If you have children at home, undoubtedly if they are toddler age or older, then they want to help you cook in the kitchen. Letting your children help you while you are cooking in the kitchen can be fun. It will help you bond and also, help to build their self-esteem. This article will give you some ideas to help include your kids in the kitchen.
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.
Get the most juice out of lemons. Fresh lemon juice is much more tasty than the kind that comes out of a bottle, but it is sometimes surprising how little juice you can get out of a lemon. Heat the lemon in a microwave for 20 seconds on high power. Then, roll the lemon on your cutting board using as much pressure as possible. This way, you will get about twice the amount of juice out of the lemon, and your dish will be much more flavorful!
Take care when storing chocolate for use in cooking. As a rule, only buy as much chocolate as you can use within a few months. Chocolate contains fat, and under the wrong conditions it can turn rancid. Store in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. A kitchen cupboard away from any heat sources is ideal. Keep the chocolate wrapped in foil or plastic and store it away from anything with a strong smell, as it absorbs odors easily.
Regardless of the recipe, you can always bet that a fresh ingredient is better than its dried or frozen counterpart. Use fresh ingredients as often as you can; they offer more flavor and tend to be less expensive as well.
Don’t be afraid to over season your meat. Most people actually under season, because the cooking process will weaken the flavor of some spices. With the exception of salt, most seasonings will better enhance the flavor if you use about twice as much as you think you should.
It is important to know that just because a recipe does not call for a certain spice does not mean you cannot add it. For instance, you may feel that garlic would make the dish taste better, which may be true. So do not be scared, go ahead and add it.
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!
If you are following a recipe, make sure that you do not follow this religiously, as you should always add a personal spice to your meal. Instead of following a pizza recipe to the tee, add some red pepper to inject a punch into your dish to make it unique and individualized.
If you are cooking for someone special, do not try a recipe that you have never tried before. Because you are trying to impress this person, you want to make sure you make a satisfying meal. Try something you are very familiar with, and make sure you have all the ingredients you need to make it.
Acorn squash peeling made easy. The deep grooves in acorn squash make it hard to peel. First, peel the bumps. Then, slice the squash between the grooves to make wedges. Remove the seeds from the wedges and peel the skin from the outside edge. You can then cut them to the size that you need for your recipe.
When you have decided what you want to prepare for the evening meal, make sure you have left yourself enough time to prepare it. This includes the prep time, as well. If this is the first time you are making this particular recipe, you may want to add on 10 or 15 minutes to the directions just to be sure you aren’t rushed at the last minute.
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.
As stated at the beginning of the article, toddler aged children, naturally want to help their parents cooking in the kitchen. Your kids will have fun helping to stir, measure and pour all the ingredients. Apply the ideas from this article the next time you and your little ones are cooking in the kitchen together and youare both sure to have a great time.
