Food time is a very popular time for just about everyone. This is especially true if the meals are being prepared by someone who knows their way around a kitchen. The advice in the following article should help everyone, from beginners to even the most experienced of cooks, learn something new to improve the quality of the meals they prepare.
Get your ingredients squared away ahead of time. The wise cook prepares as much as possible before starting to cook. Sometimes even when the prep work is done, the deadline for when the meal must be completed can still loom large and become stressful. Preparing some of the ingredients ahead of time can reduce the amount of stress you feel when it is time to prepare the meal.
There are quite a few ways that tortillas can be heated. Turn the oven to 350 and place the tortilla straight onto the oven rack, then leave until it is at your desired warmth. You can also crisp your tortilla on the gas burner of your stove-top. Just turn the flame on low and place the tortilla on the burner above the flame. Watch it carefully! It only takes a moment! Trying any of these methods will create an amazing tortilla.
If you want to have flavorful dishes, try to create your own stock. Make a large batch, and then store it in your freezer. Doing so will provide you with an abundance of custom, home-produced stock, readily available for creating soups and other dishes. Homemade soup stock or bullion is a wonderful way to eliminate high sodium and preservatives that are present in commercially made products from your diet.
Keep your spices and herbs in a dry cupboard. Exposure to humidity, heat and light can cause your spices to lose their flavor fast. This exposure will only cause them to lose flavor.
Use a meat thermometer to make sure that you are cooking your meats properly. Each type of meat has a minimum recommended internal temperature to be considered safe for consumption. If the meat is not cooked thoroughly there is a chance that the bacteria living on the meat could remain and make someone sick if they eat it.
Find a dark, cool area in which to store herbs and spices. The flavor of herbs and spices will be diminished if they are subjected to humidity, heat, or light. Spices and herbs that are ground usually retain their flavor for close to a year. Whole spices may retain flavor for up to five years. If you keep them correctly, they will last a lot longer.
If you have made sauce, put the leftovers into an ice cube tray and freeze. Just melt the sauce cubes in a sauce pan when you are ready to prepare dinner. The sauce will be very edible after it comes out of the trays.
Take the extra fat out of stews and soups. If you have prepared a soup or stew that has a lot of fat in it, try this trick. Allow the meal to become completely cool; any fat will slowly rise to the top. Place an ice cube in a spoon and skim it along the surface. The ice will attract the fat and cause it to collect on the spoon. You can also use a regular paper towel for blotting the fat.
The enjoyment that you get from eating a delicious meal that you cooked is quite unique. It doesn’t take years of learning to be able to create your own masterpieces. Pretty much anyone can be great in the kitchen. Follow the advice in this article, and you will quickly find yourself performing great feats in the kitchen.