Healthy Cooking
Healthy Cooking Tips Provided By Professional Chefs Around The World
It is a fact of life that people need to eat. No one wants to just get by! There is more satisfaction in eating delicious food when it is something you have prepared yourself. Continue reading this article to learn some ideas which will take your meals to heights you’ve never reached before!
Consider freezing your meat a bit so that it will be easier to slice. If you are healthy cooking an exotic dish that requires thinly sliced meat, this is the best way to do it. The meat holds a tighter form when the it is partially frozen making the strips clean cut with out any stretching of the meat. Though, before healthy cooking the strips, they must completely thaw.
You can sprinkle it on many other foods besides meat. Spread it on pumpkin seeds that are roasted to make yourself a savory snack. Another way that you can use this is to put it on your scrambled eggs. Simply sprinkling on these kinds of seasonings can turn your dish into an instant hit.
Fresh Ingredients
Use fresh ingredients instead of frozen or dried ones for your healthy cooking for the best results. Fresh ingredients can really enhance the flavor of your meal, as well as be more economical to prepare.
Garlic is a popular ingredient that has one notable downside; its trademark scent transfers easily to your skin. A trick for getting rid of the garlic odor on your hands is to rub them on a metal kitchen sink. It helps stop the transfer of the garlic to other foods since it cleans your hands.
If you choose the wooden versions of healthy cooking skewers, it is a good idea to immerse them in water, and leave them there for about half an hour before using them. That way, they will not burn during the healthy cooking process. To ensure that the food doesn’t fall off the skewer, use two skewers for each item.
Take the time and steps necessary to accurately measure any oil used for healthy cooking. This will help you lower the fat content when you cook as opposed to just pouring directly into the pan without measuring. This allows you to keep a strict amount of oil, instead of overdoing it.
If you need to cook a roast quickly, do not remove the bone. Your roast will be done a lot faster because its bone transfer heat to your roaster. After the roast is cooked, just slice around the bone to serve.
Dried Tomatoes
You can make dried tomatoes yourself. Cut tomatoes in thick slices or in half, depending on their size. Put them facing upwards onto a cooling rack and add a little salt. After placing the rack atop a cookie sheet, allow the tomatoes to dry for 10 hours in an oven at 190 degrees. Once done, you can store them in your freezer in plastic bags. Dried tomatoes can be placed into a jar that is filled with fresh herbs and olive oil. Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.
When healthy cooking macaroni and cheese, you should follow the instructions to the letter. Your macaroni will turn out wonderful if you do it this way. It will also taste so good when you melt cheese over your noodles. You can use a solid spoon to serve macaroni and cheese. Use some black pepper as the spice on your mac and cheese.
Think about making your own stock for more flavor. Make as much of it as you want and keep the excess in your freezer. Doing so will give you the best stock for any dish that calls for it. If you prepare your own, homemade stock, you will be cutting out all of the preservatives of canned versions.
Don’t eat your meal right away. Lots of people don’t take advantage of this important step for food. It can be quite tempting to serve meat as soon as you pull it off the grill. Unfortunately, serving your meal immediately can take away from the taste and quality. Let your food rest for a while, and you will enjoy tastier meals.
Sprinkle a small amount of salt over your cutting board surface before chopping your herbs. This gives extra flavor and helps to hold the herbs in place. Remember to use moderation; you don’t want to add too much salt to your ingredients. The salt you put on the board will stick to the herbs and add a bit of flavor.
Be sure not to overfill your pan when sauteing foods. The moisture that the extra food volume adds will cause the food to steam, which means it won’t be as crispy as intended. Keep the pan set on a lower temperature.
You should utilize a meat thermometer, so that you can be sure that the meats are thoroughly cooked. Each type of meat has a minimum recommended internal temperature to be considered safe for consumption. Since bacteria is all around us, especially on meat, it is important that you cook your meat thoroughly to kill off this bacteria and therefore prevent you from getting sick.
When you are healthy cooking for someone for the first time, always stick with a recipe that you are comfortable with. Whether it is for friend, family or employer, you want to present your best effort. It is much better to show off a meal that you have had success with before.
Cook your food first, and then spice it up. Pepper, cayenne, salt, and garlic are yummy additional seasonings you can add. Everyone has their own individual tastes regarding spices. You can please everyone by making a variety of choices available to add at the dinner table. This way you are sure that every person enjoys their dish.
If you do not cook, you are missing out on a lot of fun and satisfaction. Absorb the tips below, and then add twists to make them your own. Your healthy cooking skills will get so good that everyone will ask you to bring these delicacies wherever you go.
