Topic: In the Kitchen

[Wicker]

1) The traditional way of cooking asparagus is to tie them in bundles so that they stand up when being boilded and in order to keep the tips out of the water. There are "special" containers for doing that but I doubt the cost makes it worthwhile.  For quite a few years I have used one of those cheap "stainless steel" kitchen utensil olders that can be bought in any Pound/Cheap shop and found it ideal stood in a deep pan.

2) I don't always cook veg in my pressure cooker but  find that using the "divider" from my pressure cooker and placing it in the bottom of a normal pan means I can put small quantities of say green beans, carrots, peas in the different sections with a little water and the flavours don't seem to overflow.

3) That pressure cooker divider again - put it in the bottom of an ordinary pan/frying pan and you can poach three eggs at one time without them running into each other.

4) I know I've done this one before but it is really handy - wash your allotment fleece in a pillowslip and you can reuse it over and over again.

Must be the spring air, the sunshine and all that making my brain get in gear and  eager to get up and go :o

[moonbells]

If it's any help, you can do a halfway egg ie not quite poached, not quite fried by putting your egg in a nonstick frying pan, cooking gently for a couple of minutes then putting a couple of tablespoons of boiling water into the pan and immediately covering. The steam cooks the top so you don't get uncooked icky white, but without having to ladle hot fat onto it or flipping the whole thing like they do in the US.

moonbells

[Svea]

be careful though, you may set your kitchen on fire! hot oil and water dont really mix - as moonbells said, cover IMMEDIATELY with a lid. that should do the trick

(never try to extinguish burning fat with water!)

[moonbells]

tut tut!  ;D ;D

I did say gently cook! ie you don't need much oil... 

I think Himself picked this tip up off a daytime cookery prog. But he always does it now to keep fat content down.

moonbells and the Tigger