Unlock 69 Surprisingly Simple Kitchen Hacks That Will Transform Your Cooking Forever
I grind up some pepperoni and put it into my spaghetti sauce.. along with a serrano. it adds some extra tang and kick.
Cooking things “Wellington,” which is just cooking things wrapped in puff pastry. Beef and mushrooms is the traditional, but a pork tenderloin or a salmon filet is as good or better.
Back in the day these were considered haute cuisine because making puff pastry is complex and tedious. But these days it’s available frozen and is just as good as handmade.
If you’re having trouble with excess oil in a cheese sauce, adding sodium citrate will keep the oil from separating from the cheese. It has zero impact on flavor and will give you a smoother, creamier sauce.
Biggest mistake home cooks make : over crowding their pan.
Stop over crowding your pan to avoid food from steaming instead of roasting. You will taste a whole new set of flavour profiles.
Lpt for indian food : use fresh ground spices instead of pre ground spice powders. This is more expensive and time consuming to do regularly. So this is a optional tip only for people who regularly cook indian food.
Corn starch will thicken a sauce. Gives stuff like Chinese food that nice glaze. I mix it with a little bit of cold water or broth to dissolve first.
Get a lamb shoulder, marinade with generous olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin and dried oregano. Put it in a baking dish on top of sliced onions. Add 700ml water. Cover and seal with baking paper and foil. Bake at 150C for 5-8 hours. Uncover for the last 30 and bake at 200C. Feel like a pro.
Sprinkle some parmesan on top of your pizza before it goes in the oven.
When you make a ham and cheese sandwich, call it a croque monsieur.
Related, watch Jacques Pepin “cooking at home” on YouTube. Tons of simple and cheap recipes and techniques that often have a fancy-looking result.
One clove of garlic is never enough garlic, unless the recipe is “How to Cook One Clove of Garlic.” In that case, best be safe and use two.
Splash in sizzling oil. This is the technique Cantonese used for steam fish. A fresh fish steamed above boiling water, no season needed. It is as plain as it gets. But after 10 mins of steaming the fish, take it out, put some thinly sliced ginger and scallions, heat up a few tablespoons of spoon of oil to the point of starting to smoke. Pour it over the ginger and scallions, then pour over some good soy sauce. There is no better way to eat a fresh whole fish. The sizzling, the aroma and the sweetness of the fish will win any guests over.
But I learned this technique is not only limited to fish. Any steamed vegetables, steamed tofu, A y blanched food that is very healthy, but kinda bland and lack a little oomf can use this technique.
Steamed vegetables with this added sizzle, will not only brighten the dish, it actually created a mild form of Millard reaction AKA dragon breath of the Chinese food. This will take your bland food to a new level.
-Overnight dry brining whole chicken in the refrigerator for roasting the next day.
-Convection oven at a very high temp for a relatively short amount of time for perfectly moist chicken breasts.
-HEAT IS NOT A LIGHTSWITCH! Everything keeps cooking after you take it off the heat. The temperature will go up some after you take it off the heat. Think of it like rolling a bowling ball down a bowling alley: if you want to stop at a specific point in the lane you have to roll it less than you think.
-Stop adding milk or water or cream or whatever other stupid a*s thing to your scrambled eggs to “make it creamier”. Just melt some butter before scrambling in the pan and LOW TEMP. If the pan can melt the butter its hot enough for the eggs, and it wont look like the eggs are cooking….but then all of a sudden they are.
Caramelizing onions. It’s just patience, but it makes you look like a chad.
Dried Beans. Saute some onion in olive oil, add in 1 lb of dried beans,2 Tbsp Salt, cover with water, deliberately hard boil the beans for 15 min, then set to low simmer for 3 hours. Makes the most delicous bean soup you’ve ever had. Beans are amazing.
Beurre monte. Its just a simple water and butter emulsification but it’s very versatile. Bring a small amount of water to a simmer and whisk in cold butter until it becomes thick and glossy. Add a little lemon zest, fresh dill, and salt. Pairs great with fish. But my favorite application is for pancakes, waffles, or French toast. It adheres to the food a lot better than just plain melted butter and it looks nice.
My biggest ‘fancy technique’ that I like to use to impress people is called ‘reading the f*****g recipe’. No, I’m not joking. If you want to make something, go find recipes for it and then make it exactly as they say. If you like that recipe, it’s yours now, you can do whatever you want to it. If you don’t understand how to make something, then you look it up. This will lead you to some amazing places. I learned how to make a roux, a bechamel from that roux, what a corn starch slurry is used for, the classic frying method of (flour, egg wash, panko).
The biggest secret to cooking is learning how to make something.
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