FOOD TIPS

Bread;
Freeze bread for easier cutting for fancy sandwiches.
Wrap extra fresh bread or rolls in foil and store in freezer. When needed place bread or rolls, unwrapped in preheated 450 oven. Turn off oven and leave for 10 min. Makes freash and restores crispy crust.

What to do with left over pancake mix. Make pancakes and let cool. Place 1 tsp butter between each pancake wrap
and freeze. Take from freezer and heat in oven or microwave for 1 min 45 seconds on high.

Cheese;
Cheese scorches easy and should be cooked in heavy pan or double boiler.

Before grating a large amounts of hard or semi-hard cheese, sprinkle the whole piece with cornstarch and put in the refrigerator uncover for several days. The outside will get hard but inside will stay soft and moist. Shake off cornstarch then grate as usual and cheese won't clump or stick together as being grated.
When grating or cubing hard or semi hard cheese do a little more and put in moisten proof container as cheese freezes well.

Dairy;
Authentic sour cream may be made at home by combing 2 tbs buttermilk with 1 cup heavy cream. Place in covered bowl
at room temperature for 6 hours or until thick.

Eggs;
For soft boiled eggs; after water boils turn off heat and let stand 4-5 min

Meat;
Hamburgers, make patties about 1" thick; they will be juicer than thin patties.
When marinating meat, place the meat and marinade in a heavy duty plastic bag, press out air bubbles, and secure the bag with a metal tag. The marinade stays close to the meat.

Mexican;
To soften corn tortillas, put 4 or 5 drops of vegetable oil between tortillas stack and wrap in paper towels. Heat in micro wave on high 30 seconds or in 350 oven until warm. They will be very pliable and easy to roll into enchiladas.

Misc.
Sift dry ingredients in wax paper and you will have fewer dirty dishes to wash. It's also easier to handle.
A muffin tin can double as an ice tray. Jumbo cubes are attractive floating in punches.
Pour leftover coffee into ice cubes trays and freeze. To make ice coffee add some cubes and allow to melt as much as you like. It also eliminates the need of ice which dilutes the coffee.
Place flour in salt shaker to dust pans.
Place chilled butter or cream cheese on a plate and microwave oven 10-15 seconds to soften for immediate use.

Poultry;
Add whipped cream to chicken or turkey salad to make it lighter and delicate!

Seafood;
King, snow and dungeness crabs are already cooked when sold. they can be boiled, broiled, steamed, baked about 4 min before eating

Fish;
The first rule don't overcook fish. Allow 10 min per inch when measuring fish at it's thickest point.
To bake; 400 degrees and there is no need to turn fish.
To grill; place seafood a few inches above coals on a well greased grill. Turn once, brushing with oil, butter or marinade
frequently. Once the grill is hot, slice a raw potato down the grill in one direction only. The starch will coat the grill
and stop sticking.

To sauté; place fish in a heated pan with a little oil or butter, turn once.
To poach; Boil some water seasoned with salt, lemon juice, bay leave and herbs. in a large oval pan. It should be deep enough
to cover the fish. Simmer for 10 min per inch.
To broil; adjust racks 4 inches from heat, brush with oil, marinade, butter, turn once. Or heat pan first then you won't have to turn.
Micro wave fish about 4 to 5 mins. per lb.
How much to buy: for whole fish 3/4 to 1 pound per person. For steaks and filets, allow 4 to 8 oz per person.
Half the total weight of a round fish is bone, head and tail. About 1/3 the total weight of a flat fish is edible.

Scallops;
Scallops should be firm when bought, never soft as they arr old.

Shrimp;
When buying shrimp, head weighs half the shrimp.
Small shrimp yield 35 or more shrimp per pound; medium, 26 to 35 per pound; large, 21 to 25 per pound; jumbo less than 20 per pound. From appro. 11/2 lbs of fresh unpeeled shrimp you will get 3/4 lb or 2 cups of cooked and devined shrimp
Fresh shrimp has dark gray veins and feet. If it is pink, it has started to lose its flavor and freshness.
When boiling shrimp, add celery to water. It eliminates the strong odor of shrimp.

Soup;
To un salt to salty soup, add a sliced raw potato and boil fo a short time. Then remove potato and it will have absorbed salt.

Spices;
Salt makes water boil faster
When substituting dried herbs for fresh the standard is 1 tsp of dried herb for 1 tbs of fresh herbs.
Keep spices fresher by storing in freezer. Make a spice rack on freezer door.

Tortilla-making tips:

When mixing the masa, mix all the Masa Harina with 1-1û4 cup of the water. You can work it with your hands, if you like. If it seems too dry, add additional water, a teaspoon at a time. Too much water, and you won't be able to peel the plastic off the tortilla; too little and your tortilla will be dry and crumbly. Unlike pastry dough, masa does not suffer from being over-handled.

The masa will dry out quickly. Keep it covered with a piece of plastic wrap/cling film or used waxed paper or greaseproof paperwhile making your tortillas.

Hold the pressed tortilla (with the plastic on both sides) in one hand. Peel away the top plastic from the tortilla (not the tortilla from the plastic). Flip it over into your other hand, and peel away the other piece of plastic.

Gently place the tortilla on the hot skillet or griddle. It should make a soft sizzling sound when you do. If your tortillas are not perfect circles, don't worry.
If your skillet or griddle is at the right temperature, a tortilla can be cooked in no more than 2 minutes.

The use of cast-iron utensils is important. You are cooking at high heat on a dry surface, and a lighter-weight utensil could warp.
Brown spots on your tortillas are good -- an indication that they are handmade, rather than
store bought.


Vegetables;
Always was hands after handling hot peppers
To remove sand and dirt more quickly, add salt to the water it is washed in.
Radishes have the same texture of water chestnuts.
A substitute for wine when cooking is half grapefruit juice and half grape juice.
Use unpeeled red apples for applesauce with extra nutrients. Pass the sauce through a food mill to strain out peels.

To skin tomato immerse in boiling water 1 min skin slips right off.
Add a tsp of sugar to fresh green beans for an extra dash of flavor.
To keep cauliflower white while cooking, add 1 tsp of lemon juice to water.
Clean mushrooms in 2 tbs baking soda add to 1 qt of water.
Bananas may be frozen by first peeling them then, wrapping the individually in a plastic wrap before placing in freezer.
Never cook mushrooms in aluminum as it darkens them.
To keep food from sticking in freezer, freeze on cookie sheet then after frozen, place in bags.
For light and creamy mashed potatoes add 1 tsp baking powder when starting to beat.
Cloves and garlic should not be added to dishes that are to be frozen as they get stronger.
Add instead at heating time.
Lemons will yield more juice slightly war or room temperature. If cold put in micro wave on low for 2 min or
300 oven for a few min.
Store sliced limes or lemons longer, don't cover.
Lemon juice keep in spray bottle is easy to apply to the surfaces of cut fruit or vegetables.