How To Cook Like A Great Chef

Sometimes, your kitchen seems dull and uninspiring. You can change that by making a hobby out of cooking. Your kitchen will transform into a destination, and every minute you spend there will add up to make a wonderful meal that everyone will stop and admire. Read these tips for a few ideas on where to get started.

Buy only good quality knives for food preparation. The ease of cutting with a sharp knife will save you time and is more safe than using a dull knife. More injuries, cuts and serious accidents happen as a result of blunt utensils than freshly sharpened ones.

You can make a lot of preparations when you are cooking to make it easy and fast. Look at your recipe ahead of time and draft up a list of what you can do to get ready, but don't risk spoiling any ingredients. Many of the preparatory steps can be taken a day before cooking. This can turn even the most complex recipes into quick, fun and fast cooking jobs.

When the insides of fresh fruits are exposed to air, they tend to turn brown. Bananas, pears, peaches, avocados and apples are some of the fruits that brown when sliced. Dipping the fruit in a mixture of salt water and lemon will help to stop the fruit from browning. Cut fruits can also be dipped in pineapple juice for a similar effect. A quick dip is all that is required, so don't worry about leaving it to soak.

Learn how to use color as a guide to cooking. Colorful additions to your meals will add both nutrition and visual appeal. Use colorful garnishes like parsley, carrot curls, or raw cherry tomatoes. Do a little experimentation with different foods and colors to produce dishes that are both awe inspiring and appetizing.

Keep your spices and herbs fresh by not exposing them to humidity and light. Exposure to light, heat and humidity can cause them to lose a lot of their flavor very fast. These areas are not good because the spices will get exposed to flavor losing elements.

To give your pasta sauce some additional flavor, use some of the water that the pasta was cooked in. Set aside a small amount of the water, about one quarter cup. When your sauce is also ready, add in the water before tossing or topping the pasta. The pasta water's starch adds a "creaminess" to the sauce via amalgamation.

Consider using ketchup to batter ingredients that you are going to fry. Most people usually only use ketchup to dip their cooked foods in, but it is actually a great choice to dip uncooked foods into before they are dipped into the dry coating. By using ketchup as a base for your fried foods you will add another unexpected layer and tang to your food.

Trussing is the method of using string to bind the wings and legs of the turkey. Trussing will cook your bird more evenly when you tie the legs and wings to the bird closely. The wings and tips of the bird would burn before the body of the bird was cooked if not trussed.

Put some thought into layering a salad when you are preparing it in advance for later that day. Those with the highest water content should be at the bottom while the top should have those inclined to wilting, such as lettuce or other leafy greens.

Once you start putting these tips into practice, you will be inspired with new ideas yourself. Make delicious meals that your family will love, meals that you relish and feel good about. Taking up cooking is not only good for you but great fun as well. Make the kitchen the heart of your home. white plains steakhouses