Ingredients
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Preparation
Step 1
1. You can learn a lot by reading the comments other people leave about online recipes. I've made super-salty soup one too many times! Reading feedback from others who say "Be sure to reduce the salt" can really save a recipe—and reduce its sodium content!
2. Don't throw out those last drips of jam in the jar; shake up a fruity vinaigrette instead. Add equal parts oil and vinegar to the jar, give it a good shake, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. When grilling flank or skirt steak, marinate it for 10 minutes after cooking instead of before. It adds amazing, full flavor in a tenth of the time.
4. Add hot sauce to your leftover pizza. It will taste great the next day, plus the chilies have antimicrobial properties that may help leftovers last longer.
5. Each time I make a batch of cookies, I bake one test cookie first. That way, if the oven is a little off that day, I can adjust the baking time accordingly and the rest of the cookies still come out perfectly.
6. When making dough, freeze the butter and grate it into the dry ingredients. You'll handle the cold dough less, resulting in more tender and flaky piecrusts, biscuits, or scones.
7. When making a whole roast chicken, salt it, then chill it, uncovered, in the fridge for the day. This helps season the bird and dries out the skin so it crisps perfectly when cooked. Remove it from the fridge an hour before you plan to put it in the oven, and add herbs and aromatics like garlic or shallots.
8. When sauteing onions, add a pinch of baking soda. It speeds browning and cuts cooking time practically in half.
9. When adding ground spices to bread or cake batter, cream the spices with the butter and sugar instead of adding them with the other dry ingredients. The fat in the butter helps disperse the flavors of the spices for a much more intense taste.
10. Freeze fresh ginger and grate as needed. It will stay fresh for months.
11. Spritz your cheese grater with nonstick spray before using it to make shredding—and cleaning—easier.
12. Want a more flavorful salad? Make sure the lettuce is completely dry-it helps the dressing stick
13. Mash bananas inside their peels using your hands. It's quick and easy, and it doesn't make a big mess.
14. Annotate your recipes! If you change something and it works, write it down.
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