Cooking-Tips

Cooking-Tips Index

201. 10 Critical Ways To A Perfectly Food-Safe Kitchen By Terry Nicholls
     Food poisoning is related to unsafe food, a dirty kitchen, and dirty kitchen appliances. If you follow some safety rules, food poisoning will never occur.Your Refrigerator1. Freezing does NOT kill bacteria; it only controls their growth. Common bacteria grow rapidly at 60° F to 120° F. Keep the temperature of the refrigerator below 50° F. Keep the freezer temperature at about 0° F.2. Don't take foods out of the refrigerator until you're ready to cook them.Dishwashing3. Clean well with hot wate…



202. Cooking Filet Mignon By Daniel Urmann
     Filet mignon is French, of course, with filet meaning "thick slice" and mignon meaning "dainty." Filet mignon comes from the small end of the tenderloin (called the short loin) which is found on the back rib cage of the animal. This area of the animal is not weight-bearing, thus the connective tissue is not toughened by exercise resulting in extremely tender meat. This also means that the meat lacks some of the flavor held by meat that has the bone attached. In order keep the flavor, you mu…



203. Choosing a User-Friendly Cookbook: 7 Tips By Renee Pottle
     October is National Cookbook Month, making now the perfect time to add to your collection. But with more than 24,000 new cookbooks published each year, how do you choose one that doesn’t just sit on the shelf gathering dust?1. The cookbook works for you. New or busy cooks will be happy with a variety of family-friendly dishes presented in an easy-to-follow format. Look for key works in the title like basic, simple, busy, or quick. Experienced cooks might be looking for more creative recipes, m…



204. Planning for Those Holiday Meals By Teresa Ruddock
     It is that time of year again when everyone begins to think and prepare for the large family dinner parties.If this is the year that you have been chosen to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for the entire family you may be feeling overwhelmed. But, as long as you prepare and have everything ready beforehand, your dinner could be that special wonderful meal and will turn out to be a joyous time to remember for you and your family.Start planning your Thanksgiving dinner around Halloween. Yes, that …



205. Meringue Made Simple By Shauna Hanus
     Using meringue to top a fruit pie is an easy and elegant way to serve these delicious pies. Lemon meringue is the most popular meringue type pie but you can try orange or lemon cream as a new twist.Meringue can be a bit fickle if you are trying it for the first time. Here are five easy to follow steps that will help you make perfect meringue.• Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Using a clean dry bowl to catch the egg whites crack the eggs on the counter and begin transferring the e…



206. The Wonderful Wok: Stir Frying Basics By D. Marie Giolitto
     Want to enjoy the tantalizing taste of Asian food at home? Invest in a wok! Stir-frying is one of the easiest ways to create a delicious, healthy dinner in minutes. Learn to prepare meals the Asian way: light on meat, heavy on the vegetables, and quick-cooked on high heat to retain vitamins and flavors. A few basics is all you need to get cooking!Purchase your wok. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on state-of-the-art cookware. A standard, stainless-steel wok, purchased for less than…



207. Storing Fats and Oils By Dennis R Weaver
     The human body requires the intake of six types of substances for survival: Fats, carbohydrates, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. Certain fatty acids are essential to our health and fats and oils are important components of our food and their preparation. Fat is responsible for much of the texture, appearance, and taste of our baked goods. Since fat is both required for human health and an important part of our diets, we should include fat in our emergency preparedness plans--some comb…



208. Two for One Dinners: Pork By Michele Webb
     If you find leftovers boring, uninviting or downright "yuck," then here are some ideas to put the "zing" back into mealtime. With a little creativity your home-cooked meal can easily become a delicious meal another night. There are a six articles in this series, today we are going to look at what you can do with pork.DINNER - NIGHT ONE: Braised PorkPut a pork tenderloin in the oven to bake slowly in orange juice, ginger, garlic and brown sugar until it is tender enough to pull apart with a …



