Good food is not always easy to come by. Read on to accomplish these things and more with food you prepare yourself.
If your family is complaining about eating the same old corn day in and day out, change it up a little! Put coconut flakes into veggies for a Thai-inspired dish.
It’s very common for people to add too much salt before tasting a sauce, but that doesn’t mean that it’s been ruined. Take a few raw potatoes, peel and cut them, and then add them to the sauce, allowing them to cook for 15 minutes. This trick will allow the extra salt to be absorbed. If your recipe is based on tomatoes, the salt can be spread out and thereby reduced by the addition of three or four new tomatoes into the sauce.
Wrapping the turkey together with string is trussing. By holding the legs and wings close to the body, this allows for more evenly cooked meat. In an un-trussed turkey, the legs and wings can get overdone and the tips can burn by the time the body is fully cooked.
Pie crusts and tart crusts should be cook a bit past the point that you think they should be cooked. They need to be a golden caramel color rather than pale blonde. This golden color means that the sugar has caramelized, leaving a sweet flavor.
While engaged in cooking, get in the habit of cleaning dishes as you finish using them. Keep soapy water on one side of the sink and use the other side to rinse your dishes. Utensils that have been used recently, will be easier to clean if you leave them in this water.
Always remember to remove all the extra fat from soups and stews. If your stew or soup contains too much fat, simply allow the dish to cool after cooking it, and wait until the fat rises to the surface. Then, skim a spoon containing an ice cube over the surface. Any fat will be attracted to the ice. A paper towel can also be used to gather the fat by blotting it.
After you slice fresh produce, it will start turning brown, especially with avocados, bananas, and pears. You can stop the browning by brushing them with lemon or salt water but pineapple juice is recommended because it will not adversely affect the taste. The fruit doesn’t need to be soaked in it, because all you need to do is dip it in quickly.
Let your meal sit for a while. A lot of people may be unaware that it is important to allow the meal to rest. We are inclined to serve meat and other foods as soon as they are cooked. But many foods need to “rest” for a few minutes before being served in order to taste their best. Always allow your meat sit for about 5 minutes before eating.
Reference your recipe to ensure you have the correct potatoes. These vegetables are defined in three ways, either mealy, waxy or all-purpose, so choose accordingly. The mealy variety is best for mashed potatoes because of its dryer texture. A common kind of mealy potato is a russet. For a general use potato, you can’t do better than the Yukon gold variety. For steaming or boiling potatoes, choose a potato of the waxy variety because they hold their shape nicely. Falling within the waxy category are standard white and red varieties.
Food is the foundation of life; it can be incredibly powerful. Using the skills you have just learned will allow you to impress your friends and family.