One of the best things about cooking, is that whether you are not so great at it or a cooking virtuoso, you can benefit from recipes and great cooking tips. Anyone can follow a recipe and implement tips. Whether you think you’re a great chef or if you think that you can’t cook at all, here are a few cooking tips you can use today.
You can remove the garlic odor from your hands by rubbing them for thirty seconds on your stainless steel stove before washing them. Garlic adds a delightful flavor to many recipes, but the unmistakable odor can linger on your hands. Using this tip, you can enjoy your dinner without your hands smelling strongly of garlic.
When sauteing ingredients in a fry pan ensure that you don’t overcrowd the pan with too much food. Trying to cook too much at once will only lower the temperature of the pan and lead to steaming instead of browning. It is wiser to saute the ingredients in two separate batches, if necessary, and this will maintain the quality of cooking.
If you’ve forgotten to soak your beans over night, quick soak them instead. Just put the beans in a very large pot and cover with water. Bring this to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about two hours. This method is just as effective as an over night soak and can save you time.
An easy way to experiment with combining savory flavors in the kitchen and not spend a lot of money in food waste, is to turn your ideas into an omelet. Eggs, especially egg whites, are fairly flavor-free and provide a great “canvas” on which to “paint” the ingredients you want and then combining into a dish. Small batches of scrambled eggs that you can fold your ingredients into, will also give a neutral background for your flavor taste tests.
The mushrooms will just absorb the water. To avoid this problem, use a damp cloth to wipe the mushroom clean.
When you want to make a soup using stock, follow this tip. Be sure to make a large amount of stock, pour it in a plastic bag, and place it in the freezer. This will allow you to quickly make soup whenever you want to by simply thawing out the already made stock.
Recipe
For the most beautiful homemade chocolate chip cookies, do not add all of the chocolate morsels into the mix! Save about a quarter of what your recipe calls for until after the cookies are all arranged on the cooking sheet, then add them evenly to the tops of the dough drops to create bakery looking, perfect chocolate chip cookies!
Change from ordinary table salt when cooking, to sea salt or kosher salt. The latter will add a much better flavor to the recipe. While it is important not to over-salt food for health reasons, leaving salt out of a recipe altogether can result in a meal that tastes bland. So seek a middle ground when using this seasoning.
Do not be afraid to experiment. There is no rule that says you need to follow a recipe exactly. If you do not care for an ingredient, leave it out. If you think a different ingredient would taste better, substitute it. If you think the dish is missing a little something, add it.
Have you been making the same berry shortcake for a while? Make the flavor pop with the following tip. Mix your berries with a pinch of salt, a little fresh mint and a small spoon of lime juice. Your guests will never guess how you enhanced the flavor of the old family recipe.
Have you ever looked for a specific recipe only to come up short? This is why it’s a good thing to have a recipe box or book to hold all those valuable, family favorites. You can categorize them by appetizer, pasta, soups, meats, casseroles, etc. The categories are endless and should be done in a way you will easily be able to find them. You don’t want to lose Grandma’s famous chocolate chip recipe, right?
Always read a new recipe all the way through before starting. This will ensure that you are prepared for what is to come and you won’t be caught off guard by a required appliance or utensil. Taking the time to read the recipe thoroughly first will help the preparation go smoothly and save you time in the end.
Cooking is not something you stop learning. You eat every day of your life, so you can use cooking skills every day of your life. What you learn about cooking today, you can use forever. Use these tips to boost your cooking skills and put your own spin on them, to make everyday eating a pleasure.
