Onion Skin Into Stocks

There's 2 types of chicken stocks... a white stock and a brown stock (or dark chicken stock). The white stock is done with raw chicken bones where the brown stock is done with roasted chicken bones (and often some of the veg too) in order to infuse a richer flavour and darker liquid.

White stocks are a crapload easier to make (simply throw everything in a pot a boil away) but often lack the rich colour so a little trick to saving time by not having to roast the bones etc for an hour is to simply throw in the onion skins into the stock. This will act as a natural colouring agent and will deliver a colour similar to the below stock.

View fullsize

Dark Chicken Stock
Photo: Tim Elwin

Herbs Like Flowers

To have your herbs stay fresh for longer simply cut off the bottom 1cm of the stalks and place into a fresh glass of water. You can leave this on the bench top.  i.e. Treat them like flowers! Change to water every few days.

For added longevity cover the herbs with a freezer bag

Stocks & Jus into Ice Cubes

Freeze down you chicken, beef or veal stocks (whether homemade or store bought) into ice cube containers. Once frozen, crack them into a ziplock bag and leave in the freezer for easy access to perfectly measured tablespoons every time!  The other method is to half fill a ziplock bag and freeze. you can then snap off what you need. 

You can throw them into such things as sauces , stir fries or pastas.

Healthier Alternative to Bacon

If you are trying to reduce you calorie intake a clever way to still get a tasty breakfast and alternative to bacon is to fry up a couple of pieces of Prosciutto. The difference in calories? well 2 slices of prosciutto (avg. 25gms) is around 56 calories where 25gm of bacon, which wouldn't even be a slice, would be 135 calories...