When you are preparing to cook a meal, you must keep several bits of information clearly in mind. As you formulate your recipe, add your ingredients, select cook times, and handle all the other demands of a busy kitchen, these strategies and tactics can help you turn bland meals into sizzling cuisine.
Buy fruit when it is at its peak at your local farmer's market. Use airtight containers, and then freeze it so you can use it to cook or bake with all year long. Not only will this save you from having to buy packaged frozen fruit at the supermarket, but also you will have the items on hand when they are not in season.
Try to plan for a week's worth of meals. If you can get in the habit of planning a weekly menu, it will save time on grocery shopping, and will reduce the stress of having to come up with a meal idea at the last minute. Also, keep a magnet-backed notepad on the refrigerator, and jot down any items that you are running low on. This way, your kitchen will always be stocked with the ingredients that you use regularly.
For the best texture and mouth-feel, always slice meats against the grain. This method cuts through the muscle fibers and results in a more tender texture, whereas meat sliced with the grain can be chewy or overly tough. Beef or pork roasts, steaks, loins and chops tend to benefit most from this treatment, although it's a good method for cutting turkey and chicken, as well.
Make banana boats when you are camping! All it takes is a banana, a chocolate bar, and some marshmallows. Don't peel the banana! Slice right through it longways, making sure you leave the far side of the skin to hinge the two sides back together again. Lay in some chocolate and marshmallow and place the whole thing right on the coals.
Prior to cutting a fresh lemon or lime for the juice, squeeze it and then roll it in between the palms of your hands or zap it in the microwave for ten seconds. Both methods help you to extract more juice from the citrus fruits. Squeeze the lemon or lime cut-side up to keep the seeds from falling into your dish.
Buy packaged whole chickens instead of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It's more economical, you get more meals and you can use the bones to make your own chicken stock for soup based recipes and more.
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!
When it comes to cooking the fresher the better. Sure the bottled and shaker spices cost less but there is no taste comparable to the taste of fresh cut spices such as garlic and parsley. So make sure that you spend the extra fifteen minutes cutting your spices, instead of shaking them.
The difference between a good chef and a bad cook boils down to effective education. By adding these tips to your existing cooking routine, you are sure to gain an edge over other chefs, impress your family and delight your own taste-buds with a medley of delicious meals. This information can take your dishes from dull to dazzling.
Buy fruit when it is at its peak at your local farmer's market. Use airtight containers, and then freeze it so you can use it to cook or bake with all year long. Not only will this save you from having to buy packaged frozen fruit at the supermarket, but also you will have the items on hand when they are not in season.
Try to plan for a week's worth of meals. If you can get in the habit of planning a weekly menu, it will save time on grocery shopping, and will reduce the stress of having to come up with a meal idea at the last minute. Also, keep a magnet-backed notepad on the refrigerator, and jot down any items that you are running low on. This way, your kitchen will always be stocked with the ingredients that you use regularly.
For the best texture and mouth-feel, always slice meats against the grain. This method cuts through the muscle fibers and results in a more tender texture, whereas meat sliced with the grain can be chewy or overly tough. Beef or pork roasts, steaks, loins and chops tend to benefit most from this treatment, although it's a good method for cutting turkey and chicken, as well.
Make banana boats when you are camping! All it takes is a banana, a chocolate bar, and some marshmallows. Don't peel the banana! Slice right through it longways, making sure you leave the far side of the skin to hinge the two sides back together again. Lay in some chocolate and marshmallow and place the whole thing right on the coals.
Prior to cutting a fresh lemon or lime for the juice, squeeze it and then roll it in between the palms of your hands or zap it in the microwave for ten seconds. Both methods help you to extract more juice from the citrus fruits. Squeeze the lemon or lime cut-side up to keep the seeds from falling into your dish.
Buy packaged whole chickens instead of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It's more economical, you get more meals and you can use the bones to make your own chicken stock for soup based recipes and more.
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!
When it comes to cooking the fresher the better. Sure the bottled and shaker spices cost less but there is no taste comparable to the taste of fresh cut spices such as garlic and parsley. So make sure that you spend the extra fifteen minutes cutting your spices, instead of shaking them.
The difference between a good chef and a bad cook boils down to effective education. By adding these tips to your existing cooking routine, you are sure to gain an edge over other chefs, impress your family and delight your own taste-buds with a medley of delicious meals. This information can take your dishes from dull to dazzling.
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