Just a few little tricks to make it easier for you to prepare fruit for cooking and eating:
- If you warm citrus fruits in the microwave on a low setting for 30-60 seconds, then
squeeze them, you will get a lot more juice from them. This can be used for grapefruit,
oranges and lemons.
- In addition, oranges, after being on a low setting in the microwave will peel more easily.
- Lemon juice can be frozen in ice-cube trays for use in cooking at a later date.
- To peel difficult fruits like tomatoes or grapes, plunge them into hot water for a few seconds
and this will make them much easier to peel.
- If you need to zest any citrus fruits, like oranges or lemons, they will grate better after
they have been in the freezer for an hour or so.
- Ice-cream scoops are a handy way to de-seed melons.
- An easy way to eat kiwi fruit is by cutting off one end and eating it like you would a
boiled egg with a small spoon. Otherwise, they can get a bit messy.
- To stop apples going brown once they have been peeled or cut, put some lemon juice
on the cut end.
- Champagne really makes strawberries taste wonderful. If you don't drink, a non-alcoholic
option is to add some orange juice to the strawberries, which also brings out the flavor.
- To plump up dried raisins or sultanas, drip a tiny amount of water over them and leave
them in the fridge for about an hour.
