When you’re thinking about taking up a hobby, consider cooking. Cooking is often overlooked because you are probably doing so much of it, but the truth is that cooking can be a wonderful source of relaxation for the home chef, as well as a way to create and explore. Here are a few tips to help your cooking exploration.
When cooking stock, make it in a large quantity and store it in smaller bags in the freezer. Stock has a long freezer life and can be useful in so many recipes. Making a larger batch is no more difficult than making a small batch. You’ll save yourself time later by having a freezer store to turn to.
It’s nice to have a pie quickly when unexpected guests arrive. When you don’t have time to create the crust from scratch, use a quality pre-made mix. Add a few tablespoons of sour cream to make the crust flaky so no one will notice that you didn’t create the pie from scratch.
Do not be afraid to experiment. There is no rule that says you need to follow a recipe exactly. If you do not care for an ingredient, leave it out. If you think a different ingredient would taste better, substitute it. If you think the dish is missing a little something, add it.
Make sure to prepare your dishes the night before. Create marinades and allow your meat to sit in the refrigerator overnight. By doing most of the prep the night before, you make a delicious tasting meal. You also lower the amount of stress when making the meal before your guests arrive.
Do a little research and find out if there is a farmers’ market within shopping distance. These markets – usually held on a weekly basis – are your ticket to purchasing the very freshest ingredients available. Treat food from a farmers’ market with respect; usually, the less cooking you do to such ingredients, the better-tasting the results will be.
Here is a great cooking tip to use when you are handling smelly garlic. After handling garlic, simply rub your hands with a piece of stainless steel for 30 seconds. This could be your sink or a doorknob. After doing this, wash your hands with soap as your normally would. The stainless steel helps to remove the odor from your hands.
Place fruit that is not quite ripe in a plastic bag with a few small holes to allow it to ripen. The plastic helps retain the gases used by ripening fruit while the holes allow fresh air to circulate across the fruit. This also helps you keep your fruit fresh longer!
Start your sear in a cold pan when searing duck breasts. Duck can turn very dry very quickly if not properly cooked. Using the cold pan technique for searing allows the fat to render slowly which will keep your duck moist and juicy. It will also give you more time to develop flavors and take care of some side dishes.
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.
When cooking a stew or pot roast, remember to skim the top of the stew to remove the excess oil. It’s best to skim before the stew is mixed up because the oil will dissolve into the mixture and remain there until it eventually separates later.
When it comes to cooking it is important to consider the dietary concerns of those who are going to be eating your food. Be sure to check if anybody has sodium or sugar concerns in order to prevent embarrassment on their part from having to refuse your otherwise delicious food.
Buy your meat in bulk for maximum savings on your grocery bill. Larger packages are often cheaper per pound and are only marginally more inconvenient than single-pound packages. Buying in bulk allows you to divide portions for individual meals and then freeze them, pulling out only what is needed for dinner.
Keep whole, rather than ground, spices on hand. Unground cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and peppercorns last much longer than their ground counterparts. Just use a fine grater or mortar and pestle to grate them into your dish when needed. Their flavors will stay fresh much longer and save you from the costs of replacing your spices.
If you want a delicious meal with little effort, try a roast dinner. Simply chop up some vegetables: carrots, potatoes, onions, and peppers all work well. Add a piece of meat with a little oil and seasoning. Roast at 400 degrees for about an hour, or until the meat is thoroughly cooked. That’s easier than you thought!
To reduce cooking time for beef steaks and roasts, pull the meat out of the fridge an hour before you intend to start roasting or grilling it. Letting the meat come to room temperature can shave valuable minutes off the cooking time and allows the meat to cook more evenly.
When using a meat thermometer to check the temperature of meat or poultry, ensure that you do not insert it too close to the bone or the pan. The bones and pans are hotter than the surrounding flesh, and you may get an inaccurate reading. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat to get the most accurate temperature.
If your family is bored with frozen sweet corn it may be time to make a new culinary creation. Consider mixing some coconut flakes with your corn for an tasty flavor with roots in Thai cooking.
Take these tips and use them in your dishes to make them come alive. Serve them to guests, bask in the compliments and then do it all over again. The wonderful thing about cooking as a hobby is that you can always recreate or create anew; you’ll always need something to eat!
