Food: Facts – Of Bacon, Fatback and Salt Pork

• -     Bacon is a cut from the side of a pig

• -          Fatback is a cut from the back of a pig and is not salted or smoked.

• -          Salt Pork is a cut from the belly and sides of the pig. It is fattier than the bacon, salt-cured but not smoked. Its saltiness varies; and in order to reduce the saltiness, parboil it before using. Salt pork if tightly wrapped and being kept in a refrigerator may have a food quality lifetime of up to 1 month.

Cooking: Tips - How to make a soup

• -          Do not put salt into a soup until it is cooked and skimmed as the salt prevent the fat from rising.

• -          Fresh parsley lessens the need for salt in soups.

• -          Soup or stew can be more flavorful when onions are sautéed first in butter or oil before adding other ingredients.

• -          When cooking milk or cream soups, cover the pan/cooking container in order to prevent caking or formation of a “skin”.

Cooking: Tips - What to do with very greasy pot of soup

-          When the pot of soup is too greasy, wrap some ice cubes in a plastic bag or use cellophane of ice by dragging it slowly through the surface of the warm soup. The oil will harden and stick to the bag. Wipe the bag and repeat the process if necessary.

Cooking: Tips - What to do with very salty (oversalted) pot of soup

-          When the pot of soup is accidentally oversalted, add 1 or two raw peeled potato/es to the soup and heat it for 5 minutes. The potato/es will absorb some saltiness and can be removed after the 5 minutes heating.

Food: Tips - What to do with hardened or dehydrated cheese in the refrigerator

-          If the cheese is dehydrated of hardened inside the refrigerator, you may grate or cut it in small pieces to be used in cooking or grate it for topping.

Food: Tricks - How to remove nut shells when it got mixed with the nuts

       If working with nuts and the nut shells were mixed with the meats, put the whole mixture into a bowl of water. The shells will float and you can scoop them out. If necessary, stir the thing so that the shells underneath will float that you can scoop out again, repeat the same process until there is no more shells to float. Drain the water and put the nuts to dry before using them.

Food: Tips - Recycling Leftovers by Seasoning, Sautéing, Spicing and Hash

• -        Ingredient can be cooked more quickly when it is diced, chopped or shredded in finer sizes.

• -        Seasoning can be tasted and adjusted only after a minute or two after adding all the ingredients or after sautéing.

• -        Leftovers are likely to be seasoned. For a change, vary the spices and herbs used for seasoning.

• -        Leftovers can be sautéed with different cooking oils to create a new dish from the same ingredients. Consider using healthy oil available from the store.

• -        Hash ingredients can be sautéed in clarified butter or fat skimmed from the used oil of a roast.

• -        Hash food can be turned into a crusty “pancake” when puréed or thickened ingredients are added. The binding ingredients may include leftover mashed potatoes, puréed squash, bread crumbs soaked in milk, gravy, leftover oatmeal, egg beaten with milk, grated hard cheese, leftover stuffing thinned with small amount of milk or cream, etc.