Storing Herbs out of Season

​

 

A lot of herbs are seasonal and won't last year long'

​

If you cut them while they are in season, you can have fresh herbs all year long for your favorite recipes by puting them in an ice cube tray with olive oil or butter

 

Then when you need basil in the middle of winter, just pop out a herbed oil/butter cube which is roughly around 1 Tbsp and add it to your sauce or whatever you are making

 

 

​

How to know if your Avocado is Ripe

 

When you are buying Avocado's there are a couple of ways

to see if they are ripe, over-ripe or ok to eat

 

The first test is to remove the outside pip

​

If the hole is dark in the middle it is over-ripe

​

If it is a nice light color, it's ripe and ready to eat

​

​

​

SECOND METHOD:

​

The second way to tell is by it's color

 

You don't want it firm and light green, you will have to wait 5 days for it to ripen

 

You also don't want it dark green and mushy, it's over-ripe and may be brown inside

 

An avocado that is ready to be sliced should be darker in color, soft to touch but not mushy 

 

If you want to mash it straight away to make guacamole for example the darker soft avocados are best

​

If Avocado's are on sale, but you aren't ready to use them yet, you can buy harder lighter avocado's & place them in a sunny kitchen windowsill to ripen up over the next few days, then when you are ready to use them, you have them on hand

Cutting Cherry Tomatoes in Bulk

​

If you have a lot of tomatoes to cut, the easiest way is to line them up on a round takeout container lid and place another one on top of them

​

Then get a serrated bread knife

and slice right through the middle of them all at once

 

 

 

​

REGROW YOUR VEGETABLES

 

Don't throw away your Vegetable ends

 

Place Green onion ends, celery, lettuce in a dish or jar with tall sides and fill with an inch or two of water, within a week they will start to regrow

 

You will have Green Onions again in a week

 

You can repeat this process several times over

 

Just make sure the water is clean

every couple of days, top up if you need to

​

***

 

Keep Fresh Herbs year round

 

A lot of herbs don't survive the winter

 

I place my store bought herbs in a shallow dish in my kitchen window with water and they regrow year round

 

They are protected from the elements (and the neighbors dog/cat), are organic and tasty in your favorite dishes

 

You can move them around in winter or summer if they

need more sun or shade

​

Remember to water from the bottom, ie. put water in the dish they are sitting in, not on the top of the plant

Making Chocolate curls

 

The easiest way to make chocolate curls for your desserts

is to use a potato peeler down the edge of a block of

chocolate

 

It also helps if you refrigerate the chocolate first so it doesn't melt in hot weather while

you are working

 

 

 

 

 

​

FIX BROKEN MAYO

 

If you are like me, you like to think there's nothing you can't do

 

When it comes to cooking, not everything always goes

according to plan

 

The best intentions of making your own home made condiments

can go astray, fast

 

I had a recipe for Home Made Mayo, I thought I'd be smart

throwing it all in the nutribullet and in seconds I'd have instant mayo

​

If it works for sauces, why not for mayo?

​

Anything to save me time, right ?

 

How very wrong I was....the nutribullet blends at such a

turbo rate that it doesn't emulsify,  it 'broke' my mayo and instead of a thick creamy homemade spread, I ended up with runny, soupy revolting egg and oil mixture the consistency of water 

 

I was going to throw it all out with the garbage & start over

 

But I was sure there had to be some way to fix it

 

I scoured the internet for 1/2 hour

​

Tried one trick, okay, two tricks

neither worked

 

I don't give up easy

​

If someone says you can't do something, I usually find a way to prove them wrong

 

I came up as a very last resort, 

with my own brilliant HACK

that WORKED !

 

I now have thick, creamy mayo, out of slush :)

 

What to do:

Get a glass mixing bowl

 

Add 1 tbsp of Yellow Mustard 

(Which after all is just seasoned vinegar and water)

 

Start whisking the mustard and add a drop or two at a time of

the soupy slushy runny mayo mixture whisking the whole time with the other hand keep dropping a drop or two at a time

and constantly whisking until you have used up the whole mixture

 

It will be thicker than you had it before, but still not thick enough to be called mayo or to spread

​

Do not fret

​

Place the whole lot of this thicker mixture into a tall wide mouthed (mason) jar

 

 Get out your old trusty hand stick blender that you thought you'd never use again and start blending up and down

​

Within 2-3 mins, you will have a thick, creamy, spreadable homemade mayo

 

No one will know you ever blew it the first time 

 

It works, it really works !

Fresh Egg or Not?

 

 

Something a lot of people don't know

is that there is a tried and tested way

 to see if your eggs are fresh

 

Place a whole egg with shell on

in a glass of water

 

If it floats to the top

it is old and no good

 

If it sinks to the bottom

of the glass

It is fresh and 

ready for you to cook with

 

If it stays halfway

it's probably best to use it first

before your fresh ones

TESTING MEAT TEMPERATURE

 

Testing Meat Temp / Done-ness can be easy when you

know what to look for

 

Everyone likes their steak a different temperature

 

 

Raw:

"Blue" uncooked

 

Rare:

Red, cool center

 

Medium Rare:

Warm and pink in the middle 

and seared on the outside

 

 

Medium:

 

Light brown middle, no pink left

Seared on the outside

 

 

Well Done:

Cooked right through, brown inside

and out with clear juices

 

 

You don't always have access to a meat thermometer, but you always have access to your hand

 

By doing the "finger test" you can see straight away

if the meat is done to your liking

 

The palm of your hand will be soft or hard depending which finger you flex against it

​

This method has been used many times to check the temperature of meat

or it's 'done-ness'

 

You simply use each finger up against your palm

to check how firm it is

 

Hold your hand out, palm up

​

Poke the base of your hand by the base of the thumb

It's soft like raw meat

 

Touching your forefinger and thumb together - Feel the same part of your hand. It’s a little firmer - This is how meat feels when it’s rare

 

The pad of your hand will get progressively firmer with each finger

 

Touch your middle finger to the tip of your thumb -  Medium rare 

 

Next, touch the tip of your ring finger to your thumb - This is what a medium-well will feel like

 

When you touch your pinky to your thumb - is the equivalent of a well-done steak

 

So you can do the finger test

and gently poke the meat

to feel it's done-ness while it is cooking