Easy Ways To Improve Your Cooking Skills

Most people like to eat. This is especially true if the meals are being prepared by someone who knows their way around a kitchen. In this article, you will find some fantastic tips that can make you a better cook anytime that you're in the kitchen.

Try adding cauliflower to your mashed potatoes to lower the fat content. Cauliflower has a kind of bland taste that mixes well with potatoes and the other ingredients in them. 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.

When making a dish that needs to contain garlic, purchase the best and most fresh garlic you can. When garlic is fresher, it will not taste as bitter. Indications that garlic is not fresh include bruising and soft skin.

Dry your own tomatoes. Start by slicing a ripe tomato one-half inch thick, or you can cut Roma tomatoes in half lengthwise. Take a cooling rack and place the tomatoes on it. Sprinkle them with salt. Put the rack on a baking sheet, and slow-bake in an oven that is set to 190 degrees for about 10 hours. The dried tomatoes can be put in plastic bags and frozen. You can store dried tomatoes in an olive oil filled jar. Add fresh herbs for seasoning. Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.

Do not use a random amount of cooking oil. When it is time to add oil to your cooking pan, measure it instead of pouring directly from the bottle. This can ensure you are aware of the amount of unhealthy fat going into your food. By doing this, you will know exactly how much oil you use.

Keep your spices and herbs stored in a dark, cool place so that their freshness and flavor is maximized. Herbs and spices stored above the range or in direct sunlight will degrade their flavors.

When you are cooking for someone for the first time, always stick with a recipe that you are comfortable with. The night you meet your in-laws is not the time to experiment, and the way to impress a date or your boss is to serve something you know they'll enjoy. Stick to dishes that you are confident you can make well, and your meal will be a success.

Let raw potatoes soak in some cold water for a half hour prior to frying them to increase the crispiness of French fries. A cold water soak helps the potatoes stand up to the rigors of deep fat frying.

When making food that relies on seasonings, use some every few minutes, versus using it all at the start. This method will ensure that the flavoring is spread out and even, and that the ingredients are enhanced to the best they can be.

Wooden skewers should be soaked in water for a minimimum of thirty minutes before they are used. This is going to help ensure that they do not burn during the cooking process. To ensure that the food doesn't fall off the skewer, use two skewers for each item.

Apples are a popular choice for eating in autumn or winter, but they will spoil if not properly stored. Apples rot in dry warm air, so store them in loosely tied plastic bags in the refrigerator or a cool basement. Make sure you take a look at them throughout the season; a simple rotten apple can easily ruin the rest of the bunch.

If you are cooking a large batch of pancakes or waffles, it is important to keep the food warm until you are ready to serve. Turn your oven on to 300 degrees. Once the waffles or pancakes are finished, place them into the oven on a plate so they remain heated.

When you are making chicken stock, think big. When you prepare stock, make a large amount, so it can be frozen for later use. You can use that delicious chicken stock in stews, casseroles, and soups. Once your stock is cooked, let the leftovers reach room temperature, then portion them into freezer bags.

Quality cutting utensils are a good investment for the kitchen. You can save time not having to sharpen or deal with dull knives and sharper knives are safer to use. More accidental cuts occur when using a dull knife, instead of a good sharp one.

To use all of your leftover vegetables before you go out shopping, try putting them in a wok with some fried rice. Using rice that has cooled for a full day is best. If you do not have any rice already cooked and cooled, you can make it fresh and just cut back on the amount of water you add to the pot. Fry all the veggies and meat with some oil, and then add in the rice, followed by seasoning with garlic, ginger, soy sauce and additional spices.

Do not dress your guests' salads. Serve the dressing on the side and allow your guests to dress it to their liking. There are many people who prefer little to no dressing on a salad. If you allow everyone to apply their dressings on their own it will allow them to have the amount they like. You should also provide a large variety of dressings to serve your guests.

There are many different kinds of potatoes, and they cannot be equally substituted for each other. Waxy potatoes are great for boiling and potato salads while other potatoes are better for making french fries, baked potatoes and mashed potatoes. Russet potatoes are more suited to those applications because of their fluffy texture.

Cooling racks that can be stacked are great things to use when baking. When you bake a big cookie batch, you might have no room from all of the cooling racks. To make the most efficient use of space, use stackable cooling racks. By using these vertical racks, your treats can cool while you have free space to do some work that needs done.

Reheating oily dishes in your microwave can have disastrous results. To avoid the mess, warm the dish in an oven instead. The oil, which warms up faster than the other ingredients, will separate from them under the high heat caused by the microwave oven. Baking will allow the entire dish to heat at the same time and keep all of the ingredients cohesive.

It is vital for cooks to have their supplies organized when cooking. An unorganized kitchen is an unhappy kitchen. You will have difficulty finding what you want to make your delicious recipes. Put like items with other like items. Keep your herbs and spices together and follow this grouping rule with other supplies as well.

Sitting down and having a good meal is a great feeling. It doesn't take years of learning to be able to create your own masterpieces. There is almost nobody who cannot learn the art of cooking. The advice from this article should give you the knowledge you need to begin cooking.