Laura's Cooking Tips

How to cut meat against the grain or across the grain. Cutting flank steak, skirt steak, brisket, London broil, etc. against the grain so it is tender.

Easy tips for storing and using fresh ginger root.

When to use what cooking oil.

Seize the moment! Deglaze!

I sort out the different types of olives.

The ingredients in Chinese Five Spice Powder, and ways to use it.

I love spoonulas, but I'm still searching for one with all the characteristics I desire.

Homemade seasoning salt adds that extra "something" to recipes.

Using the product "Better Than Bouillion" in cooking.

Al dente pasta has less impact on blood glucose than pasta cooked in the usual American way. Find out how to recognize al dente pasta, and how to cook pasta to the al dente point.

This is a very handy tool. It will convert any amount of food into other amounts (ounces into cups, etc) AND give you the carb, fiber, fat, and protein counts of the food. There are other handy chartes on the same page.

Want to find out how much sun-dried tomato equals a whole one? This is a searchable database from Gourmet Sleuth, giving some basic info on many ingredients, with subsitutions and equivalents.

Chart with Farenheit to Celius conversions at commonly used oven temperatures, when reading recipes written by someone not using your system.