Let’s share our best cooking tips

[Metoodear]

Never put milk in mash when making a shepherds or cottage pie just butter you want a stiff robust mash that will support the pie
Creamy mash is for sides not on top

Add mushroom ketchup to your bolognese sauce and beef stews. Adds a delicious richness!

Disclaimer:it has nothing to do with ketchup

We always used to buy, and waste, fresh vegetables.

Now, we have various bags of veg in the freezer (Asda and Morrisons both have great selections) and we only use what we need. Much less wasted and much more money saved!

Perfect poached eggs- 1-1 1/2 inchs of boiling water in a frying pan, return to boil, add eggs, turn off heat and cover for 10 mins. Uncover, turn heat back on and spoon water over top of eggs until they've changed colour, about 30 seconds. Perfect in shape poached eggs!!

Add sesame oil to the cooked food, don't use it for frying.

I like this thread. I'm always nervous to use lentils. I have no idea why.

If i wanted to use lentils in a Bolognese for example can I just add a tin of pre cooked lentils?

Yes of course. I put them in loads of things because I love them, I also use white beans a lot.
I do this cheaptastyandeasy.wordpress.com/cook-off/ and put them with mince and chicken, they're lovely. Bolognese for sure.

There isn't a food in the land that isn't improved by the addition of a little double cream.

Quorn mince makes better spaghetti bolognesee than beef (I’m not vegetarian).

Pinch of Tumeric in a lemon sponge. Makes it a beautiful colour and brings the flavour of the lemon right out

I make scrambled eggs in the microwave with a couple of tablespoons of creme fraiche beaten in, no butter or milk needed. It makes them really creamy (but not tangy) and creme fraiche is actually a little lower in calories than double cream. and keeps for ages in the fridge
Also fresh nutmeg -- grate a little over cooked carrots, spinach, cauliflower, and add to a white sauce or cream sauce. I have converted carrot haters into carrot lovers with this.
A spinkle of caraway seeds enhances cooked cabbage and gives a mittel-europe flavour. (if you like caraway seeds, that is)

A square or two of quality dark chocolate is very good in chilli.
Spicy potato wedges -- half and half ordinary potatoes/sweet potatoes, chunked and tossed with oil, cumin seeds, oregano and smoked paprika, salt (chili flakes too if you like it hot) then roasted in a hot oven 40 mins, turn them over half-way through. Goes really well with barbecued meat, chicken pieces, sausages. Salad. I could go on....

Minted chops

I sneak smoked paprika into a lot of things for a certain je ne sais quoi. A lump of dark chocolate into Bol sauce is great. Lee & Perrins is my middle name!

Marmite and a bit of veg oil used to dress roast potatoes Pre- roasting makes them taste like they're roasted in beef dripping but veggies can enjoy them too.

Smoked paprika is such an amazing ingredient! I use it almost every day for various things.

I also follow a tip from Heston Blumenthal years ago, that if you taste something and it's not quite right, but you can't put finger on why not, add a bit of fresh lemon juice. It enhances natural sweetness, brings the seasoning together, and just tightens up the flavors somehow.

I've no idea, but I do nearly all the time when cooking, and it really works!

Cheese or white sauce - mix flour with cold milk and heat up, add knob of butter, seasoning and cheese once it's thickened for lump-free sauce.
Add chopped spring onions and cheese to mashed potatoes for sides or topping shepherds pie.
Add a little English mustard to cheese sauce, utterly yummy! Try finely chopped onion too.

Question for all you lentil adders please

At what stage would you add to a stew or spag bol? If they are dried do I boil them first?

To make healthy meatballs, I use turkey mince mixed with a couple of grated carrots and lots of seasoning. Turkey is very low fat and the carrot bulks it out. My kids can’t tell the difference. I can but only in that it’s less greasy than beef mince. Dp loves them too and I know he wants to hate them because I tricked him into eating them the first few times I served them!

Sorry for all the ‘thems’!

Cooking time for lentils will be on the packet. The ones I eat cook in 15 mins.

perfect jacket potatoes cook in the microwave first till just cooked and soft then put in the oven for twenty minutes at 180 and it crisps the skins like they have been in the oven for a couple of hours that it normally takes to cook them through

Only use legs of thigh when making West Indian curry chicken classic mistake people used diced chicken or brests

Add red lentils at the same time as adding any chopped tomatoes or sauce, I tend to simmer for at least 30 mins

Roast a red pepper then blitz it now add and Mia into cooked rice yummy with lamb or any dish really

Grate butter before beating for cakes if it's too cold.
Soften butter quickly by cubing it and putting it in a bowl of lukewarm water.

Don't you people have microwaves? Zap the butter in there for a few seconds and it will be as soft as anything.