Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I'm kind of intimidated by pie crust. Also, I have no clue how to prepare tamarind, and every description that I read of the process is different and incomprehensible.

Does this book offer tips for self-control? I see a very appealing recipe, resolve to make it, and can't help myself from adding this and that, substituting, and not measuring. Results are usually good (except when baking) but I am always left wondering "What if I had left well enough alone?" Why can't I trust the professionals for the first go-round!??

Using a teaspoon to peel ginger, scraping all the skin off even the hard to get around knots and bulbs without wasting hardly any of the flesh.

When a line cook taught this to me at work one time years ago, I thought he was absolutely brilliant and, in my mind, as the inventor of this piece of knowledge, deserved to be praised as a chef of the highest order.

Admittedly, I was young and stupid, and this guy wasn't even a dependable line cook, much less a chef. In fact, soon after this lesson, I saw the same trick demonstrated by the masterful Martin Yan on the great "Martin Yan's Chinatown" that I never catch on PBS anymore, if it still exists.

Still whenever peeling ginger at home, I think of "Superstar" (our nickname for the cook), and not Martin Yan.

Wash and prep your vegetables when you come home from the grocery store or when the CSA box arrives. You can get all -- or most -- of the washing and chopping out of the way all at once, making cooking easier during the week and greatly increasing the chances you'll actually eat your veggies!

How to properly use a knife. My roommate in college showed me this. She had worked in restaurant kitchens and knew that to chop most effectively, you have to keep the tip of the knife on the cutting board and just rock it back. I had not worked in restaurants (still haven't), and my mom wasn't exactly the galloping gourmet, so I never learned how to use a knife the right way until then.

Mise en place, definitely. And how to chop an onion into a dice, quickly with a combination of horizontal and vertical cuts with the stem still on. I'm VERY sensitive to onions and this time-saver is a life-saver!

Attended a James Peterson cooking demonstration last week and he is really great with the basics - I'd love to have this book!

Using a rubber jar lid opener to remove garlic peels. Smashing it with the side of a knife works fine when I want to mince the garlic, but this other method is great for times when I want to slice the cloves or leave them whole.

The best tip I ever was fortunate to receive was on judging how done grilled meat is. If you connect your thumb with your forefinger and then feel the bouncyness of your thumb muscle, that is what rare meat feels like. Do the same with the ring finger, that's the way medium rare meat feels like when touched. Next finger, medium well. And the pinky = well done. Much better judge that any old thermometer.

the best tip - freeze pealed ginger and whenever you need it grate the frozen knob right into whatever you're preparing. great way to always have ginger on hand. bonus - use broccholi stalks by pealing tough outer layer with a paring knife. it's more tender and flavorful than the florets.

Best tip I learned (after the eye, skin, papercut, burning fact) is to wear gloves when cutting jalepenos!

Also to listen to everything Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen has to offer.

Best tip I was taught was the fast and easy way to peel a kiwi.
-Slice off the ends.
-Hold the kiwi in your hand and take a small spoon and slide it right under the skin, all the way from the bottom to the top.
-Once the spoon is under the skin, rotate the kiwi around and the spoon runs under the peel removing it.

The best kitchen tip I've received was when I learned how to peel garlic by pressing the side of the knife into the garlic, until it "smashes." That way, part of my work is done, as it's already begun to break apart. I use a lot of garlic, and it saves me a lot of time.

Using a woodshaver (aka a makeshift microplane that you buy in a hardware store) to grate citrus, nutmeg and cheese.

How to properly use your off hand to guide a knife (Thumb curled under!). Makes all those cutting/chopping tasks so much faster, easier, and more precise.

One of my favorite & most useful tips was to get the pan hot enough to sear meat/saute/etc. It took a lot to get over the fear of burning or smoking. A few mistakes here & there (sorry potatoes), but I now routinely get things crispy and nicely browned. The other was how to quarter a chicken, learned by watching Jacques Pepin do it effortlessly. I won't ever be there, but it at least doesn't look like a shredder job anymore...

A helpful tip I picked up is to spray any measuring spoon/cup that you're pouring any sticky/liquidy ingredient (e.g. molasses, corn syrup) in with non-stick spray. This prevents much of the ingredient from clinging to the inside of the measuring spoon/cup when you measure it out.

