Pasta

Cooking pasta couldn't be simpler. You boil it in salted water for however long it says on the packet. Then you drain it and it all sticks together in one inedible lump!

Well not any more. Here's the solution (and it's not adding oil during cooking)

Just before cooking ends, remove about half a cup of the cooking liquid and reserve it. Drain the pasta in a colander, return it to the pan in which it was cooked and add back in the reserved cooking liquid.

Stir it, and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. That's it. Done. The oil and liquid will combine to give your pasta a smooth, creamy finish.

No more stuck together lumps. No more dried out bits. And you can add any sauce you like.

If you're serving it plain and it seems a little sloppy, adding some grated parmesan or pecorino cheese will quickly solve that problem for you, as well as injecting some welcome flavor.

Boiled Beef

The expression 'boiled beef' probably arises from the fact that it's easier to say than 'simmered beef' - which is what it really is.

Salted, pickled and corned beef (or pork) amount to the same thing and are cooked by immersing in a bouillon (posh name for stock) which is kept just below boiling point. Cooking time varies with the size of the piece but it's going to take at least an hour and more likely two or more.

The great thing is that it's pretty hard to overcook it, so making it the center of your main dish saves hugely on stress. It's also delicious. You can serve it to anyone with confidence.

Nobody that I know pickles their own meat these days. Buy it from your butcher or supermarket, allowing around six ounces of meat per person.

Trim the fat off. Unlike roasting you don't need any fat to keep the meat moist. Put it in a pot only slightly larger than the joint, cover with water (no salt) and bring to the boil.

Then drain the meat and discard the water. Add fresh, some salt, a peeled onion into which you've stuck a couple of cloves, three or four carrots and a tablespoon of vinegar.

Bring this mix to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Give it about 20 minutes to the pound and serve it with your favorite mash and greens.

Oh yes, and don't forget to reduce the liquor you cooked it in to make a moistener for the meat.

Easy caramel

If you boil condensed milk, in its tin, for around 45-50 minutes, it will turn to caramel which you can then use as a base for desserts. Just stick the tin in boiling water and wait. Of course you may have to add extra water from time to time to prevent drying out.

To easily get the caramel out after allowing it to cool down, open the tin at both ends and push it through with a wooden spoon or similar kitchen item.

Here's a simple method of using it:

Crush some cookies into crumbs, either by putting them between sheets of cling-film and beating the living daylights out of them with a rolling pin, or in a food processor.

Mix the crumbs with melted butter and press this mix into the base of a spring-form cake tin.

then chill it in the fridge for around an hour.

Spread your caramel on top of the cookie base (warming it slightly will make this easier); pile sliced fruit on top of that (banana is perfect); then pile on whipped cream to which you have added some vanilla essence and a little fine sugar. Grate a little dark chocolate onto the finished tart.

Chill, remove the spring form case and serve from the base. Now is that easy or what? And you can make it the day before if you want.

Do you need a recipe for that? Of course you don't. The way your version turns out is just the way it should be - and it will taste every bit as good as mine, if not better.

Parboiling

I've included this as a cooking method because it's a useful way for the savvy cook to remove excess fat from various meats in order to get a crisp finish when barbecuing or grilling.

The sort of things I'm talking about are spare ribs, chicken wings, and even duck prior to roasting.

All you do is plunge whatever you're cooking into boiling water (no salt needed) and leave it there to partially cook. You'll see the fat floating to the surface as scum, which needs to be skimmed off.

If you are going to parboil you need to do it in good time, because you want the surface of the meat to dry out before you go on to the next step, which will be a marinade (to put back lost flavor) followed by your barbecue, the broiler or an oven.

The amount of time the meat needs to spend in the water depends on the thickness of the fat, but think in terms of around 15 minutes for most things.

Will nutrients be lost?

Yes, there's no escaping that, but the trade-off is that you will have seriously reduced the fat content as well, which will in turn have reduced your cholesterol intake.

For most people, the second part far outweighs the first and of course the protein content will be more digestible - so you even get an added bonus.

Copyright ? Tingira Publishing 2004 All Rights Reserved
About the Author

Michael Sheridan is an acknowledged authority and published writer on cooking matters. His website at http://thecoolcook.com contains a wealth of information, hints, tips and recipes for busy home cooks.