3 Football-Inspired Pigskin Tips

To prevent your knife from sliding all over the cutting board when chopping bacon, wrap the bacon in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes. It will harden just enough so that it can be chopped as finely as needed with nary a slip.

Pork tenderloin is covered with a thin membrane called the silver skin. When heated, the silver skin shrinks and can cause the tenderloin to bow and thus cook unevenly. To remove it before cooking, just slip a paring knife between the silver skin and the muscle fibers. Angle the knife slightly upward and use a gentle back-and-forth sawing action to separate it from the meat.

If you like the flavor that a small amount of bacon fat adds to food but don’t want to fry a slice of bacon every time you need it, try this creative way to portion leftover bacon drippings for future use. Pour leftover drippings into a bowl and refrigerate. Once solid, the drippings can be scooped into teaspoon portions and frozen. The frozen portions of bacon drippings can be stored in a zipper-lock bag and substituted for butter or oil in any dish where a meaty flavor is desired.