Baking Potatoes

Pierce potato with a fork several times before baking to allow steam to escape.
Do not wrap potatoes in aluminum foil, it will give them a steamed texture.
To serve, use a small knife to cut a cross on top. Push sides and ends gently to burst open the cross cut, fluff and add  butter or mascarpone cheese season with salt and pepper and add finely chopped spring onion.

Cleaning Leeks

Leave the leeks to rest in salted cool water to remove dirt, the salt will help break down the dirt particles while killing any bacteria that remains between the leaves.

Cooking Chicken

For best results, cook chicken at 220 degrees Celsius allow 45 minutes per kg, plus 20 minutes.

Today, we have a good choice of chickens. If you want the cheap and cheerful option, it’s still there, but for the best flavour it is worth paying a little more for corn-fed, organic or free-range chicken. The flesh will be less spongy, a bird that has been allowed to forage free will have built up muscle tone.

Cooking Rice

How much water to include when cooking rice is a question that exercises the imagination of many home cooks.

When the rice is perfectly cooked there should be no residual fluid to drain off. Not a problem if you have a rice cooker and want large quantities, but it can be an annoyance when cooking perhaps just a half or cup of rice. Rice trebles in volume when cooked so that is handy to have in mind at the planning stage. As far as the water is concerned, place the rice in the cooking container and shake it out to evenly cover the bottom; add water until when you dip your fingers into the pan to just touch the surface of the rice, the water should reach the first knuckle of your second and third finger.

Cooking Steak

When cooking steaks, only turn once. The meat will retain its juices and tenderness this way. Multiple turns will dry the meat as the juice that is driven to the top surface will be lost in subsequent turns and cannot be reabsorbed as it rests after the cooking period.

Eggs

To separate eggs use a small funnel and break the egg into it. The white will slip through leaving the yolk intact in the funnel.

Drying Tomatoes in the Oven

Halve the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds using the side and tip of your thumb. Place the tomatoes, cut side up on the baking tray and lightly salt them. Position the tray in the centre of the oven, prop the oven door open with a wine cork. Place the cork lengthwise between the top of the door and the oven door frame. Heat the oven on its lowest setting which should be no hotter than 50 degrees Celsius. The drying time will be 8 – 10 hours depending on the thickness of your tomatoes. When they are ready the skins will be shrivelled or puckered and the underside will look dry. Store them in olive oil until you a ready to use them in a salad.

Onions

• Rub your hands with vinegar before and after slicing onions - this will eliminate the lingering smell.
• Refrigerated onions before chopping to reduce the tears.

Preventing Pasta Sticking

Prevent sticky pasta, save 1/3 cup of the pasta water prior to draining the pasta. Pour the pasta water into the pasta when tossing with olive oil or your favourite sauce. The pasta water will bind the sauce ingredients and prevent stickiness.

Removing Fat from Gravy

Use lettuce leaves to remove fat from soups, gravy or stews. Place a few in the pot, the fat will cling to them, then just remove them.

Waste Not, Want Not

• Store your carrot peels, celery leaves, mushrooms stems or any other vegetable trimmings in a bag and freeze. Simply add them to your soup or stock to infuse an appetising vege blend.
• Save the rinds of hard cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano to enrich the flavour of any soup or freeze the rinds and use them later. Toss them into the pot, simmer and remove before serving.
• To salvage an over salted soup slice some potatoes into the pot and simmer for about 10-15 minutes and remove before serving. The potatoes will absorb the salt. Try reusing them in another dish like gnocchi.