Do you dread setting foot in your kitchen? Cooking can be challenging, but with these simple hacks you'll be preparing gourmet dishes like a professional chef in no time!
1. The steak trick. Rather than use a meat thermometer and let delicious juices escape from your meat, the finger trick is an accurate and easy way to test steak temperature. Opening your palm, press your index finger gently to your thumb and press your other index finger to the fleshy part of your hand just beneath your thumb. This is what a rare steak feels like. Touch your middle finger to your thumb next and feel that fleshy spot grow firmer--that's medium. Ring finger is medium well, and pinky is well done (an open hand is raw). Once you become familiar with the way your steak should feel cooked to different temperatures, you will be able to recognize when a steak is prepared to perfection by simply poking it.
2. Freeze leftover herbs. Many times a recipe will call for a fresh herb you don't use often, such as cilantro or rosemary. Rather than let the leftovers wilt in the fridge, fill an ice cube tray with oil and the herbs to freeze for use at a later date. You can simply toss the cube of delicious herb-infused oil into a pan to begin a new dish. This hack also works with leftover sauce, stock or broth.
3. No-stick fish grilling. Sick of flaky fish fillets sticking and making a mess on your grill? Chop a lemon, lime, or other citrus fruit into round slices and layer them on the grill. This creates a bed for your fish to prevent sticking and infuses it with a tangy citrus flavor.
4. Forever green avocados. Once you peel an avocado, the creamy green inside often gives way to an unattractive, brown color after just a day. However, the fruit is still edible--and tasty--for several more days. Keep your leftover avocado that bright yellow-green by sprinkling it with citrus, or leaving the pit inside the remaining unused half. If the pit already slipped out, or you have already smashed your avocado to make guacamole or other spread, simply leave the pit inside the container before sticking your leftovers in the fridge.
5. Remove the fat.
Eliminate some excess fat in sauces, soups and stews by dropping an ice cube inside the pot. The cold will draw out fat globs and make them easy to scoop out.
6. Smash garlic before chopping. To peel your garlic cloves, place the flat side of a large chopping knife or a wooden spoon over the cloves, and smash down with your other hand. The skin will practically fall off.
7. Cut the perfect cake slice. At a birthday party, the more slices of cake you cut, the messier and more difficult it seems to become. Keep each cut clean and smooth by filling a pitcher with hot water and dipping your knife inside before making each cut. The knife will glide through the cake and make cutting each piece easy, neat and quick.
8. Halve cherry tomatoes. Cutting individual cherry tomatoes in half for salads or pastas is tedious and time-consuming. Halve your tiny tomatoes in bulk by placing a handful in between two small plates. Gently press on the top plate with one hand to hold it in place (but not hard enough to squish the tomatoes) and slide your knife evenly between the two plates to cut all the tomatoes in half simultaneously.
9. Drip-free cooking. Stirring soups, sauces or stews can get messy each time you remove your ladle and lie it on your counter or stove. Avoid dripping and make clean up easy by sticking your spoon's handle through your pot's handle, letting the spoon tilt back over the pot. This way, any dripping will fall right back into your sauce.
10. Hard-boil the perfect egg. Boiling eggs is an art--not too dry, not too moist, easy to peel--getting the perfect batch of hard-boiled eggs is an achievement. Start by putting raw eggs (eggs about 10 days old work best) in a pot of at least two inches of cold water with a tablespoon of salt. Bring pot to a boil. After the water begins to boil, turn off the heat, cover and let the eggs sit about 13 minutes. Then place eggs in an ice-bath for about five minutes. The cold water should loosen the shell for peeling--run water over the eggs as you peel to help stubborn pieces fall loose.
11. Make grating easier. Every struggle when grating a block of cheese that keeps getting caught on the sharp edges? Spray your grater with cooking spray to reduce friction and make your cheese glide across the blades smoothly.
12. Easy potato peeling. Don't waste time hacking at your potatoes with a peeler. After boiling, submerge your spuds in ice cold water and the skin will slip right off in your hands.
14. Make perfect pasta. Hate having soggy pasta mush after over boiling your macaroni? Prepare the perfect pasta by filling a pot with cold water (4-5 quarts to 1 pound of pasta) and heavily salt the water (one tablespoon per quart of water) as it comes to a boil. Once your water is boiling with big bubbles, submerge your pasta.
Don't be impatient--you want to ensure the water is at boiling temperature to prevent mushy noodles later. Once your water reaches a rolling boil again, remove the lid (be sure to stir your pasta regularly). If you are serving your pasta with sauce, remove your it from the water about four minutes before the suggested cook time on the box, and transfer it to your sauce pot to finish cooking (using tongs to transfer the pasta, rather than draining and dumping, is quicker and makes for a better final product). Adding about a ladle full of pasta water to your sauce will also help thicken your sauce and make it stick nicely to your noodles.