a few more hints to help you

How To Make a few more hints to help you

• 1

  o help water boil faster cover the pot. Otherwise the heat is going to waste. And yes, hot water will boil quicker than cold water.Wash your hands after chopping onions or jalapenos – if you touch you eyes without doing so you’ll know why! And we’ve had friends who had to throw away their contacts because they tried to put them in after chopping chilies. To get more juice out of a citrus fruit, microwave it for about 15 seconds. Then, before juicing, press hard on the fruit as you roll it on the counter. Cut an end off and squeeze. If you place your palm under the opening you can catch the seeds.Lemon juice will slow the oxidization (browning) of apples and avocados. Use fruit preservers as a quick sweet glaze for chicken or pork. Mix it with vinegar for a sweet and sour sauce. To prepare an avocado, remove the little brown stem thingy from the top. Slice long-ways around the avocado, twist to separate (don't cut through the pit). Half of the pit should be showing, hit the pit hard with the blade of your knife. Twist to remove the pit.
• 2

  If you have a favorite pizza joint ask them if they won’t sell you their pizza dough. Most pizza dough bakes between 425 and 475 degrees, and can vary depending on the ingredients, so you might have to do some experimenting. Liven up popcorn with spices or seasonings, either dry or wet. Parmesan cheese, paprika or lemon-pepper makes for a great dry flavoring. If you’re going to butter your popcorn add a spice to your butter, such as cinnamon. To shred cooked chicken tear it apart with two forks. Food storage If you use a lot of green chilies, and use them often, freeze them in ice cube trays. You’ll have individual serving sizes. Keep the trays tightly covered with plastic so the chilies don’t develop freezer burn. Perk up soggy lettuce by soaking in cold water with some lemon juice. To store, place in a zip lock bag with paper towels to absorb moisture. Fresh ginger can be kept in the freezer. Wrap it in plastic wrap first. Knives & Cutting To make it easy to cut beef or chicken place the meat in the freezer for about 15 minutes. When cutting round vegetables like carrots slice a small portion off the bottom. This will create a stable base for slicing. When cutting food with slippery surfaces like jalapenos slice the ingredient in half, and slice with the inside facing the cutting board. Or maybe you should cut with the inside face down so it won't be inclined to move -- we haven't made up our mind! To make slicing easier leave them bunched together with the rubber bands they come with. Arrange the roots end so they are even with each other. Start at the top of the bunch and slice downward to the root end, discarding the roots. [Hint]When slicing for Chinese food rotate slice diagonally and rotate the stem for a pleasing shape.
• 3

  Measurements Don’t spoon out tomato paste! Use a can opener to open both sides of the can. Then use one of the cut ends to push the paste to the desired amount through the can and into the sauce. Leftover paste can be wrapped in the can with plastic and frozen. An inch diamter of spaghetti or angle-hair pasta is about two servings. Buying Hints Wipe the top of cans before opening: they may be covered with dust or sprayed with pesticides while in the store. By Federal law ingredients in prepared food are listed in order of volume. Learn to read those labels! Never cook with wine you wouldn’t serve at the table. If stir-frying don’t buy special wok oil – peanut oil and your own flavorings (garlic, sliced ginger) will do just as well. Don’t buy fancy wraps for food wraps – just use flour tortillas. Warm them a little so they'll fold. Dry white wine includes Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chenin Blanc and dry champagne. Usually the smaller the chili the hotter it is. Color doesn’t necessarily mean heat. Good luck finding the Quetzlzacatenango chili. Around the Kitchen If you have a self-cleaning oven don’t leave bake ware in it when you self-clean. The process will burn off the finish of the bake ware. To remove stuck bottle tops and jar lids, wear a pair of rubber gloves or twist a fat rubber band around the lid, then twist open. Never use disinfectants to clean the fridge; foods will pick up the taste and odor. Avocados are also known as crocodile pears, but probably only by your grandmother! Gadgets If you buy measuring spoons make your life easy by getting ones that are attached; that way you won’t be looking all through your utensil drawer when looking for a spoon. If you buy a small can/bottle opener buy one that's magnetic. That way you can put it on your refrigerator, rather than losing it in a drawer
• 4

  * Don't just stand there waiting for your water to boil. Use the minute or two it takes to put things back in place or just tidy up in general.
• 5

  1 lb pasta of choice 8 pt water (4 pints to every 8 oz of pasta) 1 tsp salt and 1, tbsp olive oil Directions 1 Always use a very large cooking pot, making sure you have at least 4 pints (2.25 litres) of water to every 8 oz (225 g) of pasta, with 1 level tablespoon of salt added. Before the pasta goes in make sure the water is up to a good fierce boil. 2 Add the pasta as quickly as possible and stir it around just once to separate it. 3 If you're cooking long pasta like spaghetti, push it against the base of the pan and, as you feel it give, keep pushing until it all collapses down into the water. 4 You don't need to put a lid on the pan: if it's really boiling briskly it will come back to the boil in seconds and, if you put a lid on, it will boil over. 5 Put a timer on and give it 10-12 minutes for top-quality pasta, but because this timing varies according to the shape and quality of the pasta, the only real way to tell is to taste it. So do this after 8 minutes, then 9, and 10, and so on. This only applies when you cook a particular brand for the first time. After that you will always know how long it takes. Sometimes you can give it 1 minute's less boiling and then allow an extra minute's cooking while you combine it with the sauce.
• 6

  6. have colander ready in the sink then, as you are draining the water, swirl it around the colander, which will heat it ready for the hot pasta. Don't drain it too thoroughly: it's good to have a few drops of moisture still clinging as this prevents the pasta from becoming dry. 7 Place the colander containing the pasta back over the saucepan to catch any drips. 8 Always serve the pasta on deep warmed plates to keep it as hot as possible as it goes to the table. 9 For spaghetti, the very best way to serve it is to use pasta tongs, and always lift it high to quickly separate each portion from the rest. 10 Always work quickly, as pasta won't hang around – if it cools it goes sticky and gluey, so drain it quickly, serve it quickly and eat it quickly. 11 You can drizzle a little olive oil in the drained pasta to prevent sticking.
• Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
• Printable Recipe Card