Post any amazing cooking tips you've picked up over the years :)

[CustardD123]

Post any amazing cooking tips you've picked up over the years :) e.g. in prepping stuff, flavour combinations, cooking times, techniques, food pairings, etc

Roll your lemons and limes quite firmly before cutting and / or squeezing. You get more juice that way.

Peel ginger with a teaspoon

Don't chop your veg - it has cut my prep time down hugely - pour it out the freezer instead.
Best are:
Frozen shallots- Waitrose
Soffrito ( celery, onion, carrot finely chopped) - Waitrose & tesco
Peppers - everywhere
Onions - everywhere but can be a bit big, shallots are better
Mushrooms.

Bolognese is cooking is minutes. All mushroom soup takes is a stock cube and an extra handful of dried mushrooms.
It's been total game changer for me.

Frozen green beans, gently fried in a bit of butter and a few slices of fresh lemon are amazing - and about 1/4 the price of fresh.
Frozen sweetcorn taste like corn on the cob.
Discovering the frozen veg aisle that isn't peas had been a revelation!

Self raising flour is better for using in a roux / thickening sauces as it has more gluten in it.

You don't need to make a roux to make a white sauce, just weigh 50g of butter, 50g flour and 500ml milk (or whatever volume you'd want in the same ratios) straight into a pan, put on the heat and gently whisk as it cooks. Perfect non lumpy white sauce every time.

Oh and ginger can be grated straight from the freezer.

Chop up big bunches of herbs and use them straight from the freezer.

Ditto breadcrumbs. Blitz any leftover / stale bread and keep them in a tub in the freezer. No need to defrost to use them.

And crumble topping! If you've made too much, or just make double what you need, store it in the freezer and use straight from frozen.

At least 50% of cooking tips you read on the internet are rubbish

If your eggs aren’t super fresh before poaching, crack them into a sieve and all the stringy bits fall through.

sashh how do you make crispy roast potatoes without boiling the spuds for 10 minutes then

I make cheese sauce in the microwave, so there's no need to use butter. Measure 1 pint of milk and put all but a small amount in a bowl & microwave for 3 minutes. Meanwhile stir 2 heaped tablespoons into the remaining milk to form a smooth paste. Add this to the heated milk and microwave for one minute. Whisk then microwave in 40 second bursts, whisking in between, until it's thickened. Stir in cheese & season.
Add an extra egg to Yorkshire Pudding batter & they'll rise every time. There 's no need to stand the batter, it's a myth! 😉

Not really a cooking tip but if you open a bottle of prosecco and dont drink all of it put a teaspoon in the neck and it will still be bubbly the next day.

You can freeze leftover egg - it used to really bug me if something needed an egg wash how much was wasted. Now I put it in ice cube trays one egg cube is enough for most egg washing.

I also freeze leftover egg whites and yolks - both freeze and defrost really well and are completely fine after - eg defrosted egg white is fine for meringue and macarons etc.

This was a massive game changer for me because I bake a lot and hate waste!

Use sparkling water or lemonade to top up jelly. You'll have a fizzy feeling on your tongue when eating it.

Adding flour to hot sauce will maje it go lumpy, always mix it with a bit of milk to form a paste before adding

Use Worcestershire sauce in tomato sauces and bolognaise to enhance flavours

If you are par boiling before roasting then drain, put the lid back on and gently shake the pan

Freeze butter and chocolate before grating

Use almond essence instead if ground almonds for a cheaper recipe

To make pikelets instead of pancakes use SR flour and use 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup milk, 1 egg and bit of sugar

To mash garlic quicker add salt

Freeze wine in cubes for cooking

Sauces thicken on standing.

If you need soft butter for a recipe and only have it straight out of the fridge hard. Get a jug or bowl (I use a pint measuring jug) and put just enough tepid water in to cover the butter. 10 minutes later perfect temp butter.

I love all of these!
What's changed our meals over the last year is a bit of a cheats way. We now use the https://www.simplycook.com boxes for quick, healthy midweek meals. No more faffing around with herbs and spices

@sashh
If you parboil them, then you can give them a good violent shake in the pan before tipping them into your hot fat, this gives delicious roasties that are very crispy.

Burnt on pasta just need to sit with cold water in pan, then it comes straight off.

'Cheese sauce with oil'? Hmmm

My Italian SIL told me if I wanted to reheat left over pasta to fry it in a little olive oil. What a difference to reheating in a microwave. My teenage son loves "fried" spaghetti Bolognese! The biggest tip for me was a few years ago when I was told to crumble oxos in the foil.

You don't need to brown beef off for stews/casseroles. Just wang it all in a pot and cook.

If you are doing an omelette don't bother trying to flip it, use the grill to cook the top.

Cook rice in double batches. Next night heat up left over rice and eat with a poached egg.

Maybe more money saving than cooking, sorry.

Easiest way to separate eggs is to use two hands and let the whites slide thrpugh ypur fingers.

Jars of lazy garlic.

If you use sun dried toms, keep the oil and use instead of olive in casseroles, etc.