Top Tip - Tip Top Collection | 4th Sense Cooking

I am happy to present to you a consolidated list of all the tips that I have posted in the top right column of Fourth Sense Cooking right here for your reference.

To quickly peel off the garlic skin, microwave it for 10 seconds and you can see their skin popping out instantly. :)

When you boil corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to it to help bring out the corns natural sweetness.

When banana gets really ripe, remove it from its stem and keep it rolled in an aluminium foil in the refrigerator. This way it will stay for long. When it is connected to its stem, it ripens faster.

Paneer /Cottage cheese will keep longer when it's wrapped in a paper towel dampened with vinegar and placed in a sealed plastic bag. The vinegar will inhibit mold growth. Re-moisten the paper towel every few days, as needed.

Bread will stay fresh much longer if you store it in a plastic bag with a piece of fresh celery. Re-moisten the paper towel every few days, as needed.

Wrap apples individually in one-quarter sheets of newspaper to keep them from touching each other. Bruising and coming in contact with an apple with a rotten spot can spoil the whole bunch.

Oat flour can be used as a thickener in soups and stews.

To make homemade oat flour, simply place oats in your food processor and process to a flour consistency. Sift and use.

As a general guide the smaller the chilli the hotter it will be.

The seeds and white pith of a chilli are the hottest parts, so remove them if you don't want your dish to be fiery hot.

You can freeze uncooked mangoes by sprinkling sugar over the peeled, seeded, chopped fruit. Stir gently with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves in the fruit's own juices and making sure the pieces are coated.

Seal in an airtight container leaving half an inch airspace or in plastic freezer bags with all air squeezed out.

Apply few drops of oil in your hands before peeling the green skin of raw banana to avoid stickiness.

Cook in low flame as far as possible to avoid blackening of banana pieces.

Cauliflower may turn yellow in alkaline water. For whiter cauliflower, add a tablespoon of milk or lemon juice to the water while boiling.

Do not cook cauliflower in an aluminum or iron pot. The chemical compounds in cauliflower will react with the aluminum and turn the vegetable yellow. While in an iron pot, it will turn brown or blueish green color.

Fresh spinach should be dried and packed loosely in a cellophane or plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator. If stored properly, it will last for 3 to 4 days.

Choose hard, dry berries, with a rich sheen. Berries which are bright golden color are the best. If you are looking for less tartness, head for the pinkish or purplish tones. However, pick green ones for pies and jams.

Gooseberries store well and will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about two weeks.

Wrap green leafy vegetables in a newspaper before putting in the vegetable bag or tray. This will keep them fresh much longer.

Choose pomegranates that are deep pink, large and heavy to ensure they're ripe and juicy.

Store pomegranates for two weeks in a cool dry place or in the refrigerator for up to a month. Seeds and juice can be frozen for up to six months.

Consider wearing old clothing or a apron on while working, since pomegranate juice stains most surfaces.

Select capsicums that are firm and glossy with a uniform color. Avoid capsicums that have dull or wrinkled skin, spots or blemishes.

Keep capsicums in the crisper section or in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Capsicums are available in many colors. All capsicums are green at first, then turn red, orange, yellow or a purple black when they ripen further. Red capsicums are the sweetest due to their higher sugar content, and are rich in vitamin C and beta carotene. Orange and yellow capsicums have moderate sweetness, while green ones have low sugar content due to early picking, which gives them their slightly bitter taste.

Cream that's a few days old whips better than ultra-fresh cream.

Adding a small amount of cornstarch gives the cream a little more body.

Dried chickpeas can be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place of your kitchen for up to 12 months.

Once chickpeas are cooked, they can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Select tomatoes that are round, full and feel heavy for their size, with no bruises or blemishes. The skin should be taut and not shriveled.

Do not refrigerate tomatoes as it nullifies the flavor and turns the flesh mealy. Store fresh ripe tomatoes in a cool, dark place, stem-side down, and use within a few days.

When selecting, look for carrots that are uniform in color from top to bottom and whose skin is smooth and free of cracks. Avoid carrots that have begun to sprout, that have blemishes, soft spots, or large green areas at the crown, and any that have become limp.

Before storing, remove the greens, as they will deplete the carrot of both moisture and nutrients.Do not store carrots next to ethylene gas producing fruits, such as apples and pears. The ethylene gas they release speeds up the ripening process of other fruits and vegetables.

Choose beetroot without splits, and with leaves and stems intact.

Baby beetroot is smaller and sweeter than the regular variety, and is ideal for salads.

To retain nutrients and color, boil, bake or steam without peeling first. The skin will easily rub off under cold running water after they are cooked.

When selecting shallots choose ones that are firm and heavy for their size, not dry and light, and should not have soft spots.

Sprouting shallots are an indication of age and should be avoided. The younger i.e smaller the shallot, the milder the taste. Large shallots will smell and taste more like onion and garlic.

