Of course, you love to eat, but you may not necessarily love to cook. Some people find it intimidating to step into the kitchen and get started preparing a meal. The tips contained in this article will take some of the mystery out of cooking and make it seem more doable for you.
To reduce prep time as well as wear and tear on your blender, freeze your smoothie fruit instead of using ice. Not only does using ice water down the flavor of your smoothie, but if you freeze your fruit first the step is entirely unnecessary. As an added bonus, frozen fruit blends much easier than ice.
You can save time and energy by cooking larger batches of a meal at one time, and then storing some of it in the freezer for later. Divide the meal into several serving-size containers and put them away. On a night when you don't have time to cook from scratch, just pull a container out and defrost it.
Here is a great tip to use when you have to deep fry foods. While deep frying, hold the food with a set of long cooking tongues as you place them into the oil. Before releasing, hold the food for five seconds just below the oil, then release. This will prevent the food from sticking to other food or the side of the fryer by sealing it.
When you need to package cupcakes individually for bake sales, table decorations, or party favors place each cupcake in a clear plastic punch cup, then wrap the cup--from the bottom--with clear or colored cellophane. Use a twist tie, a piece of twine, or ribbon to secure the wrapping at the top.
When you are going to have baked potatoes for your dinner you should use a potato with a high starch content. Starchy potatoes will make for a fluffier backed potato. Also look for potatoes that have a smooth skin that do not have any sprouts they are fresher and better to eat.
When you are going to crush garlic for a dish, put it in a resealable plastic bag. Then, smash it up with the end of a knife. By doing this, you will prevent your knife, cutting board and hands from smelling of garlic, which is a smell that is hard to get rid of.
When you are making Easter eggs it is a pain when the eggs crack because coloring leaks onto the actual egg. To prevent this you can add some vinegar to the boiling water. This helps to seal the egg inside the shell and keep it all in one piece.
An easy way to experiment with combining savory flavors in the kitchen and not spend a lot of money in food waste, is to turn your ideas into an omelet. Eggs, especially egg whites, are fairly flavor-free and provide a great "canvas" on which to "paint" the ingredients you want and then combining into a dish. Small batches of scrambled eggs that you can fold your ingredients into, will also give a neutral background for your flavor taste tests.
Use your freezer to firm up supple meats. When cutting bacon into thin strips used to lard other meats, put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to make the meat firm before cutting. This will make it much easier and much less messy to cut into pieces that you can work with.
Even if you're not an experienced chef, cooking your own meals is easy to do. Anyone can be a great cook, and if you'd like to be one too, the advice provided here will help you to do it.
To reduce prep time as well as wear and tear on your blender, freeze your smoothie fruit instead of using ice. Not only does using ice water down the flavor of your smoothie, but if you freeze your fruit first the step is entirely unnecessary. As an added bonus, frozen fruit blends much easier than ice.
You can save time and energy by cooking larger batches of a meal at one time, and then storing some of it in the freezer for later. Divide the meal into several serving-size containers and put them away. On a night when you don't have time to cook from scratch, just pull a container out and defrost it.
Here is a great tip to use when you have to deep fry foods. While deep frying, hold the food with a set of long cooking tongues as you place them into the oil. Before releasing, hold the food for five seconds just below the oil, then release. This will prevent the food from sticking to other food or the side of the fryer by sealing it.
When you need to package cupcakes individually for bake sales, table decorations, or party favors place each cupcake in a clear plastic punch cup, then wrap the cup--from the bottom--with clear or colored cellophane. Use a twist tie, a piece of twine, or ribbon to secure the wrapping at the top.
When you are going to have baked potatoes for your dinner you should use a potato with a high starch content. Starchy potatoes will make for a fluffier backed potato. Also look for potatoes that have a smooth skin that do not have any sprouts they are fresher and better to eat.
When you are going to crush garlic for a dish, put it in a resealable plastic bag. Then, smash it up with the end of a knife. By doing this, you will prevent your knife, cutting board and hands from smelling of garlic, which is a smell that is hard to get rid of.
When you are making Easter eggs it is a pain when the eggs crack because coloring leaks onto the actual egg. To prevent this you can add some vinegar to the boiling water. This helps to seal the egg inside the shell and keep it all in one piece.
An easy way to experiment with combining savory flavors in the kitchen and not spend a lot of money in food waste, is to turn your ideas into an omelet. Eggs, especially egg whites, are fairly flavor-free and provide a great "canvas" on which to "paint" the ingredients you want and then combining into a dish. Small batches of scrambled eggs that you can fold your ingredients into, will also give a neutral background for your flavor taste tests.
Use your freezer to firm up supple meats. When cutting bacon into thin strips used to lard other meats, put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to make the meat firm before cutting. This will make it much easier and much less messy to cut into pieces that you can work with.
Even if you're not an experienced chef, cooking your own meals is easy to do. Anyone can be a great cook, and if you'd like to be one too, the advice provided here will help you to do it.
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