Culinary Tricks That Every Homemaker Needs to Know!

What follows are a few cooking tips that you may not know but that will surely come in handy to you in the kitchen:

Put frozen vegetables in your dishes without thawing them beforehand.

Vegetables boil faster and retain their nutritional properties if boiled in salted water.

When peeling and cutting vegetables, put them in your dish right away so that they retain their properties.

Old potatoes won't blacken during boiling if you add a little vinegar or lemon juice to the water you're boiling them in.

Keep your peeled raw potatoes soaked in water until you actually cook them, otherwise there's a risk of them blackening, which means having to throw them out.

Use white potatoes to make mashed potatoes, red potatoes for frying and yellow potatoes for all other types of cooking. Potatoes and root vegetables (carrots, celery, turnips etc.) are easier to wash with a brush.

You can freshen lettuce leaves by putting them in warm water for 10-15 min. Make your salad of fresh vegetables immediately prior to serving.

Lemon juice and vinegar not only improve taste qualities but also maintain the vitamin content.

Metal containers aren't suitable for salad bowls, they decrease the vitamin content in the veggies.

You can boost the aroma of herbs and spices that are rich in essential oils if you rinse them with warm, not cold water.

If you've put too much oil in a dish, put a lettuce leaf in it for 10 min. to absorb the excess oil.

You can retain the white color of cauliflower if you soak it in milk for a few min. To keep grated horseradishes from darkening, sprinkle them with a little vinegar and mix well.

To prevent your onions from burning and have them gain a nice golden color, sprinkle them with a little flour before frying in oil. You can preserve an unused and cut onion head if you flip it over onto a plate and sprinkle it with salt.

Garlic is easier to peel if you soak it in warm water for 30 min. To mash it easier, sprinkle the peeled cloves with a little salt.

Peas retain their color if you add a little sugar to the water you're boiling them in.

Wash spinach immediately prior to cooking. When washed, it quickly spoils. Stir spinach and nettle with a wooden spoon. Salt peas, beans and lentils at the end of cooking.