Are you a kitchen guru? Maybe you are just a kitchen veteran? Or like many others, you may be a novi...

1. Creating A Lovely Dessert In Twenty Minutes Or Less
Are you a kitchen guru? Maybe you are just a kitchen veteran? Or like many others, you may be a
novice. Whatever the case may be, helpful cooking advice can add some fresh ideas to your cooking.
Take some time and learn a few things that can splash some new fun into your kitchen routine.
It is fine to alter recipes. Do you like more cheese than what is called for? It's fine to add more. Do
you think onions would be good added in? Try it! Adding your own special twist to a recipe can help
make a meal one of a kind!
Have you ever wondered how your neighbor's pie crusts turn out to be golden brown and glossy
while yours is always pale? There is a trick to learn which guarantees the desired result every time.
Beat some egg whites and brush it over the pie. You will take out beautiful, glossy, golden brown
pies from your oven.
If you want to cook delicious steaks, use your oven broiler. When you properly heat your oven, the
broiler will quickly sear the meat and keep it juicier. You should avoid using any utensil that will
puncture the meat when you turn it. That will cause vital fluid loss. Use a spatula instead.
When it comes to cooking a good habit to do after preparing garlic is to rub your hands on the
stainless steel sink vigorously for about 30 seconds. This will remove the unwanted odor from your
hands. Washing them less than 30 seconds will not take all the odor away.
Keep a potato masher in your kitchen at all times. This useful device can be used to mash more than
just your typical potatoes. Try mashing carrots, cauliflower, and other root vegetables. You can mix
any of these in to your usual mashed potatoes to make them more vibrant, nutritious, and
interesting.
In brief, learning how to cook is learning how to avoid pre-packaged foods and meals. These
convenience food products, all too common today, have speed as their solitary real benefit. Home-
cooked meals will always beat them in taste and cost. In most baking recipes cases - even with meals
that are not especially healthy - the version made in the kitchen will be healthier than the packaged
version.
If you want to add a unique touch to your dinner, use fruit as a side dish. Fruit will help to flush
down the thick pieces of meat that you just ate and will serve to re-energize your body after
consuming a lot of calories. Add oranges, pears and apples to your dinner to optimize your
experience.
How to achieve perfect scrambled eggs. Always cook your eggs in butter. Don't be tempted to use
oil. Allow two eggs per person, and beat with a little salt and freshly ground pepper. Scrambled eggs
should be cooked slowly over a low heat, and stirred continuously. Scrape the bottom of the pan and
constantly bring the outside edges into the middle. Serve on a warm plate. Enjoy!
Although it may be a little bit more expensive, it is wise to get a high-quality olive oil. Just a small
amount can help to bring out the flavor meat, fish, pasta, pizza, or whatever else you are making.
Cheaper olive oils usually give food a less than desirable flavor.
Keep your pantry well stocked with a selection of canned meats. You never know when the power

2. might go out for a day or two and you can't get to the store. Canned hams, salmon, or other canned
meats can save the day. Just add a few other ingredients from your pantry and you'll have a great
meal!
When working with poultry, use this useful tip to let your poultry shine. Soak the poultry in a brine
solution composed of salt and water overnight before cooking
http://www.cooksrecipes.com/category/cake.html the poultry. Soaking the poultry in brine will help
to unlock the flavors buried in the meat and make the poultry succulent and moist, creating an
incredible poultry dish.
If you have left over wine in a bottle from dinner or drinks with friends, you can pour out the
remaining wine in an ice tray and put it in the freezer. When you are making a sauce that has wine
in the recipe you can drop in a couple of cubes.
Avoid limiting yourself to white potatoes in your cooking. They are very high in starch and have the
least amount of nutritional content of any of the potatoes. Try varieties that come in blue, red,
yellow, and orange. You can substitute almost any root vegetable as your usual white potato.
Watch the time when you are making pasta for a dish. If you are cooking pasta that will be mixed
with sauce, you should shave a full minute off of the initial boil time. Doing this will keep your
noodles from becoming overcooked in the sauce as you mix them.
Learn to enjoy brussels sprouts. Not many people enjoy brussels sprouts if they are cooked in the
traditional manner of boiling them. Sprouts can be delicious if you try different methods of cooking,
such as roasting them with carrots and parsnips for a delicious side dish. They are delicious if pan-
fried with bacon. These cooking methods give them a nutty flavor. Always choose small brussels
sprouts, as the larger ones tend to be very bitter.
If you are making a recipe that contains pasta in a sauce, avoid it being too soggy by cooking the
pasta few minutes less in water. Finish cooking it with the sauce. It will be the perfect consistency
and not be the mushy starchy mess we all hate when eating pasta!
Keep your meal, flour, and other grain products in the refrigerator or freeze them for a few days
before you put them in long term storage. Believe it or not, these products have a certain amount of
bug eggs in them. Freezing them or holding them in cold temperatures for a few days kills the eggs
and you save money by not having to throw out bags and boxes of ruined food when they hatch.
As was stated in the beginning of this article, cooking gourmet food at home is really just a matter of

3. proper education and practice. Anyone can cook tasty, healthy food if they can follow directions.
Apply the tips in this article and soon you will be known as the neighborhood's gourmet chef.