PREPPED TO PERFECTION
DRINKS
Chill drinks quickly by wrapping the bottles in damp paper towels and popping them in the freezer for 10 minutes.No room in the fridge for beer and wine? Fill a bucket with ice and water, and add some salt. Put your cans and bottles in the bucket. Salt reduces the freezing point of water, melting the ice and making the water and drinks super cold.
COOK TURKEY EVENLY
Turkey breasts cook quickly, so they tend to be drier than the rest of the bird. About 30 minutes before roasting, put ziplock bags filled with ice over the breasts, then wrap them in foil. If your turkey is too dry, heat some chicken stock and pour it over.
STUFFING
Cook the onion, celery and herbs before adding to the breadcrumb mixture for the turkey stuffing.
CRANBERRY SAUCE
Star anise gives cranberry sauce an aniseed flavour. Make your sauce three days in advance and refrigerate to allow the flavours to develop.
THE ULTIMATE ROAST POTATOES
Parboil potatoes and drain in a colander, giving it a few knocks to fluff them up. Sprinkle with flour or cornflour. Preheat the oven and pop in the pan with plenty of butter or duck fat in it to heat up. You want the pan scalding hot, as this will crisp up the potatoes. Don’t salt the potatoes until halfway through their time in the oven. If you season them too soon, the salt draws out all the water and they’re more likely to stick to the pan.
MASHED POTATO
The trick to fluffier mash is baking powder: activated by the heat from the mashed potato, the raising agent in baking powder expands and creates air pockets.
GRAVY
Add a splash of soya sauce to give your gravy some zing.
KEEP SEAFOOD FRESH
Pack fresh prawns, oysters and fish in ice, then place on the bottom shelf of the fridge.
JUST DESSERTS
Put the ice-cream tub in a ziplock bag before putting it in the freezer; this way it will be frozen but soft enough to scoop out with ease.
Use a potato peeler to get elegant chocolate curls for garnishing cakes and desserts.
Add some flavour to whipped cream by adding two to three drops of vanilla essence to it.
For a pavlova with that perfect chewy texture, add a teaspoon of white vinegar once you’ve whipped the egg whites and sugar.
TAKE THE CAKE
• Cakes too dry? You may be overbaking the cake or not using enough liquids or eggs. Too much raising agent also results in a dry texture.
• Heavy, with a rubbery texture? Over-mixing acts on the gluten in flour and makes cakes hard. Also, not creaming the sugar and eggs enough gives the cake a tight texture because too little air is trapped in the mix. And adding too much liquid makes a cake dense and puddinglike. A Génoise sponge becomes heavy if you add the melted butter when it’s too hot and if you don’t fold it in evenly.
• Storing biscuits: Unless the directions say otherwise, don’t store biscuits in the fridge; cool air removes moisture, making them taste bland. Store at room temperature or freeze: soft biscuits in an airtight container and crispy biscuits in one that breathes or in a bag with small holes.