There are a lot of different ways you can cook and ways to do it, and you can have a good experience. Some are easy and some are quite complex. Regardless of you current cooking aptitude, you may find the following tips helpful for improving your cooking skills.
Many of the most popular fruits become brown when exposed to air: apples, bananas and pears, for example. You can use salt water and lemon to avoid browning, but for added flavor, when you have sliced the fruit, dip it in pineapple juice. A quick dip is all that is required, so don’t worry about leaving it to soak.
Try adding cauliflower to your mashed potatoes to lower the fat content. Cauliflower’s subtle flavors blend in with the potatoes and other ingredients easily. As a bonus, cauliflower is the same texture and color as potatoes, so no one will be the wiser when you improve the nutritional content and lower the caloric content of your mashed potatoes.
The microwave can help to achieve optimal juicing results for your citrus fruit. Take your lemon, orange, or other fruits and heat it up in the microwave for ten seconds. When you’re done microwaving, roll it across a hard surface, like a counter, before you cut it open to begin juicing.
Being highly organized is necessary when you are preparing several dishes at the same time. If not, you are sure to burn or overcook something. Having an organized cooking area will ensure that you are productive when cooking. Get organized to cut back on unnecessary food waste.
To make your cooking experience run more quickly and smoothly, commit some of your time for food preparation the night before a meal. Try preparing any required sauces, prepping vegetables, or marinating meats the evening before the meal will be cooked. With so much already prepared, you will likely be less stressed.
When you know that the next day will be busy, prepare some components of dinner the night before. You can still serve your family a piping-hot meal and save yourself time when you have pre-chopped the vegetables for your stir-fry or already assembled the lasagna to be baked.
When you are making chicken stock, think big. Make enough so that you can freeze it and use it in your recipes. Stock is perfect for many dishes like stew, soup, and even casseroles. Allow your stock to cool, then put portions in heavy-duty Ziploc bags made for freezing.
When you do this, you can enjoy your favorite fresh fruits all year. In addition, it will allow you to eat fruits that are not currently in season when you crave them.
To get some extra bang from your pasta sauce, reserve some of the water you cooked the pasta in. Set aside approximately one-fourth cup. When you’re ready to combine the pasta and sauce, pour in a bit of the water. Your sauce will be thicker and creamier due to the starch provided by the water from the pasta.
Cooking oil helps you measure sticky foods. Apply a light coating of canola or other oil with little flavor, to your measuring spoon or cup. The ingredient you are measuring will slide out easily, which will prevent messy clean-ups and waste. Peanut butter, honey, and marshmallow are perfect examples of things you can use this tip for.
Usually, meals that are not up to par is the result of changing a simple recipe into something more difficult. Simple recipes and techniques can yield very impressive results. If you follow the ideas here, you will have a greater understanding of not only cooking, but baking and serving in general.