Katie Mankoff - Kitchen Hacks: The Ultimate Collection Of Secrets, Tips, & Tricks

Kitchen Hacks

The Ultimate Collection Of Secrets, Tips, & Tricks

Katie Mankoff & Adam Mankoff

Copyright

Copyright 2015 by ILKEM LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher ILKEM LLC except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Submit permission requests to

Disclaimer

The information contained in this work is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by ILKEM LLC and while ILKEM LLC endeavors to keep the information accurate and correct, ILKEM LLC makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the work or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in the work for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will ILKEM LLC, the authors, or publisher be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this work. The authors, publisher, and ILKEM LLC specifically claim no responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

Dedication:

This book is dedicated with love to the greatest family in the world: Curt, Linda, JJ, Patti, Melissa, Tania, John, Jen, Jack and Big.

Intro

Meet your new best friend in the kitchen, Kitchen Hacks. You wont ever cook without it by your side! To maximize learning, approach these ideas with the eagerness of a newbie and the willingness to try new things. Instantly improve your skills in the kitchen, regardless of your experience, and prepare to better yourself with an open mind. Now lets have fun, make great food, and get started!

Table Of Contents

Appetizers

1. How Much To Make: Throwing a dinner party with refreshments before the meal? The rule of 4 to 6 hors doeuvres per person should work. If its cocktails only, plan for 8 to 10 hors doeuvres per person.2. No-Cook Success : Dont have time to cook? Set out cheeses, simple spreads and bread, crackers, and cut veggies. Get creative with presentation, such as serving spinach dip in a bread bowl.3. Colors Of The Rainbow : When making a veggie tray, think color. A mixture of red, yellow, and green is much more fun than veggies all the same color.4. No-Wash Bowls : To serve dips, hollow out bell peppers or use bread bowls. When finished, no need to wash. Simply eat or throw away!5. Free Your Fridge : Planning to have a party with appetizers? Clean out the fridge the day before to ensure you have adequate storage space. Use an ice chest for additional space if needed.6. Variety Is Best : When hosting a party with appetizers as the main food, be sure to provide a variety. Keep in mind guests who may need low-calorie, kosher, diabetic, gluten-free, or vegetarian options.7. Helpful Warnings : If you are serving appetizers with common allergens such as peanuts and shellfish, be sure to warn your guests. Cute tags can be added to the serving trays that say Made with Peanuts, etc.8. Stereotypes And Such : When preparing your appetizers, consider your guest list. Younger guests will likely eat more, and older guests will usually limit themselves to just a few. Active party games may create a need for more hearty food choices.9. Small Servings : Appetizers are meant to be small and eaten on the move. If utensils are required, its not an appetizer.10. Cold, Warm, And Hot : Running out of food is a party-killer. Make sure there is always food available by having a cold appetizer, a room-temperature appetizer, and a hot one.11. Money Misers : Appetizers are great money-saving foods for parties. You only need small amounts of ingredients for each serving. You can get almost 30 small pieces of toast from one baguette! Spend less on the main course by filling your guests up with appetizers.12. Lost Beverages : Typically drinks accompany appetizers. To help guests keep from misplacing their beverages, give them wine charms or personalized beverage holders as a nice touch. There are some great ideas on Pinterest.13. Chill The Wine : Like your wine chilled? Freeze grapes and use them to keep wine chilled in your glass without adding water, which tends to dilute the taste.14. Dried Up : Making dried tomatoes for your appetizer is not hard, but does take time. Cut lengthwise and place on an oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet in an oven preheated to 190 degrees F. Allow about 10 hours for drying. Let cool and then sprinkle with sea salt and/or olive oil and store in a glass jar in the fridge.15. Tea Sandwiches : Have fun by coloring cream cheese in pretty pastel colors for tea sandwiches. Use just a few drops of food coloring and blend. Add some sugar and vanilla for a little sweetness.

