Welcome to Nigella

if you think the rice is already overcooked and will turn lumpy ,then before draining, just turn the heat off and pour in a cup of ice cold water and squeeze half a lime. Put the lid on for few minutes.

"Posted by tithi"

Always preheat the oven.

"Posted by smasha306"

When melting chocolate if it splits/goes grainy (usually because water has managed to find its way in!) try adding a few drops of groundnut (or another flavourless) oil and mixing swiftly. This *should* slacken the mixture and return it to its former glossy glory.

"Posted by melbelline"

If your sauce Bechamel is turning lumpy while cooking it, add ice-cold water instead of the next splash of milk and whisk like a banshee - it'll magically sort out the lumps!

"Posted by klp66"

Add some large pieces of potato and let them cook then remove. the potato seems to absorb the salt. Amount of potato difficult to state as depends on volume of soup and intensity of salt.

"Posted by Majorjo"

If your ganache has lost it's gleam thanks to refrigeration or humidity, fear not! Use a hairdryer (on a gentle setting) to blow back your cake's sheen. Be careful not to have the heat too high, of course, lest you melt the ganache right off your cake.

"Posted by Coby"

When boiling rice and wanting to make sure they dont stick together i find by adding 1 teaspoon (or Half) of veg or olive oil it just keeps the rice seperated xx

"Posted by sevay22"

Prepare small 1" ball of plain flour and water dough and drop into any preparation and simmer for 5 mins to remove all of the extra salt. you may add in 2-3 balls if there is too much salt in there. this takes care of extra chilly too... Also the most instant remedy for avoiding marks and blisters from kitchen burns is to apply white toothpaste over the burn ( white flouride kind of toothpaste not gel ones)... it works like a miracle!!!!

"Posted by bhuvikak"

If your cake sinks in the middle just cut out the center and fill it with fresh fruit and cream or ice cream and sprinkles (life's too short to not add sprinkles!). If you have children they will be thrilled to help you "clean-up" the left over center!

"Posted by e1simone"

Add ice cubes to gravy or stock to make fat removal easy

"Posted by Rhyleysgranny"

Grow an aloe vera plant on your kitchen windowsill. When you burn yourself snap a bit off and squeeze juice on burn. It really takes the heat out and very good for skin too

"Posted by Rhyleysgranny"

If you've overdone the chilli squeeze in half a lemon them place the lemon in and leave for a few mins

"Posted by Rhyleysgranny"

If you accidently add too much salt to a stew or something, put in a whole potato, peeled, and remove once the stew is done cooking. this will absorb most of the salt

"Posted by baby cakes"

If you added too much chilli, add some sugar. The Scoville scale determines how hot a chilli is, by taking a solution of the chilli and mixing it with sugar syrup until the heat is not longer detected. It's got something to do with how the sugar reacts with the capsaicin (what makes a chilli spicy).

"Posted by jaxstar84"