The culinary arts use hundreds of techniques, recipes and ingredients to produce an infinite number of delicious meals and dishes. Some are easy to pick up, while others require study and practice. This article contains some simple culinary tips, which will help you to advance your cooking skills, regardless of your initial skill level.
When preparing mashed potatoes, stir in hot (not boiling) milk to mix them. This will also make your potatoes lighter and more manageable when you prepare them for your family. Why would you want lumpy and dull mashed potatoes?
Always try to purchase the freshest garlic available. Fresh garlic has a sweeter, less pungent taste when compared to stale garlic. You will also find that fresh garlic has firm skin and is free of bruises.
In order to have plenty of fresh fall apples for cooking, store them properly to keep them from spoiling. Storing apples in warm, dry air will cause them to rot. Instead, store your apples in a cool place. You must still keep an eye out on the apples because one apple that is rotten can spoil the whole bag.
Microwave citrus fruits before juicing to get their maximum yield. Place your fruit in the microwave and set it to microwave for ten seconds. Once you take it out, roll it on your counter and then cut it to begin the juicing process.
Your family may seem to be less than amused by the repetitiveness of corn as a side dish. If you want a fiesta feel to your corn, put in some onions and black beans, and everyone will love it.
If you’re cooking mac and cheese, always follow the instructions on the box exactly as they’re written. The macaroni cooks perfectly when you do this and is nothing short of spectacular after the nice, creamy, melted cheese is poured over the noodles. Use a solid spoon to serve your macaroni and cheese. Try spicing the macaroni with pepper.
If you plan on making a batch of salsa containing raw onions that will not be eaten within about 20 minutes, prepare the chopped onions first by rinsing in cold water and blotting dry. Chopping raw onions releases sulfurous gases. Fresh salsa can be ruined by this type of gas. By running cold water over the raw onions, the gas is removed.
If you want crispier and crunchier French fries, then soak the potatoes in a bowl of cold water for a period of at least half an hour before use. The soaking process will reinforce the vegetable fibers, and they will be better able to withstand heat when you fry them.
Quickly cooking vegetables makes them crispier and more nutrient-filled. When you cook veggies slowly, they lose many nutrients. Speed cooking vegetables also retains the best texture and nutrition. Only cook vegetables as much as you have to, in order to preserve their taste and nutritional value.
Have you had difficulty in determining how long to grill your meat? Using a meat thermometer, especially one with a precise digital readout, is a good idea for checking whether the meat is cooked or not. For meat that is more than an inch and a half thick, you might want to close the lid of the grill to decrease the cooking time.
You should let your cooking wait until all the necessary preparations are complete. This will keep you from being distracted while the food is cooking. It can be dangerous preparing ingredients while hot oil is cooking on the stove, for instance. Having everything ready beforehand is safer and less stressful.
When cooking, less is often more. When you follow simple recipes accurately, however, it is easy to create delicious healthy meals. Using the guidelines here, you can have a good understanding of how to cook making each meal better than the previous one.