Useful tips
You will agree that today’s life hacks are designed to make our life easier. Let me share with you some kitchen tricks, which will surely be useful for a housewife.
If you do not want tears to shower down your eyes when you peel or slice onions, experienced housewives advise putting them in the freezer for 10 minutes before use. Or place the onion into boiling water for a minute (it will not become boiled during this time).
If vegetables, such as radish, celery, carrots, etc, have softened after long-term storage and are no longer crispy, we advise you to do the following: pour ice water in a saucepan and add one potato, cut into 4 parts, and then put into water your vegetables for 15 minutes. Experience says that they will be fresh and crispy again.
When we buy fresh eggs, we know that it becomes difficult to peel them after boiling: the egg white sticks to the shell. But if you add a pinch of baking soda and a slice of lemon to the water, the process of peeling the eggs will be an easy task for you.
A common problem at the kitchen is when the salt in the salt shaker hardens, after being there for too long. A few grains of rice will help to solve the problem: add them to your salt shaker. Perhaps the following life hack is very popular among people in the know. Nevertheless it is worth mentioning it. If it happens that soup or borscht is accidentally oversalted, leave the dish on the fire for another 10-15 minutes and throw a couple of potatoes, cut in slices, into the pan.
Then remove the potatoes which will have have absorbed the salt. There is another solution: leave the dish to boil a little longer and add to it potatoes, cut in smaller pieces (it will cook faster), as well as carrots: sweet carrots absorb salt even better. Wait until these vegetables are cooked (absorbing the excess salt) and leave them as a part of the dish.
Russian pilaf
We are used to the fact that pilaf may be Uzbek, Azerbaijani, Iranian, even Indian. But did anyone ever hear of Russian pilaf?
How does it differ from all other types of this tasty, hearty and healthy dish? Here is the thing: barley is used instead of rice and mushrooms instead of meat. Let us find out how to prepare this wonderful meal.
Ingredients (for 4-5 servings): 1 glass of dry pearl barley; 0.4– 0.5 kg of mushrooms (forest or champignons – according to choice); one carrot; one onion; 2 cloves of garlic; one tea spoon of marjoram or thyme; salt to taste; 2-3 table spoons of vegetable oil for frying. Cooking time: 1 hour (approximately).
Rinse the pearl barley until the water is clear. Pour the pearl barley with new water in the proportion of 1 part grain to 3 parts water. Place in a saucepan, cover over a low heat and cook 30–40 minutes. The pearl barley should become soft, and not turn into a mushy mixture. If you put the pearl barley in water overnight, the boiling time will be reduced to 15–20 minutes.
While the barley is boiling, you should make a vegetable fry. Fry the onions in vegetable oil until completely soft. Then add finely cut or grated carrots, also until they become soft. Next cut the mushrooms into slices or small pieces, place in a frying pan or cauldron and simmer them for 10-12 minutes, adding salt and marjoram or thyme.
Add boiled pearl barley to the fried mushrooms. Remember that barley should not stick together, but be crumbly and mix well with the fried mushrooms. Put the carrots and onions to the mixture. Stir the content of the pan, add salt to taste and simmer until the excess moisture has evaporated.
Bon Appetit!
JULIA ZACHESOVA As-Salam correspondent
