Unlock 69 Surprisingly Simple Kitchen Hacks That Will Transform Your Cooking Forever
If you want those bright green, restaurant style veggies, then blanch them first by doing a quick boil in rolling boiling water, then quench in an ice bath. Shake dry in a strainer then saute them quickly in a little fat (oil or butter) with seasoning of your choice before serving.
Learn to take fish fillets and salmon steaks off the heat before they are completely cooked as they will finish with residual heat on a plate. Overdone fish is not good. Shrimp, crab, and lobster all cook very fast from a thawed state, overcooking results in rubbery seafood.
Store bought puff pastry is your friend for the fanciest and tastiest super quick appetizers and desserts.
Smoked cream cheese.
Take a block or two of cream cheese, score it on top, season it on all sides, then put it on folded foil and into a pellet smoker at 200 degrees for 2 hours. Maybe add some hot honey in the last 15 minutes. Eat with pita chips or crackers, etc.
Basically no restaurants make it and everyone raved about it. Very unique flavor.
Salt, Fat, Heat, Acid
Get a decent knife and learn to sharpen it.
Learn your stove and the heat levels, I personally do things in 4 minute intervals and adjust heat.
Practice if you can
Take a knife skills class if you can or YouTube it.
Every week, buy a whole chicken. You should be able to get them for $10 or less. Throw the chicken and some aromatics in a pot. Make your own chicken stock. Put it in everything. Make rice with it. Make sauces. Use it as a base for soups. Drink it hot out of a mug. Once you become a person who always has homemade stock in the fridge, you’ll wonder how you ever did without.
People have been brainwashed to think salt = bad.
In processed foods yes. Because there’s something like 400% of your daily sodium requirements in that microwave burrito.
But fresh cooking? YOU NEED SALT.
People will think your cooking is amazing simply because you used some salt.
Put some effort into plating. Presentation is a massive part of how people perceive a dish. Don’t just throw food on the plate and call it a day. Think throw how you want it to look like and wipe of any drips. Does wonders.
Amateur hobby baker here. I get a lot of compliments on my cookies and I’ve had people ask how I get flavor, shape, texture, etc.
The secret? Chill your dough before baking. It helps everything.
My mom argued that’s not it until she tried it. She’s done it always since. 🤣.
I use sour cream instead of milk for mashed potatoes/purees and everyone always asks for the recipe because it’s so good.
Learn how to flip stuff in the skillet without using utensils. Pretty easy to do, looks impressive to casuals, and saves you from dirtying up a spoon or spatula in some cases.
Pickled veggies and fruit. All you need is a jar, a veggie/fruit, vinegar, water, and some sugar. It’s a perfect healthy garnish or addition to elevate the flavor of any dish. It’s sweet and tart and crunchy, many times what is missing from a dish.
Here’s some examples:
– pickled red onions
– pickled cucumbers
– pickled jalapeños
– pickled mango.
Deglaze your pan with a little alcohol. If you are on a gas stove you have a little fire for a couple seconds. My son loves it, granted he is 8.
ThatMerri:
A bit of water or stock works just fine, if you’re of the sort that can’t have alcohol in their diet for whatever reason. Can’t flambé it, but it’ll still do the job of deglazing your pan just fine.
Brown butter. Melt butter, let it quietly foam until the milk solids turn golden and smell nutty, k**l the heat, splash in lemon. Toss with pasta, veg, eggs, or fish and it tastes like you cooked for hours.
Trader Joe’s sells Umami condiment.
I add it to almost everything I cook.
I also add a package of mushrooms to most dishes that include vegetables.
Use more salt. Especially on vegetables.
I always salt the lettuce and tomato before putting it on sandwiches and I can’t tell you how many times people tell me “it’s *so much better* when you make them!”
Yeah. Cuz salt. It’s why restaurants and packaged foods taste better.
You’ll have a heart attack before you’re 40, but you’ll be well fed.
So many main dishes start with this simple process: Brown your meat in a hot pan with oil and butter to create the fond, remove, and cook your aromatics (onions, shallots garlic etc.), add/cook flour for the roux, add the base of your sauce (stock, milk, wine, cream etc.). Simmer and finish off with whatever else is in your recipe or make up your own. There are literally thousands of variations on different meats and cuisines/ flavor profiles that all start with this simple method.
Buy a wand / stick / immersion blender to make smoother sauces and aioli.
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