Cooking is something you keep learning about your whole life. A few secrets can turn a simple dish into a great dinner your friends will remember. Get some tips like these together, so you can get a great flavor going in the kitchen.
Replacing some of your mashed potatoes with equal amounts of cauliflower is a healthy alternative, reducing fat and calories. Cauliflower tends to have a bland taste, so this will blend nicely with the potatoes, and will pick up other ingredients, as well. Cauliflowers look very similar to potatoes in texture and color when they are mashed. It will allow you to have a delicious side dish that is healthier and still flavorful.
If you want to cook with a vegetable or fruit that you haven’t used before, take time to learn more about it. With a bit of homework, you will learn a lot of new things to do with a new kind of food. By taking some time to educate yourself before starting anything new in the kitchen, it will certainly pay off in flavor and experience.
Do you cook with fresh basil? Place some basil in a clean glass. Fill the glass with water till the stems are covered. The basil will stay fresh for a matter of weeks on your windowsill or kitchen counter. If you keep the water as fresh as you can, roots will start growing. Plant the fresh basil in a small pot with rich soil to have fresh basil available at all times.
If you are getting ready to cook for a big family get together, it is probably causing you a good amount of stress. Cut vegetables and fruit, measure ingredients, and marinate meat up to 24 hours before cooking. For any dishes that can be made ahead, do so; for all others, prep the ingredients in advance.
Use beef or chicken stock in place of water to give almost everything from soup to mashed potatoes some extra flavor. It is quick and easy to add a bouillon cube in water to a recipe. The food that you are making will then have the moisture it needs while being infused with a bit of flavor.
To create low-fat soups or stews, start with fat-free broth or stock. Keep fat content to a minimum by loading the soup with lean meats and vegetables. Let the soup rest in the refrigerator for a spell once it is fully cooked; you want it quite chilled. When it’s chilled enough, you’ll see hard fat clumps floating on top. Simply skim off the hard fat now and throw it away. You will be eliminating roughly 100 calories for every tablespoon of fat you remove.
A great tip to follow if you use oil to cook is to put it on the sides of the pan while cooking, so it’s already heated by the time it reaches the food. Having the oil at the right temperature when you cook with it will make the flavors pop.
When sauteing food, avoid over-filling the pan. The moisture from the large pool of oil will douse the food you planned to saute and make a greasy, limp mess. Keep the burner at a low setting during this process, as well.
Don’t ever buy boneless meat or fish. After removing the bones, store them in freezer-tight bags and keep them on hand in your freezer compartment for use as needed.
To improve your cooking skills, it is important that you learn as much as you can. The cooking tips described in this article represent examples of the type of information that can improve the way you cook for yourself, your family and everyone else for any occasion.