209. Caring For Your Wooden Cutting Board By Daniel Urmann
     Researchers have found that bacteria have a tougher time surviving on wood cutting boards. However, plastic cutting boards are less porous than wood, making it less likely to harbor bacteria over a long period of time, but only if it is immediately cleaned. Here are a few tips to caring for your cutting board.1. It is best to apply the oil slightly warm and with a soft cloth in the direction on the grain. Warming the oil allows it to penetrate deeper into the wood. “Season” your board by ap…



210. Cut The Take Out By Lisa Paterson
     A long hard day at work. You get home and need dinner. Nothing in the fridge, nothing in the cupboard. Take-out again. The wallet just won’t comply much longer.Re-wind.A long hard day at work (sorry can’t help with that one). You get home and mmmm, what is that aroma? Dinner! Smells delicious, your mouth is watering.And no you didn’t go to the wrong home and no you are not dreaming. You arranged all this, in a few minutes this morning.What I won the lotto and hired a personal chef?Well no, not…



211. Buying, Storing, and Preparing Apricots By Cindy Ng
     When buying apricots, always look for those that are firm, plump orange fruit that gives slightly when you press with your thumb. Bruised apricots should be avoided. Like apples and potatoes, apricots contain polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that combines with phenols in the apricots to produce brownish pigments that discolor the fruit.When apricots are bruised, cells are broken, releasing the enzyme so that brown spots form under the bruise. Avoid apricots that are hard or mushy or withered. All …



212. Create Some Pretty Pats of Butter By Suzanne Lieurance
     Pretty pats of butter can add interest to your dining table or buffet. You can make them easily, in a wide variety of shapes. Here’s all you do:Soften several sticks of butter. Use a knife to spread the softened butter evenly into a candy mold (flip the mold over once you have some butter in it, to make sure the butter is filling the mold completely; the butter tends to leave "gaps" of empty space, even when you feel like you’re filling the mold solidly). Freeze the filled mold until the …



213. Secret of Light and Fluffy Biscuits and Pancakes By Joey Robichaux
     Would you like to lose some weight -- in your baking, that is? This one secret ingredient (that you likely already have in your kitchen) is not only inexpensive and healthy, it'll also add a bit of "cloud" to your biscuits and pancakes!And that ingredient is ... Oatmeal!Yep, I know what you're thinking ... just give me a moment and trust me on this.For instance, to make super light pancakes, I'll use normal, non-instant, oatmeal. I'll prepare a 1 to 1 1/2 serving size portion, usually in the m…



214. Cake Baking Tip Guide By Patricia Jensen
     Successful cake decorating is all about preparation. Baking and preparing your cake for decorating is a critical part of the total process. In this article, I'll share some expert tips for basic cake preparation to get your cake creation off to a fabulous start! These easy tips will ensure your cake decorating success.Preparing a Cake Board -Many specially themed cakes are too large to fit on a plate, so a cake board may be used. Cut a piece of stiff cardboard to the desired size. Cover with…



215. Perfect Picnics - Frugal Food Safety Tips By Cyndi Roberts
     Summer is finally here and for a lot of us that means heading out to the lake or to the park for a picnic with friends or family.Unfortunately, if we're not careful when we plan, transport and serve that picnic, our outing might not end up happily.Here are some tips to remember when planning an outdoor meal:1. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Bacteria multiply quickly at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees. Foods that have been kept at unsafe temperatures are a prime source of foodb…



216. Chinese Cooking Technique: Thicken By Helen Fan
     “Thicken”, or “Thickening” is a very common technique used in both Chinese restaurants and household kitchens. It is very easy to prepare, but if not used properly, can really mess up the presentation. Below is a brief description of “Thickening”. You can learn more about other Chinese cooking techniques in the Techniques section of our website.Technique: ThickenThicken, or thickening, refers to the use of cornstarch as a part of the process of preparing a Chinese dish. Cornstarch is a very co…



217. Understanding Baking: How Yeast Works By Dennis R Weaver
     Did you ever wonder why flour tastes like sawdust but a French or Italian bread made with that same flour and little else has a pleasant, sweet taste?Bread wouldn't be bread without yeast and yeast can't work without sugars. Yeast is alive—living organisms—and living organisms need food for fuel, in this case, simple sugars. But flour is mostly starch and table sugar (sucrose) is too complex for the yeast before fermentation. Amylase and invertase, enzymes present in the flour or created by…



