Whether you live alone or with a big, and rather hungry, family, cooking is an essential skill to have. There are nutritional, economical, and even social benefits to having a reliable set of culinary skills. This article provides you with a whole world of tips on cooking.
A great way to add zip to some of your staple foods, like potatoes, use beef or chicken stock instead of water. Bouillon cubes can also add flavor to those meals that call for water. This gives anything from soup to mashed potatoes a kick of flavor, without sacrificing the moisture of your dish.
There are quite a few different types of potatoes. Not all potatoes can be interchanged in recipes. There are potatoes that are good for mashing, and there are others that are good when used in potato salad; it really does matter what variety they are. When making those foods, potatoes which are fluffy, like Russets, are best.
It is important to properly care for your wood cutting board if you want it to last a long time. Exposure to moisture or dryness can damage a wooden board easily. You should never put the board fully underwater, instead just use a sponge with some soap for spot cleaning. When a cutting board shows signs of wear and tear, there are special oils that can rejuvenate them. Always allow your board to dry completely, whether it is wet or oiled.
Replace the standby liquids of milk and water in recipes to mix things up. If the recipe calls for water, switch it up by using a broth, juice, or cooking liquids. Instead of milk, try sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk. Using different liquids is an easy way to make an old dish more interesting and more nutritious.
When you are faced with cooking a difficult meal, prepping the night before will really reduce your stress. Locate the ingredients, cut up and measure herbs and spices and look through your cupboards to make sure you have what you need. When you are ready to cook the meal it will be quick and easy because you will just have to throw the ingredients together and cook.
Leafy green vegetables are the ultimate in healthy eating, but getting them to the dinner table can be an ordeal. It could become annoying when removing their tough stems. Try this tip, fold up the leaf lengthwise and then pull out the stem. Use any sharpened blade to remove the stem from the folded leaf. Either of these techniques will give you a perfect leaf without a stem.
When cutting herbs, sprinkle a little salt onto your chopping board first. This adds flavor and keeps the herbs on the board. Don’t add any additional salt to the food while you’re preparing it, or it may become too salty. The salt used on the board provides that extra bit of flavor by sticking to the herbs.
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. Being organized with your cooking station can make it more productive. Being disorganized can make it quite easy to make it impossible to find things when you need them, which makes you miss out on the goodies that you could be indulging in.
Great benefits can be gained from the ability to prepare meals at home. Cooking doesn’t only positively impact the dining room experience. Rather, its benefits can be felt in other parts of life. Takeaway foods will always have their place in moderation, but nothing will take the number one spot of a home-cooked feast.