Advertisement

Gossiping Gourmet: Keeping buns from burning, easy microwave corn and other food tips

Share

I am always looking through various books and magazines for food tips to pass on to my readers. Often the ideas come from readers themselves. Here are my latest finds.

1. With this being the barbecuing season, here is a tip for an easy way to heat up hot dog buns so they don’t burn on the grill. Use a toaster, only let the buns lie on top of the slots, turn on the toaster and the heat will brown them. Flip them if you like and repeat on the other side.

2. Don’t have a pricy espresso machine? Not to worry. You can easily get frothy milk for coffee by placing a pan filled with warmed milk on a pot holder or some other surface that won’t be marred by the heat, and beating the milk with a handheld mixer until the consistency is foamy and velvety and holds soft peaks. The peaks should stay foamy even when spooned into coffee.

Advertisement

3. Microwave an ear of corn with the husk on. It will fall right out of the husk.

4. Another way to revive hard, sticky brown sugar is to put it in the microwave for a minute or so.

5. I find that breading chicken cutlets is tricky because the breading often falls off during the cooking process. But if you put the breaded cutlets on a baking rack set over a baking sheet and allow them to dry for five minutes, the coating stabilizes and won’t stick to the pan and fall off.

6. Speaking of chicken, for really crackly skin when roasting a chicken, pat the bird dry and salt and pepper it generously. Then put it in the refrigerator covered for a few hours and roast it. The skin will be very crisp and brown.

7. When cooking pasta, just before it is really done, add the sauce and stir it around adding a splash of water and a little bit of butter. This infuses the flavor of the sauce into the pasta.

8. Hate to throw away leftover chips? To restore their freshness, spread two cups of chips on a Pyrex pie plate and microwave on high for one minute. Place the hot chips on a double layer of paper towels and allow them to come to room temperature before serving.

9. An easy way to get rid of the seeds and veins in hot peppers or bell peppers is to cut the peppers in half and use a grapefruit or soup spoon to scrape them out.

10. To get thin, even slices of carrots or radishes, use a vegetable peeler. The sharp blade will easily and quickly render equally sized, very thin slices.

11. Cauliflower not as unblemished as you would like? Gently rub a rasp grater over discolored areas until they disappear.

13. I always hate to remove really hot baking sheets from the oven, but here is a good way to do it. Use pliers to grip the pan firmly and slide it out of the oven.

14. Here’s a tip for judging when cream is properly whipped. When it is whipped into stiff peaks, it will hold its shape and cling to the beater, not droop from the ends.

15. When serving small hors d’oeuvres, instead of a toothpicks use slender pretzel sticks, which provide another tidbit.

16. If you don’t have a bottle opener handy to get a tight lid off, try using a nutcracker. It provides a strong grip.

17. The pits of cherries, plums, apricots and peaches all contain cyanide. I know people probably don’t eat the pits, and a lot would have to be eaten to be fatal, but its good to know. Keep kids from trying to eat them.

Feel free to send me your favorite tips: themarkos755 @gmail.com.

Advertisement