Many people see cooking as something bothersome. Here is a compilation of tips and suggestions that can help make cooking enjoyable for you.
If you cooked with a sauce, save the leftover sauce in an ice cube tray that you can freeze. For a quick and easy sauce on another night, simply remove as many cubes as you need and reheat in a pan. Not to worry, it freezes well and is perfectly edible when stored this way.
Consider adding cooling racks that stack t your baking supplies. If you are making a large amount of cookies or baked items, laying them out to cool will take over your kitchen. You can use your space more efficiently by using cooling racks that stack on each other. Instead of taking up horizontal space on your countertop, the cooking racks use vertical space and stay out of your way.
When placing seasoning on meat, try a small piece prior to cooking the whole thing. Meats like meatballs, hamburgers or meatloaf can be easily under or over seasoned. After seasoning the meat, do not cook all of it. Cook a small piece of it first. Once you've done this, you can cook the rest of the meat or add additional seasoning as you see fit.
Rub your hands on stainless steel after you handle smelly foods such as garlic, fish, or onions to get the smell out. It does not matter if you use a spoon, a side of your stainless-steel sink, or a "soap bar" made of stainless-steel; rubbing your hand on it neutralizes the undesirable smell and freshens your hands.
Buy your fish or meat on the bone. Place raw or cooked bones in a strong Ziploc bag and freeze them for later use.
When trying a new seasoning for your meat, season one small piece and sample prior to cooking the entire batch of meat. It is important not to over-season foods such as hamburger, meatballs and other meat-based dishes. Avoid cooking all of it after it's been seasoned. Cook a bit of the mixture before you continue to cook the entire batch to ensure that the seasonings are correct. This gives you the option of cooking the entire meal with this seasoning or altering it according to taste.
Make a lot of stock if you are going to make it ahead of time. Make sure that you prepare a large amount of stock so that you will have more than enough to store and use for future kitchen adventures. You can use the stock as a base for all kinds of soups or even casseroles. Allow the stock to cool before freezing it in durable, Ziploc bags.
Brine is a wonderful way to cook. You can soak your poultry in brine for about an hour before you cook it.
Measure out your cooking oils carefully. Avoid pouring oil directly from the bottle to the pan when you cook, as this will allow you to lower your consumption of fat. In this way, you can be in control of the quantity of oil that goes into your meals.
Add lots of salt to your water for cooking pasta. The salt will hold better while cooking because it is absorbed by the pasta along with the water. Salting cooked pasta will not have the same effect.
Many tasty fruits, such as bananas, apples, pears, peaches, and avocados have an unfortunate tendency to turn brown rapidly after being sliced. It is possible to slow this process by placing the fruit in either lemon or pineapple juice. A small dip works well, so don't go dunking the fruit in the juice.
Enjoy hardy winter greens. Once the ground has frosted once, winter vegetables, including collards, broccoli rabe, and kale, become much sweeter. Only cook the greens that are fresh and colorful, discarding any that are limp or pale hued. Wash your greens carefully before cooking, because they tend to hold quite a bit of soil. Immerse the greens in cold water, shake them off, and then rinse them under running water until all the dirt has been removed.
Rub your hands on stainless steel before washing them, if they have a strong smell. You can use your stainless steel sink or a spoon to quickly remove the odor from your hands.
Save some time on the preparation step of cooking. It is sometimes possible to do some preliminary tasks in the days preceding the actual meal preparation. Sometimes the longer prep time results in deeply flavored dishes. Once you get used to prepping ahead of time, you will always do it.
Use cooking oil when you are measuring out things that are sticky. Before you measure, you will want to coat the spoon lightly with an oil that doesn't have much flavor, like canola oil, then the sticky substance you are measuring will glide off much easier, which will reduce the waste and will make clean up easier. These same methods can be repeated with honey, and peanut butter as well.
You should always organize your cooking supplies. If they aren't organized, you will waste valuable time getting everything together at the last minute. Store similar items together in the same place. For instance, parsley and basil are both spices and should be in the exact same cabinet.
Use paper towels to blot the moisture from the surface of ground meat before cooking. Blot away the excess moisture on all ground meat before cooking. If you do not blot it away, the moisture will come out when the meat is cooked. The moisture will cook away. This leads to the meat getting steamed, instead of what you want, which is to sear it.
If your regular serving of frozen veggies just is not cutting it any longer, shake things up a bit. By stirring some flaked coconut into your corn, you can enjoy a Thai-style dish that everyone will love.
It is important to maintain a wooden cutting board properly. Excess moisture, heat and dryness may cause a wooden chopping board to split and warp. Don't submerge your board in water to clean it. Use a sponge and warm soapy water instead. Bring a damaged wood board back to life with regular oiling, using only oil made for cutting boards. Store in a cool dry place until the product has completely dried.
Do you ever hesitate to toss moldy food? Do you wonder if you can still use the fruit by simply cutting out the part that seems overripe? Unfortunately, there is no healthy way of saving half rotten fruit. They need to be thrown out, due to the fact that mold is much deeper than just skin level and could make you or anyone who eats it very ill.
Food is amazingly powerful; it provides the roots for all life. Use the tips in the article you have just read to bring joy to all the wonderful friends and family in your life!
