OLD WIVES' COOKING TIPS

HOW TO PEEL ONIONS WITHOUT CRYING

• Keep your mouth closed as much as possible. 
• Refrigerate onions for a couple hours before you chop it. 
• To stop yourself from crying, soak onions in water half an hour before you cut them and you'll have no tears! 
• Place a teaspoon in your mouth while cutting onions to stop thoses tears.
• To chop onions without your eyes watering, stick your tongue out and keep it out the whole time. The onion vapors go to whatever moisture is near so if it ends up on your tongue it won't end up in your eyes!
• Chew gum while cutting onions and you won't cry or get tears.
• Eat dry bread when chopping the onion.
• Put a piece of bread on the tip of the paring knife when you chop onions.

TROUBLESHOOTING COOKING MISHAPS

I think most of us have atleast once gone through the experience of overseasoning our food. Either you probably had put way too much salt in the food, or too much sugar, or too much lemon etc, etc. And what's worse is if you actually have invited guests over and you have made a booboo in the food you are preparing for them! Now, don't press the PANIC button just yet. There are still ways of rectifying the taste. I have searched for tips on how to fix cooking blunders.

IF FOOD IS TOO SALTY...

• Throw in a few small peeled potatoes and cook it all together for awhile and take the potatoes out before serving. This works for liquids like sauces, stews and soups. 
• Try adding 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice or small amount of molasses/honey, but only add it just before you plan to take it off the heat. The longer you simmer the product, the saltier it will becomes.
• Add more of other non-salty ingredients.

IF FOOD IS TOO SWEET...

You may add small quantity of any of the ingredients below.

• Lemon juice
• Vinegar
• Chicken/vegetable stock
• Tomatoes
• Salt and pepper
• Minced onions
• Herbs and spices

IF FOOD IS TOO SPICY...

• Peel 2 -3 large potatoes and mix them into your chili. Leave in for 1/2 hour, then taste and if it's still too spicy leave it in until your taste test tells you otherwise. Then remove the potatoes and serve. 
• Add diced tomatoes. 
• Dairy helps to neutralise hot foods so if you are in a hurry and need a quick fix you can add either sour cream or plain yogurt.
• Add some molasses or honey to neutralise the acid. Add in gradual amounts until you reach your desired flavor level.
• Add additional other ingredients -- more beans, meat, sweet peppers, tomato, etc.... this will essentially dilute it.
• Put the chili in the refrigerator and serve it the next day--it will be less spicy.

IF FOOD IS TOO SOUR...

Adjust the flavour with a little bit of salt and molasses/honey.

IF FOOD IS TOO BITTER...

Slices of potato or apple can sometimes help to offset the bitterness.

Hope the above tips will be of some help to you in the event you face a cooking mishap in the future. :)




EGG TIPS

HOW TO TELL IF EGGS ARE FRESH?
Immerse egg in a pan of cool salted water.  If it sinks, it's fresh.  If it floats, it's best to throw it away.
Fresh eggs have a rough and chalky shell, old eggs are shiny and smooth.


OTHER EGG TIPS

• To prevent boiling eggs from cracking, add a little salt to the water.
• To keep the yolks in your eggs centered when cooking hard boiled eggs, stir the water while you are cooking.
• To keep egg yolks from crumbling when slicing, wet the knife blade with water before each cut.
• To keep poached eggs from running all over the pan, add a couple of drops of vinegar to the water.
• To remove shells from hot, hard boiled eggs, rinse them in cold water first.
• To make a fluffier omelette, add a pinch of cornstarch and a pinch of icing sugar to the yolk of each egg before beating.
• To get double the volume when beating egg whites, add 1 teaspoon of cold water for each egg white.
• If you get a little egg yolk in your egg white, the whites will not whip properly.  To remove the bits of yolk, dampen a small piece of cloth in cold water, then touch the cloth to the bits of yolk.  The cloth will act like a magnet.
• When eggs shells crack while being cooked, add a little vinegar to prevent the egg white from seeping out.