10 Tips on Preparing Fruit for Cooking and Eating

Just a few little tricks to make it easier for you to prepare fruit for cooking and eating:

1. If you warm citrus fruits in the microwave on a low setting for 30-60 seconds, then
   squeeze them, you will get a lot more juice from them. This can be used for grapefruit,
   oranges and lemons.

2. In addition, oranges, after being on a low setting in the microwave will peel more easily.
3. Lemon juice can be frozen in ice-cube trays for use in cooking at a later date.
4. To peel difficult fruits like tomatoes or grapes, plunge them into hot water for a few seconds
   and this will make them much easier to peel.

5. If you need to zest any citrus fruits, like oranges or lemons, they will grate better after
   they have been in the freezer for an hour or so.

6. Ice-cream scoops are a handy way to de-seed melons.
7. An easy way to eat kiwi fruit is by cutting off one end and eating it like you would a
   boiled egg with a small spoon. Otherwise, they can get a bit messy.

8. To stop apples going brown once they have been peeled or cut, put some lemon juice
   on the cut end.

9. Champagne really makes strawberries taste wonderful. If you don’t drink, a non-alcoholic
   option is to add some orange juice to the strawberries, which also brings out the flavor.

10. To plump up dried raisins or sultanas, drip a tiny amount of water over them and leave
    them in the fridge for about an hour.