I am Sandi Smith posting this for ChefBelle.

Easy-Rolling Pie Dough:  Before making pie dough, She stores the flour in the freezer overnight to chill it.  This helps keep the fat in the dough from melting so it roils out without sticking.

Individual Gelatin Molds:  Making single servings of gelatin salad look elegant can be tricky... slices from large molds tend to look messy.  To make individual servings she uses foil cupcake liners (for support, place the liners in muffin tins).  To unmold, simply dip each foil cup into hot water for a couple of seconds, the gelatin slips right out.

Grinding Saffron:  She has found that saffron powder is easier to work with than saffron threads. But purchased powders are often enhanced with dyes and are less expensive, sometimes inferior spices.  So she makes her own powder, grinding threads with a pinch of salt using a mortar and pestle.  This powder keeps well, so if you ground more than you need, store the extra in a clean, dry empty spice jar.

Nonstick Eggs:  To easily remove or turn fried eggs, fill half an egg shell with cool water and pour it around the eggs.  This releases them from the pan making them very easy to flip or turn.

Shelling Pistachios:  Removing shells from pistachio nuts by hand is time consuming.  Instead, place them in a heavy duty plastic bag, then use the flat side of a meat mallet to crack the shells open.

There is nothing like a hearty bowl of pasta with tomato sauce or bruschetta topped with melted cheese and pesto.  With the flavors of Italy at the ready, cooking is a breeze.  Here a selection of some deliciously flavorful ingredients you'll want to have eon hand to make easy Italian dishes any night of the week.

TOMATOES:

FRESH:  you can find tomatoes year around, but late summer is their peak time.  Look for vine ripened tomatoes for the best flavor.  When out of season, choose canned tomatoes since they're just as flavorful.

SUN-DRIED TOMATOES:  For a richer taste, sun-dried tomatoes are a great choice.  They're vine-ripened tomatoes that are naturally dried to remove all of their water, leaving them chewy and full of concentrated flavor.

PESTO:  This delightful sauce is unusually mad with a mix of basil, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil.  You can also find other types of "pesto" made from sun-dried tomatoes or red bell peppers.

FOOD FACTS:  If you grow your own basil or purchase it fresh, you can make your own pesto.  This sauce adds rich flavor to soups, chicken, fish dishes and of course pasta.

THREE ITALIAN CHEESES:

MOZZARELLA:  this ever popular, mild tasting cheese is great for cooking and popular for pizza because of it's great melting qualities.

PARMESAN:  Known for it's sharp flavor, this firm cheese is excellent for grating and enhances the flavor of your favorite Italian dishes, from pasta to veggies.

ROMANO:  A firm cheese with a tangy, robust flavor.  Romano cheese makes a great topping for veggies.  You can substitute Romano for Parmesan when you want a bolder taste.

GARLIC:

This cousin of the onion enhances the taste of many foods.  When cooking, break apart the head of garlic and remove the skin from individual cloves before chopping.

FOOD FACTS:

The smaller you chop garlic, the stronger the flavor.  Chopping or pressing releases more of it's essential oils, giving the strong garlic aroma.

Ripe peaches bursting with juice, sugary sweet plums at their peak and plump berries waiting to be plucked, these are the simple pleasures of summer. 

 Berries:  Luscious berries such as strawberries, blueberries and raspberries add a touch of summer to salads, drinks and desserts.  Berries make a delicious topping for cereal to fruit salads and also eating.

 Cherries:  Succulent cherries can be either sweet or tart.  Firm, heart-shaped sweet cherries are tasty as a snack or in baked goods.  Sour cherries are a little too tart to eat on their own but they're great baked into pies and for jams and preserves.

Peaches:  There's two main types of peaches, clingstone and freestone.  At the supermarket, you'll most often find freestones, which range in color from pink-blushed white to red-bushed yellow.  They separate easily making them great for eating.  Clingstone range almost in color as freestones, but these are great for baking as they are sweeter and better for desserts.

