To share this odd cooking tip and ask for yours?

[Clafoutis]

When making a chilli, if there's too much sauce and it's a bit thin....add a dessert spoonful of rolled porridge oats. It soaks up the excess liquid and bulks it a teensy bit-and you can't tell! I found this tip when googling. Apparently lots of chilli sauces from outlets in the US use porridge oats.
Anyone want to share their culinary own tips?

Add gravy to chilli con carni. It's delicious

I had the best beef stew ever in a restaurant once - it was truly amazing. I asked the chef, and he said he adds a few block of dark chocolate to the stew

This also makes the best chilli. Just add at the end.

for pizza don't spend hours slaving over a tomato sauce, use red pesto

One small jar will do three large bases, slather it over with a plastic spatula and then hurl on your preferred toppings

Add marmite to the oil before putting into the oven to heat for roast potatoes and before you add the par boiled potatoes to the oil, coat them with ground turmeric and semolina flour.

I wore contact lenses/glasses from 15-50 years old. I thought people crying when they chopped onions was a myth. At 51 I bit the bullet and had multi-focal lens implants. It was a miracle. I went from -13.00 in both eyes to perfect vision overnight. The only downside is the extreme itching and crying with some onions, even after they are in the pan. I will try the wooden spoon trick.
My own advice is to add a carrot chopped into 2/3 pieces whenever you cook something that contains a tin of tomatoes. The sweetness of the carrot enhances the flavour and reduces any acidity. I chuck the carrot out afterwards but I know people who treat it as a cooks perk.

Also, when making flapjacks, add the oats/cornflakes/sugar/ other ingredients to the butter and syrup mixture while it is still on the heat and stir it around for a few minutes. The heat will gently toast/caramelise the dry ingredients giving an added depth of flavour and crunch. Especially if you stir in a couple of spoons of desiccated coconut.

Some great tips on this thread. I will have to try some out.

chop up a few snickers bars and add that on top of your next batch of brownies before they go in the oven. Oh My.

Hot chocolate:

Melt a few squares of dark hot chocolate in a pan with a TINY splash of milk until it forms a thick paste. Then add a little more milk and when that is all stirred in add a little more etc, until the milk/chocolate mix is fairly liquid, at which point you can add large amounts of milk without it going granular. Whisk/stir until hot.

So easy, so much better than powdered stuff and much less sugar too.

I do it in the saucepan over a low hob - I know that theoretically doing it over a direct heat like this should burn the chocolate, but its always been fine. Cheap dark chocolate works fine and it tastes even better with a splash of alcohol added near the end.

The only way to cut pizza is with kitchen scissors.

I concur.

Some brilliant tips here :)

Does anyone have any idea what I can do with a load of fresh ginger? Tesco online sent me a bag of ginger. I only ordered one stem.

If nobody has any idea how I can get rid of it quickly should I peel it before throwing it in the freezer?

DarlesChickens61 I don't peel ginger before freezing - just put in freezer bag and grate from frozen when needed and then throw the rest back in.

Ginger freezes really well, but grate it first. I prefer to spread it out on a tray and freeze, then bundle into a bag so it's 'sprinkle' straight from the freezer.

Otherwise, it's nearly Christmas, so how about crystallizing it and putting in jars for the odd visiting gift? Or bottling in syrup. Either preserve is brilliant in cookies!

I don't have time tonight to peel and grate it all. But thank you Bette. I'll freeze it as it is and hope for the best. Thanks Serial :)

Add a good teaspoon of Marmite to homemade chicken gravy, tastes amazing (and no, it doesnt make it taste of Marmite so the haters will like it too)!

I don't have time tonight to peel and grate it all. But thank you Bette. I'll freeze it as it is and hope for the best. Thanks Serial :)

LyannaStarktheWolfMaid
Freeze leftover odds of wine to add to gravy and sauces

Wot's leftover wine?! ;-)

DarlesChickens61 I just cut the ginger into large chunks, without peeling, and freeze like that.

I just freeze ginger as is and grate from frozen. Just pop in a plastic bag before freezing.

These are bloody rippers! (that means ‘marvellous’ where I come from).

I thought I’d jump on and add a tip or two, cos I quite fancy m’self in the kitchen, but I have been outdone!

Love the idea of molding the foil around the outside of a baking pan, then popping it inside.

Can only add a humble one: quick ways to add umami (savoury-ness). Mash an anchovy into the onion at the start of a soup/stew. Can’t taste it, but it adds something special. Obviously make people aware in case they have fish allergy!

Run out of breadcrumbs/cornflakes and roll chicken in crunchy nuts cornflakes - my DNan did this one and it was f*ing revolting

Neverender that made me howl! 😂

Soooo place marking....

Mash an anchovy into the onion at the start of a soup/stew. Can’t taste it, but it adds something special

That's a good one. Will try it!

The foil trick works beautifully. I didn't invent it though. I saw it years ago on a Rachael Ray cooking show.

When cracking eggs... Scoop out any rogue bits of eggshell out using the remaining eggshell... It acts like a magnet and the rogue eggshell bits just stick to it!... Instead of chasing it around with a teaspoon!

You can use up cranberry/redcurrant relish by adding a teaspoon to sauces/gravies/stews, casseroles etc

Vegetable bouillon powder is the key to tasty anything!! I add it instead of salt. I used to make everything from home-made stock, but since having DC, I don't always have time - and the powder brings a really good depth of flavour, instantly!

Gordon Ramseys turkey curry recipe for leftovers after Christmas is delicious and freezes really well. I really love his Christmas book as it has a big chapter at the end full of recipes for leftovers.