Oops Moments

in the Kitchen!How to Salvage Cooking Disasters

As you may know I am dead keen

on everyone in the Whole Wide World learning to cook

and have written a book of over 500 handy tips

containing all the useful information I could think of

to help with this.

Here, as a taster so to speak, are some

ways to salvage a tricky situation in the cooking

department.

So, in no particular order …

Worrying Cheese Situations

3 x Oops! ...~ Mouldy soft cheeses should be discarded

as should mouldy shredded, crumbled or sliced cheeses.

~ Mould on hard cheese is not a problem; just trim if off completely and

utterly; the rest of the cheese is fine.

~ Dried out hard or semi-hard cheese is also fine – just grate it and use

in cooking.

Too Salty?Oops!. ...There are a few ways to remedy a slightly over

salted dish, they are ...

~ extend the dish by adding an unsalted liquid;

water, cream or similar, or

~ a little brown sugar and/or a squeeze of lemon can help, or

~ “they do say” cooking a raw potato in the dish for 15-20 minutes

also removes salt but I’m not 100% convinced!

Lumpy Mash

Oops! ...If your mashed potato is lumpy don’t keep on mashing till it

turns to glue; far better to push it through a sieve.

Dish too Spicy?

Oops! ...~ Add bland ingredients such as potatoes, vegetables or liquid.

~ Add something creamy such as yogurt, cream or coconut milk.

~ Add an acid; vinegar or probably nicer – citrus juice.

~ Add a little sugar.

~ Serve with something bland e.g. rice, mashed potato, bread etc.

Overcooked MeatOops!. ...~ Finely slice, chop, shred or

mince overcooked meat and heat

very gently in a lovely sauce or gravy till the sauce is hot but DO

NOT allow to boil or the meat will toughen.

~ When hot remove from the heat, cover and set aside to relax

and rehydrate.

Cooked the Veggies too Long?Oops! ...Overcooked veggies? Drain well and purée with a little cream

or butter – they’ll still make a fine side dish.

Broken SauceOops!. ...~ If your sauce has split make it better by whisking in a little of the

original liquid (stock, wine or vinegar for instance) but No More Fat. This

should bring it back together.

~ If it is an egg based sauce such as mayonnaise, aioli, hollandaise etc.

whisk a fresh egg in a clean bowl then gradually whisk in the split sauce. If

it is now too thick add a little water.

Soup a Bit Too Runny?Oops!. ...Soup a bit too runny? An easy way to

deal with this is to purée some of the soup

and then stir it back in.

Stick Rice when that’s not what you wanted!

Oops ...~ If your rice is sticky tip it into a

colander and run under a cool tap whilst

manually separating any clumps.

~ A good way to avoid sticky rice happening is to

rinse the rice under running water before cooking.

No Self Raising / Rising FlourOops! …No self-raising/rising flour? Add 25g/1oz

baking powder per 500g/18oz plain flour

and sift together.

Incidentally American self-rising flour has salt in

it whilst British self-raising flour doesn’t.

Over-Enthusiastic when Whipping Cream?

Oops! …If you feel you have gone a bit far with

the beating but not quite to the butter

stage gently, gently whisk in a little

more cream. Then stop!

When Melting Chocolate … Oops! …If the worst happens and the

chocolate splits or seizes and goes all

stiff, stir in 1 tablespoon of mild

vegetable oil per 175g/6 oz chocolate

and it should recover.

Sadly Sunken CakeOops! ...If your cake sinks in the centre, fill the middle and smother the

top with something delicious such as cream or fruit or ice cream

and pretend you absolutely meant that to happen.

For the other 487+ tips read

more here.

See all my books on Amazon

here

My foodie blog ~ Sudden

Lunch

Twitter ~ @SuddenLunch

and if I can help with any

cooking questions do tweet

me with the hashtag

#learntocook.

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