218. Gourmet Sauces, Rubs and Marinades - Give Your BBQ a Gourmet Kick By Gene Grohan
     Many individuals agree that the sauce on barbecued meat is like the icing on a cake. Gourmet barbecue sauces, rubs and marinades are commonly served on (or on the side of) the finished dish. Barbecue sauces are used to add flavor and sweeten the meat for a better tasting meal. The types of barbecue sauces available throughout the world are endless. Barbecue sauces, rubs and marinades are the three basic methods of seasoning and each brings its own unique element into the barbecuing experience.…



219. Vegetarian Cooking - Three Basics By Nora Poulos
     For any of the many reasons people choose to eat vegetarian food - religion, politics, finances, or health - one thing in common is that everyone prefers food that tastes delicious and provides good nutrition. There are some basic techniques to vegetarian cooking which will accomplish that.There is a range of vegetarianism. From the vegan to the person who eats meat on rare occasions. Some people consider themselves basically vegetarian if they never eat red meat, but do eat fish and chicke…



220. The 12 Days of Holiday Cooking By Brook Noel
     Use this simple countdown strategy to keep Christmas preparations hassle-free, avoiding a last minute crunch. For a full menu and shopping list, visit www.rushhourcook.com/holiday.htm and click on the Recipe link.Day 12 Avoid last minute menu madness. Choose your menu for the Big Day as well as quick-and-easy option for the busy pre-Christmas days. Record your holiday meal plan in your Holiday Notebook. Collect all your recipes in one place and staple together or tuck them into your notebook.D…



221. Digital Thermometers By Gerry O
     Types of digital thermometers & their culinary uses.Thermocouple:Of all food thermometers, thermocouple thermometers reach and display the final temperature the fastest - within 2 to 5 seconds. The temperature is indicated on a digital display. A thermocouple measures temperature at the junction of two fine wires located in the tip of the probe. Thermocouples used in scientific laboratories have very thin probes, similar to hypodermic needles, while others may have a thickness of 1/ 16 of an i…



222. Do You Have Lots of Turkey Leftovers – Try Freezing Them By Shauna Hanus
     When Thanksgiving is over and all your company has gone home what do you do with all those turkey leftovers? Why not try freezing them. By freezing your turkey leftovers you will be able to enjoy fresh roasted turkey months from now when Thanksgiving and turkey leftovers are a thing of the past.Freezing turkey leftovers is an easy and inexpensive way you can extend the life of your turkey leftovers by a few months. Turkey leftovers can be frozen up to three months with great results. Here …



223. Soups On By Phyllis Wasserman
     As winter draws near, your thoughts might turn to comfort foods to warm you. Whether you just open cans, or start from scratch, soup is a wonderful start to any meal.Tomato soup is the chilly day comfort food that's also good for you. Two you can try are, Progresso's Hearty Tomato or Wolfgang Puck's Country Tomato with basil. They both have a fresh homemade and well-seasoned taste.Or you can make your own with an immersion blender. This hand-help appliance lets you puree vegetables and beans…



224. Preparing Your Food For Winter By D. S. Epperson
     Summers were always the best time of year for me when I was growing up, except for Saturdays, when my mother would raise the dead with her “Wake-up” voice and we would all have to go out to the garden in the early morning, before the dew was off the grass, and pull weeds. We would all work for a few hours and then she would let us off the chain gang for some summer family fun.What I hated worse then the early morning wakeup calls on summer Saturdays, were the Fall after-school and weekends whe…



225. What is Gluten and Why does it Matter? By Dennis R Weaver
     Gluten is a substance made up of the proteins found in wheat flour that gives bread its structure, strength, and texture. Without these marvelous little proteins, bread would not be bread. It also explains why it is so hard to make bread from rice, potato, or oat flour and why wheat flour has to be added to rye flour to make bread—only wheat has enough protein. The gluten makes the bread.Gluten is developed in the dough when the proteins absorb water and are pulled and stretched in the knea…






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