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

Peeling ginger with a teaspoon was one of the best things I learnt. And only last year (I'm 31)

If you are using cornflour to thicken a sauce, mix the cornflour to a paste with a spoonful of warm water before you add it - lump free gravy.

Freeze leftover sauces in double knotted freezer bags to save freezer space.

Blend over-ripe bananas and freeze for “banana ice cream”.

Go one step further than the people who suggested frozen onions or blending them rather than chopping - blend double the amount you need, with a glug of olive oil, and freeze the other half in an ice cube tray or sandwich bag.

When you pop popcorn in a pan at home, sprinkle icing sugar on as soon as it has popped, pit the lid on the pan, and give it a shake. The heat melts the icing sugar on to popcorn.

I put a teaspoon of Marmite in with the mince for shepherd's pie and the beef chunks when making goulash. It gives it a lovely rich flavour.

Never twist the cutter when making scones or it will seal the edges and they won't rise much - use a straight down and up action. I'd given up trying to make scones until I learned this:-)

Use Soy Sauce on steak before cooking instead of salting. It gives saltiness with a deeper flavour and a nice colour.

Do you mean apple slicer? i use an Apple slicer, and there are fights over the cylindrical “core” wedges.

That's the one. Sorry to confuse.
No one fights over the center pieces in our house. I think it's weird as they are my favourite bits but that just means more for me

I find it easier to par boil the potatoes then drain them using the pan lid. Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil. Shake the saucepan until all the potatoes are covered and ‘roughed up’ then tip out onto a hot baking tray on the top shelf for about 40’ or so. No need to turn or baste. I’ve been using this method for 40 years or more and always get compliments on my roasties!

Cheddar Yes - I use more Marmite in cooking than on toast. There's a clue on the label with the picture of a French marmite. Same principle as miso, I think.

Take foil off stock cubes and add them to the casserole/gravy whatever whole. They dissolve while cooking.

If adding raw garlic to something (eg hummus or guacamole), crush it then marinade it in lemon or lime juice for half an hour. Takes the bitterness away.

Yes to rolling limes before squeezing

Boil Seville oranges for two hours then cut in half take pips out and stick in food processor. Much easier than slicing up each one.

Pastry best done also in food processor

Add iced water when making hummus to make it extra silky

Seville orange tip is obviously for marmalade making!

Rollout pastry, biscuit dough, scone dough etc between 2 sheets of cling film to avoid sticking and a mess!

Also I never buy stir fry sauce always make as follows:

4-6 tablespoons soy
2 teaspoons runny honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1-2 tablespoons sherry
2 teaspoons cornflour

Cook protein
Cook crushed garlic spring onion and ginger with a bag of stir fry veg
Add sauce

Add mustard to a cheese sauce, gives it flavour.

When making fish cakes used scooped out baked potatoes instead of mash
Baking keeps more nutrients in the potatoes and a lot less hassle than mash

@sandgrown second hand spaghetti is a firm favourite in this house too!
I'm from and Italian family and fried pasta is real comfort food for me.

It’s much easier to make hummous from chickpea flour (gram flour) than whole chickpeas.

Put a tiny bit of flavourless oil like vegetable in when frying with butter to stop the butter from burning

A can of pop can replace the eggs in cakes.

I also keep all vegetable trimmings from the week to make a vegetable stock for my legendary (in my house anyway) Sunday roast gravy.

I do a similar thing but the addition of any veg lurking at the back of the basket that are looking a bit past their best chopped small enough to be unrecognisable and it turns into what is known in our house as 'Wrinkly Veg Soup'.

And any fruit that gets to 'old' for my kids peculiar tastes gets chopped and spread on trays in our drying room (walk-in airing cupboard with dehumidifier on 24/7) for some reason my kids won't eat apples when they are 'soft and wrinkly' but love them when they are dried and chewy. Ditto cherry tomatoes, kiwi, pears, anything really - apart from bananas. Don't even try it. Not good.

It’s much easier to make hummous from chickpea flour (gram flour) than whole chickpeas.
@BikeRunSea 😱 really? Does it come out super smooth? What’s your recipe?

A can of pop can replace the eggs in cakes.

I hope you mean the contents of the can. Not a whole unopened can.

I wonder what would happen if you tried to cook a can of soda in an oven?

@smellbellina - I don’t have formal recipe, but start with about a mugful of gram flour and about 3 tablespoons of tahini. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic etc, then mix/blend in olive oil and water to get it to the right consistency.

Adding tomatoes to a sauce slows down the cooking time due to the acidity so add them last.

You can toast or bbq potato waffles.

Easy beef stroganoff : brown the diced beef in a casserole dish with onions, add mushrooms and half a pack of roule soft cheese. Stir until melted. Put casserole dish in oven for 30 mins on low heat. Lovely creamy herby sauce.