Are you tired of fast food restaurants and takeout? Are you expecting company soon? If you said yes to these questions, you may be in need of some cooking inspiration. These tips should help you get passionate about cooking again!
Basil is one of the best things that you can add to a dish and looks great as a decoration to any type of meal. Simply add a few pieces of basil to give your meal spice and improve the overall aesthetic beauty to the dish you put on the table.
To make the cooking process easier and faster, many preparatory steps can be completed ahead of time. Look at your recipes before starting and clue in on the steps that can be done ahead of time without having any spoilage issues. You can simplify the cooking process by doing your prep work well in advance. Even if you are faced with a challenging recipe, it can make everything go quickly.
Instead of approaching cooking as an analytic process, you should try to maximize the amount of fun that you have in the kitchen. Put the music on loud and dance from time to time to enjoy what you are doing. Keeping something fun and casual will reduce errors from anxiety.
Check what you have at home and bring any new recipes with you when you go to the store. When you have the recipe with you, you’ll have a handy list of what you need to buy. If you don’t check what you already have, you may ending up buying more than you need. If you don’t bring the recipe, you may forget something that you won’t be able to cook without!
If you’ve made a big pot of sauce, freeze the leftovers by pouring the extra sauce into ice cube trays. You can easily take them from the freezer when needed for a meal, and quickly reheat in a saute pan. The sauce is still good after it is frozen.
True butter should be used when cooking. Butter is typically not purchased by the average consumer because of its cost. It is well worth the investment because it is not filled with unhealthy oils or trans fats. You can buy the butter in bulk when it is on sale and freeze it in your freezer.
You need to store your flour in a waterproof container. If flour gets wet, it becomes a huge mess and cannot be used for cooking. There are some waterproof containers that can be sealed so that there is no way for water to get into it, which can save you a lot of money in the long run.
Here is a great cooking tip to use when you are handling smelly garlic. After handling garlic, simply rub your hands with a piece of stainless steel for 30 seconds. This could be your sink or a doorknob. After doing this, wash your hands with soap as your normally would. The stainless steel helps to remove the odor from your hands.
If you are going to buy mushrooms, make sure that you get them before they are opened. When the stems and the caps of a mushroom are tightly attached, this means means that they are really fresh. If the cap is opened, chances are the mushroom is not too fresh.
When baking, here is a tip for eggs and butter. Let your eggs and butter set out overnight at room temperature. Doing so will soften the butter which will make it easier to spread, melt, and mix with other ingredients. The eggs will be easier to beat, and foaming egg whites will be easier as well.
Stay healthy by making sure your utensils do not have leftover scraps or any sort of dirt before you use them. If your utensils are not completely clean, you run the risk of introducing old food residue into whatever you are cooking. This can be costly because it might allow for bacteria to spread.
If you have left over wine in a bottle from dinner or drinks with friends, you can pour out the remaining wine in an ice tray and put it in the freezer. When you are making a sauce that has wine in the recipe you can drop in a couple of cubes.
If you are sauteing vegetables and require more oil, add the oil to the outer part of the pan. This way the oil is heated by the time it reaches your vegetables. By doing this you eliminate extra cooking time and you never have to worry about your vegetables getting soggy or getting splattering hot oil.
When using a chopping board, make sure to always sanitize it before going on to a different ingredient. Making this a habit will prevent cross contamination of bacteria. It is also useful for keeping your flavors from being muddied by being chopped with other ingredients’ residue. A clean chopping board is a safe and useful chopping board.
Whip up some Angel Food Delight for a quick tasty desert. All you need is five ingredients, a pack of flavored jello, a pack of shelled nuts, some canned fruit cocktail, some cottage cheese and a frozen tub of whipped cream. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and refrigerate before serving.
Do not let cooking frustrated you, even if you fail at first; you will get better at it as you practice. Remember to have fun. Think of the joy that you will have to share your creations with your family and friends.
