Useful kitchen tips you should know from QTV

To be an effective cook, you need to know not only the procedures, but also preparation techniques as required by each recipe. Here are some kitchen tips from QTV shows "Quickfire" and "Daddylicious." Add cashews to a dish towards the end of cooking time since they easily disintegrate. Aside from frying, other cooking options for tuyo to chop it finely and to combine it with veggies. You could also add tuyo in salad dressing for more flavor. Choose prawns that have no ammonia smell. Cream will curdle when cooked over high heat, so make sure your stove setting is on low when adding it. For longer storage, freeze goat cheese. Giniling na bigas could be a thickener substitute. Ginger removes the fishy taste of seafood. It is also a perfect addition to gata. If a salad spinner is not available, use paper towels to dry greens. It is easier to blend pate using a food processor. But if a food processor is not available, a blender can be used--just make sure the ingredients are finely chopped and added in little by little. Place paper towels over lumpia wrappers, since they harden when exposed to air. Deep-frying allows for quicker cooking compared to pan-frying, but the downside is the use of more oil. Place rock salt in the pan before oysters in order to steady the shells. Prawns are cooked when they turn a bright orange. Removing the seeds of a chili lessens its heat. Smaller zucchini are younger and more tender than bigger ones. Sweet potatoes become sweeter when cooked and as they mature. To “blanch" means to cook vegetables in hot water for a few seconds and immediately shocking them in ice water to stop the cooking process. To reduce the bitterness of eggplants, soak them in water. To test if a tortilla is of good quality, use the crumple test. Crumple the tortilla like paper, and if it goes back to its original shape, it’s a good buy. Use kitchen shears to slice chili. Use vinegar and baking soda wash to brighten the colors of vegetables. Vinegar can be used to remove the smell of paint and bathroom odors. When cooking bacon, there is no need for you to add oil. Allow the bacon to cook in its own fat. When seasoning food, start seasoning at the beginning, middle and end of the cooking time. When you purchase cabbage, make sure that you buy it as a whole, because when it’s already cut, it loses its vitamin C content. You can find filo dough which is used as topping for pies and puff pastry at the supermarket’s frozen section near frozen pizzas or frozen breads. - Jillian Q. Gatcheco and Monina Eugenio, WMN.ph