Everything you wanted to know about Meats,
Poultry, Pork, Fish and More!

Beef

Meat loaf will not stick if you place a slice of bacon on the bottom of the pan.

To tenderize boiled meat, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the cooking water.

For tough meat or game, make a marinade of equal parts cooking vinegar and heated bouillon. Marinate for two hours.

To tenderize steak, rub in a mixture of cooking vinegar and oil and let stand for two hours before cooking.

Fish/Seafood

The best way to thaw fish is in milk. The milk draws out the frozen taste and gives the fish a fresh flavor.

Fish can be soaked in vinegar and water before cooking for a sweet taste.

When cooking with canned shrimp, soak in a little sherry and 2 tablespoons. vinegar for 15 minutes to get rid of the canned taste.

For great tasting baked fish that won't stick to the pan, bake on a bed of chopped onion, celery and parsley.

Pork/Ham/Sausage/Bacon

Bacon:
To prevent bacon from curling, dip the strips in cold water before cooking. Prick bacon thoroughly with a fork as it cooks so that it will lie flat in the pan.

Keep bacon from sticking by rolling the package into a tube shape. Hold with rubber bands.

To separate frozen bacon, heat a spatula over the stove burner and slide under each slice.

Ham:
Wrap smoked meats like ham or bacon in a vinegar-soaked cloth, then store in waxed paper to keep fresh.

To get rid of the rind on a ham, slit the rind lengthwise on the underside before placing the ham in the roasting pan. As the ham cooks, the rind will pull away for easy removal without lifting the ham.

Sausages:
Boil sausage links about 8 minutes before frying and they will shrink less and not break at all. Or try rolling the links lightly in flour before frying.

Poulty

Chicken:
For golden-brown fried chicken, roll in powdered milk instead of flour before frying.

Hen:
To stew an old hen, soak in vinegar for several hours before cooking. It will taste like a tender young chicken.

And More

Too Salty:
If a stew is too salty, add raw cut potatoes. Then discard them after they have cooked and absorbed the salt. Or: add a teaspoon of cider vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar. Or: just add sugar.

Too Sweet:
If a soup or stew is too sweet, add salt.

If a main dish or vegetable is too sweet, add a teaspoon of cider vinegar.

Gravy:
To avoid pale gravy, brown the flour well before adding the liquid. This also helps prevent lumpy gravy.

Remove Fats:
Remove fat from soups and stews by dropping ice cubes into the pot. As you stir, the fat will cling to the cubes. Throw away the cubes before they melt. Or wrap ice cubes in cheesecloth or paper towel and skim over the top of the pot. Fat will also cling to lettuce leaves!

Thicken Sauce:
Blend together 1 cup soft butter and 1 cup flour. Spread it in an ice cube tray and chill well. Cut into 16 cubes before storing in a freezer bag. For medium-thick sauce, drop 1 cube into 1 cup of milk and heat slowly, stirring as it thickens.

To submit your favorite recipes to be included in the Garden of Friendship Recipe Book, please email them to Barbiel

Background graphics made especially for the Recipes Committee of the Garden of Friendship by Valatine