Not everyone knows how to cook well, and everyone has room to grow. Cooking is a skill that we get better at as we grow in our lives. If you want quick tricks to make cooking a little bit easier or funner, read this article. The following tips will improve the way you go about cooking.
bake tart or pie crusts longer that you think they should be baked. They should be a light golden brown instead of pale in color. The golden color is a sign that the sugars in the crust have finally caramelized.
Dry your own tomatoes. Just slice them when ripe to about 1/2″ thickness. Then put them on a rack that you might use to cool cookies and then lightly cover them with salt. Place the rack on top of a cookie sheet, and bake the tomatoes in an oven set at 190 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 10 hours. Put the tomatoes in plastic bags, and store them in the freezer. Another way to preserve your dried tomatoes is in olive oil, with herbs for added flavor, in a glass jar. When refrigerated, they will last a minimum of two weeks.
Cooling racks that stack on top of one another are greatly beneficial in the kitchen. If you are baking numerous batches of cookies, the ones that are cooling can soon eat up all of your work space. Cooling racks that stack will allow you to use the space in your kitchen as efficiently as possible. When you stack vertically, you only need a few inches of spare space.
There are several types of potatoes, and they are not all the same. For example, there are waxy potatoes that are ideal for making potato salad and boiled potatoes but are a poor choice for french fries, baked potatoes, or mashed potatoes. When making those types of foods, you should use a fluffy potato, such as a Russet.
When cooking vegetables, cook them as quickly as possible to keep their nutritional value. Slow cooking, and overcooking, vegetables will destroy their nutritional content and flavor. As an added benefit, these techniques tend to produce healthier vegetables in general. Cooking vegetables as quickly as possible is key to preserving their nutrients.
Have you felt bad before when you have had to throw away your moldy fruit? Should you save the moldy fruit and cut away the bad parts? The truth is that a rotten spot often signifies that the whole fruit is bad. Any rotten or moldy fruits should be discarded immediately, even if it just looks like surface mold. Mold can actually be deeper in the fruit, even if you can’t see it. When you consume it, it can cause a number of illnesses.
If you’ve been handling smelly ingredients like garlic, onions, or fish, try rubbing your hands with stainless steel for about one minute before you wash them. You can purchase a small bar made for this purpose, but you can also use a spoon or rub the basin of your stainless steel sink. Doing this will kill the strong odor on your hands.
Spices should be kept somewhere cool and dark. Shelf life can be significantly decreased for those spices which have been exposed to too much light, dampness and heat. When spices are stored in an adequately dark and cool area, they tend to retain their taste and shelf life for greater periods of time. This will help every meal that you prepare taste better.
Experimenting with cooking can be fun and exciting. It can be just as enjoyable as eating! Hopefully, you have picked up some great tips through this article that have inspired you to cook better, and experiment with new ideas for great, delicious dishes. Even professional chefs can learn new recipes and cooking techniques.