Top 8 kitchen shortcuts to make your life easier

We compile a list of things to make your life easier in the kitchen

1. Salvage salty soup by adding a peeled potato (which you will remove before serving). It will act as a sponge, absorbing salt.
2. A squeeze of lemon juice helps red vegetables keep their colour during cooking. This also works with white vegetables but not green as they will turn muddy looking.
3. Make skinnier sauces easily. I a soup, sauce or gravy is too fatty or greasy, turn off the heat and let it cool. Place a few ice cubes on the surface. The oil that is close to the ice blocks will solidify making it easier to scoop out
4. You can stop your pasta from sticking stirring in a little sauce immediately after draining. Or if you are serving it later,rinse under cold water then just reheat the pasta directly in the pan of the sauce
5. Use a washed bottle of tomato sauce to squeeze out pancake batter instead of ladling. This makes perfect, top notch spherical pancakes
6. Banish oniony fingers by rubbing them on a stainless steel spoon to absord the smell. The sulphur from the onions bi D’s with the metal in the steel(so wash the spoon afterwards)
7. Stop sore onion eyes by sticking your head into the freezer for a few seconds after cutting onions. Cold air stops tears and reduces redness by constricting blood vessels
8. If you have run out of vegetable oil and need to recycle some you have already used,pour it into a pan and gently heat with some slices root ginger for about 15 minutes. When you scoop out the slices they will have absorbed any flavours and smells