Cooking Tips_2

1. Add a little honey to the butter in which you saute onions for an out-of-the ordinary dish (Add onions when butter/honey mixture begins to sizzle).
2. Mushrooms freeze well. Wash quickly, dry, then put them, sliced or un-sliced, in a plastic bag and freeze. Use them without defrosting. In any cooked dish, they will taste exactly like fresh mushrooms.
3. Make your own celery salt for a fraction of what you'd pay at the store. Dry celery leaves thoroughly, crush to a powder or rub them through a sieve and mix with salt.
4. Whirl almost any kind of leftover soup (minus bones) in blender to get a sauce or gravy for vegetables or meat.
5. To make your own corn meal mix: combine 1 cup corn meal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 4 teaspoons baking powder. You can store it in a tightly covered container for up to 6 months.
6. A Perfect Pastry Crust? In your favorite recipe, substitute a 4:1 ratio of lard:butterWhen slicing a hard boiled egg, try wetting the knife just before cutting. If that doesn't do the trick, try applying a bit of cooking spray to the edge.
7. When mincing garlic, sprinkle on a little salt so the pieces won't stick to your knife or cutting board.
8. An egg stored under refrigeration for one week will be fresher than one stored at room temperature for just one day! The inside of an egg may be bacteria free, while due its porous nature, the shell may hold a high bacteria count.
9. Remember that your food will continue cooking after you've removed it from the microwave. Approximately 20% of the cooking time takes place after the microwave has turned off.
10. In general, never cut a fruit or vegetable until it is ready to eat. Another general rule-of-thumb; never attempt to cause the ripening of a product while under refrigeration. Ripen first, then refrigerate.
11. To thaw frozen bread and rolls, place in a brown paper bag and put into a 325F oven for 5 minutes to thaw completely.

Some more great cooking tips

1. How to get granules of rice after cooking. While cooking rice, add little vinegar or lemon juice to avoid sticking of the rice.
2. How to make potato taste better. Add little salt while potates are boiling. This way the potatoes tastes much better.

You can find rest of the cooking tips at About Food2 blog.