Sometimes you can spend all day cooking a meal that would
be the envy of any great chef just to have it ruined by
something as small as the gravy being too thin or the soup
too salty. There are tricks around the most common of
kitchen gaffs that might help you salvage your meal and
your pride.
Salty Soup
You've just made some of the best chicken soup on the face
of the earth, but it still needs something. So you add a
little salt and take a taste. No, that was definitely not
it. Now your soup tastes like a portion of Utah real estate
and you have to start over. 'Not really. Peel a good sized
potato and add it to the pot. The potato will absorb a lot
of the excess salt. This works on 90% of the soups you will
ever make, except—ironically—on potato soup.
Too Much Heat
Your eyes are watering and the water you just drank is now
steam coming out of your ears. You might have added too
much spice... Try adding some hot water and a
potato—this might help a bit. If you're making chili
or a soup of some sort, try adding more of the other
ingredients to help distribute some of the heat. That
failing, put "Dante's Peak" on the TV and throw a volcano
themed party.
Burned One Too Many Times
Every kitchen should own a wooden spoon. It is critical to
have one on hand for soups and sauces. Not only will the
wood not scratch the surface of the pots and pans you paid
too much money for, but it will save your bacon if the game
goes into overtime and you don't stir as often as you
should have. The trick to saving burned gravy, soup, etc.
is to not scrape up the burned bits. Your gravy is only
burned on the bottom. Pour it ever so gently into another
pan using the wooden spoon to keep out the caked-on bits in
the pan you are pouring from. Add more of whichever liquid
the recipe calls for (milk, broth, etc.). Hopefully this
will help out. You should have recorded the game or paused
the DVR while you were cooking.
Too Thin?
To solve the age-old question of what to do with thin
sauce... Conventional wisdom states to either keep cooking
it until it thickens (condenses) or to add a little flour.
Both take a little more skill than it sounds. What's easier
and gets the same result? Pour a glass of cold water and
add 2 - 3 heaping spoonfuls of cornstarch. The mixture will
have the look of watered down skim milk, but have the magic
of Aladdin's lamp. Add a little at a time and allow the
cornstarch/water mixture time to heat up. As it heats, it
will thicken. Basically, the cornstarch will take on the
flavors you are mixing it with, but don't overdo it.
These four tips should help you right along and save you
from having to make the same meals over and over again.
Remember, these are just like any other kitchen skill, time
and practice will perfect these kitchen maneuvers, so be
patient. Bon Appetite.
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