Home cooking is a talent that many people try to improve. Learning some basic cooking skills is a great way to diversify the meals you can enjoy on a daily basis and help you become more cultured. This article will contain some tips to help improve your abilities as a home cook.
To prevent the crust of your filled pies from getting soggy, coat the dough with egg white first and then bake it for about five minutes to allow it to set. You should then fill and bake as you normally would. This will stop your crust from absorbing too much of the filling during baking and becoming soft and wet.
Make sure that you defrost your vegetables before you put them in the microwave if you are planning to cook them this way. This will allow you to achieve the best texture, while not sacrificing the taste of your vegetables. After cooking, add your vegetables to a main plate as a side dish.
Cook your pasta for one minute less than the box recommends. Look at the cook time on your box of pasta and subtract a minute. If you are including the pasta in a dish, it will cook the rest of the way when you are cooking it with the sauce.
When cooking, many people forget about proper care for the spices that they use to season their food. All spices should be stored in a cool dark place and never above a stove. The reason for this is because storing spices in areas where there is a lot of heat, light, or humidity will cause them to lose their flavor.
If you want to spice up your meal, add peppers. Peppers will not only give the meal that you are making flavor, but will increase the spice intensity to appeal to your taste buds. Try different types and variations of peppers so that you can hone in on the peppers that you prefer.
If you are making mashed potatoes, return them to the pot after you have drained them cover the pot tightly and then let it steam for about 5 minutes. By doing this, the potatoes are able to dry out, which will make them mash into the perfect texture. It will also soak up butter and and cream easier.
Eggplants tend to turn black during cooking unless you treat them properly. Add a spoon of milk to the cold cooking water and add the plant to that milky water. The eggplant will not change its color during cooking and will make your dish more appetizing when you serve it.
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.
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.
When cutting corn kernels on the cob, try this tip: Use the side of the knife that is not sharp to scrape the cob. This will extract the excess sweet juices from the cob, which can be applied to your corn dish and add a hidden burst of flavor to it, creating a new taste to the dish.
Store your spices and herbs in a area that is cool and dark, and keep them away from the stove. Doing this ensures your spices are always rich with flavor every time you reach for them. Heat, humidity and light will cause your herbs to lose their flavor much faster.
A great help for achieving your best baking results is to bring your butter and eggs to room temperature before use. By allowing these ingredients to lose their chill, you allow heat from cooking to activate the oils and fats within them at the right time as opposed to waiting for them to achieve the right temperature while cooking.
If you aren’t the best in the kitchen and you are ready to tackle a recipe, choose one that isn’t too complicated to begin. You will want to stick to recipes that have a minimum of ingredients and ones that only require one or two pots to create. From there, you can aspire to be the next Julia Child.
Get perfectly beaten egg whites. For perfectly beaten egg whites, use a copper bowl. Copper makes the egg whites more stable and they can be whipped to a greater volume. There is an ion in copper that binds with the protein in egg whites, causing them to become more stable. If you don’t have a copper bowl, a stainless bowl will achieve the same results by adding a little cream of tartar to the eggs whites prior to beating.
Soak peeled raw potatoes in cold water before frying them. If soaked in cold water for at least an hour, the potatoes will be much crisper once done. If you don’t like soggy french fries, this is the perfect strategy for helping your french fries remain crisp and delectable after frying.
Timing is everything when cooking several courses. Anything that has to be baked for a long period of time should go in the oven first. If you have to have a pot of boiling water to whip up some instant potatoes put it on next. Then gather up the rest of your ingredients for various stove top dishes that are quickly prepared.
The tips previously stated are important to remember, but make sure you take more steps beyond them. If cooking is a passion, pursue it further. If it isn’t a passion and you just want to cook better meals for your family, pursue it more casually and more opportunities will open up.