Plums:  Just as plums range in color from red to purple to amber-gold so does their flavor, from slightly tart to sugary sweet.

Nectarines:  A cousin of the peach, but smaller and sweeter with a smooth skin.  They'er perfect for slicing into fresh fruit salads and eating.

Storing your fruits:  Peaches, Plums and Nectarines will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.  Only refrigerate them when they're ripe. as the fridge will heal their ripening.  Let fresh picked fruit stand on the counter for a while since they're juiciest at room temperature, but remember they should be picked when they are just about ripe not green as they will never ripen no matter what you do.  You can also speed up the ripening process by putting them a brown paper bag for a day or two.

Cherries should be shiny, firm and plump.  They're very perishable;e so refrigerate them after purchasing, they'll keep for up to 2 days.  Remove stems and pits before using them in recipes.

Select firm, brightly-colored berries.  Sort berries before you store them in the fridge and remove any that are bruised.  Wash berries when you're ready to use them. As moisture will hasten their decay.  Use fresh raspberries and blackberries as soon as possible.

EXTRA VIRGIN OIL:   They are robust in flavor.  As with wine, the characteristics of an individual oil depend on the olive varietal and where it's grown.  Many high-end and imported extra virgin olive oils state on the bottle where the olives came from and the kind or kinds that were used to produce that particular oil (often a blend).

This olive oil ranges in color from pale golden to deep  emerald and has a pronounced fruity, sometimes peppery taste.  Because of the flavor of extra virgin oil can diminish with heat, it's often used to finish a dish, drizzled over pasta or whisked into a vinaigrette (though many chef,s cook with it to).

REGULAR OLIVE OIL:  Also called pure or light olive oil, which are simply marketing tags and not an indication of nutritional qualities, this olive oil is a blend of refined olive oil and extra virgin olive oil.  It costs less and has a mild flavor.  Use it when you want to preserve the flavors of the food rather than impart the character of the oil to it.  We often use it for sautés or stir-fries.

CANOLA OIL:  Derived from a strain of rapeseed in Canada in the 1970,s that yields oil with lower acidity than traditional rapeseed , this oil,s name is an amalgam of words "Canada" and "oil".  Canola oil continues to be a major export crop for it's namesake country.  It is high in both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and very low in saturated fat.  It's neutral flavor makes it a good choice when you don't want to detract from the flavor of food.

SESAME OIL:  This oil is pressed from crushed sesame seeds.  The lighter colored oil comes from raw seeds and possesses a mild, neutral taste.  The darker oil comes from toasted seeds and has a rich, nutty flavor.  What olive oil is to Mediterranean cuisine, dark sesame oil is to Asian food, use in salads, noodle dishes and stir-fries.

WALNUT OIL:  Unrefined walnut oil taste just like the nut from which it comes.  It is rich and flavorful (especially if made from toasted walnuts) and perfect as a finishing drizzle on salads, rice, pasta or even desserts like tarte tatin or rice pudding.

CLARIFYING BUTTER:    Clarifying butter is a process used to separate the milk form the oily butterfat.  You've probably experienced putting whole butter into a hot pan, it quickly turns brown,  that browning is the milk solids cooking.  They just can't tolerate higher heats.  to get the butter taste without the browning, clarify butter.  Slowly melt whole butter over a low heat.  You'll eventually see three layers form.  The top layer is foamy and made up of water and milk, skim it off and discard.  The deep yellow middle layer is the butterfat, pour this off in a container.  This is the clarified butter you want to use for sautéing.  What's left in the bottom are milk solids, pitch them.

MAKING CREME FRAICHE:  Many recipes call for creme fraiche, a thick tangy French cream similar to sour cream, but smoother and richer.  It's body and thickness comes from natural bacteria in unpasteurized cream.  But since this is an unpasteurized process, we have to improvise in the States by using the natural agents in buttermilk.  Mix 1 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup buttermilk, and about 1 Tablespoon lemon juice.  Cover and let sit at room temperature 6 to 8 hours, then refrigerate.  Creme fraiche is great for cooking because of it's rich flavor and stability, it doesn't break when heated, unlike sour cream.

