whats your favorite shortcut in the kitchen?

I have the baking stone from pampered Chef and as Janet says, it is a great item to have in your kitchen.Even doing biscuits on it makes them better than regular biscuits.Crusts just turn out superior on a baking stone!

I agree the pamperd chef is has the best stones...i use mine daily for things....

Also when I have fresh herbs, i wsh them, so they are ready to use, but i keep them in a jar in the fridge, or a wet papker towel, they will keep longer this way...I use herbs in alot of cooking at the end...

I also make my flavored olive oil, i have a pretty bottle, and add cloves of garlic and hot pepper seeds and fill with olive oil, we use this on breads in the oven or give hamburgers a new taste, i love to experiemnt in the kitchen...rosemary is my next flavor to try....

jav4u

Thank you, I will look into the pampered Chef stone.  I have a few of their items and have never been disappointed.

jav4u:

I also make my flavored olive oil, i have a pretty bottle, and add cloves of garlic and hot pepper seeds and fill with olive oil, we use this on breads in the oven or give hamburgers a new taste, i love to experiemnt in the kitchen...rosemary is my next flavor to try....

Do you keep this garlic oil refrigerated and for how long?  I thought adding garlic to oil was a no-no?  I'm pretty sure it had to do with the possibility of botulism and If I'm correct it was a USDA publication. 

Thanks,

dianefromderby:

Then I came across a recipe for tuna casserole where I mix everything up in the morning (including dry elbow macaroni right out of the box), put it in a covered casserole in the refrigerator all day, microwave it for 12-14 minutes and it's fabulous.  Family (both husband and children) rave about that dish! 

Could you share your recipe?  I've been looking for an oven recipe.

I posted the No Cook Tuna casserole recipe in this same thread on 11-2-09.

It's delicious - enjoy :)

The botulism risk applies to putting crushed or minced raw garlic in oil. As long as the garlic is in big enough pieces that you can look at the oil and see if there are any bubbles or cloudy areas forming it's ok. 

 I make garlic infused olive oil by putting peeled garlic cloves in a singer layer in a glass baking dish, cover wth olive oil and bake at 250 degrees until the garlic is carmelized.  Remove the garlic from the oil. bottle the oil and it can sit on the counter just like regular olive oil.  The heating makes the flavor more intense and eliminates the worry about botulism.