Do you remember the last time you ate out and wondered how they made such delicious food? Have you tried to recreate these restaurant meals at home? The tips provided in this article will help you figure out how to create your most-loved meals, as well as discover new favorites. Cooking can be a rewarding hobby for nearly anyone.
If you like to experiment with spices, try adding saffron to your dishes. Saffron lends a unique, exotic flavoring that is unmatched by other spices. It is a wonderful herb that has been used since ancient times. This highly sought spice, which is actually the stigma of a specific species of crocus, can be quite pricey.
There are many dishes you can make with apples, especially in cold-weather months. But if stored improperly, well, one bad apple does spoil the bushel. Apples will spoil in warm, dry air, so put them in a loosely tied bag in a cool basement or refrigerator. One rotten apple will spoil the whole bunch, so check each one occasionally to see if you should throw any away.
Always select airtight containers for sugar, flour and other baking mixes. Cooking ingredients will keep longer if they are sealed in airtight containers, and they’ll be safe from bugs and other pests, too. They can be purchased just about anywhere and are a worthwhile investment.
It’s important to keep breakfast foods like waffles and pancakes heated until you are ready to serve them. Warm your oven to 300 degrees. Place the waffles or pancakes on an oven safe plate inside the warm oven as you cook.
Depending on your recipe, make certain you choose the right potato for the job. Waxy, mealy, and all-purpose are the three main classes of potato. Mealy potatoes are usually dry and crumbly, which makes them ideal for mashing. Russet potatoes are popular mealy potatoes. Yukon gold potatoes are “all-purpose”, which means they are suitable for most dishes. Since they do a good job of holding their shape, waxy potatoes are used in recipes that call for steaming or boiling. The most common varieties of the waxy potatoes are the regular red and white potatoes.
If you want to avoid the greasy mess that you can get when you warm up leftover food that is oily, try baking it rather than microwaving it. The intense heat of a microwave tends to cause the oil, which heats fastest, to separate from the other ingredients. However, baking the dish slowly and evenly reheats the entire dish, thus keeping the ingredients and flavors together.
Over-salting a meal or a sauce is a very common cooking mistake, and there is an easy way to deal with it. Add two peeled and chopped raw potatoes to the dish, and then allow it to simmer for around 15 minutes. These raw potatoes will absorb any excess salt. If your dish contains tomatoes, use extra tomatoes to get rid of the extra salt and make sure to cook them until they achieve the desired tenderness.
If you are preparing a recipe with an unfamiliar fruit or vegetable, enhance your skills as a chef by taking a moment to educate yourself about it. After a little research, you may be amazed at the versatility of food. Becoming knowledgeable should precede any work you do in the kitchen, and it will also help in giving you a more enjoyable cooking experience.
You’re now on the way to becoming a great home chef. Let your mind run wild so you can make delicious experimental meals as new recipes. Experiment with the cuisines from the many different cultures of the world to add variety to your cooking.
