Your best cooking tips

[Lebou]

I’ve just discovered that if you roast a chicken upside down you get loads more crispy skin than breast side up

Also for perfect fried eggs with fully cooked white but runny yolk, cook on a low heat with a lid on

What are yours?

[midsomermurderess]

If,you add oil to pasta whipe it's cooking it makes it harder for the sauce to stick to it. And there's no need to do it. Do put a lot of salt in the water though.

[magratvonlipwig]

Not quite cooking but, if you have leftover limes or lemons from a recipe cut them into wedges and freeze them. Instant drink coolers

[Herocomplex]

Frozen chopped garlic. A couple of cookery people I follow on Twitter say a lot of the ‘fresh’ bulbs we get in the supermarkets here are so old they’re not worth using. (Obviously if you know what you’re looking for it’s fine)

[Southmouth]

My roast potatoes are always a hit in this house. Parboil potatoes, drain, shake with a good coating of white flour, turmeric, salt, pepper and oil, tip in Pyrex dish and into the oven. Fluffy on the inside and lovely and crispy on the outside! Also do the same with carrots and parsnips if we’re having a roast and chuck them all in the same dish.

[ODFOx]

A poached egg, slice of naice ham and a blob of hollandaise sauce on a toasted muffin is the breakfast of gods.
yes, Eggs Benedict is a classic for a reason!

[billy1966]

Great tips.

When you cook your chicken breasts side down all the juices rest on the bottom of the pan, giving you the most moist chicken breasts ever. 15 minutes before finishing turn the chicken breast sides up.

Also cook it breast side down in a bag. Drain all juices into the gravy.

My tip is to roast the chicken first thing in the morning, strip it and add the chicken and juices to gravy. Cook and cream potatoes and put aside ready to go. Quickly steam a bit of veg and serving up a fast meal is easy peasy with most of the clean up done.

[OverthinkingThis]

Asda do a frozen vegetable base mix which is finely chopped onion, carrot and celery. It's cheap and super convenient for slow cookers/casseroles/soups etc.

[CutesyUserName]

A super quick and easy alternative to a roux sauce base is simply cornflour mixed with milk and whisked on the hob until thickened. Faster and fewer calories (works with skimmed milk/almond milk) than traditional roux.

[BrunettesDoItBetter]

For extra tasty mash add a veg stock pot or cube into the boiling water

[LemonPrism]

Oh and add a ladle of the pasta cooking. Water to the pasta sauce, it makes it glossy and coats the pasta more evenly

[LemonPrism]

Out weigh*

[LemonPrism]

Put more salt than you think when boiling vegetables. You need to make the particles in the water put weight the particles in the veg or else the vitamins leech out of the veg to balance it.

[lisbonholiday]

Don't waste olive oil by adding it to the water when you cook pasta! It just sits on the top. Pasta doesn't stick together when it's boiling (if you stir it properly once it's added)

[Stravapalava]

@Lebou I’ve just discovered that if you roast a chicken upside down you get loads more crispy skin than breast side up what? How did I not know this? I loooove the chicken skin. Totally trying this next time!

[FreeButtonBee]

Best time for batch cooking: Saturday mornings. Sounds mad but if your children wake early and you alternate lie ins with your DH then crack on with batchbcooking at 8am. By 9.30 you’ll be 80% done and smug as. And your Sunday morning lie in will feel sooo much better

[Myimaginarycathasfleas]

Use a metal potato ricer to squeeze the water out of cooked spinach.

If you leave a wooden spoon in the saucepan with pasta, it won't boil over.

[writersbeenblocked]

Think I killed the thread I found a proper recipe so panic over!

[Lebou]

Bumping for the ice cream question (I don’t know, sorry!)

All of these are brilliant and I will definitely be trying some

[writersbeenblocked]

Sorry to derail, but can I ask an ice-cream related question? My standard recipe is cream, milk and sugar (plus flavourings etc). Would this work - making a ganache, using that as the cream, adding milk and everything else and sticking it in the machine? Or would it split?

Carry on!

[AnneLovesGilbert]

Pinch of salt in chocolate brownies

[AnneLovesGilbert]

Peanut butter in homemade hummus instead of tahini.

Mustard powder in anything with cheddar cheese. Amazing stuff.

[BlingLoving]

@kalim8 - yes, I always do that. But I actually thought everyone did!? haha.

I thought of another one - ready made pastes (eg curries) can always be enhanced by adding some fresh versions of the ingredients. So, in my case, I am well known for doing a great Rogan Josh. I use a paste but always add additional cardomom pods and cinnamon sticks and, if making for adults, an additional chopped chilli. Completely livens up a pre-made sauce/paste.

[Kalim8]

Add a bit of mustard to cheese sauce to bring out the flavour.

I add oil to pasta but don't remember why - to stop it sticking maybe.

[Destinysdaughter]

This is a delicious salsa which you can modify with other ingredients to make a lovely salad

Chop cherry tomatoes and red onions
Add lemon juice, chopped fresh mint and chopped sweet piquante peppers ( from a jar ) . Add salt and pepper. Yummy!

[BlingLoving]

When making a white sauce, I disagree with the hot liquid thing. Too much faff. The secret is to a) make sure the butter/flour mixture has cooked - ie with small bubbles while you stir enthusiastically for at least 2- 3 minutes. b) take the butter/flour mixture off the heat and allow to cool slightly (30 seconds, not 5 minutes) before adding milk c) Add a small amount of milk to start and d) use a whisk to get it mixed up, adding more milk as you go. Then put back on heat to thicken and boil.

Almost everything is improved with a squeeze of lemon juice - as a seasoning it has as similar effect to salt in that it enhances and brings out flavour. particularly useful for stews and soups. Also pasta dishes.