Cooking is one of the most interesting ways that people can express themselves. Cooking lets you exercise creativity as you combine food items to create new dishes that are unique. If you wish to express your creativity through cooking, then the tips in the article below will help you get started.
Remember, the smaller the item, the higher the baking temperature. Small cookies will bake on a higher temp than a full cake would. Make sure to double check your recipe to find out the exact temperature it needs to be. You don’t want to prepare a perfect item only to have it burn or be under cooked.
Use a heavy duty, zip-lock plastic bag to separate pan drippings. After roasting meat, pour the pan drippings into a zip-lock plastic bag. Let the fat rise to the top. Carefully snip off one of the bottom corners on the bag, and pour out the fat-free broth. The fat will stay in the plastic bag, and you will have a tasty broth as a base for gravy or a sauce.
When trying to cook healthy foods, it is important to cut back on the amount of oils and butters that you are using. A great alternative is using nonstick bakeware or a nonstick cooking spray. Many of the sprays have little to no calories and make foods healthy and cleanup a breeze.
When making baked goods, try to get parchment paper for lining pans. By using parchment paper, your baked goods will be easier to remove and it will help to keep your food in one piece. Also, using parchment paper makes less of a mess and is much easier to clean up afterward.
When you have a recipe that calls for wine, you may be tempted to use a cheap wine or cooking wine. Avoid this mindset when you approach your cooking. A good rule of thumb is to consider whether or not you would drink the wine. If you wouldn’t drink it, do not use it to cook.
Before grilling any foods, make sure your grill is clean. A dirty grill surface can cause many problems. Excessive smoking, soiling of flavors, potential for bacterial illness, not to mention being a fire risk, are all side effects of a filthy surface. Clean your grill with a wire brush often for best results.
Avoid limiting yourself to white potatoes in your cooking. They are very high in starch and have the least amount of nutritional content of any of the potatoes. Try varieties that come in blue, red, yellow, and orange. You can substitute almost any root vegetable as your usual white potato.
Pour off the grease from your browned hamburger before you add the rest of the ingredients. Your health will thank you for this small step and the meal is likely to taste much better without the unneeded fat. Keep an empty can or other container on your stove top expressly for that purpose.
Store vegetable trimmings in the freezer for a tasty vegetable stock. Save money and increase the flavor of your dishes by making your own vegetable stock. Throughout the week or even month, place vegetable trimmings and peels into plastic bags and store them in the freezer. When you have a spare afternoon, throw them in a pot with some water and let simmer. Once strained, you will have a flavorful broth that can also be frozen for later use.
Do not forget to add salt to water for making pasta. This process will allow the salt to season your pasta while it cooks. Adding salt after the pasta is cooked will cause the flavor to not be absorbed as well.
Cutting onions does not have to be a crying matter. The keys to success with onions are easy to follow and minimize tears. Chill the onions first before cutting, use your sharpest knife for cutting and turn exposed cuts down on your board. As you cut, be efficient, quick and constantly turn the largest exposed cuts down against the board. Running your vent hood will help circulate air as you cut as well.
Store herbs and spices in your cabinet or pantry if they offer a cool, dry area. Many people keep their spice rack out near the stove or on the wall over the stove. These locations offer too much light, humidity, and heat, which can deplete the flavor of the seasonings. Avoid these exposed areas, and look for an optimal location out of sight.
If you are cooking a soup or stew and you add too much salt to the pot you can add a peeled white potato to the pot and continue boiling it. The starch in the potato will help to absorb a lot of the extra salt. You can repeat with an additional potato if it is still too salty.
If you envy the straightness of restaurant bacon, here’s an easy tip that will help you get the same effect. Simply dip each slice of bacon into cold water before you place it in the frying pan. This keeps the bacon strips from becoming curly and gives a straighter edge.
One of the first steps in becoming a better cook is to better understand cooking in general. The best way to do this is to simply think about your meals every time you eat in a restaurant. When you eat something you find tasty in a restaurant, think about why it tastes so good.
As stated before in the article above, cooking is an interesting way to express yourself. You can create many food combinations to create unique signature dishes of your own design. If you remember the tips found in this article, you can take the first step to creating a cooking masterpiece.
