Many people view cooking in a negative way. This article gives you ideas to make cooking the joy it should be.
Always use an airtight container to store baking ingredients such as sugar or flour in the kitchen. Bugs can creep into your food, and most food items will become stale if exposed to the open air. These are just a couple of solid reasons that you need solid containment. Airtight containers are your best friends in the kitchen. A variety of plastic containers, bags and decorative canisters will protect your food.
When cooking different types of meat, always check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. There is a temperature that is recommended for the different types of meat that indicates it is safe to eat. If your meats are not cooked to the proper temperature, bacteria can stay alive within the meat and make you and your family sick if they are consumed.
You should buy your fish and meat that are bone-in. Put the bones away in your freezer until you need them, whether they are cooked or raw.
Creativity in the kitchen can be exciting. You don’t always have to follow the recipe word for word. Give the recipe your own personal twist by leaving an ingredient or two out, substituting, or adding something. These little changes can result in an exceptionally good dish that is better than the original recipe! Now that is a real cook!
To avoid burning your food, stay organized. A well-organized cooking area is conducive to great results. When you are disorganized, misplacing items or making food inedible becomes much more likely.
Fresh Herbs
You need to use herbs that are fresh when you are cooking. Dried ingredients, like herbs, are acceptable if you are making a complex dish of many flavors. Fresh herbs are still preferred, and they will provide a much better taste to your dish. A successful method in ensuring a constant supply of fresh herbs available is to have a tiny herb garden.
To make a soup or stew that is almost fat free, begin your recipe with a fat-free broth or soup stock. Use a lot of vegetables and lean meat to help to keep the soup low in fat. Once the soup is done and ready to eat, let it chill in the refrigerator for a little while. When it’s chilled enough, you’ll see hard fat clumps floating on top. The fat can then be removed and tossed out. For every teaspoon of fat that you remove, you will be taking 100 calories out of the soup.
Allow the food to sit for a little while before serving. It is a new idea to many, but allowing your food to rest can be quite beneficial. It is very tempting to serve the meal from grill to tabletop. However, your meal could be much more enjoyable if you wait. Always wait a awhile before eating your meal; allow it to cool slightly before digging in.
Impress people with a perfect sandwich by spreading mayonnaise evenly and smoothly all over the bread, from crust to crust. People are often in a rush and will slap the sauce on haphazardly. If you spread mayo evenly, you will be sure that your sandwiches are flavorful.
Make sure you have all of your ingredients ready before you start cooking. When you do this, you won’t find yourself hunting for an ingredient half way through the cooking session. While not saving any real time by pulling out the ingredients early, you’ll definitely save yourself some aggravation along the way with this preplanning.
Tortillas can be heated up in several ways. One of the ways is to warm an oven up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and then place the tortilla right on the oven rack until it reaches the crispness you desire. If you have a gas stove, you can also put your tortilla on the burner. Any of these methods will reward you with tastier, fresher tortillas.
Put citruses in the microwave first to get more juice. Citrus fruits like lemons, limes and oranges just need a quick ten second zap in the microwave. After removing them, gently roll them on a cutting board before slicing them open to begin juicing.
Dark greens are healthy to eat, but they are a pain to prepare. Greens usually have thick stems that can be a hassle to remove. Make it easy by folding the leaf lengthwise in half and then break out the stem. Or, you can just use a knife and cut out the stem from the middle of the leaf. Then all you have to do is unfold the leaf, and you will have one perfectly stemless green.
Always soak skewers in water for 30 minutes before loading them with food and cooking. This keeps them from burning up while the food is cooking on them. Prevent softer food from falling into the coals by using two parallel skewers rather than a single one.
Fix your pie crust. Pie dough that has been overworked can crack quite easily. Use some cold water on your fingers to rub the cracks and repair them. If there are cracks on top of the crust, brush milk on it and then sprinkle sugar over top. Once baked, your crust will have developed a golden brown glaze that disguises any cracks.
Prepare dishes that you’re an expert at when you’re cooking for someone important in your life, such as a supervisor or a new partner. You do not want to deal with the stress of trying to make something that you have ever done before. This makes cooking less stressful.
Shake a little salt onto your cutting board when you are chopping up fresh herbs. This will add some flavor and the herbs will stay on the board. Remember to use moderation; you don’t want to add too much salt to your ingredients. The salt will stick to the herbs and make their flavor stronger.
As you’ve read in the text above, it’s easy to transform what you once thought of as a chore into something rewarding and entertaining. Following these tips will help you engage creatively in an activity that could otherwise be boring or unpleasant.