Preparing fresh beans for cooking To prepare fresh beans for cooking, wash them thoroughly in clear, cool water.
Beans can be
cooked whole or cut crosswise, diagonally, or along the length of the
bean. For a better result, older beans should be cut lengthwise.
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How to reduce the heat from a hot food To reduce the heat from a dish that is too hot, add some dairy product (such as sour cream or yogurt), some sugar or pieces of potato. That should take care of some of the heat.
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How to reduce the heat from chili peppers To reduce the heat from chili peppers, slice them in half and remove the seeds and veins.
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| Seeding tomatoes
Cut tomatoes in half crosswise. Gently squeeze each
half to remove seeds. To keep the tomato juice, squeeze into a strainer that
is held over a bowl. |
Cooking with dried beans To prepare dried beans for cooking, soak them in water to soften them and also to reduce some of the gas that is released by the beans, and thus to make digestion easier. Changing the soaking water several times will help more in reducing the gas that is released by the beans.
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Cooking times for beans Typical cooking times for different types of beans are the following:
- Baby lima beans: 60 - 75 minutes
- Large lima beans: 45 - 60 minutes
- Dark red kidney beans: 60 - 90 minutes
- Light red kidney beans: 60 - 90 minutes
- Pink beans: 60 - 90 minutes
- Small white beans: 60 - 90 minutes
- Black eyed beans: 45 - 60 minutes
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Retaining the aroma and flavour of basil in recipes Add basil leaves towards the end of cooking to retain the aroma and
flavor.
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Intensifying the aroma of cumin and coriander seeds To intensify the aroma of cumin and coriander seeds, fry them or toast them before using them in your recipe.
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Cooking with almonds Use roasted almonds for a crunchier result, natural almonds for a softer result.
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| Slow cooking tomatoes Wash tomatoes, remove stems and slice them. Place slices
on a shallow baking pan, brush with oil and cook
in preheated oven for around 40 minutes. Oven should be preheated at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Tomatoes are ready when they are soft. |
