fitting lids and they all get a good work out.  

Everyone is time poor these days, and many people tell me they don't have time to slave over a hot stove for hours.  The truth is, you don't need to!  It usually only takes 5-20 minutes (depending on the dish) until you're at the point where you can pop on the lid and leave it to simmer for a few hours.

So, all you need is a few hours at home.  Weekends are a great time for slow cooked meals and also nights. I often throw something on after dinner and leave it to simmer until half an hour before I am ready for bed.  This half an hour gives the pan time to cool down before being placed in the fridge.

Spending 24 hours in the fridge is not a bad thing either.  Most slow cooked meals will develop their flavours during this time and be even tastier than if eaten straight from the stove top.

When slow cooking, cook in bulk and freeze whatever is left over for a quick meal another time.  Check out my Top 5 Slow Cooked meals.

Slow Cooked recipes coming soon.

Prep

Want to know the secret to being successful in the kitchen?  PREP!  


Being organised and prepared is often the difference between success and disaster.  Some prep tasks include:

• Reading the recipe. Twice.
• Making sure you have everything you need, both ingredients and utensils.
• Clearing/cleaning your kitchen work space.
• Measuring ingredients.
• Chopping ingredients.
• Weighing ingredients.
• Preparing pots and pans.
• Preheating oven.
• Preparing serving ware.

These are just some of the things to do BEFORE you start cooking.  It will ensure efficiency in the kitchen and produce better results.

Happy cooking!