Cooking can be one of life’s great pleasures. Whether you’re baking or grilling, you can always find something new to create for a meal and can always use tips. Here are a few tips for you to keep in your arsenal and use when you’re looking for great cooking advice.
After you have cooked a piece of food in the oven, you should give it several minutes to rest before serving. The last thing that you will want to do is serve any part of your meal that is too hot, which will ruin its overall quality for the person you are serving.
When your pasta is done and you are finished draining, pour some Parmesan cheese on top, which will give your sauce something to latch on to. This will make things much easier for you when you are creating your meal and allow you to layer the levels of your pasta.
To cook healthier, try replacing highly refined goods with whole-grain alternatives when you bake. Enriched white flour and other such refined grain products are low in nutritional value. Even replacing a fraction of them with natural whole-grain products will improve the healthiness of the finished dish. Consult packaging directions for specific replacements; whole-grain products do not always replace refined ones at a 1:1 ratio.
You don’t need to go out and buy an expensive gravy for your dish. Instead, save the juices that your meat creates at the bottom of your pan, and use that as the base for a nice gravy. It’s a lot cheaper and can taste great. There are many different recipes available that use this juice to make gravy.
Many people love the taste of garlic, but cooks are more ambivalent about it because its scent sticks to the hands. A trick for getting rid of the garlic odor on your hands is to rub them on a metal kitchen sink. Doing this will remove the scent from your hands, and keep it from spreading to the next food you touch.
You need to remember to poke holes in a pie crust before you put it into the oven. A pie crust made from scratch can be very delicious, but if tiny holes are not poked with a fork, it will cause the crust to bubble in places which can make it difficult to fill with yummy ingredients.
For an easy meal to put together, save the sauces from other meals you had earlier in the week. Put them in an ice cube tray. You can reheat the cubes in a sauté pan for a quick sauce. Add some veggies and you will have a yummy meal.
When cooking burgers, no matter what the type of burger, it is important to only flip it one time in order to retain all of the juices. If you don’t do this your burger will most likely end up dry and will resemble a hockey puck! Don’t let that happen to your burgers.
Cooking pasta a minute short of its full cook time. When you short the cook time on your pasta you can finish the cooking process when mixing with the sauce. This will prevent your final steps in the dish from overcooking the pasta and destroying its texture or shape. Your dishes will maintain an inviting look this way.
Add salt when boiling pasta. Not only does it shorten the cooking time by increasing the temperature of the water, it also adds great flavor and keeps the pasta from tasting bland. A general rule is to add one and a half tablespoons of salt to each pound of pasta.
When cooking with thick and sticky ingredients like molasses or honey, make it easier with non-stick cooking spray. Simply spray the inside of a measuring cup before adding the viscous liquid. When pouring it will slip out completely and cleanly with no need to scrap the inside of the cup.
When creating your next masterpiece in the kitchen, a good tip is to have all your ingredients in one place. You may want to even measure everything out ahead of time, and have all your utensils at hand, as well, so it isn’t a mad dash from one part of the kitchen to another just to find something you need or forgot.
Cook perfect rice every time. When cooking plain white rice, follow these simple steps. Put 1 cup of long-grain rice into a heavy-based saucepan, with a pinch of salt and 2 cups of water. Put a lid on the saucepan, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer. Cook for 12 minutes. Check the rice at this point: there should be no water left, and small steam holes should have appeared in the rice. Replace the lid, and let the rice sit for 2 minutes. Enjoy!
Good cutting utensils are imperative to own for maximizing functionality in the kitchen. This can save you time so that you don’t wrangle with dull knives, and it’s safer for you to use a sharper one! More injuries, cuts and serious accidents happen as a result of blunt utensils than freshly sharpened ones.
Keep it familiar when you are having guests. Cooking can quickly go from fun to entertainment disaster when you try too many complicated things at the same time. A good rule of thumb successful cooks follow is to never-mix a new ingredient and new recipe in the same meal.
These tips are just a few of the many cooking tips available for those who love to cook. Use them as is or to inspire ideas of your own. The great thing about cooking is that nothing is ever wasted. Every idea is a good one in the kitchen.