From managing food waste to prepping more efficiently, these are our top kitchen tricks this month

1. How to make pineapple flowers

1. Preheat the oven to 95°C.
2. Cut the ends off a large pineapple and carefully slice off the tough skin.
3. Using the potato eye remover on a vegetable peeler, remove the brown eyes from the pineapple.
4. Slice the pineapple into very thin discs using a mandoline or sharp knife. Pat the slices dry with a paper towel.
5. Space the slices evenly on a wire rack placed in a baking tray. Dry out in the oven for 2–3 hours, turning a few times, until dehydrated and the edges start to crisp. Carefully place each slice of pineapple in a small muffin tin to mould into a flower shape. Allow to set, then use to decorate your favourite bakes.

2. Mess-free popcorn

Don’t feel like having to clean the oily pot after making popcorn over the stove? Then this hack is for you! Grab a brown paper
bag and throw in enough popcorn kernels to cover the bottom (about ¼ cup). Fold the top of the bag a few times to close, then microwave for 2 minutes 30 seconds or until the popping stops. Add seasoning to the bag and shake to distribute. This hack is effortless, saves on washing up and is also much cheaper than buying microwave popcorn from the shops. Enjoy!

3. Keep bagged leafy greens fresher for longer

Store your leafy greens in an airtight container lined with paper towels, or pop open your bag of greens and slip a piece of paper towel inside. The paper towel absorbs moisture, which would otherwise cause your leaves to go slimy. Make sure to replace the paper towels daily so that they don’t get too soggy.

4. Things to make with stale bread

Fresh breadcrumbs: Blitz stale bread in a food processor to fine crumbs. Fresh breadcrumbs don’t last well, so are best used immediately or frozen for future use. Perfect to use in stuffing or mince mixtures for meatloaf, meatballs and burgers.

Dried breadcrumbs: Leave slices of bread at room temperature to dry out or dehydrate in the oven at 120ºC. Blitz in a food processor
until fine. Dried breadcrumbs can be stored in an airtight container or frozen. They’re ideal for crumbing fish or chicken schnitzels.

Croutons: Tear or cut your bread into pieces and toss in enough olive oil until lightly coated, but not soggy. Season, then toast croutons in the oven at 200ºC for 10 minutes, tossing twice, until golden and crisp.

Panzanella salad: Panzanella is a classic Italian tomato and bread salad. The bread acts as a vehicle to suck up all the salad dressing and delicious juices from the tomatoes. To make a basic panzanella salad, salt some chopped tomatoes to draw out
excess moisture. Put together a basic vinaigrette using olive oil, red wine vinegar and other flavourings. Toss together drained tomatoes, dressing, torn ciabatta or sourdough bread and basil. Rest for 15 min before serving.  

French toast: To make about 4 slices of french toast, whisk together 2 eggs and  cup with sugar and cinnamon to taste. Soak bread slices in the egg mixture and fry until golden. Serve with fresh fruit, honey, nuts or crème fraiche. Bread and butter pudding is created in a similar way, although it is baked in custard instead of fried.

Crispy pasta topping: Prepare some fresh breadcrumbs with rosemary and toast in a non-stick pan with oil. Once golden, stir through a clove of crushed garlic and salt to taste, then cook for another minute. Sprinkle the crispy topping over pasta for a crunchy finish.

5. How to save cookies that have gone over to the dark side

Sometimes using certain oven trays or oven settings can give cookies an unappetising dark or even burnt base. To fix this, carefully rub the base of your cookies against the fine side of a grater. Grate until the burnt layer is all shaved off. Fixed!

6. Effortlessly peel a kiwi

No one has the time to peel a kiwi with a peeler or knife. Rather do it with a spoon! Slice off the top and bottom ends, then push a large spoon between the fruit and the skin. Carefully run the spoon around the fruit to separate it from the skin. The fruit will pop out easily. No mess, no fuss!

7. Beat the Beets

Prepping beetroots can stain your hands in a bright pink hue, which often doesn’t come off by simply washing with soap and water.
Rather rub lemon juice and a little salt on your hands before washing – this should get the stain right off! Want to avoid this issue entirely next time? Apply a thin coating of olive oil on your hands or simply wear kitchen gloves.

Words by Kirsty Buchanan 
Photography: alamy, freepik, pexels

No need to struggle with broken bits of eggshells, stinging eyes as you chop an onion or the hassle of peeling ginger. We’ve revealed a few of our top cooking hacks to make life a little easier!

The post How To Manage Food Waste And Prep Efficiently appeared first on MyKitchen.

These informative food hacks will help you prevent waste in the kitchen.

Dried herbs in the microwave 
This hack is perfect for using up herbs that would otherwise go off or get thrown away. Wash and pat the herbs dry, then arrange them in a single layer on a piece of a paper towel. Place in the microwave and heat for 20 seconds at a time. Take note that different herbs contain different amounts of water and some, such as sage, also contain essential oils so will require longer microwaving before they are fully dried out. Therefore, it’s best to microwave one kind of herb at a time. Once dried, crumble or chop them up into the desired sizes and place them in a labelled bag or container.

How to prevent slimy mushrooms 
Like herbs, mushrooms are mostly water too and are able to soak up moisture from the air around them. To prevent your mushrooms from going slimy, place them, unwashed, in an open-ended brown paper bag. The paper bag is perfect for absorbing any excess moisture given off by the mushrooms, and the open bag lets them breathe. Try to use mushrooms as soon as possible after buying them.

How to store avocado and prevent them from going brown
So you’ve used half an avocado and are ready to store it for a sneaky guacamole snack later on, but you’re worried it will become brown, right? Fear not – although avocados  will brown to some extent, a trick to keep them greener for longer is by using the un-pitted half first and leaving the remaining half with the pit still connected to the flesh. This conceals the flesh from the air. Brush the remaining exposed flesh with some lemon juice and wrap tightly in cling wrap. 

How to prevent soggy rice
It’s important to remove any extra starch from the rice grains before cooking, otherwise your rice will become mushy and stick together. Place the uncooked rice grains in a fine-mesh sieve and run under cold water until the stream turns clear. Shake off and place in a pot to continue cooking.

Bringing stale bread back to life
This hack goes against our initial instincts, but hear us out; the solution to stale bread is to run it under water. Preheat your oven to 160C. Hold your loaf steady as you run a tap over the outside for a few seconds to lightly soak the surface, turning to coat the bottom of the bread too. Pop the loaf in the oven for 5–10 minutes, checking regularly, and you’ll find a deliciously crisp, revived loaf ready for slicing.

How to revive limp vegetables
If you’re looking to make a deliciously fresh salad, but find your veggies to be sub-par, a simple trick to freshen up vegetables is to place them in a bowl of ice water. Add a handful of ice to a suitably sized bowl and fill midway with water. Add your veggies and let them sit for 10–20 minutes. 

Want to cook a curry at home, but don’t know where to start? Here’s our guide to essential curry spices that will help you understand how the flavours work.

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