Cooking Suggestions That Will Have You Cooking Again

Cooking is a great skill to have for so many reasons. Everyone loves a nice home-cooked meal. Unfortunately, not everyone is born with the inherent ability to create elaborate meals. The hints in this article will get you on your way to truly being a master in the kitchen!

Get a cookbook with easy recipes or a specific theme you find interesting to get you started. Try looking online or to your local library or bookstore. Try making three or four of the recipes that appeal to you the most, and give yourself plenty of time to perfect your newly acquired skill.

When you are seasoning meats, try cooking a small piece first and testing it out, before making all of it. A lot of foods require you to season them carefully; for instance meatloaf, hamburgers or meatballs. Never prepare the full amount after its initial seasoning. First, make a little patty out of it and cook that first. After you have tested this piece, you can adjust the level of seasoning as necessary or cook the rest as is.

Sharp knives will make cooking so much more efficient. Knives that have not been sharpened in a while can not only pose a threat to your health, but also a threat to smashing your food. You could easily cut yourself if you are trying to cut something up with a dull knife.

Long cooking processes, like boiling, can "zap" nutrients from foods, like vegetables. To preserve a vegetable nutritious value, cook quickly by either steaming or sauteing it. Ideally you should consume the vegetable in its raw state.

You may have felt regret when you threw away a moldy orange or lemon. Is it safe to save a portion of fruit by cutting around the mold? Unfortunately, you cannot rescue a piece of fruit once it has started to grow moldy and decayed. The mold may have grown deeper than can be seen, and eating it may make you quite ill.

Having knives that are very sharp is essential when cooking. If your knife is dull, it's obviously tougher to use, but it is also much more dangerous in general. You can cut yourself because you are forcing the knife through the food, use a sharp knife.

Substitute water for other more flavorful liquids, in order to spice up your meals. Use chicken broth, beef stock or vegetable broth instead. Buttermilk, yogurt and sour cream can be great substitutes for milk. Changing liquids can improve the nutrition of the dish and make it more lively.

If you are going to be making chicken stock, it is best to go big or not at all. Plan on preparing a large batch so that the excess can be frozen and used later. A rich chicken stock makes a savory base for soups, stews and other dishes. Once your stock is finished, cool it and put it in heavy freezer bags.

When using fresh herbs in your meal, including dill and parsley, place the herbs together in bunches, and cut them with scissors. By using this technique you can chop many herbs in a short amount of time, and they will be much lighter and fluffier, without the wetness that you get when using a knife.

Prepare some of your food the night before to save time and headaches. Before you head to bed at night do your best to cut up vegetables and onions, marinating meat, or making some sauce. This will make you much more prepared, less stressed out, and ready to begin cooking the following day.

There is no cook that knows everything there is to know about cooking. It is important to always try to learn new things to keep cooking easy and fun. For the neophyte cook, every little bit of information helps cultivate those fledgling cooking skills. After you try the tips that have been provided you may find that you truly love cooking and find it very enjoyable.