Everyone isn’t a perfect cook, and even excellent chefs have room for improvement. Cooking is one of those skills that each one of us is constantly improving over the course of our lives. But, if all you’re looking for are some quick tips to improve your kitchen prowess, this article’s advice can help, too! The tips provided here will assist you as you grow as a cook.
When making your own chicken stock, prepare more than you need up front. If you prepare a large pot of stock, it can be frozen and stored for future use. There are a variety of recipes that call for chicken stock, so having it on hand is always a good idea. Just cool your stock and freeze it in heavyweight Ziploc freezer bags.
Whenever possible, try to eliminate excess fat from your stews and soups. If your homemade stew or soup has excess fat, allowing it to cool completely will cause the fat to accumulate on the surface. Place an ice-cube on a large spoon, then skim the surface of the stew or soup. The ice will attract the fat. You can also blot the fat with a paper towel.
Add chicken broth to vegetables when you cook them. Chicken broth is great for preventing sticking of vegetables and incorporating some great flavor with them. Chicken broth is readily available at any grocery store, and is very inexpensive.
Sharp knives are essential in any kitchen. If you try to cut using a dull knife, you will have a lot of difficulty, and it can also a very dangerous. You’re less likely to cut yourself chopping up a vegetable with the clean, fast strokes of a sharp knife, than when you are forcing and wiggling a dull knife.
If you’re preparing dried beans, wait for the beans to be softened before adding garlic or salt. If you add salt or garlic too early, the beans might stop softening, particularly if you are cooking old beans. Let your beans cook for a while before you add in any seasonings, so that you can get the texture you desire.
Use beef or chicken stock in place of water to give almost everything from soup to mashed potatoes some extra flavor. Use the water required as a guideline, then compliment it with cubes of bouillon. Doing this will allow your food to get the moisture it needs but also add another level of flavor to the dish.
When using fresh herbs in your cooking like parsley or basil, bundle them together and cut them with scissors instead of chopping. When cut in this way, these herbs will have a lighter, fresher appearance.
Try adding cauliflower to your mashed potatoes to lower the fat content. Cauliflower’s neutral taste means that it blends easily with the flavor of the potatoes, butter and milk. You’ll still be able to enjoy mashed potatoes, but with less fat and calories!
You need to stay organized when you are cooking, so that you can be sure the food is as great as it can be and that nothing burns. You can be more productive, if your cooking station is well organized. Being unorganized when you are cooking can lead to you wasting a lot of money and food.
It’s fun to learn to prepare new and interesting foods! Cooking can actually be just as memorable an experience as eating is! The aim of this article was to provide you with knowledge and tips you can apply to your everyday cooking to improve your skills. It is really just a starting point, one that has hopefully left you inspired to continue to educate yourself about cooking. The process of refining one’s cooking abilities can continue forever.