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Thursday 11 October 2012

Cooking Tips For The Future

By David K Handerson


When you are brand new to cooking, you must have a starting point. No one is born knowing how to cook. You can learn how to cook. You do, however, need to understand some basic concepts to cook well. The next few paragraphs will point you in the direction of amazing cooking.

When preparing a salad for an outing, make sure it's layered in a smart way. You should place the ingredients that are the juiciest, like the tomatoes, at the bottom of the bowl, and then place the lettuce and remaining ingredients that are likely to wilt or get soggy on the top.

Are you going to cook with fresh basil? Keep a fresh-cut bunch of basil inside a glass. Pour enough water in to cover up the stems. The basil will stay fresh for a matter of weeks on your windowsill or kitchen counter. Most often times, basil will actually take root in water. Picking the leaves from time to time will cause the basil to put out new growth, so you will have a constant supply!

Bakers in the know use stackable cooking racks. It is common to have your complete workspace overtaken as things like muffins and cookies finish cooling. Stacking cooling racks keep all of your finished batches confined to one small space. Instead of taking up horizontal space on your countertop, the cooking racks use vertical space and stay out of your way.

Complete as much of the preparatory work as possible for your meals ahead of time to speed up the process of cooking. Look through your recipes and determine whether or not certain steps can be completed beforehand. Many different prep tasks can be finished a day or so before cooking the meal. This will enable you to enjoy the process of creating dishes that ordinarily would be a real task.

When preparing pasta, it is important to add salt to the pot of water. Seasoning added while it cooks will "set" in the pasta. Salting pasta after cooking is often unsuccessful because the pasta will not absorb the salt then, it will only sit on top of the noodles.

You can improve the flavor of even the most simple dish by using fresh herbs. If the recipe is complicated and combines many different flavors, dried herbs are acceptable. If at all possible, however, go for the ones that are garden-fresh in order to enhance the flavor and impact of these things in your meals. You can plant an herb garden to make sure you always have your favorite fresh herbs available.

Try drying your own tomatoes. Cut Romas tomatoes in lengthwise halves, or slice ripe regular tomatoes into half inch slices for drying. Place them cut-side up on a rack that you use for cooling, and add a little salt. Heat your oven to 190 degrees and place the tomatoes inside for as long as ten hours. The dried tomatoes can be put in plastic bags and frozen. Another option is to place the tomatoes in a jar and cover them with fresh herbs and olive oil. Use them within two weeks of refrigerating.

When burgers and other foods become stuck to the grill grates, it can be hard to loosen them without damaging the food. Try brushing the grill using vegetable oil prior to cooking so you can avoid sticking.

Measuring and chopping ingredients before you begin cooking can save you time. It is sometimes possible to do some preliminary tasks in the days preceding the actual meal preparation. With this added preparation, you may find that meals are less stressful, as well as more flavorful. Once you start advanced preparation, you might not ever return.

When you are aware that you have a busy day coming up, prepare some of the dinner ingredients the night before. Chopping up veggies or preparing a lasagna before hand can help to save you stress for the next day.

Getting a meal ready for a gathering involving a lot of family is something that can stress you out tremendously. Instead of panicking, do all the preparatory work a night or two before the big event is to occur. Your prep work might involve cutting up vegetables, measuring ingredients, and marinading meats.

Cooking is not a secret art only reserved for the few. Cooking for yourself saves you money, improves your health and can even be a fun hobby. Apply the advice you've just learned from the above article to your grocery store trip, kitchen, and then your plate. Cheers to home-style cooking and enjoy the delicious food you have learned how to prepare!




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