You don’t need to be Jamie Oliver to whip up the kinds of dishes that’ll impress your guests. If you watch food channels or read recipe books by well-renowned chefs, you’ll have picked up a few tips that make you a decent home cook.
However, if you’re just getting started in the kitchen, here are a few fundamentals that’ll put you in good stead:
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6 Simple Basic Cooking Skills Everyone Should Know
1. Tried and tested recipes
Far too often, new cooks get experimental with an online recipe. The truth is, you never know which recipes will turn out well. While you may feel as if you have flopped an all-too-easy meal, it may have been a recipe for disaster in the first place.
Always read what other people have to say in the comment section of recipes that are found on blogs before you beat yourself up about a failed attempt at recreating it.
The best way to achieve success in the kitchen is to start with tried and tested recipes and always use quality cookware.
2. Spice it up... from afar
Do you feel that your pasta, stews, and curries lack flavor? A helpful hint is to season your pan from a distance. Though this may sound bizarre, there’s a method to the madness. Throwing in the seasoning at close range can cause it to stay in the center of the dish instead of spreading evenly.
If you watch any professional chef in action, you will notice that they season from a bit of a height to even out the spices in the dish. Believe it or not, it’s all about the distance that you season from.
3. The best sauces need heavy cream
Sometimes all it takes is a good sauce to make a dish seem as if you took hours to prepare it. Hey, you can even create a whole new dish from last night’s leftovers if you have a good sauce on hand.
That’s because a good, rich sauce can add an element of decadence to any dish, and the best sauces are made using heavy cream. If you want a lighter sauce calorie-wise, then you can use yogurt instead.
4. Roast your veggies
One of the best ways to create a warm and comforting soup is to first roast your vegetables in the oven. Simply toss together all of the vegetables you need and add a dash of olive oil.
If you’ve got the time, you can roast your veggies for about an hour before you liquidize them to make a rich and flavorsome soup. This is an especially good trick for a warm and hearty butternut soup.
5. Pasta it up a notch
To make flavor-packed pasta, simply add salt to your water while you’re boiling the pasta. This is the first step to dialing up your pasta dishes.
The second step is to save some of the pasta water and pour it into your sauce. Doing this prevents the sauce from drying out and betters the taste entirely.
6. The garlic and onion mix
Many recipes call for a mixture of onions and garlic. The common mistake that people make is to heat both ingredients together. Since onions take slightly longer than garlic to sauté, it’s essential that you place the onions in the heated pan first.
Once the onions start turning slightly translucent, add the garlic. This will even out the cooking time for both.
These basic tips will help you to sauté your way to cooking success, so grab your apron and get cooking!
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