Friday, August 3, 2012

An Introduction To Cooking, For The Absolute Newbie

Have you ever eaten something at a five-star restaurant and wanted to buy the secret recipe? Have you tried to recreate this dish in your own home? By taking notes from the following advice, you can find out how to create all your favorite dishes, and a whole lot of new ones, to cover all occasions. Culinary arts can be an enjoyable and entertaining hobby for almost anyone.

Pungent foods such as garlic, onions, and fish can leave an offensive odor on your hands. You can effectively remove this scent by rubbing your hands on a stainless steel object before you wash them. Try using a spoon, the side of the sink, or a "soap bar," this can cause your hands to again be fresh and odor-free.

When sauteing food, don't put too much oil in the pan. With too much in the pan, you will find some foods steaming as opposed to sauteing, which destroys the intended integrity of the dish. Saute at a lower temperature as well.

Garlic is just one of many tasty ingredients whose flavor has a downside; it transfers to your hands. After you have finished doing your prep work with the garlic, run your hands along the stainless steel interior of your sink. It both cleans your hands and helps to avoid transfer the odor to other foods.

If you are just beginning your adventure with home cooking, look online, at a bookstore, or at the library for a cookbook that has simple, easy recipes that you'll take pleasure in both preparing and eating. Focus on one recipe at a time and give yourself enough time to improve your cooking.

Enhance the flavors in a simple dish by using fresh ingredients, herbs and seasonings. Dried herbs, such as thyme, basil or oregano, are fine for dishes with complex flavors. Don't forget though, the best tasting herbs are always the freshest. A good way to always have herbs on hand is to grow a little garden. Even a few pots in the window sill can give you a lot of fresh herbs on demand.

For fried foods, use ketchup in the batter. Just dunk everything from vegetables to meat into the ketchup before dredging them in breadcrumbs. Ketchup adds a flavor that you might find surprisingly delicious. If you use this for guests, do not be surprised if they ask you for your secret recipe.

When you are cooking pumpkins, first stand the pumpkin upright and then cut it in half directly down the middle. Put both halves of the pumpkin on different baking sheets with the cut side down. Pour a little water on some baking sheets and bake the pumpkin for about 1 hour at 350 F.

Seafood lovers who live near the the open water might enjoy catching and preparing fish that has been caught nearby. Catching a fish, preparing it, and cooking it immediately is not just an exercise in self-reliance; it is also a delicious meal that can't be beat for freshness.

When you are faced with cooking a difficult meal, prepping the night before will really reduce your stress. There are a lot of things you can do ahead of time like chopping vegetables, measuring seasonings and gathering all the utensils you will need. Also verify that you aren't missing any ingredients. You can reduce a lot of recipes to a matter of mixing everything together and putting heat to it if you do good advance preparation.

A well organized kitchen will simplify cooking. If they're not organized, you'll waste time looking for needed items. Try to keep similar things in one place. To be more specific, put peanut butter and jelly on the same shelf, since they both serve the same purpose.

When cooking with fruits and vegetables that you have never used before, gather as much knowledge about them beforehand as you can. By performing some research, you could be surprised at how versatile a new food can be. If you take the time to learn about the item before heading into the kitchen, the experience will be that much more enjoyable.

Fresh garlic is ideal when preparing dishes that call for garlic. It's well-known that fresher garlic equals sweeter taste. If it isn't soft, bruised or shriveled and it has some firm skin then you know that the garlic is fresh.

Use the tips you just learned the next time you prepare a meal. You'll soon be convinced that cooking can be great once you taste the wonderful meals you create. As a matter of fact, you may even begin actually enjoying it. Once you begin enjoying it, you'll discover yourself trying lots of new recipes. Give cooking a try!

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