1. Start with heat. Before doing anything else turn on the oven, crank up the broiler, preheat the skillet and set water to boil. Appliances, pot, pans and water take time to get hot. Boiling water is always my first move.
2. Use kitchen scissors to chop cooked or tender raw vegetables (especially greens) write in the bowl or Pan.
3. Big, thick pieces of food take longer to cook through than those cut small or sliced thin. I cut chicken cutlets in half so they cook faster, chop veggies accordingly.
4. Making a pureed vegetable soup? Grate your veggies instead of chopping them. If you cut them into chunks, they will take 20 minutes or more to soften but grated, they are ready in a flash.
5. Use less liquid when braising: submerge your braising ingredients in about 1 inch of liquid, cover the pot and cook, turning occasionally, adding a little liquid as necessary
6. One sandwich is faster than four: cut a baguette in half the long way, assemble one giant sandwich, then cut that into as many pieces as you like. (I've seen people do the opposite).
7. If a recipe calls for minced garlic, minced ginger and/or minced chillies at the same time, consolidate the job with my go-to-technique: peel the garlic and ginger trim the Chili's and put them all in a pile then chop and mince them together using a rocking motion
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