Idea On How To Be A Wonderful Chef

It is not as difficult as you imagine to become a very good chef. It is okay to experiment when youare cooking. Experimentation is the best way to find your cooking strengths. The tips here will showyou how to experiment with new things and cook better. Follow the steps here to enhance yourabilities in the kitchen.

Consider recipes to be guidelines rather than rules. Feel free to branch out and switch up the spicesor add an extra ingredient. Before long you will be compiling your own personal collection of alteredrecipes that are better than the original thing. Not only will you will also be able to impress yourfriends with unique dishes, but you will become a better cook as you experiment with changingrecipes.

Perfect pasta every time. Never add oil to the water when you are boiling pasta. It prevents thesauce from coating the pasta properly. Just before you drain the pasta, set aside about 1/3 cup of thecooked pasta water. When you mix the sauce with the pasta, add a little of the cooking liquid. Thestarch in the water adds body and flavor to the sauce.

After cooking with a large amount of garlic, rub both hands on your stainless steel sink beforewashing them. Use a vigorous scrubbing action. This will help to get rid of that lingering garlic scenton your skin. It will not leave a scent on your stainless steel sink.

When it comes to cooking a good habit to do after preparing garlic is to rub your hands on thestainless steel sink vigorously for about 30 seconds. This will remove the unwanted odor from yourhands. Washing them less than 30 seconds will not take all the odor away.

Cooking can be a joy if you invest in a good, sizable cuttingboard able to handle all of your cutting and choppingneeds. If a butcher block table is out of the budget, look fora durable bamboo or sturdy maple for the job. A cuttingboard with a recessed groove surrounding the cuttingsurface is handy to catch juices from carving meats andmakes clean up easy. If you will be using a cutting board ona smooth surface, look for one with rubber feet to avoidslipping. Maintain your cutting board with food-grade

mineral oil (vegetable and olive oils can turn rancid) and make sure that you properly clean, andmore importantly, dry your cutting board after each use to prevent warping.

Basic seasoning of the food you prepare goes a long way in proving your skills in the kitchen. Don'tbe afraid to taste your food as you work and adjust seasonings accordingly. Typically, some of themost expensive cuts of meat, as well as many many varieties of seafood, are rather dull without somehelp. Your guests will appreciate a well-seasoned dish that they don't need to shake salt on untiltheir arms goes numb or twist the pepper mill over for an hour to make palatable.

When you are cooking for your family, try not to stick to one style. If you cook the same meal overand over, it can get boring and your family will become jaded with the dishes that you make. Changethings up every night so that you can introduce new meals and cuisines to your family.

When cooking with a saute pan, turn the handle of it in the opposite direction of you. Keeping thehandle facing you increases the chance of bumping into and spilling your food. This is also a safetyconcern because you can burn yourself if the pan tips or falls over.

When baking, here is a tip for eggs and butter. Let your eggs and butter set out overnight at roomtemperature. Doing so will soften the butter which will make it easier to spread, melt, and mix withother ingredients. The eggs will be easier to beat, and foaming egg whites will be easier as well.

Have you ever had to eat a cauliflower that was more off white then actually white? It can makepeople turn away from this wonderful vegetable. To keep that white color in your produce, add somemilk to the water when cooking. This will not change the taste, just the look.

To save on fat when cooking, use applesauce instead of butter. A cup of applesauce is equal to a cupof butter. This will reduce fat and calorie contents of your dessert recipe. It will also make yourrecipe moist and delicious. Most people won't even be able to tell the difference.

To remove the peel from a clove of garlic in a quick and easy way, carefully smack the heel of yourhand on the side of a wide knife blade (laid flat over the clove) to crush the garlic a bit, allowing theskin to slip right off. As a bonus, the flattened clove will be easier to mince before you add it to yourdish.

Next time you make a dressing at home, swap half of the amount of mayo with an equal portion ofGreek-style yogurt. This increases not only the richness of the dressing, but it gives it the creamyand smooth texture that we all love to see on our salads and other dishes.

Make your cleanup easier by washing dishes as they are used in the cooking process. Have a sink ofhot, soapy water on one side and rinsing water on the other. Washing your dishes is easier if you donot wait until the food gets dry and sticky. Make sure you wipe your dishes and put them away forthe next meal.

You should use your freezer bags more than one time. You need to store your meats or vegetables inregular storage bags and then place them into freezer bags so that you can use them repeatedly.Freezer bags are very expensive and this will cut back on your costs each month.

Store your cooking spices in a cool dry place. This will ensure the longevity and potency of theflavors in your herbs and spices. A dark cabinet away from the stove is the ideal storage place.Spices kept in bright, hot environments usually fail to maintain their flavor long before anyexpiration date comes.

Check http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/course/desserts/cakes your ingredients before starting arecipe. There is nothing worse than getting halfway through a recipe, only to realize that you aremissing a vital ingredient. Also, you will save time by assembling everything. Measure everythingout, and prepare any ingredients in advance. This way, you won't puff pastry recipes suddenly findyourself having to chop an onion or grate cheese when you are right in the middle of your recipe.

Buy tough cuts of pork or beef instead of steak. Steak is expensive. While it might be one of yourfavorite foods, you probably are not willing to pay for it as often as you would like. Consider buying atough cut of pork or beef instead. Cook it low and slow to get it tender.

To keep salt in shakers fresh and dry, add uncooked white rice to the shaker. The rice will absorbany moisture from the environment instead of the salt, and stops the salt from dissolving or caking.

Rice is not noticeable in a glass shaker and is too large to be shaken out with normal use.

In conclusion, cooking has different meanings to everyone. Some think of it scientifically, some thinkof it therapeutically, and some think of it as a burden. With the cooking tips found in this article, anyone can be a good cook, no matter what their perception of cooking is.