Cooking tips

 
Roasting tomatoes To roast tomatoes, cut them in half, crosswise. In a roasting pan place the tomatoes flat side down and brush with olive oil, Place pan in a preheated oven of 450 degrees Fahrenheiht and roast for about 20 minutes. When tomatoes are slighlty brown, remove from oven, peel off skin and remove stems. 
Preparing pumkin for making pies Cut the top of the pumpkin off and using a spoon or an ice cream scoop empty the seeds and strings. Cut it into smaller sections and remove the skin. Steam it (do not boil it as it absorbs water) until tender and mushy.  
Tomato based pasta sauces For extra flavour in tomato based pasta sauces add 1 or 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup. 
Spagetti and olive oil in boiling water Do not add olive oil in the water while cooking your spagetti. Doing so, will prevent the sauce from blending with the spagetti. To keep your spagetti from sticking while boiling, use good quality spagetti and stir often. 
Snail preparation in Court Bouillon To prepare snail or esgargot flesh for cooking, put them in Court Bouillon and simmer for 60 to 90 minutes. To make the Court Bouillon mix 1/2 part of white wine, 1 part of water, parsley, bay leave, thyme, onions, garlic, anethum, carrots, salt and pepper in a cooking pot. Bring to a boil, add snails and simmer for about 90 minutes. The quantities of each of the ingredients may vary, according to your personal taste; you may also add and/or remove ingredients.

You can also strain the Court Bouillon liquid and use it as stock in snail recipes
 
Preserving the color and reducing the smell of red cabbage To preserve the color of red cabbage when cooking it, add a tablespoon of lemon to it. This will also reduce the smell of the cabbage  
Melting cheese Before melting, bring the cheese to room temperature. Melt cheese over low heat to prevent the separation of oils and liquid. 
Fluffy scrambled eggs For fluffier scrambled eggs, add a little water (1 teaspoon for every 3 eggs) while beating them. 
Fixing saulty pasta sauces If your pasta sauce is too saulty add some vinegar and cook for 5-6 more minutes. Alternatively, you can add a potato to the sauce, cook for a while and remove before serving 
Easy potato peeling Dip potatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and dip them in cold water. That should make peeling a snap. Make an incision and start peeling the skin off.