14 Mar Upgrade Your Cooking Skills
If you have aspirations to be a better cook then you’ve come to the right place because this week we’re sharing some simple tips on improving your cooking skills and we offer private cooking lessons.
Our first tip is simple, use the best ingredients and the best equipment. The ingredients you use will affect the final taste of the dish for example a chocolate dish will vary based on the quality of chocolate used in it. If you’re unsure about which are the best ingredients to use have a little look up what chef’s recommend, if you’re following a recipe you’ll also often find that it will suggest a specific type of mushroom for example. As well as the best ingredients you need to ensure you also have the best equipment to prep these ingredients. Start with getting the right knife, a good investment which will no doubt be used in almost all dishes you plan to make. A long, wide blade is recommended as this will aid you in controlling the knife and you must also keep the blade sharp.
Next step after sourcing ingredients and prep is the actual cooking of your dishes and when it comes to mastering this task it may take time but here’s our advice to get started. Following a recipe is great but remember that all ovens are different so even if your recipe dictates a certain gas mark for a certain amount of time this may vary. As recipe instructions may not meet up with the reality of how long things take to cook in your own oven, it is useful to know the signs of when a dish is ready. Touch is useful in understanding how far along things are cooking, for example meat will become firm when well done and you can also do the touch test with a cake to see if it has met the desired texture yet. Colour is also a good indicator of how well done a dish is, for pastry look out for brown colour, then you will know it’s ready. Recipes often give helpful hints for how the food should begin to look or feel so go by this over sticking strictly to the time it says the dish should be cooked by.
Trust your own instinct. When it comes to seasoning your food follow the recipe but also taste the food and add more salt based on what you think is necessary just don’t go too far and over salt your food! Something else to bear in mind is the type of salt you use as you will get a much better taste if you use sea salt over regular table salt. Food is also about texture and small chunks of freshly ground sea salt on a salad or over a pasta dish can also give a satisfying salty crunch! One last addition to seasoning your food is a bit of vinegar or lemon juice which can really give the flavours a lift and take your dish to the next level.
Becoming a better cook mainly requires trusting your gut and having the right ingredients and equipment, practice also makes perfect!
Why not hire a dinner party chef to prepare some of the best dishes for you at your event? Plus, in our lessons we can teach you anything you want to learn simply get in touch with us today, call 0208 226 37 59, email info@chefscompliments.co.uk or simply click the contact us button above.
