Cooking can be quite a joy, once you have mastered a few basic skills. You can become a better cook by reading this article, it can help you feel better about doing it! Once you have increased your culinary skills, the fun can begin.
Keep your spices and herbs in a dark, cool place. Humidity, light and heat can cause your spices and herbs to lose their flavor. For most grounded herbs and spices keep a lot of their flavor more than a year. Whole spices may retain flavor for up to five years. They can remain fresh longer if stored properly.
Get your ingredients squared away ahead of time. Save time by doing the prep work before you begin cooking the meal. When you have a limited amount of time, cooking can become stressful. You can spare yourself a great deal of hassle by doing prep work in advance.
When you are baking pastry crusts, try increasing the cooking time a bit. They should be a light golden brown instead of pale in color. The darker color results when the sugar from the crust has started to caramelize and will have a much sweeter and crisper flavor.
To reduce fat and calories in mashed potatoes without sacrificing texture or taste, replace some of your potatoes with an equal amount of cauliflower. Since cauliflower is bland, it will mix right in with the potatoes along with the other ingredients. Cauliflowers look very similar to potatoes in texture and color when they are mashed. It will allow you to have a delicious side dish that is healthier and still flavorful.
Make sure that you incorporate the advice in the article closely the next time you cook. In no time, everyone will be wondering what your secrets are!
