Everybody eats, but not everyone can cook. These tips can help you to increase your cooking skills. Don’t let the thought of cooking intimidate you. Once you become more comfortable and confident in the kitchen, you may find that you love to cook. Pick up your fork and dig in! This article is filled with tips on becoming a more productive part of your kitchen.
Always follow the instructions if you are making something like macaroni and cheese. The taste of the macaroni, when combined with the velvety cheese, will be amazing! Serving this dish can be enhanced by using a simple spoon with a solid face. To add a little flavor to your macaroni, add a hint of pepper upon serving.
Stick to recipes you are comfortable with when you are cooking for important company. Stay away from using new ingredients, or a new recipe. You will have a more relaxed and less anxious cooking experience.
To make your sauce thicker, stir cornstarch into the simmering sauce. In a medium sized bowl, mix together 1 tblsp water and 2 tblsp corn starch. Stir the mixture into the thin sauce and it will get thicker. Add the starch slowly and stir the sauce constantly to avoid making it too thick.
Garlic is one of the best-loved of all the spices. However, that wonderful aroma can really stick to your hands. An easy way to prevent such scents from adhering to your skin is to rub exposed areas on the stainless steel of your sink. This serves to both clean your hands thoroughly and prevent the odors from seeping into any other food you are going to handle.
This can be fixed quite easily by using the following tip. Peel and chop a couple of raw potatoes, and let them simmer in the sauce for about 15 minutes. The excess salt is absorbed by the potatoes. If you are cooking a tomato-based dish, adding some additional tomatoes will work to dilute the extra salt.
Every cook needs some method for organizing his cooking supplies. Poorly organized supplies cause confusion and mess. Store similar items together in the same place. As an example, you may want to keep all of your spices together.
If you find yourself overwhelmed with preparing dinner for your family, do some of the preparations the night before. Before retiring to bed, you can do things like preparing a sauce, chopping up vegetables and onions, or marinating meat. You will feel much relief the next day, and cooking will be more of a pleasure.
If you like to eat fish, why not try catching your own? You can prepare the fish the same day you catch them or if necessary they can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
You should keep your spices and herbs in a space that is cool and away from light. Moisture, light and heat can affect the flavor of your spices. Generally, ground spices and herbs keep most of their flavor for a year. Whole spices are hardier, and will retain their robust flavoring for several years. If you keep these properly stored, they can sometimes stay fresh for an even longer period of time.
For more flavorful dishes, make your own stock. Make a large batch, and then store it in your freezer. Your yummy stock will be ready for you when you’re ready to create your next culinary treat or just make a simple soup. By making and having your own stock on hand, you will know it doesn’t contain preservatives.
You do not have to feel intimidated when cooking. Making food at home is a money saver, much more healthy, nutritious and fun. The tips in the above article can help you with every aspect of your cooking adventure, from trips to the supermarket to dishing out your delicious meals to family and friends. Three cheers for home cooking and bon appetit!