Cooking is an activity that just about anyone can have fun with. Can you shop and follow directions? Can you access basic equipment for cooking? That’s all you need for cooking. Use the following advice to learn how to cook meals your whole family will enjoy.
To add another dimension to homemade pasta sauce, use a little leftover pasta water. Use about a fourth of a cup for this tip. When you are ready to mix your sauce and pasta together, incorporate some of this water. The water from the pasta contains starch that, when mixed with your sauce, will create a creamy texture.
When you want to add a bit of protein to your diet, tofu and beans are a great source of it. Both are readily available in grocery stores. Try frying tofu and adding seasoning to replace meat. Likewise, beans cooked with herbs can also be a flavorful dish.
If you make salsa with raw onions that you plan to save rather than eat right away, rinse the onions using cold water, then blot the onions dry before storing. Onions that are fresh have sulfurous gas. This gas can ruin your fresh salsa. By rinsing the onions and blotting away the excess water, the gas is removed.
Dark leafy vegetables are full of nutrients; however, they are difficult to clean prior to eating. Taking out the tough stems may be tedious. Try folding the leaf across and breaking the stem out through the middle. Otherwise, use a knife to cut the stem out of the folded leaf. Open the leaf back up and you have no more stems!
You can make dried tomatoes yourself. To be able to dry them yourself, cut the tomatoes half an inch thick, or you should cut Romas lengthwise in half. Place on a cooling rack, cut-side up and lightly salt them. Next, position a full rack on a baking sheet in an oven preheated to 190 degrees. Dry for approximately 10 hours. Place them in the freezer in plastic bags. Also, you can put those dried tomatoes straight into a jar or can filled with fresh herbs and olive oil. Place in the refrigerator and consume within two weeks.
Apples are a mainstay of fall and winter cooking, but they will spoil quickly if not stored properly. Dry warm air rots apples, so keep them cool in a basement or loosely wrapped in the fridge. Watch your apples so that you can catch any rotten ones, a rotten apple will make the others spoil.
Keep butter or oil used to a minimum when sauteing. This will create extra moisture that will act to steam the food rather than adding that crispness that comes from sauteing. This should be done at a lower temperature, too.
If you are working with foods that have strong odors, such as fish, garlic or onions, remove the smell from your hands by rubbing them on something that is stainless steel, prior to washing them. You can purchase a small bar made for this purpose, but you can also use a spoon or rub the basin of your stainless steel sink. Doing this will kill the strong odor on your hands.
If you don’t know much about the vegetable or fruit that you are handling, familiarize yourself with it. You may be pleasantly surprised about the versatility of new food once you do a bit of research on it. By taking some time to educate yourself before starting anything new in the kitchen, it will certainly pay off in flavor and experience.
Cooking can be a hobby, job, or skill! Food can be prepared in many ways, taking advice from those who are skilled at a particular technique will be very helpful. The next time it is your turn to shine in the kitchen, remember these tips!