Table of Contents
Knife abilities are the key to success.
The preparation steps of chopping, mincing, slicing and dicing take a lot of time for cooks. Making everything look good on the dish helps, but the main focus should be on how the food cooks. The components will cook evenly and at the same rate if you practice using a knife.
Always have mise en place ready.
In culinary school, having your mise en place—everything in its place—may be the most valuable lesson you learn. It’s the best method for maintaining composure in a commercial kitchen. To have meat, veggies, and herbs ready to add to the pan when needed, chefs spend hours cutting things up. You’ll feel overwhelmed and lost in the weeds if you which suggests that your chef will likely yell at you a lot as well. Additionally, a mise en place results in happier, quicker cooking at home.
Not all oils are made the same.
Every frying oil has a variable smoke point and a distinct flavor character. This means that some fats, like butter or lard, are preferable for stir-frying and sautéing, whilst some oils, like canola or peanut oil, are better suited for high-temperature frying. Find out which oils work best for frying. Extra-virgin olive oil and sesame oil, which have strong aromas, are best used raw as finishing oils or in salad dressings.
Learn how to disassemble a chicken.
One of the most affordable protein sources is chicken, which you can use for nearly everything. (Really, we’ve compiled a tonne of chicken recipe suggestions.) It’s beneficial to understand how to cut up a whole chicken if you’re serious about cutting costs and building a kitchen economy. There is no waste, and you can even use the carcass to make chicken stock. It’s simpler than you may imagine.
How to slice onions in a way that doesn’t make you cry
I’ve heard it all: cutting onions under running water, freezing them, using a sharp knife to prevent tears. But if an onion wants to get you, it will. Wearing a pair of goggles is the only genuinely ridiculous method for stopping crying. Even though you’ll look ridiculous and everyone will make fun of you, your mascara will look great. Are you employing the proper kind of onion for your recipe, speaking about onions?
Always use premium broth
When you can, you should completely make your own. The flavor of handmade stock is unrivaled. But if speed is of the essence, look for a store-bought brand of flavorful, superior broth. Before you begin, take the time to taste it so you can understand what you’re working with.
Keep leftover bones and vegetables in the freezer.
The simplest approach to making broth at home is to keep a supply of prepared components in the freezer. Put onion tops, carrot peels, and mushroom stems in a freezer-safe bag; keep meat trimmings and bones in a different bag. Put them in a pot and fill them with water whenever you have a moment to spare.
Recipes are only a reference.
Recipes are an excellent way to learn ratios and cooking techniques when you first start. Don’t be afraid to stray from the recipe’s directions and ingredient list as you go along. Don’t cook with onions if you don’t like them since you know what you like! As you go, learn to adapt and have faith in yourself.
When baking, always weigh your ingredients.
Baking is a science, and measurements should be exact, unlike savory cookery, where quantities can be flexible. You should weigh your baking ingredients just like the pros do. A baking failure can be easily caused by a few additional grams here and there. We adore the pull-out display on this digital kitchen scale from OXO ($50), which makes it simple to weigh items in your favorite mixing bowl.
Early salt
Your food will taste salty rather than seasoned if you add salt at the very end. Salt as you go in its place. Include a tiny pinch of salt when sweating onions. Before cooking, season the pork, and season it again with a small pinch after deglazing. By the end of the cooking process, you’ll have developed a variety of subtle flavor layers that will distinguish your dish.
Before using dried spices, toast them.
Although dried spices should always be kept in the cupboard, adding them toward the end of the cooking process frequently degrades the taste of your cuisine. If you don’t activate their essential oils and aromatic ingredients, they could taste dry and chalky. Before grinding, roast entire spices in a dry pan to let them blossom. Alternately, add the ground spices a minute or so before deglazing the pan, after sweating the onions in oil.
Later, add fresh herbs.
While fresh herbs should be added towards the end of preparation, dried spices should go in first. Long cooking times can extract a herb’s taste, muting and dulling its power. There are a few exceptions to this rule—hardier finishing herbs like oregano, parsley, and cilantro hold up better than delicate ones like rosemary and thyme.
