Cooking is one of those activities that anyone can participate in. Can you buy ingredients, follow recipes and operate a stove or oven? Is your kitchen stocked with the basic equipment necessary? If you answered yes to those two questions, then you are able to cook. If you want your cooking skills to advance a little bit, read the tips in this article on how to make scrumptious meals easily that will be loved by everyone in your family.
If you're creating salsa you don't plan on consuming in 20 minutes and it contains raw onions, ensure that cold water is used to rinse off these onions. Thoroughly blot them until they're dry. There are sulfurous gasses in onions. Sulfurous gas can detract from fresh salsa and ruin the flavor. Thoroughly rinsing the onions after you cut them will get rid of the gas.
When using fresh herbs in your cooking like parsley or basil, bundle them together and cut them with scissors instead of chopping. This practice does not get herbs wet like cho pping would, and makes them generally fluffier and lighter.
It is important to properly care for your wood cutting board if you want it to last a long time. A wood cutting board can warp or split by too much exposure to moisture, heat or dryness. If you have to clean your cutting board, use a sponge rather than immersing it in soapy water. Use an oil specifically formulated for cutting boards to restore and protect wooden boards. Before you use the board, make sure it is dry.
Even if you have screwed up in this way, there is a fix that will still let you use it right away. For every tablespoon of water, add half a tablespoon of cornstarch and mix as much as needed to get the right thickness. Thicken your sauce by stirring the mixture into the simmering liquid. The mixture needs to be added slowly so that it does not make the sauce too thick.
Enjoy greens in the winter time. Some greens that ordinarily can seem tasteless will actually be sweeter after experiencing a fro st; these include kale, collards and broccoli. The greens should have a deep and bright color. They should not be limp or yellowing. When washing greens it is important to be careful. There is often dirt on them and you need to wash the dirt off thoroughly before cooking them. Use a bowl of cold water to wash your greens with. Once washed, shake them off, and then rinse them until you notice the water is running clear.
Try different liquids in recipes calling for water or milk to add some new flavors to your meals. You could use chicken broth or juice, instead of water. Substitute sour cream, buttermilk or even yogurt in place of regular milk. By using different liquid ingredients in your side dishes, you can increase their flavor and nutritional value.
When preparing a salad for an outing, make sure it's layered in a smart way. Using an appropriate dish, put watery items, such as tomatoes or cucumbers, on the bottom, then arrange more delicate ingredients, like lettuce, on top.
Always remove the extra fat from your stews and soups. If you're making a stew or a soup that contains too much fat, let the dish cool down all the way so that the fat rises to the top. On a spoon, place a cube of ice and lightly skim it around the surface of the soup. The ice will cause the fat to collect on it. Another option is to absorb the fat off the surface of the soup with a paper towel.
You should only buy meat and fish that are still on the bone. Save the bones from cooked and raw meats in storage bags, and keep frozen until needed for stock.
Longer cooking times and techniques, like boiling, destroys healthful nutrients in veggies. To preserve their healthy reputation, choose quick cooking methods such as sauteing or steaming - or better still, enjoy them in their natural, raw state.
Use your own stock for more flavorful food. If you make huge amounts of stock at once, you can put the excess in the freezer using resealable bags. You will have stoc k on hand for soup and other things. Making the stock yourself will allow you to know that you are using a stock that is not loaded with preservatives.
Sometimes, your burgers can stick onto the grill. This makes removing them extremely difficult or impossible without compromising their shape. To avoid this possibility, you can apply a light coat of vegetable oil to the grill before cooking.
Use a baking potato with thick skin to get a good, firm shell when making potato skins or twice baked potatoes. Red potatoes contain skins that are too thin to hold very much filling.
For healthier, lower-calorie mashed potatoes, add some cooked cauliflower to your tubers. You will not even taste the cauliflower in with the potatoes, because it is so bland. Additionally, mashed cauliflower has the same texture and color as mashed potatoes, so no one will know that you've boosted the veggie content of the dish while removing calories.
Cooking can be an enjoyable hobby, a practical skill or even a profession. Remember to keep experimenting with new things, and looking for more tips from people who can cook. Consider attempting some of the advice provided in the above article for when you have to take control over the kitchen.
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