Best Cooking Tips

Rhubarb too acid? Add the juice of an orange when cooking to improve the taste. Or try a pinch of bicarbonate of soda or a cube of jelly. Thickening fruit juices for a pie Toss fruit lightly in flour or cornflour before adding it to a pie. Any juices which come from the fruit will thicken evenly. Fruit pies boiling over? Try adding a few dabs of butter to the filling Read more [...]

Beetroot Baked fresh beetroots taste just even better than boiled ones, and lose less of their colour and nutrients. Wash the beetroots thoroughly, leaving on the ends. Then wrap several together in a large piece of foil. Bake at 200°C (400°F/Gas Mark 6) for one and a half to two hours, or until tender. Vary the cooking time according to the size of the beetroots. Cabbage Read more [...]

More juice from citrus fruit Oranges, lemons and other citrus fruit will yield more juice if you warm them first. Before squeezing, either pour boiling water over the fruit and leave it to stand for five minutes or if you have a microwave oven, give it 30 seconds on High (100 per cent power). Removing currant stems You don’t have to pick redcurrants or blackcurrants Read more [...]

Skinning green and red peppers Place them directly on the shelf of an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F/Gas Mark 4) for about 20-25 minutes, when the skin should be blistered and cracked. Or scorch the peppers under a hot grill, turning frequently, until the skin is blistered all over – about ten minutes. Remove the peppers from the oven or grill and place them in a loosely Read more [...]

Avoid plastic bags Remove vegetables from plastic wrappings before you store them. They will sweat and go soggy if they can’t breathe. Onions A vegetable basket or wire rack is the best place to store onions. Place it in a cool, well-ventilated spot. Lettuce This is one exception to the ‘no plastic bags’ rule. Lettuces do best in a plastic bag in the fridge, Read more [...]

  Soft fruit Leave currants on the stem and berries – strawberries, raspberries and loganberries, for example – unhulled. Store the fruit in a colander in the fridge, then remove the hulls or stems just before serving. Too many apples? Wrap the fruits individually in paper or foil, pack into boxes and keep them in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place. Kept like Read more [...]

HOW TO TELL WHEN FRUIT IS RIPE Melons Sniff the stalk end: a sweet, heady scent means a melon is ready to eat. Alternatively, press the end and see if it gives slightly. Kiwi fruit Feel for slight softness. Pineapples The centre leaves will pull out easily when the fruit is ripe. Bananas Ripe bananas have yellow skins evenly speckled with small Read more [...]