Have you ever turned on the TV to the food network and watched in awe as Bobby Flay masterly crafted his famous Chile-Honey-Glazed Salmon? While a chef of Bobby Flay's caliber must hone his or her skills through years and years of experience, the everyday person can create a magnificent dish with the help of a little basic knowledge.
While no two master chefs are the same, they all have one trait in common. Excellent preparation! On the contrary, poor preparation happens to be the everyday cooks number one downfall. When you fail to prepare adequately and plan meals in advance, you significantly increase your chances of being blindsided when you open up the cookbook and realize that what you wanted to make for dinner requires tomatoes and onions, both of which you ran out of two days ago.
Instead, plan what you're going to make the night before so that on your way home from work the next day you can pick up the necessary ingredients you don't already have. Make an effort to purchase from farmers markets, produce stands, or even roadside vendors, as you will be getting the produce at its peak form and will resultantly make for the tastiest meals. Nutritionally, fresh produce has higher value than supermarket produce because its farm to shelf time is much shorter. Additionally, remember to read a recipe before implementing it so that you can measure the necessary ingredients and take out any necessary cooking utensils beforehand, which will make the cooking process ten times less stressful. Try out this Asian Pear Salad recipe for starters.
Like everything in life, cooking takes practice. As you gain experience, you will become better versed in the art, and eventually reach the point where recipes come naturally, so there are no need for cookbooks, and experimenting with recipes is joyous. But for the majority of you, recipes are your friends and will help guide you on your culinary adventures. At first, the lengths you must go through in order to cook food may seem challenging, but remember that over time it will pay its dividends.
Remembering to practice may sometimes be difficult, so I have listed a few common ideas that will kick-start your cooking undertakings!
- Take a cooking class, which you can find and book on the activity booking site Vimbly, where you will get hands on practice from a professional in the field.
- Make one night of the week "family night" where one of your family members, roommates, or friends gets to choose a recipe for you to whip up for dinner.
- Host a Potluck dinner or lunch once a month with family and friends where each person must bring a different food. If you want to spice things up a bit have a different wine the food must be paired with.
Often overlooked is the cleaning aspect of cooking. The best chefs run the tidiest ships! The space we have to work with is limited, and insuring this space is clean is vital to creating a great dish. After you make a mess, clean it up (granted the recipe allots the time to do so), as you may need that space for the next step in the recipe.
Learning to cook is a work in progress but if you try and take into account the advice above, the stress associated with cooking can be greatly reduced. With practice you might just end up on Iron Chef competing against Bobby Flay!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_Somekh
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