How many times have you dreaded going into the kitchen to make breakfast, lunch, or dinner? You might need a new perspective. Cooking can be enjoyable and relaxing if you try to see it in another way. Here are a few cooking tips that are sure to get your taste buds tingling and entice your inner chef to come out.
Even though you might want to cook a fabulous, impressive new recipe, always go with your old standbys when cooking for an important person or event. Whether you are cooking for new in-laws, your manager or a date, you want them to be impressed with your culinary skills. Cooking a dish you have already mastered will be sure to impress them most.
Are you cooking using fresh basil? Put a bunch of fresh basil in a glass. Then, add water to the glass, immersing the stems in water. You can keep it on the kitchen counter for several weeks. Change the water regularly and roots will grow. Trim your plant on occasion and you will encourage future growth. This means you will have fresh basil in your kitchen for a long time to come!
A great way to add zip to some of your staple foods, like potatoes, use beef or chicken stock instead of water. Use the water required as a guideline, then compliment it with cubes of bouillon. This is a good way to moisten your food while adding more flavor.
Use your own stock for more flavorful food. You can make stock in large quantities if you wish, then store it in bags and put it in the freezer. By doing this, you’ll always have great tasting homemade stock when you desire to create soups or other types of dishes. Preparing your own stock in advance will reduce your need to use cheap over-salted options instead.
If you are learning to cook for yourself or your family, pick up a cookbook from your bookstore or library. Look for one that has basic, easy recipes that will be fun to cook. Focus on one recipe at a time and give yourself enough time to improve your cooking.
When cooking potato skins or twice baked potatoes, always use the kind with a thick skin such as a russet. Red potatoes are not suitable, because their skin is not thick enough and the filling may break through.
When the insides of fresh fruits are exposed to air, they tend to turn brown. Bananas, pears, peaches, avocados and apples are some of the fruits that brown when sliced. You can prevent this from happening by lightly coating the fruit with lemon juice or salt water. However, the most flavorful way to stop fruit from browning is to dip it in pineapple juice. The fruit doesn’t need to be soaked in it, because all you need to do is dip it in quickly.
If you are going to have a barbecue, then prepare your grill in advance so that you can start grilling right away. Get your grill ready about half an hour before you want to put food on it. The coals should have a coating of ash and be at a medium heat. This is the best temperature for grilling.
Clean cooking utensils are an absolute necessity when you start any cooking project. If there is food leftover after washing, this could ruin whatever you are going to cook. This can be costly because it might allow for bacteria to spread.
Use this advice to improve every meal. When you finally make and taste your meals you can learn that your cooking isn’t all that bad. You may just start to enjoy it, and you might find that you can’t get enough of experimenting with new recipes. Try cooking right now!