Kitchen Tips - Dry, lumpy or stuck?

Another in an occasional series. Dry marshmallows, lumpy sauces, greasy gravy? Fear not and read on.

1.    If a loaf of un-sliced bread or baguette has gone a little stale and dry, moisten the crust with a little water and place in a hot oven for 2-3 minutes. Bread going stale is a chemical reaction (retrogradation) that occurs slowly at room temperature. Gentle heating reverses the process. Naturally stale bread still contains virtually the same water content as fresh.

2.    Is your sauce or gravy lumpy? Either smooth out the lumps against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon or pass it through a sieve. The quickest way is to use a hand blender.

3.    If you have a bag of marshmallows that have gone hard place a slice of fresh bread in the bag and leave for two days. The marshmallows will have returned to their original fluffy state.

4.    Always serve hot food on warm plates. Either put them in the oven for a couple of minutes or sprinkle with a few drops of water and put them in the microwave. Hot food tastes best while it is HOT.

5.    You are browning meat (or anything else in oil) and it sticks to the pan when you try to turn it.  Take the pan off the hob and allow it to sit for a minute or two.  The moisture in the food will loosen it from the pan and you can then turn it easily. Unless it is burned to a crisp, this will work every time.

6.    To remove excess fat/grease from soup or gravy, dip a slice of fresh bread gently into the liquid and this will absorb the fat. The bread can then be chopped and fried for croutons.

7.    Should a cake burn a little on the top, or rise unevenly, slice the top off which removes the burnt piece and levels the surface, turn the cake over using the bottom of the cake as the top.  Coat with icing as usual.

8.    To prevent the outside of the yolk of hard boiled eggs turning black plunge the egg into cold water immediately after cooking to cool it down rapidly. The discolouration is a harmless reaction where the yolk overcooks and iron reacts with hydrogen sulphide in the white. Eggs discoloured in this way are still safe to eat.

9.    When re-using cooking oil avoid cross contamination by cutting a ½ inch piece of ginger and frying it in the oil before hand. This removes any lingering odours & flavours. 

10.  To guarantee that dishes like terrines and jellies turn out intact simply line the bowl with cling film before you add the filling. If you are reading this with a stuck terrine in your hands, warm the outside of the container under a hot tap and loosen with a knife around the inside.