Fix cooking mistakes

We would all like to believe that cooking mistakes happen to those 'other people'- the ones who don't pay nearly as much attention to detail and precision as we do. But the sad reality for most of us is that mistakes do happen, and we may very well be the ones at the helm when they do. Food may be burnt, overcooked, overseasoned or simply allowed to go bad before use. Sometimes we have the resources to pitch the results and start all over again, while other times we may be stuck with what is currently smoldering in the pan. All is not lost, however, because there are many fixes to be found for common cooking mistakes. Consult your favorite cookbooks for an even more complete listing, but here are some of the most common mistakes made in the kitchen along with the best way to fix them.

1. Oversalting Sometimes we get in a rush to season stews and boiled vegetables, and the result is too much salt. One solution is to dilute the salt with additional water, but this may be impractical for your particular recipe. An ancient fix for oversalted food is as close as your pantry. Simply peel and cut a raw white potato and add it to the broth or water. It should absorb a lot of the salt and restore the vegetable or soup to edible status. Be sure to throw the potato away before serving.

3. Burnt food on pots and pans If you have a major kitchen disaster involving burnt food, cleanup efforts may seem overwhelming. You should use caution when removing a pot or pan filled with extremely hot food. If at all possible, place the hot pan in a safe place and allow it to cool on its own. Sometimes you can get away with adding water to the pan in order to speed up the process, but most of the time you want to avoid any splattering situation, especially with any product containing oil. After the pan has cooled sufficiently, remove as much of the food as possible. Once you have a layer of burnt food, add water and liquid fabric softener to the pot and let it stand. You should have a much easier time removing the remaining burnt food.

4. Lumps and skin on puddings and fillings Whenever you have a recipe that calls for a hot liquid mixture to be added to a raw egg batter, you must take care to avoid lumps. Lumps generally form when a very hot liquid, such as scalded milk, is introduced to a cooler mixture containing eggs. The eggs become partially cooked from the heat and become lumpy. In order to avoid this mistake, most pastry chefs recommend that you take some of the cooler egg batter and pre-mix it with the hot liquid before adding the entire hot liquid to the batter. This allows the egg to become warm enough to accept the liquid without cooking. In addition, you can avoid the problem of skin development by simply floating a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the pudding mixture and avoiding a cooldown that is too rapid.

5. Stale or day-old bread If you discover that your sandwich bread has become slightly stale, you

may still be able to toast it or microwave it briefly. You may also be able to coat one side with butter or magarine and make grilled sandwiches or even french toast. For bread that has gone past a quick revival, you can still use it for bread pudding or stuffing recipes. Some cooks use bread as an extender for hamburger meat or meatloaf. You can also cut your day-old bread into cubes or sticks and brush on some olive oil and herbs. Toast the bread pieces carefully under a broiler or salamander element, and you've got flavorful homemade croutons for salads. The trick for keeping bread fresh is actually using the proverbial bread box for storing bread. Leaving bread exposed to the light and heat of an average kitchen will hasten its demise.

6. Mold If you have moldy food products, your first and best option is to throw it out. Molds cause some of the worst food-borne illness imaginable, so realize when to bite the bullet and pitch bad food. But not all food is ruined by isolated patches of mold. Cheeses may be perfectly edible once the affected patches have been removed. Berries that have not come in contact with the 'furry mold' sections can still be used, as long as they are washed very carefully. Never reuse the utensils used to remove mold without thoroughly rewashing and sanitizing them. Professional health inspectors are especially critical of practices that lead to cross-contamination, such as using dirty knives to process clean food. Treat moldy products as you would raw chicken- sanitize the entire area and wash your hands thoroughly before doing any prep work. Make sure your storage units have been cleaned thoroughly and that your refrigerator is keeping foods below 40 degrees Fahrenheit at all times.