Do you drool enviously over the many attractive and tasty meals other people prepare? Do you wish you had the talent to offer your family these works of art? This article has some great tips to help you have a magnificent presentation of your own.
Always add oil to the side of the pan when sautéing. If you find that you need more oil in your pan while you are cooking, never put it right in the middle. Add it to the side of your pan. That way, it will be sufficiently heated by the time it reaches the food.
Take care when storing chocolate for use in cooking. As a rule, only buy as much chocolate as you can use within a few months. Chocolate contains fat, and under the wrong conditions it can turn rancid. Store in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. A kitchen cupboard away from any heat sources is ideal. Keep the chocolate wrapped in foil or plastic and store it away from anything with a strong smell, as it absorbs odors easily.
Have you been making the same berry shortcake for a while? Make the flavor pop with the following tip. Mix your berries with a pinch of salt, a little fresh mint and a small spoon of lime juice. Your guests will never guess how you enhanced the flavor of the old family recipe.
Make sure you are storing your spices in the right place. Many people store their spices right above their stove or near a light source. To stay fresh, put them in dry and dark spot that is cool. Humidity can also destroy spices so keep those several factors in mind.
To save on fat when cooking, use applesauce instead of butter. A cup of applesauce is equal to a cup of butter. This will reduce fat and calorie contents of your dessert recipe. It will also make your recipe moist and delicious. Most people won’t even be able to tell the difference.
If you want to optimize the amount of juice that you get from a lime, put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. This will allow the liquid to flow easily when you cut the lime, so that you can add this to your favorite meals. Use this trick anytime you serve a lemon or lime.
While making sunny side up eggs, try this tip for a new culinary experience. Simply deglaze the pan you prepared the eggs in with a sherry vinegar. Then drizzle the sauce made from the sherry vinegar over the sunny side up eggs. Doing this will make the eggs more rich and flavorful and they will taste better than ever before.
Many veggies and herbs have a scent that remains on cutting boards even after they are washed. You should mark your cutting board on the side you will be cutting herbs on.
It is important to test the heat of oil before using it to pan fry your food. Pouring the oil into the pan and then sprinkling it with water should give you a series of cracks or sparkles. If it does not, then the pan isn’t currently up to frying or heating capacity and dumping the food in it will act closer to an oil sponge than a frying pan.
Check your meatloaf or meatballs by test cooking a small piece. You want your meat to taste perfect, so when you make a mini hamburger patty, and fry it up to taste it, you can decide if the seasoning is just right or if you need to add more flavor. Doing this ensures your meatloaves and meatballs are perfect when you pop them out of the oven.
To test the freshness of an egg, place it in a cup of water. If it sinks, it’s fresh. If it floats, it’s getting old. As an egg ages the fluid inside slowly evaporates as oxygen and gases seep inside. This makes the egg lighter and causes it to float.
Keep a food thermometer around. It is always best to stick your meat when cooking when you are not sure if it is done for food safety. Poultry should be cooked to 165 degrees F, Ground Beef, Fish, and Shellfish to 158 F, and Pork to 150.
When preparing food in the kitchen, always remember to wash your hands with soap and warm water before touching food, or anytime you handle raw meat, fish or eggs. In addition, you never want to put cooked food on plates, counters or any other surface where these raw meats have been unless they have been washed with hot, soapy water.
A foolproof way to clarify butter. Melt several sticks of butter over low heat in a heavy-based saucepan. When you see froth on the top, solid particles on the bottom, and a clear yellow liquid in between, remove the pan from the heat. Skim the froth off the top, and strain the clarified liquid into a container, leaving the milk solids behind.
When it comes to cooking, try to manage your time by cooking multiple meals at one time. This is important because not only will it save you money by having a pre-cooked meal but it will also save you from having to spend the time cooking it later on in the week.
Cook biscuits on a stick! You can use the dough from canned biscuits or homemade to make improvised bread over a campfire. Just stretch the dough out in to a thick string and wrap it around the end of a stick. Bake it slowly over the coals of a campfire just like you were roasting a marshmallow!
Cook fish on a plank! Use a cedar plank to replicate the taste you get in expensive restaurants right on your campfire. Clean your freshly caught fish and split them open so they are less than one inch thick. Tack the fish to the board and position it beside the campfire so it absorbs the heat of the fire but is not so close that the whole thing catches fire!
Be sure to follow the advice in this article. Soon, your friends and family will be asking you what your cooking secrets are.
