Good food is more than tasty things to eat. Use the tips presented below to advance your culinary skills to a higher level.
Utilize a cooling rack that has the ability to be stacked. When you make large batches of cookies, making enough area to cool them can quickly overrun your kitchen and beyond. To get the most of your space, use some racks that stack. However, by using stacking cooling racks, you can free up your valuable counter space.
Cooking with garlic, buy for the freshest garlic head possible. Garlic that is fresh is sweeter than garlic that is not. To choose the freshest garlic, keep away from any cloves that are bruised, soft or have skins that feel too firm.
Preserve the flavor of your herbs and spices by storing them in an area with low light and cool temperatures. You are destroying your herbs’ flavors and wasting your money when you store them in a warm area or where they are exposed to sunlight.
For a delicious take on pie crusts, bake them for longer than the recipe calls for. Your objective is to cook them past the point of being pale blonde, to the point where they become a golden caramel color. When you see the golden color it indicates carmelization, which lends a crisp, sweet flavor to the pie crust.
When you want to add a bit of protein to your diet, tofu and beans are a great source of it. They are also easily located at almost every grocery store. You can fry tofu or add it to soups, seasoned well, for a yummy protein alternative. Beans may be boiled with herbs for a delicious protein source.
Fruit grills really well. Slice up nectarines, melons and peaches and then thread them onto a skewer. Place them on a grill that is clean, and cook until you see grill marks on the fruit. Top some delicious ice cream with your grilled fruit, or try them on a slice of pound cake, which can also be lightly grilled.
When you are cooking, a good habit to get into is to wash the dishes as soon as you are done with them. Beside your sink you should have hot water and rinse water on the two sides. If you wash your utensils and mixing bowls as you go, the clean-up will be easy, and you will have your tools ready to use again as you need them.
If you have time when you are reheating food, use an oven rather than a microwave to avoid dry food and puddles of extremely hot liquid. Microwaves cook with intense heat that causes the oil to separate because the oil cooks faster. Baking, on the other hand, slowly and consistently reheats the whole dish, keeping its flavors and ingredients cohesive.
Here is a way to save your sauce and use it in your recipes. Mix one tablespoon of starch and two tablespoons of water. Stir this into the sauce to thicken it up. Avoid over-thickening by adding the starch mixture slowly and stirring the sauce often.
You can make healthier mashed potatoes with the same taste and texture you love by substituting cauliflower for potatoes in equal proportions. Cauliflower does not have a strong taste and will be virtually undetectable when mixed with the potatoes and other ingredients. Cauliflower has the same texture and color as potatoes, offering you a perfect way to add another vegetable to your dish while cutting calories.
Food is amazingly powerful; it provides the roots for all life. Apply the advice you learned and wow the people you love!