· What to do with bottles of left over wine with some wine still in them? It seems a shame to just throw it away but there isn’t a lot left in each bottle and they take up room. What’s a cook to do? Don't throw out all that leftover wine. There is an easy way to “save” the wine for future use, maybe not drinking but why waste good wine? You can freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
· When dealing with fish, it is a good idea to have a way to take away the fishy taste of frozen fish or the gamey taste of game fish. The easiest way to take away these unwanted tastes is to soak the fish in milk for several hours before cooking. Blot the milk from the fish with paper towels and prepare as planned. But, use whole milk only.
· Your tea tasting extra bitter? Over boiling, that is boiling the water for too long drives is a lot of the absorbed air out, thus making it taste somewhat flat. It will also cause more Tannic acid to be released from the tea leaves and cause a bitter taste.
· The practice of “grinding” dried spices into cooking is based on real science and not just Grandma’s kookiness. The grinding of dried spices is just a matter of crushing the dried leaves and stalks of the spice in the palm of your hand. The breaking up of these prepared spices relieves the oils so they may enhance the flavor of your cooking more than just adding unpulverized spices to the pot.
· Keeping the cut edge of cheese moist under refrigeration is a long-standing problem in most kitchens. Even wrapping it doesn’t prevent the cheese from drying out at the cut edges. Keep the cut edge of cheese moist by applying a thin coat of butter over the edges of cut cheese and then refrigerate. But you must Use real butter.
