Directions: |
Directions:• Visit your grocery store salad bar to get sliced onion, peppers or celery for recipes.
• If you are going to freeze a cut of meat, freeze it w/ the marinade ingredients so it will marinate as it thaws. For marinades, you need something acidic (such as a fruit juice or balsamic vinegar), and oil (such as olive oil), and some seasonings. Most vinegar-based salad dressings are terrific marinades. Let meat immerse in marinade for at least an hour. This allows the acids to break down connective tissues in the meat and tenderize it, while the oil keeps it succulent and the spices permeate and add flavor.
• Cuts of meat for Grill, Broil, roast or panfry:
Tenderloin, Filet mignon, Rib-eye steaks, Prime rib, New York Steaks, Porterhouse Steaks, Sirloin Steaks, T-bone Steaks. For tougher cuts, which can still be delicious, but which require longer and moister cooking are: (Cook slow for long time…ie. 275) Flank Steak, Stew Meat, Brisket, Cube Steak, Top Round, Sirloin Strip, Chuck, Rump Roast.
• Frozen cheese is easier to grate
• Let roasts and turkeys “rest” ten to twenty minutes before carving; they’ll be juicier.
Don’t use oil in your water for pasta. This will make it so your sauce will not adhere to the pasta.
• You can freeze pasta and use it later by running it under hot water in a colander or simmering it in a saucepan of water to warm it up. To freeze it, drain the pasta and place it in a reseal able freezer bag.
• To avoid tears when chopping an onion, either chop them under water (in the sink) or spray a bit of vinegar on the cutting board before you chop. Another method is to freeze them for four minutes before chopping. Lemon juice will remove the onion smell from your hands.
• Remove fat from a gravy-based dish by chilling it w/ plastic wrap touching the surface- the fat will harden and peel right off w/ the plastic.
• If you need chopped bacon, snip it w/ shears before frying it.
• Two cups of cooked ground beef equals one pound
• Hard-cooked eggs won’t crack if you add a little salt to the water.
• Plastic containers won’t stain with tomato sauce if you coat them w/ nonstick spray before filling them.
• When cooking pasta or rice, add bouillon granules or instant soup mix to the water, then eliminate the salt. It is an easy way to add extra flavor.
• When making a meal, I pull out a grocery bag and use it as a garbage bag. When I am done with the meal, I tie it up and throw it all at once into the garbage pail.
• Coat your grater w/ nonstick spray before using, and it will be much easier to clean up.
• To prevent your cutting board from sliding on the counter, place a square of rubber drawer liner underneath. It works beautifully. You can store it in the drawer along with the cutting board.
• Before cooking kabobs on bamboo skewers, soak the skewers in water for a couple of minutes so they won't burn on the grill. |
This recipe for Notes- Main Dish Tips is from