MELTING CHOCOLATE:  To melt dark, milk and white chocolate for dipping or recipes use a double boiler set over barely simmering water (a heatproof bowl nested over a saucepan makes a great double boiler).  Take the chocolate off the heat before all lump are totally gone, they'll melt as the chocolate sits.

If using a double boiler, it's critical that no water or steam gets in the chocolate.  Just a drop will cause the chocolate to "seize", or stiffen and render it useless. Chop chocolate into small pieces it will melt evenly.

DEGLAZING A PAN:  After sautéing or roasting, look at the bottom of the pan.  Those dark food particles stuck to the bottom are caramelized drippings from meat juices.  This is called "fond" a French term loosely meaning bottom or foundation.  Fond is loaded with flavor and can be used to make gravy or added to sauces.  the best way to capture these flavorful deposits is by deglazing.  Add any liquid like wine, stock or water to the pan ans start scraping vigorously while bringing the liquid to a boil.  This is your foundation of flavor for sauces or gravy.  

Don't think for a moment that salt is just salt.  If you're into cooking, here's the information you need to know to make all your food taste even better.

Salt just might be one of the most important commodities in our world, thank goodness there is plenty of it.

I'm frequently asked why food in restaurants taste so much better than food prepared at home.  The secret?  Besides year,s of training, chef,s use plenty of butter and salt.  What,s not to love?  Real butter makes everything taste better, but salt is a different story.  the proper amount of salt is imperative, but the kind of salt is even more important.  Top chef,s know this and have been using specialty salts for years.

Like many things salts have become trendy, red salt from Hawaii, Jurassic salt from Utah, and the multitude of sea salts from Europe.  Is the salt trend overrated, or are some of those Mediterranean sea salts really worth $30 a pound?  Well maybe, but you need to know the basics before deciding.

Table Salt:  Table salt (granular salt) is what most of us know.  it is mined and processed to form small, uniformly shaped cubes.  Additives are added to prevent caking and some medical problems.  Most table salt is mined like coal or extracted by forcing water down into subterranean salt deposits.  The resulting brine is pumped out and the processed to from tiny, dense cube shape that don't dissolve right away.

Kosher Salt:  Kosher salt is made by compacting granular salt between rollers which produces large irregular flakes.  This shape allows the salt to easily draw blood when applied to fresh butchered meat (part of the koshering process).  Unlike table salt, kosher salt contains no additives.

Sea Salt:  Sea salt is created when ocean waters flood shallow beds along coastlines.  During the summer months, the water evaporates leaving large salt crystals.  the different waters and minerals from the surrounding land lend their flavors to these flaky salts.

Maldon Sea Salt:  Besides Fleur de Sel, England's Maldon sea salt is worth it's $11 a pound price.  A good "finishing salt" that gets it's delicate flavor from tradition of boiling the sea water to form hollow pyramid-shaped crystals.  You can actually crush the crystals between your fingers.  this makes for a light taste on your tongue.

Sel Gris:  "Grey salt" is harvested on France's Atlantic coast where shallow basins are flooded with ocean water.  Evaporation takes place between May and September when artisan harvesters rake the salt to the edge of each bed.  The salt picks up it's grey color and distinct flavor from minerals in the bed,s clay bottom.

Fleur de Sel:  A finishing salt that I think is worth the high price tag.  A by-product of Sel Gris, Fleur de Sel is created only when the winds are calm and the days are warm.  It is on these rare few days that the grey salt "flowers" lacy, white crystals.  This is the "flower of salt" and is carefully skimmed from the surface.  Use sparingly on foods just before serving.

Red Alae Hawaiian Sea Salt:  Hawaiian red and black sea salts are specially finishing salts.  While they look cool, their flavor is a bit strange.  Red salt has an iron taste from the soil that,s used to add color while black salt tends to have a sulfuric aroma from added purified lava.