tips di dapur..annabel karmel punye

arini dok ralik menulis log book utk internal audit next week. tibe2 rase boring. maka sayee pun bukak annabel karmel. cari2 resipi. ingt nk bg solleh mkn pasta plak lpas ni. aritu ada jmpa baby pasta kat giant. tapi tak beli pun. pasni bole la try. hehe. bila dah boring tgk resipi, sayee jmpa ini. dan sayee nk copy kat sini. hehe.

Making Breadcrumbs

To make breadcrumbs ahead whiz a loaf of bread in a food processor and then freeze in a plastic bag, you can then scoop out as many grams as you need from frozen.

Baking Potatoes

Prick potatoes with a fork before baking as this prevents them from bursting. You can speed up baking potatoes by cooking them in the microwave first and then finish off in the oven  to crisp up.

Making Dough

When working with dough, don’t flour your hands, coat them with olive oil instead to prevent sticking.

Cooking Dough

Cookies will spread if your dough is too pliable, this usually happens when the butter gets too soft. Try refrigerating the dough for an hour before baking.

Carving Roast

It is important to let a roast – beef, chicken , pork or lamb sit a while before carving. This allows the juices to retreat back into the meat. If you carve a roast too soon, much of its goodness will spill out onto the carving board.

Juicing a Lemon

Microwave a lemon for 15 seconds and you will double the juice you get before squeezing.

Slicing Hard Boiled Eggs

When slicing a hard boiled egg, try wetting the knife jut before slicing. If that doesn’t do the trick, try applying a bit of cooking spray to the edge.

Fresh Herbs

When using fresh herbs such as chives, dill, parsley etc..held them together in small bunches and snip with kitchen scissors. Its  a lot faster and the the herbs will not be bruised and wet as they often get when chopped.

Keep Salt From Clogging

To keep salt from clogging in the shaker, add half a teaspoon of uncooked rice.

Dental Floss

Don’t just keep dental floss in your medicine cabinet. Unflavoured dental floss is good for cutting soft foods like dough, soft cheese, cheese cake and layered cakes.

Boiling Eggs

Add a little salt or vinegar to your boiling water when cooking eggs, then a cracked egg will stay in its shell.

Removing Jelly From A Jelly Mould

To easily remove a jelly from a mould, lightly brush the mould with oil before pouring in the liquid jelly mixture.

Cooking on Skewers

When using wooden skewers for kebabs, soak in cold water for 10 to 30 minutes to prevent them from burning. If using metal skewers, choose square or twisted skewers as food tends to fall off round skewers.

Peeling Ginger

Peel ginger by scraping the edge of a teaspoon. If you don’t use it all then freeze it and you can use it next time.

Corn on the Cob

Boil corn for 7 minutes. Put the corn directly into boiling water and do not add salt. Overcooking will not soften the corn and decreases the flavour.

Handling Raw Poultry

You must take care to always wash your hands, knife and cutting board in hot soapy water after preparing poultry.

How to Steady A Mixing Bowl

To keep a mixing bowl from sliding around while you are stirring or whisking, simply place on a damp kitchen towel.

Freezing Extra Portions

It’s a good idea when cooking a dish like a cottage pie to make two and freeze one. It also a good idea if you have children to make one large family sized cottage pie and several individual portions in ramekins and pop them in your freezer. That way  you can always have some good home cooked food for your children on days when you don’t have time to cook. 

Baking Bread

There are five stages of bread making and you can remember them with this sentence  Mary  Knits Red Knickers  Pretty Badly

Mary  = Mixing
Knits  =  Kneading
Red    =  Rising
Knickers = Knocking back
Pretty  =  Proving
Badly  =  Baking

Measuring Golden Syrup

When measuring golden syrup if you heat your spoon in hot water before you measure out the syrup, it will slide off easily.

Frozen Vegetables

Frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh as they are frozen within hours of being picked thus locking in all the nutrients.

Ripening Fruit

A lot of the fruit and vegetables you buy in the supermarket is now ripe and hard as a rock. Put the fruit in a brown paper bag and store in a dark place for a day or two. This will help ripen fruits like avocado, bananas, kiwi fruit, peaches etc.

Stop Your Pan Boiling Over

Rub butter or margarine on the rim of a pot in which you cook rice or macaroni and it won’t boil over.

Shopping List

Keep a note pad in your kitchen and keep a running shopping list writing down items as you run out of them.  

Baking

For best results when baking cakes use butter and eggs that are at room temperature.

Preheat the oven. This ensures that your cake will be cooked evenly and at the right temperature.

To check if its cooked, insert a skewer or cocktail stick into the centre. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If it has food stick to it, continue to cook the cake for a few minutes.

Always cool your cake in the tin for 10 minutes and then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

To remove a cake from a loose-bottomed tin, place on a tin, can or jar and press the side of the tin downwards. This allows easy removal of the base and cake from the sides of the tin.

Allow at least ¾ of the cooking time to elapse before opening the oven door to check on your cake. Any earlier and the cake will sink.

Make sure your cake is completely cool before decorating to avoid crumbling.

Us a clean pastry brush to clean away any crumbs from the top or sides of your cake before decorating to help ensure a clean surface.

To cleanly cut through an iced cake, dip your knife in water to stop the icing from sticking.