No matter whether you live alone or are surrounded by a large family, cooking is a skill that is essential to learn. Whether you are entertaining or attempting to eat healthy or you are simply trying to reduce the money you spend on eating out, learning how to cook is a skill that will help you take charge of your lifestyle. These tips can help you out on all aspect of cooking.
Before cooking pumpkins, cut them up and place them on a baking sheet flesh side up. Put the halves down on the baking sheets. Sprinkle the baking sheets with water, and put the pumpkin in a 350-degree (Fahrenheit) oven for one hour.
Get out the cooking oil when measuring sticky foods. Apply a light coating of canola or other oil with little flavor, to your measuring spoon or cup. The ingredient you are measuring will slide out easily, which will prevent messy clean-ups and waste. This works perfectly for measuring honey or peanut butter.
When you are baking a cake, do not overcook or undercook it. The time recommended on the box or in a recipe is a guide to be used with caution, because many factors, such as high altitudes, can have an effect on the actual time needed. A better way is to test the cake by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it is covered in batter, your cake is not done yet. Wait until the toothpick comes out clean.
Vegetables should be cooked rapidly to obtain peak results. When you cook veggies slowly, they lose many nutrients. As an added benefit, these techniques tend to produce healthier vegetables in general. Cooking vegetables for only a short amount of time is essential.
Try putting some cauliflower in with your mashed potatoes to cut some calories and fat. Cauliflower has a kind of bland taste that mixes well with potatoes and the other ingredients in them. It also mimics the texture and color of the potatoes almost perfectly letting you up your vegetable intake, and drop the calories, all the while giving the same delicious potato experience we all know and love.
Include some salt in the water when you make pasta. This will help season the pasta as it cooks. Salting after boiling your pasta will not give the same effect of absorption.
As you are cooking, develop a habit of washing your dishes right after you use them. If you have a two-bucket sink, put soapy water on one side and keep the other side for rinsing your dishes. This will prevent you from mixing clean dishes with dirty ones. This is the best method to clean up quickly after cooking.
If making stir-fry, meat must be cut on the bias and sliced thinly. This technique is somewhat tricky and can take a little time. Before the meat is frozen (but when it is firm), pull the meat from the freezer, and slice the meat at a forty-five degree angle.
Ketchup makes a great ingredient to batter for fried foods. You can dip chicken into ketchup prior to dipping it into breadcrumbs. This will enhance the moisture and flavor of your chicken. The ketchup imparts an unexpected, but delicious tang to your fried foods, and will have all your friends asking for your secret.
It is a great thing to be able to cook for your family. It does not matter what type of food you like, being able to cook can add nothing but benefits to your life. Though drive-thrus offer convenience and speed, the taste offered by a meal prepared at home triumphs over any drive-thru any day.