Top 20 Meats, Fish and Gravies Tips

1. To have smooth gravy, keep a jar handy with a tight fitting lid.  Place flour (3-4 tablespoons) in the jar and then add some water.  Shake well and add to your gravy.
2. To speed up gravy making, add a little club soda to the roasting pan so the browned bits will loosen more quickly.
3. To tenderize tough meat, marinate it overnight in 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 cup beef broth.
4. Include tomatoes with your usual vegetables when cooking a pot roast.  The tomatoes will tenderize the meat.
5. Stretch ground beef by adding 1 1/2 cups of poultry dressing to every pound of ground beef.  Using seasoned dressing will also give the hamburger( or meatloaf) a flavorful zest.
6. When shaping hamburgers poke a small hole in the center.  The burger will cook faster and the outside won't get overcooked before the center is done.  The hole will almost completely disappear as the burger cooks.
7. To make individual servings of meatloaf, cook in muffin tins.
8. Meat bones can be saved in the freezer, for future use in making broth or stock. 
9. Enhance the flavor of a beef stew by adding 1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses.
10. Never put bacon to fry in a warm pan, always in a cold pan.
11. If bacon is dipped in corn meal or flour before frying, it won't curl, shrink or splatter.
12. Sprinkle a little sugar in the frying pan to prevent bacon from sticking.
13. To prevent fried sausages from shrinking or breaking open, boil them first for 5 minutes.
14. Piercing sausage skins with a fork prior to cooking will keep them from breaking open.
15. To reduce the salty taste of ham, drain off the juices while cooking, add a bottle of ginger ale and bake until done.
16. To eliminate a frozen taste, place fish in a baking pan and cover with 1/3 cup of powdered milk mixed with 3/4 cup of water.
17. If you shake salt in the fat when frying fish, the odors will be reduced.
18. Add a few drops of yellow food coloring to cooking oil before frying chicken.  The chicken will turn out golden brown.
19. Frozen chicken will retain its flavor and white color if it's defrosted, in heavily salted cold water.
20. Keep roasted turkey covered in alumium foil for 1/2 hour after it comes out of the oven to make carving easier.