Baking

1. Towel It : Grease baking pans using a paper towel. Rub a little bit of shortening or butter along all areas of the pan (if the recipe calls for a greased pan).2. Baking Utensils : Make sure you have both liquid and dry measuring spoons and cups, and the specified pan sizes. Recipes require a standard dry-measuring cup for dry ingredients, which include flours, cocoa powder, granulated (brown and regular) sugar, cornmeal, and powdered sugars.3. Tricks Of The Shell : Fingers arent good for retrieving eggshells. When eggshell pieces fall in the batter or mixture, use the empty half-shell to scoop them out.4. Rack Rules : Wondering which oven rack to use? The middle rack is the best choice for baking unless otherwise specified.5. Pie Preparation : If baking more than one pie, lower your oven temperature.If the 2 pies are different, use the lowest oven temperature of the two recipes. Bake on separate baking sheets.6. Don't Go Changing : When baking, don't change the recipe. Cooking can be modified, but baking is an exact science.7. Only the Best: You get out what you put in. Use the freshest dairy, fruits, and spices to give the best baking results.8. Beating Basics: Dont over-beat or under-beat your cake batter or you risk changing the cakes texture or volume. One minute of mixer beating time is the same as 150 strokes by hand . 9. Best Eggs : Unless a baking recipe calls for a specific size of egg, choose medium to large. Large eggs can cause cakes to fall while cooling.10. Shine On: Shiny aluminum pans reflect heat away. When baking cakes this will result in a soft, golden crust.11. Chocolaty Dust : When a recipe calls for dusting the tins with flour, try something tastier instead - use a little of the dry cake mix or sifted cocoa powder.12. Cracking Up : Does your cake crack when baking? This means your oven is too hot or the rack is placed too high in the oven.13. Baking Powder Basics : Did you know baking powder loses its strength? Test yours - pour hot water into a small bowl and add 1 teaspoon of your baking powder. It should fizz like crazy. If it doesnt, it needs to be replaced.14. Butter Means Butter : Butter, margarine, and shortening are often not interchangeable in recipes. The fats are different and may change the result of the recipe.15. Extract Or Flavoring: Whats the difference? Extracts are required to contain the natural flavor. Flavorings and imitations may be made artificially.16. Cold Concoctions : When using extracts for cooking, add them when your mixture is cold. If added when the mixture is hot, some flavor may be lost due to evaporation.17. Pack It In : Brown sugar should be measured by packing it in a dry-cup measure, whether specified or not. With brown sugar, packing is always assumed.18. Trade-Off Cakes : Missing the right size cake pan? Two 8-inch square baking pans will work instead of a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.19. No Peeking : Dont open the oven door while your desserts are baking. Each peek lets out 20% or more of the heat.20. Repurposed Tools : A chopstick or broken kitchen tool handle can be stored in the flour container as a measuring cup level. This prevents dirtying another utensil each time.21. Cool Off : Run out of cooling rack space for pies? Use an upside-down muffin pan as an extra cooling rack. The middle space between molds allows free airflow.22. Parchment Pointer : When rolling piecrust, place dough between 2 sheets of parchment or waxed paper. This avoids the flour mess and makes for a more tender crust.23. True Trifecta : Chocolate, vanilla, and salt are made for each other. Use vanilla to give chocolate a smooth taste, and salt to enhance the chocolate taste and balance the natural sweetness.24. Muffin Mastery : If you want your muffins to slide from the pan without sticking, place the hot pan on a wet towel first. They should slide right out.25. Take The Cake : For parties, don't pre-slice your cake more than 20 minutes ahead or the cake will dry out.26. Embrace The Brown : When bananas turn brown, dont toss them out. Peel and freeze them to use in banana bread later.27. Bounty Of Berries : Buy berries in season at a cheaper price. Freeze them on a cookie sheet and then place in zippered freezer bags. Youll have perfectly frozen individual berries rather than a mushy mess.28. Soaking For Success :If raisins are called for in a recipe, try plumping them first. Measure the amount of raisins required by the recipe, cover with very hot water (not boiling) and allow them to soak and plump for 2 to 5 minutes.29. Rockin Raisins : Try soaking raisins in cola instead of water. Cola plumps them up and adds a delicious spiciness.30. Raisin Ratio : Raisins often sink to the bottom of the cake batter. When adding raisins to batter, stir only 1/4 of the recipe amount into the batter. Pour the batter into your pan and topit with the reserved raisins.31. Floating Fruit : When making blueberry muffins, toss fresh blueberries with a tablespoon of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom. The flour helps them stick to the batter.Next page