Cooking Tips To Simplify Your Meal Planning

Cooking is a wonderful skill to possess. Almost everyone enjoys eating, and it is even better when you or one of your family members is the one that did the cooking. However, some people do not have as much skill in the kitchen as they desire. If you would like to be a better cook, try some of the useful tips below.

People often add too much salt in their recipes without realizing it until it's too late, but do not worry. There is a way to fix this! Peel some raw potatoes, chop them up, place them in the sauce and allow them to simmer for approximately 15 minutes. The sliced potatoes will absorb any extra salt. Dilute over-salted tomato-based foods with additional tomatoes, and simmering them until tender.

To get some extra bang from your pasta sauce, reserve some of the water you cooked the pasta in. Remove approximately a quarter of a cup and set it aside. When you mix the pasta with this sauce, add the water as well. Your sauce will be thicker and creamier due to the starch provided by the water from the pasta.

It is a good idea to store unripened fruits in perforated plastic bags. As a fruit becomes ripe, it puts off ethylene gasses. When air is allowed to reach the fruit, the gas will not escape, thereby maintaining its flavor and freshness for a longer period of time.

Many popular veggies and herbs have a strong residual odor that can remain on cutting boards well after use. Mark your chopping board using indelible ink in order to keep track of which side you used.

Learn to appreciate sturdy greens that are available in the colder months. Kale, collars and broccoli rabe will taste much sweeter after they have lived passed the first frost. The best greens will be deeply and brightly colored and won't show any signs of limpness or yellowing. Since the greens can be covered in dirt, take care when washing them. First, fully submerge each bunch in cold water. After removing the greens, shake them off and rinse thoroughly.

For healthier, lower-calorie mashed potatoes, add some cooked cauliflower to your tubers. Cauliflower blends perfectly with your potatoes without changing the taste of your mashed potatoes. Cauliflower is also the same texture and color of potatoes when mashed so it's a great way to add more veggies, while lowering calories from classic mashed potatoes.

Fruit tastes great when cooked on a grill. Try taking slices of melon, nectarines, and peaches and then putting them on some skewers. Grill them until marks appear. Serve on top of ice cream or grilled pound cake.
Ensure that all of your spices and herbs are stored in a cool and dry area away from direct light. Humidity or heat can ruin your herbs and spices quickly. If you take good care of your ingredients, they will keep their flavor longer.

Season meat very sparingly to begin with and add more during the cooking process. Take care when seasoning foods like hamburgers, meatloaf or meatballs. Once you add seasoning, it is not wise to cook all the meat. Instead, make a small piece in the shape of a patty and initially cook that first. Once you see how it tastes, you can determine to either cook the remaining meat or adjust the amount of seasoning.

Be sure to read nutrition labels when purchasing ingredients. Many of the most common ingredients can contain unhealthy and unnecessary additives. Pay special attention to carbohydrate and salt content, as eating too much of these can be especially dangerous.

Wash your dishes as you go when cooking a meal. If you have a double sink, be sure to keep one half filled with hot, soapy water and the other with clean rinse water. Cooking bowls and tools can be quickly cleaned as needed, and ready for their next use.

Mushrooms will absorb the water like a sponge. So, in order to clean them, wipe off each mushroom with a clean, wet cloth.

If you've made sauce, you should place any that is leftover in an ice tray and freeze it. This way, the next time you want some sauce, all you need to do is saute it in a pan. Don't worry; the sauce will taste delicious after being frozen in an ice cube tray!

As pointed out in this article, cooking can be fun and entertaining. Following these tips will help you engage creatively in an activity that could otherwise be boring or unpleasant.