GENERATIONS OF TIPS

When recipes are handed down generation to generation, you also learn many helpful tidbits. Here are a few truths, tips and shortcuts concerning certain foods:

Boiled eggs:
(If you add a raw carrot or a piece of potato while boiling eggs, it aids in reducing the sulphur smell!)

Easy boiled, peeled eggs: In saucepan, cover with water and boil at medium heat 15-20 minutes (checking the water level every five minutes). Drain and cover with cold water. Crack egg, gently, all around, and then roll between the palms of your hands. It creates a vaccuum in the lining of the egg and makes the removal of the shell really easy.

Use diced boiled eggs mixed with a tablespoon each of mayo and sweet relish, salt and pepper wtih a dash of dill and basil as an egg salad; or use that mixture with drained canned tuna fish on a sandwich; or same mixture adding a teaspoon of mustard for deviled eggs.

By the way, you can tell if an egg is boiled or raw by spinning it on a flat surface. A boiled egg will spin while an uncooked egg will fall over.

Toast:

While a toaster is a very useful, quick way to prepare toast, give your family some variety by covering your bread on both sides with melted butter and lightly toasting it in a frying pan, flipping it as it browns.

To fix a softer, more buttery toast (like to crumble in cream of wheat or oatmeal) dot your bread on one side with butter, place on cookie sheet under the broiler until lightly browned. This also works with stale hamburger and hotdog buns, rolls, french bread, etc. It softens and freshens stale bread.

Canned salmon:

There is nothing in canned salmon that is inedible, but to make it appear more palatable, here is a quick way to remove the skin and bones. Use both hands to hold a fillet, but use one finger to very lightly smooth the outside until the skin peels off.

Use the same method on the other side to remove the bones. Use the salmon on green salads; in a dip with lemon juice, a bit of avocado and sour cream; baked with lemon and butter; or fried in butter as salmon patties, (mixed with crumbled crackers, lemon, an egg, grated onion, salt and pepper to taste and rolled in corn meal.)

Tomatoes:

Tomatoes taste sweeter when cooked. Perhaps that's the reason they are called a fruit instead of a vegetable.

A wonderful quick way to fix fresh diced tomatoes (with their juice) or even canned tomatoes is to bake them in a round pyrex bowl with crumbled dry bread, a bit of sugar and dots of butter, season with a dash of basil and cayenne. (Bake at 350; 20-30 minutes for fresh tomatoes; 15-20 for canned.) Add grated cheese for a heartier dish.

Roast beef:

If you notice the temperature settings on most ovens, the setting for roast is high. Yet many recipes call for a low setting for roasts. Actually, you can prepare them either way. For a nice lean cut of roast, rub in in butter, salt and pepper, place in baking pan in preheated 400 degree oven for 25 minutes, then turn temperature down to 200 and let it set in warm oven for another 15 minutes.

For a lesser cut of roast, coat with flour, salt and pepper and brown it in a deep pan in a small amount of oil. Add 2-3 cut potatoes and long carrots (or use a bag of baby carrots) and 1/2 cup water. Cover and bake in preheated oven, 300 degrees for 2-3 hours - or until tender.

Prime rib and rolled roasts should be covered in flour, salt and pepper, cooked uncovered on rack in baking pan in preheated 325 degree oven, from 18-30 minutes per pound depending on your choice of rare to well done. For rolled roasts, marinate with consomme, parsley flakes and cover with bacon slices before baking.

For cheaper cuts of beef and for venison and other game, marinate them for overnight in a mixture of 1/2 cup each olive oil, cooking wine and chopped onions, plus 1/4 tsp. garlic powder.

Onions:

Onions also turn sweeter when cooked, and for cooking yellow onions are just as nice as white ones at half the cost. To quickly slice an onion, cut off top and bottom and make a slit down the side of the first layers and remove. To freshen your hands, pour on a bit of lemon juice.

If you and your family like onions, there are so many ways to use them, it boggles the mind. We use them as side dishes with beef. Just slice and brown them in butter until they are brown, salt and pepper. Delicious!

For french onion soup, do the same, but add cans of consomme to make it soupy. When you pour it into individual bowls, add croutons and a slice of swiss or mozzarella cheese on top.

To bake onions, peel and leave them whole (or dice them if you prefer) and simply dot with butter, salt and pepper, bake at 325 for 40 minutes. For variety, add a cup of milk or cheese to the last 15 minutes of baking.

To fry onion rings, peel, slice thickly and soak in milk for 15 minutes. Then drain and shake the slices in a mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Fry in 1-2 cups of oil until brown. Drain on paper towels.

Onions are also delicious raw when chopped and joined to tomatoes and avocados or tomatoes and peppers; or when browned with tomatoes and okra or squash and served over rice or noodles.