Wednesday, August 26, 2009

How To Quickly Improve Your Cooking Skills

By Walter Dreimann

Believe it or not, just a few simple cooking tips can actually noticeably improve your cooking skills. If you manage to follow a couple of suggestions, the time you have to spend on preparing a meal is likely to decrease and you will also gain the ability to get around the usual obstacles that can pop up if you are beginning your cooking adventure.

Buying fresh food is the number one way you can make sure that your meal will taste great. It's important to inspect every item in the grocery store or produce market to ensure that it is as fresh or as ripe as you can buy. Expiration dates will help you for pre-packaged foods, though you will have to look at each of the fruits and vegetables on an individual basis. One of the traits you want to be able to develop is the ability to become familiar with general produce and the art of spotting top quality, fresh products in your local grocery.

When picking your meat selections of poultry, beef, or fish, you want to make sure it is as fresh as your other items. When working with meat, always keep it refrigerated until it is ready for use, and always wash your utensils with soap and water.

Before you serve your food, make sure that it was being cooked for a long enough time and reached a proper temperature. You could even use a cooking thermometer to check if the temperature is at around 140 degrees F. If you want the meal to be served cold, make sure that the temperature does not exceed 40 degrees F.

Investing in proper kitchen equipment will also speed up the cooking process and help you achieve greater diversity when preparing meals. So, don't try to save money when buying a blender, a knife set, or pans and pots. Also, if you want to add a funny accent to your meals, buying an appliance such as the Mickey Mouse Waffle Maker could do the trick.

There is a conception in our society that all low fat food has to be lacking in taste. However, it has been proved over and over again that low fat dishes can be made in a way that makes them colorful, vibrant, and delicious. Simply think out your dishes carefully before you prepare them, and then use a lot of fresh spices, olive oil and herbs to emphasize the taste. For example, you can make almost any dish low in fat just by ensuring the least amount of oil is used, and selecting lean cuts of beef and pork.

Finally, selecting the right kind of beverage to go along with your meal is highly important. Depending on the type of food, you could choose red or white wine, green or jasmine tea. Do not make the mistake and neglect mineral water- it is a universal drink that suits most foods just fine.

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