Shallots can be chopped and frozen up to 3 months.

When selecting coconut, shake to hear if there is liquid sloshing around. There should be some liquid, but not too much. If there is too much liquid, it may not be fully mature and if there is no liquid it could be spoilt.

Choose coconut with fiber on top, they stay longer.

Scrapped fresh coconut can be stored in freezer for around three months.

There are two types of unsweetened baking cocoa powder available.

Natural cocoa (eg. Hershey's and Nestle) is light in color and somewhat acidic with a strong chocolate flavor. In baking use natural cocoa in recipes which call for baking soda (because it's an alkali). Combining the two creates a leavening action that allows the batter to rise during baking.

Dutch-process cocoa (eg. Hershey's European Style Cocoa and the Droste brand)has been processed with alkali to neutralize it's natural acidity so it's darker often with a reddish cast. Dutch cocoa is slightly milder in taste and deeper in color than natural cocoa. Use Dutch cocoa in recipes that call for baking powder as it's leavener.

Damerara sugar is an unrefined or raw sugar coated with molasses and processed into crystals or cubes of sugar during the first crystallization of the cane syrup. The texture is coarser and it is stickier than refined sugar. The size of the crystal and the crunchy texture make demerara a good selection for a topping to be sprinkled on desserts or fruit dishes.

Sugar that has hardened can be placed in a jar with an apple slice or piece of bread placed on top. Seal the jar and leave overnight, and it will soften by morning.

Choose oranges that are heavy for their size, which means that they are not dry and are full of juice. Be sure they don't have any soft areas, mold, blemishes or wrinkles. The skin should be shiny.

Choose a fruit with a slightly concave bottom which is a sign of ripeness. Soft-peeled oranges are generally good. The ones with hard and thick peel are either too young or dry.

Fresh oregano branches should be rich green in color and not the least bit limp. If you place a slightly damp paper towel in the bag with the oregano and leave some air in the bag while refrigeration, it may extend the life up to 1 week. You may also store whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass.

Mix chopped leaves with a small amount of water (or puree them) and freeze in ice cube trays. Once frozen, pop out the cubes into a plastic bag and seal tightly. Use frozen oregano within 1 year.

To dry fresh oregano, tie sprigs into a bunch and hang in a cool, dark place with good ventilation. Once dried, seal tightly and store away from sunlight.

A good potato should be hard enough, skin smooth, flat surface and free from damage. Avoid potatoes that have many eyes, bud and if there are green spots in the tuber flesh.

Avoid rinsing potatoes before storing. Place potatoes in a brown paper, burlap or plastic bag with holes in it.

Avoid storing potatoes with onions because, when close together, they produce gases that spoil both.

To find a well ripen melon,thump by flicking the middle finger off the thumb against the melon, the melon should produce a deep and rich thudding sound.

The skin should be dull and slightly waxy yielding only slightly to pressure. The stem should be attached, brownish and dry. The melon should feel heavy for its size. The underside where it lies on the ground should be in pale yellow color, not white or light green.

Boil a cup of water with 1 tbsp of carom seeds till the water is reduced to half its original volume. Drink this water as a cure for diarrhoea, dysentery and indigestion.

Add 1 tbsp of Ajwain to a bowl of boiling water and inhale the steam to relieve symptoms (like blocked nose, etc) of a cold.

You can chew carom seeds with a little sugar to get relief from digestive issues.

Buy grapes that are plump, unblemished, and firmly attached to a flexible stem. They should have an even color. Avoid grapes that are wrinkled, brownish, or white at the connections. Ripe white and green grapes should have a yellowish cast and red and purple ones should have no green.

Store grapes unwashed (moisture speeds decay) in a ventilated plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Grapes are treated with insecticide, so they should be washed thoroughly before serving.

To make dried lavender, harvest the flowers as the buds first begin to open. Hang in small bunches upside down in a warm spot with good air circulation.

Dried lavender flowers can be put in a jar of sugar and sealed tightly for a couple of weeks and then the sugar can be substituted for ordinary sugar for cake, buns or custards.

TDried figs can be used as a replacement to prunes, dried apricots, and dates in most recipes.

chopping dried figs by hand with knife or scissors, dip cutting implement into warm water occasionally to prevent sticking.

If dried figs seem hard or too dry, they can be soaked, steamed, microwaved or poached to restore moisture.

Melting chocolate using double boiler

A double boiler is a specialized set of pans consisting of a saucepan that holds hot water, and a bowl that fits securely over the saucepan.

Chop the chocolate into uniform pieces to ensure even melting. Place the chocolate in the top bowl.

Fill the saucepan with water upto an inch height. Place the bowl with chocolate on top and heat the sauce pan over low flame. Keep stirring using a spatula until the entire chocolate melts.