Thursday, April 9, 2009

Cooking For Beginners: Get it Right the First Time

By Lucille Green

Food Preparation Hints & Tips

If you'd like to change your merely decent cooking skills into something fantastic, it might be as simple as listening to a couple of great cooking tips. Preparing dishes and avoiding obstacles in cooking is easily done with cooking suggestions. Suggestions can make a greater difference than experience, patience, and knowledge combined in making you look like a master chef. This article will offer cooking suggestions to help you in the kitchen.

Safe Cooking Tips

If you truly want your food to taste its best, you should make sure that it is fresh. As you shop in the supermarket (or produce market, or farmer's market) you should closely examine each of the items you purchase to make sure it is the highest quality freshness or ripeness. Packaged foods can be judged by an expiration date, while fruits and vegetables must be looked at individually. Always familiarize yourself with the general produce that is available, and be able of spotting quality produce in whatever market you shop it. Beef, poultry, and fish should always be fresh, as well. Meat should be kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it, and use soap and water to clean the utensils that come in contact with the meat.

You must also make sure that your meats have been cooked all the way through to a safe temperature. Cooked foods should reach at least 140 degrees F. so use a cooking thermometer to measure the temperature. It should be noted that while cooked foods should reach 140 degrees F., foods that are chilled such as dairy products should always be stored refrigerated less than 40 degrees F.

Make Sure You Use The Correct Tools

Any good mechanic will use the proper tools to fix a car. Knowing this, a good cooking suggestion is make sure your kitchen is stocked with items that will help you create dishes easily and properly. For most people, the bare essentials will include pots, pans, knives, and a set of measuring cups, but many will need a blender or food processor also.

Healthy Cooking

Contrary to popular belief, food doesn't have to taste bland just because it is low fat. On the contrary, low fat cooking can be colorful, vibrant, and very tasty. Fresh herbs, fresh spices, a decent amount of olive oil, and plenty of thought are the tricks to making a tasty low fat dish. Any dish can be made low fat simply through careful selection of lean beef or pork, and by using common sense on the amount of oil you use. In general, chicken and turkey are usually low fat and fish is also a great option for any low in calorie dish.

Selecting What to Drink

The last cooking suggestion to give you is to always include a good beverage along with the food in your meal. Most meals can be improve greatly through simply adding a tasty beverage. Whether it is a great wine, flavorful sparkling mineral water or a top notch cocktail, a beverage can easily make a regular meal outstanding!

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