Chop, Dice, Fry And Freeze: Sneaky Hints And Cooking Tips

Cooking is a life skill that is useful in a variety of ways. A dish prepared by your own hands is a dish that will be truly enjoyed. Many people would like to learn how to be better cooks. This article aims to change that for the better.

If you are cooking for someone important, such as a new boss or for a dinner party, dont use a new recipe and a new ingredient. Make sure you practice the dish first for your own family. Play around with it to make sure it is how you want it.

A good thing to remember regarding cooking is to store your ingredients and spices in a cool dark place and not on top of your stove. This is because humidity and light tend to cause spices and herbs lose their flavor. This is one of the things new cooks tend to forget.

Buying pasta sauce that already has vegetables, seasonings, meat, or cheese in it is a great way to save time and money when cooking. Theres a great variety to choose from, and you wont have to chop up peppers and mushrooms or brown the beef. Its all in one jar--just heat it up, and serve over your favorite pasta!

One fun part of learning to cook is showing off your new-found skills. If you are cooking for someone special, though, leave the experimentation for another day. Do not try new recipes or new ingredients (or, worse, both at the same time) when you are cooking a meal for someone you really want to impress.

One good way to store extra sauce is to freeze it using ice cube trays. Take them out to use on another night when youd like a no hassle home cooked meal. Simply reheat the sauce cubes slowly in a medium pan on your stove top. The sauce will remain edible even after being in an ice tray.

When storing items in your kitchen, you will want to make sure that they are stored in containers that are airtight and closed tightly for two reasons. While most foods will go stale having constant exposure to air, another big fear is that the product will be taken over by bugs.

Keep dental floss handy in the kitchen to cut or slice soft foods or ingredients. Unflavored dental floss works better than a knife when it comes to cutting soft cheeses, cake, pie or other soft foods or ingredients. Just unwind a length long enough to allow you to stretch it across the item to be cut and apply even, downward pressure for clean, neat cuts.

Nutrition

Rather than using water or milk in a specific recipe, try a different liquid to add a new flavor. For example, you might try chicken broth or beef broth instead of water in a meat dish. You might even try fruit juice when cooking certain veggies. Some great replacements for milk are sour cream, yogurt and buttermilk. Using different liquids is an easy way to make an old dish more interesting and more nutritious.

To preserve more of the nutritional value of your vegetables dont cook them for too long. As you cook a vegetable, its nutrient content diminishes. Good techniques for quickly cooking vegetables are steaming and stir-frying. Slow cooking has its place, but dont neglect the quicker techniques with their greater nutrition.

As you can see, cooking can be easy. With the right techniques, creating delicious dishes for family and friends can suddenly become a breeze! Now that you have been introduced to these great tips and tricks, you just need to make the time to go and give them a try!