KITCHEN HACKS

Every kitchen has a room for improvement. That is why we’ve put together some easy kitchen tricks you wish you knew. These genius hacks will minimize your time in kitchen and it’ll help you to cook delicious food within no time.

You need to check out these tricks which will make your life little easy!

1. EGGS

Most of the time we fail while buying and preparing eggs. Follow these simple hacks-

·       How to check whether eggs are fresh or not?

Place eggs in a bowl of water, if it floats to the top throw it away as it has become rotten. If it sinks to the bottom it is fresh.

·       How to boil eggs

In a pot pour water add eggs keep it on high flame-

Ø For soft yolk boil for 5 minutes

Ø For semi-solid yolk boil for 8 minutes

Ø For little dry yolk boil for 10 minutes

Ø For hard dry yolk boil for 12 minutes

 Thus how you can perfectly boil eggs.

·       How to cook egg perfectly

Ø For perfect FRIED EGG, fry egg for 2- 3 minutes.

Ø For SCRAMBLED EGG, beat eggs and pour it on hot pan , stir in continuously for 2 minutes

Ø For POACHED EGG, add vinegar in water and boil it for a minute. Now crack egg directly in water and cook for 2 minutes and remove it immediately.

·       How to remove egg shells

Add ½ tsp baking soda to boiling eggs. The egg shells will slide right off.

2. PRESERVE FRESH HERBS

In an ice tray add herbs, pour olive oil and freeze it. Thus how you can preserve fresh herbs easily.

3. HOW TO KEEP STRAWBERRIES FRESH

To keep strawberries fresh and fungus free wash them in solution of white vinegar & water.

4. PEEL GARLIC EASILY

Peeling garlic is the most boring task in kitchen. Try this simple hack. Remove the garlic cloves and keep it in a bowl of water for 5 minutes now gently rub the skin of garlic with your hands.

 Thus how you can easy peel the skin off with in few minutes.

5. KEEP BANANAS FRESH

To keep bananas fresh wrap aluminum foil on stem. This will stop the ripening process and thus help to keep bananas fresh for a long time.

6.  REHEAT PIZZA OR GARLIC BREAD

Place pizza or garlic bread with a glass of water and microwave for 2-3 minutes.

This will help the cheese melt and will also avoid burning of pizza.

 7.BAKING POWDER

One of the most vital ingredient for baking is baking powder. We at times fail to bake things if baking powder is not working. To check if it is active- Add ½ cup boiling water in ½ tsp baking powder, if it starts bubbling it is active if it does not then discard it immediately.

If baking powder is lying in cupboard for many days check it before using it.

8. TO GET BUTTER ON ROOM TEMPERATURE

Usually we require room temperature butter while baking. So try this simple trick- Pour boiling water in a glass throw away the water and turn the glass upside down over the butter stick for 4-5 minutes. This will bring butter on room temperature but will not melt.

9. PREVENT APPLE SLICES FROM BROWNING

We often face this problem of browning of apple slices. So to prevent this cut apple and sprinkle a tbsp of lemon juice over it. The citric acid and vit.C present in lemon will slow down the oxidation process and it will avoid discoloring.

10. PREVENT BOILING OVER

To prevent pot from boiling over (especially milk) just keep a wooden ladle across the pot.

As wood is bad conductor of heat it will avoid the liquid from boiling over.

So folks! Try these time saving hacks and have a hassle free cooking.

Keep reading for more such genius hacks. Looking forward to hear from you. Please drop in your comments!

Hey Folks! If you like my blogs kindly post your comment below the post and do share your response. Looking forward for some new innovative recipes. Thanks for reading. HAPPY COOKING ! :)

FOOD THAT IS HEALTHY AND HARMFUL (4) -MAIZE/ CORN

MAIZE/CORN

Corn, grilled corn, boiled corn, sweet corn, steamed corn, popcorn is one of the simplest purest pleasure. We use maize in very different form such as corn meal, corn starch, corn syrup, animal feed etc. It is the most abundant grain crop worldwide and is exceeded only by wheat as a cereal grain. However not all of this maize is consumed by humans. There are majorly six types of corn-

      

       1.     Dent corn

(It is grown in U.S and Canada field. Mostly used to make animal feed or processed into flour to make cereals.)

       2.    Flint corn

(Considered better than Dent corn and is used to make corn meal.)

       3.    Pod corn

(It is a wild variety of maize)

       4.    Pop corn

(It is small corn cob which expands and puffs when heated. It is a very popular snack food.)

       5.    Flour corn

(These corns has soft, starchy kernels that can be easily grounded into flour. We can make Indian flat bread or tortillas and many more.)

       6.    Sweet corn

(It is used in vegetable form. Consumed- grilled, boiled, steamed or even can be served fresh, frozen or canned.)

 Like every food let’s check out what corn has-

BENEFITS:-

·       Rich source of calories, vitamins and minerals. (contains folate, thiamine)

·       Good source of lutein. ( a powerful antioxidant)

·       Reduces cholesterol absorption in the body

·       Increases bone strength

·       Air-popped popcorn (without oil/butter) is low in calories

·       High in fiber.

DRAWBACKS-

·       Causes intestinal irritation.

·       Sweet corns may cause tooth decay as it contains good amount of sugar.

·       Causes bloating and flatulence.

·   It lacks two essential amino acids which are necessary to make it a complete protein.

HOW TO BUY:-

Easily available in market all over the world. Prefer to consume fresh corn however frozen corn can also be used.

·       Feel the kernels through the husk.

·       Make sure the husks are not dried. The husks should be green.

·       The corn that is full must have golden silks coming out from top. These silks are actually signal of how many kernels are there in the cob. More the silk more are the kernels.

STORAGE TIP:-

To preserve fresh corn you may store fresh kernels in air-tight containers.

We can consume corn in many forms- vegetable, salad, soup, bread, snacks and many more. Check out one such recipe made using corn and cheese-“CORN CHEESE BALLS”. 

For recipe click the link given below:-

https://cookpad.com/in/recipes/661914-cheese-corn-balls