Handy Cooking Secrets, Tips, and Shortcuts

Cooking itself is an art that is not easy. To conjure truly sumptuous meals, one must have great skill, discipline, and of course, passion to satisfy people's tastes. Most celebrities have higher standards of food taste as compared to ordinary folks, for their immense wealth and connections allow them to taste the most delectable dishes in the planet. Hence, it takes much more than ordinary cooking to make these celebrities burp and smile. What does it take to achieve culinary heaven within the standards of famous people?

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General Cooking Must-Knows

Before you start cooking, choose recipes that are not too complicated. Too difficult recipe steps can be overwhelming. Be aware of how much resources you can acquire and how much time you can invest on the cooking process.

Assemble all your ingredients in one place before you cook to avoid stressing out over lost ingredients in the middle of the cooking process. Arrange also the utensils and other things you're going to need for a more organized cooking.

Never ever put cooked or ready-to-serve foods on plates, cutting boards, or other surfaces where you have placed raw meat, fish, poultry, or other foul smelling food. Wash these surfaces first with hot, soapy water to remove all unwanted smell.

Experiment with different colors and textures in meals and bring out that creative side. You can also learn variations of one specific dish. You can try recipes from other cultures and make it your own. Or you can completely invent a dish out of the blue. All it takes is imagination and good taste buds and you're sure to conjure delectable dishes with your own twist.

Basic Cooking Secrets Revealed

• Add a variety of vegetables to meat dishes to reduce the amount of meat you eat and increase your vegetable intake.
• Add fiber such as oatmeal, wheat germ, Raisin Bran, Bran Flakes or All-Bran to muffins and breakfast breads.
• Add various kinds of fruit or vegetable to baked breads to make them interesting and more flavorful.
• Bake foods using non-fat marinades to retain moisture.
• Brown meat pieces and crumbled hamburger, drain off fat, and rinse in strainer with hot water before adding to a recipe.
• Chocolate Cake. Add a teaspoon of vinegar to your cake mix for a more delicious chocolate cake.
• Decrease sodium by using low sodium or unsalted ingredients.
• Experiment with a variety of spices and herbs in your dishes to make them interesting.
• Grating Cheese. For easier shredding, put the cheese first in the freezer for thirty minutes.
• Grill or roast meat on a rack so the fat drips away.
• Icing. Add a pinch of soda bicarbonate to your icing to retain the icing's moisture and prevent cracking.
• In place of sour cream, try using non-fat sour cream, yogurt or pureed low-fat cottage cheese.
• Make marinades with juices and broth instead of oil.
• Microwaving meals requires little or no fat to cook.
• Pancakes. Add a little sugar to your batter of pancakes and waffles to make them brown more quickly.
• Pie Pastry. To create flakier pastry, substitute a teaspoon of vinegar for one teaspoon of cold water called for in the recipe.
• Poach foods by simmering them in hot liquid such as broth, water, wine, or juices; no fat required.
• Reduce sugar by 1/4 to 1/3 in baked goods and desserts. Substitute flour for the omitted sugar.
• Refrigerate all stocks, stews, and soups and remove the congealed fat before reheating.
• Replace heavy cream with evaporated skim milk or low-fat yogurt.
• Saute food in a non-stick pan using water, broth, juice, wine, or cooking spray.
• Spaghetti Sauce. Add a pinch of soda bicarbonate to spaghetti sauce to remove any acid taste from the tomatoes.
• Steam your vegetables in a basket over boiling water or in a food steamer.
• Stir fry meat and vegetables in a non-stick pan or wok using broth or a dab of olive or canola oil.
• Substitute 2 egg whites for one whole egg or three whites for two whole eggs.
• Tender Meat. Putting one to two tablespoons of vinegar on your meat helps in tenderizing the meat while you are cooking.
• Trim all visible fat from meats before cooking.
• Use applesauce or other fruit purees in place of butter or oil in baked goods.
• Use fruit and vegetable salsas to spice up or add zip to meats and vegetables.
• Use non-stick pans and cooking spray to reduce the need for oil and butter.
• Use sharp cheeses in your cooking; you can use less and still retain flavor or experiment with using low-fat or fat-free cheeses.
• Use skim milk in place of whole milk.
• Use spices in baked goods. For example reducing sugar and adding cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla to your recipes.
• Use whole grain for part of your ingredients instead of highly refined products such as whole wheat flour, whole cornmeal, and oatmeal.
• Vanilla. Make your own vanilla concentrate by placing two split and chopped vanilla pods in a liter of vodka or bourbon.

Don't be afraid to fail the first few times. Cooking is an art, and any art always takes a process and of course, determination. As long as you have the passion, you can whip your way to culinary heaven and impress anyone with willing taste buds.

Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.