3.27.2012

How To Cook Like A Great Chef

By Kim Sao


You can never know enough about cooking. Some people who enjoy cooking love to share what they know, while others want what they know to be a well guarded secret. Learning from others, however, can make some of the best teachers! This article will share some helpful tips from those with experience.

One way to ensure that you are cooking in a nutritional manner is to make sure that you do not over cook your vegetables. This is important because overcooking can actually draw the nutrients out of your vegetables and also cause them to lose taste. Try steaming your veggies instead of boiling.

Placing eggs in water can let you know if they are fresh. Eggs that lie on the bottom, on their side will be fresh. Eggs that stand upright in the bottom are losing freshness and should be used promptly within a day or two. Eggs that float on top of the water should be discarded immediately. Always check eggs for freshness before using.

When picking out a melon for purchase, make sure that it is still fresh. Many times, people get sick from melons that have gone bad. You can check its freshness by checking the part of the melon that was connected to the vine. If it is soft, then the melon is still good.

To avoid sticky rice, wash it before cooking. This is a simple trick to use if you want fluffy rice. Put the rice in a large pot, fill it with water, and stir. Let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Repeat this once more. Let all of the water drain before cooking.

To keep your burgers flat, indent the middle of the burger with your thumb, nearly leaving a hole, before frying or grilling the patties. As the meat draws up and shrinks while cooking, the indentation will close itself, leaving you with flat burgers instead of small patties with extra thick middles.

While it is very convenient to cook meats in a slow cooker, it is important that you are very careful or you can be at risk. Any meat that you plan on adding to a cooker needs to be browned first so that it reaches food-safety standards for temperature.

Store your home-baked goodies and leftovers that need refrigeration in square or rectangular-shaped storage containers. Round containers are great, but take up precious refrigerator space while square and rectangular containers make the most of the limited shelf space. Rectangular storage containers also are easier to stack and store and save on space in your cupboards too.

Whenever possible, you should buy your food from the farmers market rather than a normal grocery store or supermarket. Food from the farmers market is fresh and sometimes requires less maintenance to bring out flavors rather than normal food. Remember to keep it simple when cooking with food from the farmers market.

Put salt on your cutting board. It can be difficult to cut herbs on your cutting board. They tend to go all over the place. To keep this from happening, just sprinkle a little salt on your cutting board before you begin. This will work to keep them from slipping around.

An easy way to skin nuts. When used in cooking, nuts such as almonds and pistachios need their skins removed. Blanch the nuts by boiling them in a pan of water for one minute. Drain the nuts, and place them on a clean dishtowel. Fold the dish towel over the nuts, and rub vigorously. The skins will rub off onto the towel.

After trying these steps, you should be well on your way to being a much better cook. The great thing about these tips is that if they don't work the first time keep trying and you are sure to get better. You should notice the difference right away and your friends and family will thank you.




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