The Basics Of Healthy Cooking In A Nutshell
There are lots of methods and techniques to learn when healthy cooking. Some healthy cooking is hard and some is not. Read along to gain access to great tips, regardless of your skills at the moment.
Always bake pie and tart crusts for longer than the recipe specifies for best results. They should be a light golden brown instead of pale in color. The color on your pie signifies that the caramelizing process is complete in your crust, yielding a scrumptious dessert.
Garlic can add a tremendous amount of flavor to your food. However, when you are cutting and chopping fresh garlic, it can also leave its odor on your hands. After you have finished doing your prep work with the garlic, run your hands along the stainless steel interior of your sink. This handy trick cleanses your hands so the smell will not be transferred to what you are going to touch next.
Save time and money by freezing leftover sauce in ice cube trays in the freezer. You can easily take them from the freezer when needed for a meal, and quickly reheat in a saute pan. Don’t worry, your sauce will taste great even after having been frozen.
Chicken Stock
When you are making chicken stock, think in terms of high volume. Instead of making just what you need, make a huge pot so you have some to freeze and use later. You can use that delicious chicken stock in stews, casseroles, and soups. To preserve your stock for future use, just simply make sure that it is stored in heavy duty freezer bags and frozen solid. This way the stock should keep for several months or so.
If you are trying to lose weight or lower your cholesterol, try to decrease the amount of fat in your diet. Oil and butter both have fat that is often unnecessary. A nonstick healthy cooking spray will suffice and is not as unhealthy.
When healthy cooking with garlic, use the freshest bulbs you can find. Freshness heightens the possibility that the garlic will be sweeter tasting. Fresh garlic will have firm skin and will not be bruised or soft to the touch.
Place salad dressing off to the side of a salad, instead of on top of it, when serving salad to guests. It is much better to let guests add the amount of dressing that they prefer according to their needs. Make sure you have a selection to choose from.
Don’t take the bone out of a roast if you need to cook it quickly. This will allow your meat to cook faster as the bone will warm up the inside quicker. When the roast is done, just cut it off the bone before serving.
Every six months to one year, replace spices that have grown dull. If spices are kept open for too long a time, they will eventually lose their flavor. So, make sure that when you buy new spices go ahead and give half to either a friend or family member if you feel you aren’t going to use all of it soon.
Healthy Cooking
Organization while healthy cooking is necessary in order to avoid disasters, like under done or burnt food. You can be more productive, if your healthy cooking station is well organized. Being disorganized means having difficulty finding things and quite possibly ruining an entire dish, wasting valuable time and money!
For dishes such as macaroni and cheese, follow the instructions carefully. The dish turns out perfectly when you follow the recipe, and is absolutely delicious when the velvet, soft cheese sauce melts on top of the macaroni. Serving macaroni and cheese is done just fine with a solid face spoon. Shake a little pepper on your macaroni to add some spice.
When healthy cooking, be creative. Following a recipe word for word and teaspoon for teaspoon is not always what healthy cooking is about. A recipe can be greatly improved upon if you add a little of this, or take away a little of that. That is the definition of a true cook!
When cutting herbs, sprinkle a little salt onto your chopping board first. Doing this not only adds some flavor, but it also ensures that the herbs are right where they need to be, which is on the board. Don’t over-salt your foods. The salt will stick to the herbs, adding some extra flavor to your dish.
Here are two better ways to warm tortillas. The first way requires you to place them into a preheated oven, at 350 degrees, and bake them to your liking. You can use the flame of a gas stove to warm up a tortilla directly. When you use these methods, your tortillas will taste crisp and fresh.
You can learn to cook in brine. To get good poultry taste in your meal, you should soak turkey, chicken, or even duck in brine about one hour prior to the meal preparation.
A wonderful way to make the most of the stray meat and vegetable items left over from other dishes is to cook up some fried rice. It is best to use cooled off day-old rice, though if you need to make fresh rice, put in less water so that your rice will be on the drier side. It helps to first fry meats and vegetables prior to adding rice and spices such as soy sauce and garlic.
Add spices to meals after they are cooked. You can use garlic powder, cayenne, or salt and pepper for seasonings. Most people only like certain spices. Don’t add them while healthy cooking; offer spices after you’ve made the meal so everyone can customize the taste for themselves. This way, everyone can season his meal to taste.
Many a fine meal has been ruined by over-complicating the recipes or methods. By keeping it simple, you can create healthy and quick meals that taste really good. Using the guidelines here, you can have a good understanding of how to cook making each meal better than the previous one.