I am in agreement with the other commenters- mise en place is the most useful info I've ever gotten. Also: make homemade stock and freeze it in ice cube trays for future use, put cut potatoes in cold water to prevent discoloration, smash a garlic clove with a knife to peel it easily, and since I'm always baking, never, ever overbeat cake batter.

Eggs whites stored individually in an ice cube tray

I'm with hdaemon - the knuckle out, fingertips under approach to holding stuff while slicing has made me more comfortable using a knife, which leads to better, faster, more consistent cuts. I also still have all of my fingertips, which is a definte bonus.

Never dunk your hand in a sink full of suds when you don't know what's under the suds - there might be a sharp knife. Best to gently feel your way around!

Making a few shallow slits in a tomato, boiling it, then dropping it in an ice bath so that peeling a tomato is actually possible is probably one of the better tips I know.

Ditto for the mise en place! And cleaning as you work (as much as possible) helps, too!

I gotta go with the wear gloves when dealing with jalapeno peppers. Before I heard this one, I can't count the number of times I accidentally would infect my eyes with the hot stuff despite thorough hand washings and attempted caution.

My grandpa gave me the best tip ever...keep your knives sharp. When knives are dull it adds frustration to what should be an enjoyable activity.

I've never thought to make an open grilled cheese sandwich.

I like the tips in Cook's Illustrated. Oftentimes they are so simple that I can't believe I didn't think of it, like putting a plastic bag under your cutting board for discarding scraps, or using the tines of a fork to strip fresh herbs off their stalks.

There are too many such tips I use every day in my kitchen to say which is best.

Here's one: crack raw eggs on a flat surface, not the edge of a bowl, to avoid creating shards of shell that will end up in your recipe.

Microwave lemons/limes for a few seconds before juicing.

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

Toasting spices in the pan before adding other ingredients. It adds a lot of depth of flavor.
That, and the way to rock the knife for a quick dice for onions and such.

simply clean as you go

"Get out of the work triangle!" -- from my mom.

She also taught me that I should never measure ingredients over the bowl I'm going to put them in, so that if there's a spill, the mess ends up on the counter instead of in the bowl with the other ingredients.

How to tell when an egg expires; if it floats in water, bad, bad, bad!!!

Measure twice, cut once - wait that's a carpentry tip.

How about . . . using a digital kitchen scale for flour when baking. It makes baking so much easier.

If you can read you can cook, just get a good cookbook and go for it. I was told this years ago, and I have passed it on a few times.

A very ripe tomato doesn't need to be dipped into boiling water to be peeled. Just rub it all over with the flat part of a knife blade and it will come away with ease, without your having to wait for the water to boil.

Another tomato tip: for a sandwich that doesn't leak, slice the tomato from top to bottom instead of parallel to the equator.

Roll your citrus fruits on the counter before squeezing them!
And don't forget to zest them FIRST...then go for the juice from the 'baldies'!

My favorite tip is to keep your knives as sharp as possible. The most dangerous thing in the kitchen is a dull knife. I should know- I ended up in the emergency after trying to cut a watermelon with a very dull bread knife. Never again...

Keep a garbage bowl handy.

The best way to make a hard boiled egg is actually to take the pan off the heat as soon as the water boils, cover the pan, and let it sit for 10-12 minutes. Rinse in cold water, peel, and enjoy the perfectly yellow yolk (no overcooked green edges).

If you have limited counter space and are baking many batches of cookies, use your ironing board for cookie sheets hot out of the oven.

Use a grapefruit spoon to seed tomatoes.

Use a serrated knife to cut tomatoes!

Don't become a chef unless you love cooking 80 hours a week and reading about food on you free time.

Indeed to keep your knives sharp -- but I find the biggest benefit from that is that if your knives are sharp, chopping an onion or two, or three, should not make you cry. Unless of course your knife skills are horrible and your brunoise isn't up to par. :)

Always measure your ingredients before beginning to cook...doing so makes cooking much more enjoyable!

To cut a circle of wax or parchment paper to line a cake pan, fold the paper in half and fold it again, not in the same direction. Continue folding so the paper a few more times till the shape is a long narrow wedge. Place the point in the center of the pan (eyeball it) and cut the wider end at the radius of the pan (where the side meets the bottom. Unfold and you have an approximate circle.