23 Ways to Make YOU a Better Cook
by Cindi Sutter, Founder of The Spirited Table® from tastingtable.com
Photos: Tasting Table, Greg Hirson via Flickr
We're all about taking the time to perfect your slow-cooked Bolognese or testing your tortilla-frying method for a batch of crowd-pleasing enchiladas. But sometimes the clock is working against you, and you find yourself wishing you had more than two hands. Check out these 23 cooking short cuts and genius tips from around the web to run a more efficient kitchen.
Better Ways to Butter
1. Use a box grater to break up frozen butter in no time for baked goods.
2. Soften butter quickly sans microwave by using a rolling pin.
3. Melt butter evenly with a warm cup.
4. Kill two birds with one stone by softening butter in a preheating oven.
5. Overzealous with the melting? Bring it back to a solid state with an ice bath.
Smarter Storage
6. Put plastic wrap to work for everything from poached eggs to pie decor.
7. Store your spices in empty Tic Tac containers, perfect for traveling or uniform shelf storage.
8. Keep ice cream soft and ice crystal free by keeping it inside a plastic freezer bag.
9. Place cut potatoes in a bowl of water to keep them from turning brown.
Prep like a Pro
10. Line any-size round cake pan with parchment paper in just one snip.
11. Steam okra to get rid of unwanted slime.
12. Froth milk in a mason jar for a coffee shop-level beverage.
13. Avoid tricky knife work by grating garlic on a Microplane.
14. Pit cherries in a flash with a cake-decorating tip.
Easy Egg Tricks
15. Jazz up fried eggs with edible ring molds, like peppers or an avocado.
16. Test if your eggs are still fresh by placing them in a bowl of water.
17. Give eggs a quick pinprick before cooking for easy peeling.
18. Scramble eggs inside the shell for a stunning breakfast.
Ingredient Ideas
19. Keep brown sugar fresh and clump free with a slice of bread.
20. Give pomegranates a whack with a wooden spoon to easily remove the seeds.
21. Shuck corn in seconds with one chop.
22. Save your shells to open pesky, closed pistachios.
23. Revive wilted herbs with a quick shock in ice water.