It is important to be always learning new cooking skills, even if you’re just cooking for family. Knowing the proper methods and how to go about applying them, will turn simple meals into amazing feasts that everyone will remember you for. The following tips will aid you in your quest to get some unique, mouth-watering flavors brewing in the kitchen.
Add a squirt of ketchup to the batter when making fried foods. Not only is ketchup good for dipping food into after they’re cooked, it’s also good when you dip food into it before putting them in breadcrumbs. Ketchup adds a flavor that you might find surprisingly delicious. If you use this for guests, do not be surprised if they ask you for your secret recipe.
It is essential that you are prepared before you start to cook a meal to serve to your loved ones. This will allow you to make sure that all the necessary ingredients are accounted for. The day before your meal, get your kitchen into cooking mode and hunt down your favorite utensils, pots and pans. Doing so allows you to focus on the cooking itself.
Make sure that you take care with the cooking time for a perfectly baked cake. While the recipe or directions are a good starting point in cooking times, they may need adjustment. Factors like what kind of oven is used and elevation play a part in what the optimal cooking time will be. A good way to judge whether a cake is finished is by sticking a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out with no batter on it, the cake has finished cooking. If the toothpick has batter on it when it is pulled out, the cake needs to stay in the oven for a few more minutes or so.
Everyone occasionally makes the mistake of adding more salt than is needed. This mistake doesn’t have to be fatal. Cut up a few potatoes and let them stew in the dish for 15 minutes or so. The excess salt will be absorbed by the potatoes. If the dish you are making is tomato-bases, just put more tomatoes in it to cut the saltiness, and cook them until tender.
Even the simple things can make the family go wow, like spreading mayo evening completely across a piece of bread. You can’t be in a rush and just squirt it on the bread! When it is spread out evenly, each bite of the sandwich will be delicious and full of flavor.
Fat Free
If you want to make fat free stew or soup, begin by using a soup stock or broth that is fat free. Use a lot of vegetables and lean meat to help to keep the soup low in fat. After cooking, refrigerate your soup and let it cool off. This will cause the fat to congeal and rise to the top. This will make it easy to remove and discard the hardened fat. You will remove not only fat, but also around 100 calories per tablespoon of fat removed.
When testing out spices, try saffron. Saffron can lend your cooking a bright, sunny flavor that you cannot get in other ways. Saffron has been used for thousands of years, and it remains popular today. Because it is so popular, it is also expensive.
Mashed Potatoes
It can be easier to blend warm milk into mashed potatoes. You will get an airier result than would be possible using chilled milk. Who wants dull and lumpy mashed potatoes?
Use a baking potato with thick skin to get a good, firm shell when making potato skins or twice baked potatoes. Red potatoes are too thin-skinned to hold up to a dense filling.
Some pungent ingredients, like garlic, onions, or fish, can stick to your hands and transfer to foods you don’t want them on. You can stop this process by rubbing your hands on stainless steel before you give them a wash. A spoon or the side of the sink will do the trick, or a ready-made “soap bar” made of stainless steel. This technique will eliminate odors and keep hands fresh-smelling as well.
When serving salads to guests, it is a good idea to leave the dressing on the side of the salad rather than on it. There are many people who prefer little to no dressing on a salad. If you allow everyone to apply their dressings on their own it will allow them to have the amount they like. Make sure you have a selection to choose from.
When sauteing food, don’t put too much oil in the pan. The excess moisture can steam the food versus sauteing, minimizing the chances that you will get that crispness you want. Use a low temperature while doing this, too.
If you want your time in the kitchen to be free from stress, create a list of all the ingredients you will need and make sure that you have everything on the list in close arm’s reach. This will prevent you from having to go to the store in the middle of your preparation. It doesn’t take any longer to have anything planned out instead of planning as you go. However, it saves tons of time and trouble in the event you don’t have a necessary ingredient.
If you have a desire to improve your cooking, you should pay attention to advice and suggestions that come your way. The cooking tips in this article are a great example of things that could help you cook better for yourself, your friends, your family, or even for the crowd.