Kitchen hacks

Get some tips on making that prep work easier

During these pandemic times, when kitchen time has ratcheted up to three squares a day, day after day, there’s no such thing as too many tips and tricks to make life easier. We want all the clever hacks, from short cuts and time savers to kitchen tools put to unintended use. ¶ So we’ve compiled some of our favorite ways to make cooking simpler, faster or more successful. Some of these hacks hail from chef and cookbook author interviews over the years, while others are smart work-arounds we’ve come to rely on in our own kitchens.

1 Creamy soups; no cream

You don’t need dairy anything to create a creamy soup. Cook your veggies — asparagus, carrots, whatever you like — until tender. Let cool for a few minutes, then add the hot vegetables to a blender with chicken or vegetable stock, in batches, if necessary. Hold the blender lid down tight, using a dish towel to protect your palm, then blend the soup for two to three minutes — set a timer, so you know enough time has elapsed — to aerate the soup and make it creamy and silky.

2 Ginger-turmeric tea bag … broth

Homemade broth might sound hard, but you can use herbal ginger-turmeric tea bags to make a restorative vegetable soup broth in no time. Yes, tea bags! (Rishi and Trader Joe’s are good options.) Bring three cups water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Turn off the heat and add four tea bags, ½ cup coconut milk and three tablespoons of fresh lime juice. Cover and steep five minutes. Discard the tea bags; stir in ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon fish sauce. Bring back to a simmer and add any veggies you like. Chef and recipe developer Justin Chapple, author of “Mad Genius Tips: Over 90 Expert Hacks + 100 Delicious Recipes,” who is responsible for this hack, suggests cooked orzo, chickpeas, sliced shallots and cilantro sprigs.

3 Easy-grating ginger

Toss your leftover fresh ginger root in a zip-top bag and stash it in the freezer. Next time you need ginger, grab a coarse grater — a Microplane is our grater of our choice — to grate the frozen ginger into a snowy pile of ready-to-use deliciousness. (No need to peel it first. The whole thing’s edible.)

4 Frozen coffee cubes

We’ve never understood why anyone would freeze leftover wine in ice cube trays, although that may be because we’re unfamiliar with the concept of “leftover wine.” But freezing cold coffee in ice cube trays? Now that’s genius. Next time you’re in the mood for iced coffee, your “ice” won’t dilute your java.

5 Hot pepper savior

Here’s an easy trick that works better than milk: After cutting any hot pepper — jalapeños, serranos, or, shudder, a ghost pepper — rub vegetable oil on your fingers, then wash with soap. The capsaicin, a spicy chemical in chile peppers, binds with the oil and is washed away by the soap in a one-two punch. Trust us. You’ll thank us later when you accidentally rub your eyes or nose. Or worse, attempt to put in contact lenses.

6 Easy steak fries

Finally, a purpose for that apple slicer beyond once-ayear pie. You can use it to prep restaurant-worthy potato wedges in minutes. Cut one end of the potato or sweet potato so it’s flat, then push your apple slicer through. You should get perfectly pointy wedges every time. Sprinkle on seasonings and bake away.

7 Limp celery fix

Tired celery got you down? Perk it up by trimming the top and bottom of the celery,

then drop the stalk(s) into a jar of cold water in the fridge to re-crisp. Storing celery like this straight from the grocery store will help it last longer, too. The ice water trick also works on limp lettuce and spinach. (And if you do it with scallions, the ends curl up decoratively, making those green onions a beautiful buffet platter garnish for the parties you’re not having. Someday…)

8 Soften butter faster

Forgot to take the butter out of the fridge to bake cookies? Not to worry. You can bring that stick of butter to room temperature faster by cutting it into small cubes and letting them sit on the counter for 20 minutes. The smaller pieces will soften up faster than a whole stick.

9 Chilly cookie dough

Rolling out well-chilled pastry dough can be challenging. The trick is to roll it before you chill it.

Chilling cookie dough or pastry before baking is a must-do. Yes, it means delaying that chocolate-chip or pie gratification a few hours, but the fridge time amps up flavor and helps cookies and crimped crusts hold their shape when they hit the hot oven. That said, rolling out ice-cold dough is a pain, as any home baker can attest. Don’t do it in that order, says baking maven Dorie Greenspan: Roll it, then chill it.

“Yes, dough needs to be chilled, but it doesn’t care when it gets chilled,” she says. “So make the dough and roll it out immediately, when it’s easy. Roll it between parchment paper and you’ll never have to add flour to the dough. Your counter will be clean. I know! I know! It’s truly a game changer.”

10 Sticky no more

When measuring honey or other sticky ingredients, lightly grease the cup or spoon prior to pouring in the honey. The light coating ensures the entire amount of honey slides right out without having to scrape it out with your finger or spatula. Bonus: Cleaning the spoon afterward will be a breeze.

11 Halved cherry tomatoes in a flash

We’ve all spent time chasing errant cherry tomatoes in our efforts to cut the little things in half one by one. This is better: Grab two lids from your stash of plastic takeout containers. Place one upside down on your work surface, so it forms a flat bowl. Fill it with a single layer of cherry tomatoes. Set the other lid on top to corral the tomatoes. Hold the top lid in place with one hand, while you slice through the tomatoes with the other, using a serrated or razor-sharp knife. Voila.

12 Jiffy thaw

Late afternoon and you forgot to that the chicken again? Place frozen meat on a baking sheet for quick thawing, says Michelle Smith, author of “The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day” cookbook. The metal pan conducts heat in a way that expedites thawing. Times vary depending on amount of meat, of course, but expect times to be cut in half, she says.

13 Maximum juice

Does squeezing lemons hurt your hands, especially when it’s one of those hard, thick-skinned lemons? Try this expert tip the next time you need fresh citrus juice: Microwave a lemon or lime for 8 to 10 seconds. Then roll the lemon back and forth on the counter. When you squeeze, you’ll get more juice from the lemon with way less effort.

GETTY IMAGES When you handle hot peppers, trace amounts of capsaicin transfer to your hands and then — ouch — to your eyes, if you rub them. Soap won’t be enough. Rub your hands with vegetable oil first, then wash them.