by Brandi Savitt – February 21, 2011

Don’t Waste Your Meal, Save It

When my Great Grandmother taught me how to cook all of my Italian family’s specialty dishes, there were no real recipes to follow.  It was more like a list of ingredients and a 4’10” drill sergeant minding every step I took until I got it right! A pinch of salt here, a dash of pepper there, a tea cup of sugar, or was it a coffee mug of flour…  Learning to cook with GrandmaGram had nothing to do with obvious precision, but was more about understanding consistency, texture and taste.  There was a method to her unscripted madness, and although, to this day, I still struggle to follow a recipe, GrandmaGram’s culinary wizardry and unshakable authority gave me a confidence in the kitchen.  Not only did she encourage me to explore different foods, but she gave me the confidence to rescue a failing dish from being over salted, spiced, burnt or just plain bad.

We all have had our kitchen mishaps.  But instead of automatically wasting all that food and pouring all your hard work (and money!) down the drain, first try and save your meal in the making.  Remember- necessity is the mother of invention!

Salty Sauces, Stews & Soups

Over salting food while cooking is a common mistake, but certainly NOT the end of the world! Instead of diluting your dish by adding water, and potentially weakening the overall flavor or changing the consistency – peel a POTATO!

Once peeled, cut the potato into a few thick slices and let it cook in the liquid.  The potato will absorb much of the saltiness and help to restore your dish back to a tasty state.  Just be sure to remove the salty potato slices before serving!

Way Too Spicy

I’m all for adding a little heat to give certain dishes a much needed background kick, but over spicing a meal to the point of torturing your guests and bringing them sweaty tears is not acceptable! There are several theories out there when it comes to reducing the amount of heat in a dish – and they all depend on the spice!

Honey: If you’ve added too many red pepper flakes, cayenne, chipotle pepper or hot paprika, try slowly adding a little honey.  The sweetness will not actually reduce the spice, but it will counterbalance heat when you taste the food.  A little bit of honey goes a very long way so only add a tiny amount at a time and taste the results as you go!

Lemon: Quarter a lemon and add it to firey hot curries and other Asian dishes.  The acid helps counterbalance the heat.  If you add lemon while cooking, make sure to taste the dish to see if you need to add a little honey or sugar to balance out the tartness.

Vodka: Apparently, adding a tiny splash of vodka to a dish that has too much BLACK PEPPER, will help reduce the spice.  Simmer away the alcohol and the overwhelming taste of pepper at the same time!

Olive Oil: When cooking with hot chiles, adding olive oil helps neutralize the heat.  No one likes an oily dish, so be careful not to add too much!

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