Anybody got any decent cooking tips??

Question

Its amazing what people give as cooking tips. For example I always cooked my steaks on a medium heat in the frying pan and they were always rubbery. I now cook them on high heat and they are the best, lovely and tender.

Answer 1

Stop your gammon from curling up as you cook it by taking a knife and putting 5 slices around the outside of the gammon. It will stay nice and flat cooking evenly

Answer 2

Wow, I have lots of cooking tips. In the interest of saving time, here are a few generalities:

-whatever you're cooking, it's almost always best to cook it until it's JUST DONE. Overcooking will make meats dry and tough, and it will make vegetables mushy. It's best to err on the side of "undercooked"; you can always cook the food longer, but once it's overcooked, you can't salvage it. An obvious exception to this rule is anything slow-cooked, like a pot roast or a stew. Ane even then, don't cook the vegetables along with the meat...add them for the last 30 to 60 minutes of cooking, or else they will get mushy.

-uniformity is everything. When a recipe/dish calls for various chopped, sliced, diced, or minced ingredients, make sure all the pieces of all the ingredients are approximately the same size, unless the recipe specifies otherwise. The pieces will cook at the same rate, and to the same degree of doneness, as they were intended to. Exception: anything that will be consumed raw, like salad ingredients or fresh fruit. Some variance in size and texture is a good thing.

-don't forget your mise-en-place (French for "setting in place"). Whenever you are preparing anything, have all the ingredients, cookware, measuring devices, cutlery, etc. within arm's reach BEFORE you crack the first egg or apply heat to anything. Also, "prep" all ingredients as necessary before you actually begin cooking anything (chop the veggies, slice the chicken breast into cubes, whatever). You don't want to be chopping the onion while the chicken is already browning in the pan...by the time you finish chopping, the chicken could be burnt.

I have alot more, but I would have to say those are my top three.

Answer 3

if your curry is too hot and spicy then add some lemon juice.....

when cooking a steak only flip it once to get even cooking throughout.....

when poaching eggs add a little white vinegar to the water, helps to hold the egg together. you can also stir the water if you want before dropping in the egg.

keeping chopped lettuce in a little water in the fridge will stop it going brown so quickly.....

always eat what is in season. it will be at its cheapest and taste its best.....

when heating milk in a pan, adding a little water first and spreading it around the pan will stop the milk from burning onto the base of the pan.

when stewing meats in a pan, adding a metal spoon to the mix will speed up the process of the meat getting tender. just remember to remove it again.

adding cornflour to marinades will help to tenderise the meats being marinaded. so will kiwi fruit, papaya or paw paw, and also the pips from the papaya/paw paw that have been dried out in a low oven and then ground to a powder. also pineapple helps to tenderise.

never put kiwi or pineapple into a fruit jelly as it will not set properly due to the agents in them that help them tenderise stuff. the enzymes break down the jelly.

when cooking with butter, adding some oil will help you reach a higher cooking temperature from stopping the butter burning.

never use freeze dried coriander leaves-they are crap.

when juicing lemon/lime/orange- instead of cutting it in half, cut off one edge just off centre, then cut off the other edge, when you squeeze all three parts you will get more juice out- especially with limes.

buy a juicer if you want to juice loads

always let your meat rest for at least 5 minutes after cooking.....

eat thai food. its great

Answer 4

1 Don't put eggs in boiling water. Add the eggs to cold water and bring it to boil gently.

2 Add water to your roasting pan when you roast chicken. The steam will keep the chicken moist.

3 As you said in your question, fry steak at high heat to seal in the meat juices.

4 Add a small piece of tamarind (broken from a block) to your
sweet and sour sauce and taste the difference.

5 Make your own sweet and sour sauce using tomato Ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and a little cornstarch mixed with water. Add a little tamarind. Don't ever use shop bought sweet and sour sauce.

6 Steam fish until it's just cooked. Drain the fish juice. Heat some cooking oil until it's very hot, add a little soya sauce, black pepper , chopped ginger and chopped spring onions then pour the whole lot onto your fish. Delicious!

Answer 5

Nice question, here's my tips:

1. For healthy, quick, and easy green beans: Put frozen green beans in a skillet with a little water, some garlic, and some parsley. Heat until warm all the way through (don't cook 'till they're mushy). You'll end up with crunchy, flavorful veggies.

2. When making a cake using a mix, always beat it on high speed for about 3-4 minutes. If you watch the cake mix you'll notice it's color turns lighter and the texture is fluffier. Beating it longer gets more air into the cake and it turns out much better--moist but not heavy.

Answer 6

Forget about skinning raw fish with a knife. Get a pan big enough to take the whole fillet lying flat and put about 2mm of water in it. Bring to the boil and put the fish in for about 10 to 15 seconds depending on the type of fish - delicate fish like sole or plaice less time than thicker skinned fish like cod or salmon. Remove and put flesh side down on a board and peel the skin off. The short time in the boiling water cooks the little fibres that bind the skin to the flesh, making it easy to remove, without cooking the fish. No waste and no horrible fish scales all over your hands. Use in your recipe in the normal way.

Answer 7

If youre in the mood to block up your arteries and steak is on the menu, try melting butter on a hot heat in a frying pan, and im talking alot of butter, at least half an inch thick, and practically deep fry your steaks quickly in the butter. It must contain a thousand calories and be a sure fire way to a quick grave, but its unbelievable!!!!!!!

Answer 8

Beef needs a hot surface before you put in on, Pork put on a cold ( room temp) surface and let it heat up slowly.

Sear steaks on both sides then put in a 450* oven for about ten minutes..( check at the end of 5 minutes,,depends on thickness) . I do this when not cooking on a grill.

Two minutes in a microwave will get broccoli or asparagus on high as if it has been steamed ( use a covered dish).

Use chicken broth to boil potatoes, then use part of the broth to mash them, some of the broth for making gravy.

Answer 9

I had a great book by the late Phillip Harben,one of the original TV cooks.

In it he descibed how things happen. For example how flour,milk and butter first make a roux then a sauce.He particularly explained the chemical process and in what order to do certain things.
For me, that helped enormously.

But my mother taught me to cook about 50 years ago. She had little access to technology or techniques but helped me understand how things came together all at the right time. Like in a roast dinner.

So, now I just have a little plan time and it works for me.
Time to pop down to the kitchen I think..............

Answer 10

Cooking For Dummies :)
No, I don't mean that insultingly.
I had always had a 'general knowledge' of cooking, but was unfortunately always one of those people that needed 'set cooking times' and 'set directions, 'set ingredients.' Trying to follow everything to a "T"...forgetting that cooking is supposed to be fun.

I bought Cooking For Dummies, and started there. Got myself into a 'groove' with their suggestions. Tried a few of their recipes, and eventually became more comfortable with things like you said...pan searing a steak so it's perfect, not a hockey puck.

Too, I'd learned to have fun with it, embellish and make a recipe my own.

I have a few recipes that are now 'mine' that are to-die-for requests when I'm invited to picnics/house cook-outs.

I think the "...For Dummies" series of books are an excellent way to dive in and discover...

I love to cook, now that I've discovered...best cooking tip ever???
HAVE FUN WITH IT!!
:)
Have a great afternoon.

Answer 11

Cook steaks on a high heat on a griddle pan with nothing but pepper ans salt.
Get the wife to do the dishes.