Kitchen Hacks 1 - Saving Time With a Chopper

Welcome to the first of my kitchen hacks. In this section I will share tips on the little things that make my life easier in the kitchen.

Today's kitchen hack is about bulk chopping food produce like garlic and ginger, ingredients I use almost every day, and preserving it in oil in the fridge for later use. I also use this method for okra and leeks. I chop loads and freeze and use when I need to. This saves time and money as I don't have to throw away any produce because they have gone off.

Step 1 - Choose your chopper. There is a chopper that comes with most blender, the chopper blade is usually like a straight thin blade. There are also some sophisticated ones by brands like Philips, Breville, Kenwood etc. These are really good and will chop more of your produce than the standard ones. However they are more expensive. For this tip the standard one is used.

Step 2 - Fill only ⅓ of the cup with your choice of produce. If the cup is too full, you will end up a very fine paste as well as huge chucks. You want the final result to look like you used a knife to chop it yourself.

Step 3 - Use the "P" setting on the blender as demonstrated. This is what gives the desired effect.

Step 4 - Pour the chopped produce into a sterilised jar or freezer bag if you are intending to freeze.

Step 5 - To preserve it in the fridge add olive oil to the jar. Without this your chopped item will go off.

Easy as ABC...