Every woman should be able to hold her own in the kitchen and you don’t need to attend culinary school to know the basics. When you are cooking something you should know basic cooking skills. And nobody born with Michelin stars even tops chefs begin with the basics. Do you know how to fold, braise, strain and sauté? It’s not important to read the recipe before you start cooking, it’s also just as important to read the recipe when you decide to make the dish. Here are some tricks and skills for cooking:
- Peel ginger with a Spoon:
Peeling ginger can be tricky with all it bumps and irregularities. Rather than using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, try it with the spoon. Scrape it against the skin and it will come right off, following every contour and minimizing waste.
- Keep a small strainer for citrus:
Keep a small handled strainer next to your stove so that you can easily cut a lemon or lime in half and squeeze it directly through the trainer into the pot. Much easier than picking out seeds afterwards.
- Use small Strainer for Eggs:
Strainer can also be used to make perfectly shaped poached eggs. Crack the eggs into the strainer over the sink and swirl around gently to remove excess watery white. What’s left will be tight egg shaped egg that poaches up clean.
- Defrost Meat on Aluminum Trays:
The fastest way to defrost meat is under a cold running tap. But if you want to save water and speed things a bit, place your meat on aluminum sheet tray or skillet. Because aluminum is a great conductor of heat and will draw energy from the surrounding environment into your frozen meat faster than a wooden cutting board or wood or stone counter top.
- Use a Scale for Baking:
The main reasons to use measuring scale for baking are accuracy and efficiency. Using volume trick cup measures is extremely inaccurate for compressible foods like flour.
- Keep your knives sharp:
Having sharp knives is not only safer but your knife less likely to slip off a vegetable and into your finger. It makes your cooking more pleasurable you can fly through your slicing, dicing and chopping tasks. Sharpening of knives should be done once or twice a year. If you are up for the task, you can get yourself some stones and do it yourself.
- How to chop off an onion:
As far as vegetables go, onions are one of the most common found in all recipes. When prepared correctly, they are quick and easy to handle. When tackled haphazardly, it’s bit frustrating with mess with peels getting everywhere and awkward uneven cuts.
- How to Knead Dough:
Kneading dough is also one of the basic skills one should know. Bread is a staple but if you never tasted a fresh loaf when it’s hot from the oven you are missing out something. Mix flour with water and gently knead it.
- How to separate an egg:
In many recipes only egg whites or yolks are used, so how do you separate them out? One of the easiest methods is to crack the egg white with the blunt side of a knife open a shell into two halves and pass the yolk several times letting the white drop down into the bowl.
- How to stay safe in the kitchen:
Cleanliness and proper handling of ingredients like raw chicken are crucial to prevent your meal being spoilt b food poising. Firstly, always wash your hands before cooking and eating and after touching raw meat. Use separate chop boards for raw meats and vegetables.
