Cooking Tips - Shikha

Basic cooking tips for the everyday home cook

Measurements

Many experienced home cooks seldom measure their ingredients. They use a pinch of this and a pinch of that, relying on look and feel to know what’s right. The key word here is “experienced”. For the beginner, it is best to always measure your ingredients. A vital part of your kitchen should be a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons.
When measuring you should comply with the recipe in using “heaping” or “level” measurements. A “heaping” spoonful is just what it says; you heap the ingredient on the spoon. However, a “level” spoonful should be leveled by raking a knife or your finger across the top edge of the spoon.

Seasoning

Proper use of seasoning is one of the secrets to cooking. Good cooks season “to taste”. In other words, when possible use a little less seasoning than the recipe calls for and taste the dish when nearly finished cooking. Then add more seasoning to achieve the flavor you prefer.

Baking

Oven temperatures vary. Because the dial says 400 degrees does not necessarily mean your individual oven will be 400 degrees. The trick is to always use a timer when baking and check the dish a few minutes before the prescribed baking time expires. Then adjust the baking time as needed for your oven
Always pre-heat your oven to the required baking temperature. Never start your baking in a cold oven.

Tools of the Trade

A good set of pots and pans, while not essential, will certainly make the job easier and more pleasant. With some dishes the wrong cooking utensil may even ruin your dish. You should not use reactive pots and pans when cooking acidic foods. Reactive materials impart a metallic taste and can discolor your food. Two common acidic foods are tomato or vinegar based dishes. Reactive metals include aluminum, copper and cast iron. Non-reactive materials are enamel, glass and stainless steel.

Timing

A common problem beginners have is in timing their cooking so that everything gets to the table hot. This is not rocket science, just a matter of planning ahead. Here’s how. Before putting anything on the stove, take a minute to think about the cooking time required for each food item. For example, you are preparing hamburgers and french fries. The french fries will take considerable longer to cook that the hamburgers, therefore, you want to start the fries first. Simple, huh?
You should also be aware of certain foods that are difficult to keep hot or do not lend themselves to re-heating, such as mashed potatoes. They should always be the last dish cooked since they do not stay hot long and are really not very good cold.

General Tips

* Lay out all your ingredients before you begin to cook. Measure out ingredients and complete all chopping and sizing. If baking, preheat oven.
* Buy a good timer and use it. They are fairly inexpensive. Also, invest in a meat thermometer.
* Place a damp paper towel under mixing bowls to prevent from sliding around while mixing.
* The secret to boiled corn on the cob that explodes in your mouth is to bring a pot of water to a boil first. Then put the corn in and wait to come back to a boil. Then cook for 3 minutes. No more!
* To make lighter and fluffier mashed potatoes, add a pinch or two of baking powder to the potatoes before whipping.

Vegetable Cooking Tips

One of the biggest mistakes novice cooks make in cooking vegetables is cooking time. Over cooking or under cooking seems to be a problem for many.

Additionally, it has a lot to do with preference. Just like people prefer their steak rare, medium or well done, people also have a preference for their veggies. Some prefer crisp and crunchy, some prefer soft and tender.

If you are cooking for someone and you do not know their preference, it is usually best to under cook vegetables. If needed you can always toss them back in the pan for a few more moments. But if they are overcooked…they are forever overcooked.

Basic Vegetable Cooking Tips

* Start cooking larger cuts of vegetables first since they will take longer to cook.

* Cook dense veggies first (Carrots, broccoli and celery), then softer veggies (peppers, onions and garlic last).

* Remember garlic burns easily and imparts a bitter taste when burnt.

* Chop and mince all vegetables before you begin, then you will be able to devote full attention to cooking.

* Invest in a quality vegetable peeler. It has many uses and is invaluable in the kitchen.

* For boiled corn on the cob that literally explodes in your mouth, bring a pot of water to a boil; put the corn in the pot and wait for the water to return to a boil. Boil 3 minutes. No longer. Remove and enjoy real corn flavor.

* Try the Southern style of cooking green beans. Cook until beans lose all green color and turn an olive drab color and are very tender.

* Did you know that tomatoes are technically a fruit, not a vegetable?

* Purchase a quality knife set for chopping all those vegetables and keep them sharp. More cuts are due to a dull knife than a sharp one.

* Use day old rice for making real Chinese style fried rice.

* Avoid cooking acidic foods (tomatoes, vinegar) in reactive cookware. This can discolor the food and impart an off-flavor. Reactive cookware is aluminum, copper and cast iron. Non-stick surfaces on this cookware helps to eliminate the problem. Non-reactive cookware includes clay, enamel, glass, plastic, or stainless steel.

* Storage of fresh cucumbers may be prolonged by peeling, slicing and storing in the refrigerator in a sealed container filled with 1 cup water, 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt. Sounds a little like pickles, huh?

An easy way to seed cucumbers is to slice the cuke in half lengthways. Then use a knife to make a cut like a trench on each side of the seeds down the length of the cucumber. Finally, using a spoon rake out the seeds. They will come out clean and easy.

* While onions and garlic will keep quite a while without refrigeration they will lasts longer and you can prevent them from sprouting if you store them in the frig.

* To make lighter and fluffier mashed potatoes, add a pinch or two of baking powder to the potatoes before whipping.