Cooking is a skill that every person should learn, and it doesn’t matter if you are cooking for one or cooking for many. If you know how to cook, you will get nutritional, financial and social benefits out of it. These tips can help your all around cooking skills.
Keep track of what goes into the ingredients for your recipes. Many often-used ingredients contain hidden, unhealthy ingredients. It is a good idea to verify that ingredients not contain high levels of sugar or sodium. Over-consumption of these can create health issues.
Using a baked potato instead of a small one can help you to have nice thick skins to use to make twice baked potatoes. You cannot use red potatoes because their skin is too thin to hold up to a dense filling.
If you think you’re going to have leftovers of a dish that includes oil, use an oven instead of a microwave. This will mean less grease when reheating the dish. A microwave oven causes intense heat which can cause the oil in foods, which heats first, to separate. Conversely, baking cooks the food slowly, which allows it to retain all its juices and flavor.
To stay on top of the mess that comes with cooking, wash your dishes as soon as you are done using them. Make sure one side of the sink is filled with soapy hot water while the other side can be used to rinse. Your utensils and containers wash up easier the sooner you get to them, and washing them as you go also allows you to re-use them while preparing the same recipe.
To give your pasta some added zip, save the water you use to boil the pasta. Save around 1/4 cup of water and put it aside. Add some of it in as you mix the pasta with the sauce. Amalgamation will help the starch in the pasta to add a creamy quality, and extra body to your sauce.
Rinse and dry your onions if you are using them in a salsa you are making that will not be eaten in 20 minutes or less. Fresh onions have a sulfurous gas in them. This can end up ruining your batch of salsa. Take the onions and run water over them and get the moisture off, and you won’t have the smell.
When chopping fresh herbs, sprinkle a small amount of salt on the cutting board. This keeps your herbs on the cutting board and can add a bit of flavor, as well. Then monitor the amount of salt that you add to the food as it is cooking. That salt on the board adds some flavor since it sticks to the herbs.
A meat thermometer should be used to ensure that meat is being cooked properly. Each type of meat has a minimum recommended internal temperature to be considered safe for consumption. If meat is under cooked, the bacteria in the meat can be consumed, which could result in illness.
Don’t cook with wines that you don’t enjoy drinking. Using a type of wine you find unpalatable will negatively impact the flavor of your food. Look through your grocery store to find wines that are used specifically for cooking.
Care for your wood cutting board properly. Excess moisture, heat and dryness may cause a wooden chopping board to split and warp. If you have to clean your cutting board, use a sponge rather than immersing it in soapy water. Use an oil specifically formulated for cutting boards to restore and protect wooden boards. Store in a cool dry place until the product has completely dried.
If you are able to cook for yourself, it is very good for your family. As you probably know, good cooking can enhance your life whether you lean towards hearty down-home meals, haute cuisine or comforting soul food. Nothing can beat a good home-made meal!