Fiona's Kitchen Tips

Why?  To share the knowledge I have learned working in and studying the food industry for almost 30 years!

I don't know about you but I love learning new things, especially snippets of information!

Now, more than ever people are cooking at home.  I am receiving lots of feedback from my weekly tips.  I have collated the first 20 here for you to browse!  Please share with friends and colleagues.

And keep an eye out on my social media platforms for the upcoming tips each Tuesday!

1. Freeze left over passata in ice cube trays, then bag & freeze to use for pizza bases.    
2. Chop and saute onion and garlic when you have time and then freeze in muffin cases so you can add to veg and stock to make a quick soup another day.           
3. Save root veg and onion peelings in a container in the freezer to make bone broth once you have the bones!           
4. To keep herbs fresh for longer, wrap in cold wet kitchen paper and store in a sealed container in the fridge.           
5. Every time you make a casserole or curry, make double and freeze extra for another day.          
6. Bananas - when you have bananas that are beginning to get overripe, freeze them to use in banana bread at a later date.           
7. Bananas - when you have bananas that are beginning to get overripe, peel, slice and freeze to make instant ice cream with milk kefir in your blender!           
8. Bread - if you have bread that is stale, blitz it up into breadcrumbs and freeze to make stuffing or to coat things .          
9. Freezer - cook an extra portion of a meal for your freezer.           
10. Freezer - save large jars and use to freeze soups and casseroles for another day, leave 5cm gap at top of jar for expansion & label & date.   
11. Avocado- if you have an avocado that is underripe, store with bananas to help ripen.           
12. Lemons- slice and freeze to add to drinks when you need them.           
13. To slow ripening of bananas - wrap the end of the bunch in plastic wrap or separate the bunch, the plastic stops the ethylene from escaping.    
14. To save cut fruit from going brown, squeeze with a little lemon juice.           
15. Eggs - check if they are edible, place raw egg in a bowl of water, if it sinks it is fresh, if it floats it is gone off.           
16. Skim off fat from a stock, stew or sauce, use a few ice cubes in kitchen paper and skim along the surface, the cold helps solidify the fat.      
17. Peeling ginger - use a spoon to scrape off the thin skin of ginger .          
18. Peeling hardboiled eggs - if peeling lots of eggs, shake them in a lidded container, then the shell comes off v easily, perfect to mash up for egg mayonnaise.           
19. Hulling strawberries - use a straw, insert at the bottom of the strawberry and push through until it breaks through the top removing hull.   
20. Freezing berries - freeze on a flat tray, once frozen they can be transferred to a bag or container and they wont freeze in clumps.