You can always learn new things about cooking, despite just being used for your family. Even minor changes can sometimes transform a two-star meal into a four- or five-star meal that your family will want to eat again and again. Get together a repertoire of your favorite tips and you’ll be a huge success in the kitchen.
Stir-fry recipes require meat to be sliced very thin and at an angle to the grain. This can take a lot of time and be hard to do. Take the meat out of the freezer once it firms up (not frozen) then cut at an angle of 45 degrees across the grainy part of the meat.
Do not add food to the oil until it is hot. This will make your food more flavorful when it is ready to serve.
If you boil your vegetables it can cook out the nutrients. In order to retain their most important attributes, opt for steamed, sauteed or even raw vegetables.
Adding cauliflower to your mashed potatoes is a great way to reduce the amount of fat and calories they contain. You should use equal portions of potatoes and cauliflower when making this delicious side. The bland cauliflower taste will make it so that you do not notice much difference in the taste, while accentuating the taste of some of the other ingredients. Cauliflower has the same texture and color as potatoes, offering you a perfect way to add another vegetable to your dish while cutting calories.
Cooking veggies improves the quality of them. If you slow cook vegetables they will lose nutritional value and taste. These speed-cooking techniques usually produce vegetables that are more nutritious overall. You should only cook them just as long as it takes for them to be done.
Be careful when using garlic because the flavor and aroma can be transferred to a variety of surfaces, including your hands. Try rubbing your hands on the inside of a steel sink after you work with the garlic or other potent ingredients. This will remove the scent from your hands and stop it from transferring.
Freeze sauces by pouring leftovers into ice cube trays. When you need sauce for another meal, you already have individual portions, ready to grab and reheat in a pan. Freezing the sauce into cubes in the trays is safe and convenient!
Think of these ideas as as a starting point, and come up with your own culinary miracles. The following tips can help you become a better cook, no matter how many people you are cooking for.