Kitchen shortcuts
Too tired to make a meal? Here are some essential tips to make your cooking time easier, faster and more fun
A few weeks ago, I gave a rundown of a bunch of kitchen shortcuts that aren’t worth your time. Now it’s time to talk about the good stuff — kitchen tricks that really do save time, money and energy. These are some of the shortcuts smart cooks use to make cooking easier, faster and more fun. Grate frozen butter You’re about to bake cookies or butter a bagel, but all the butter is rock-hard in the freezer. Grab your cheese grater! Grate the frozen butter onto a plate and in seconds it will be room temperature. This is also a brilliant way to add butter to pastry or crumble recipes that rely on tiny shreds of cold butter. Peel garlic with wet fingers After smashing garlic cloves with the side of a large knife, the skins crack and start to come off. However, the garlic also releases some of its juices and that makes everything sticky.
Run your hands under the tap first, and the skins won’t stick to your fingers at all. Anchor a cutting board Peek under every cutting board in a restaurant kitchen and you’ll find a few wet paper towels. They keep that board from rocking, wiggling, moving around or being otherwise frustrating. A thin, wet dish cloth or piece of grippy non-stick shelf liner work well, too. It’s amazing how much faster (and safer) chopping is when the cutting board is secure.
Halve grapes in half the time Instead of cutting each grape in half individually, slice a handful at once. Find two matching lids for reusable plastic containers. Place the grapes on one lid (lip up) then place the other lid (lip down) on top. Hold the stack firmly with one hand then use a chef’s knife to slice through. This works perfectly for cherry tomatoes, too.
Use a compost bowl That irritating TV chef calls hers a garbage bowl, but don’t let that put you off. Keeping a bowl right next to the cutting board to collect vegetable trimmings really does save time and energy. Not only does it cut down on trips to the compost bin, it also keeps your cutting surface tidy, which tends to make chopping faster and more precise.
For added efficiency, I usually use a dirty dish that is already bound for the dishwasher. Defrost meat on metal Years ago, a late-night infomercial advertised a “magical” metal plate that could significantly speed up the time it takes to defrost meat. It isn’t magic, it’s science! All metals conduct heat well, and speed up defrosting time, but you don’t need a special plate to do it — any metal surface will do. I pop frozen meat packages upside-down on a baking sheet.
Save parmesan rinds First of all, yes, you should always buy parmesan by the chunk and grate it yourself. And once all the cheese is used and you’re left with a thick rind, pop it into the freezer in a resealable bag. The next time you’re making soup or risotto, add a rind to the pot (and discard it before serving). The parmesan rind adds incredible umami-richness and depth of flavour. And you were going to throw it out! Boil rice like pasta Instead of carefully measuring out a ratio of rice to water, just boil a large pot of salted water. Add the rice, boil for 10 to 12 minutes, and strain it through a metal sieve.
You’ll get fluffy rice in about half the time, and with no messy stuck-on rice pot to clean.
This also works for brown rice (it cuts the cook time in half ) as well as any grain, from quinoa to millet.
Buy a rotisserie chicken Seriously, it’s summer. Make a big salad and add the shredded chicken. Dinner is done in10 minutes and you didn’t even turn on the oven. That’s a shortcut everyone will love.
Claire Tansey is a chef, teacher and food expert. Her first cookbook, Uncomplicated, will be published in September 2018 by Penguin Random House. Reach her at Facebook.com/clairesrecipes and @tanseyclaire.