1. Make Great Cupcakes – Cupcakes are great from scratch because most recipes use only 5-6 ingredients. My personal recipe uses just baking soda, baking powder, flour, buttermilk, salt, and butter. The most important thing to remember to ensure your cookies turn out fluffy is to make sure you use cold butter and leave the butter in small pieces throughout the mixing process. A common mistake is to gently mix the butter into the mixture. If you leave the butter in pieces, while the cookies are cooking, the butter will form layers in the dough and the result will be more fluffy. This also works for making any puff pastry from scratch. Another great idea is to take the dough and put a thin layer over the top of a bowl of soup, then bake the entire bowl in the oven. This will give your soups a beautifully fluffy top. Of course, make sure your bowl is oven safe before you bake it.
2. Get a really good nonstick pan: If you’re tired of food sticking to the bottom of your cookware, then you really need to invest in a great nonstick pan. The one I have only cost me $30 and I can easily cook an egg without any oil and without breaking the yolk. I’m a big fan of Caphalon’s commercial lines, but definitely check out Anolon, T-Fal, and Farberware as well. Some other very important features are whether the pan comes with a lid, whether or not the handle gets hot when cooking, and how long other buyers have found the nonstick surface to last. Be sure not to confuse nonstick with hard anodizing. Hard anodizing is definitely not non-stick and you will be very frustrated if you confuse the two. The added bonus of a nonstick pan is that cleanup is really easy. Put your pan under water and most foreign food will easily slide out.
3. Grill or fry chicken without it getting stuck in the pan: One of the biggest problems when cooking chicken is trying to get it off the grill or pan. The key is to be patient. Use a spatula and wait for the chicken to loosen up, because it will. Of course, if you didn’t use oil, chances are the chicken will get stuck anyway. But all proteins reach a certain temperature where they will be released and it’s just a matter of being patient and waiting for this to happen.
4. It’s never too late to marinate: Many people end up eating bland food because they think they don’t have time to marinate their food. Even if you only have less than an hour, you can make a great marinade. Just make the marinade twice as strong and use strong flavors. Here are some quick marinades that have worked for me: balsamic vinaigrette, soy sauce and minced garlic, or lemon juice/zest and white wine. Also try using dry chips like crushed red pepper and garlic powder.
5. Use kosher salt for seasoning: Kosher salt is what all professional cooks use, and there’s a good reason. Regular iodized salt breaks down immediately when added to water. In contrast, kosher salt breaks down more slowly and lends a more pronounced flavor to whatever you’re cooking. If you want your steaks to taste like rotisserie quality, all you need is kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper.
6. Extra virgin olive oil is pasta’s best friend: After cooking pasta, be sure to mix the pasta with a little extra virgin olive oil right away. Otherwise, you will find that the paste will start to stick together after a short period of time. Never refrigerate plain pasta without adding olive oil. If you do, you’ll end up taking a big block of pasta out of the fridge. Also, when boiling pasta, be sure to add one cup of kosher salt per gallon of water. This is what will give the pasta its flavor.
7. Make Amazing French Toast: The best way to make amazing French toast is to avoid using regular bread. Extraordinary French Toast is made with specialty cakes or breads. Try cutting up a sponge cake from your local grocery store and turning it into French toast the same way you normally would bread. Another great idea is to make French toast with banana bread.
8. Make cake icing. Making cake icing is one of the simplest secrets in the world of pastry. To make the glaze, all you need is water and powdered sugar. Start with the powdered sugar in a bowl and slowly add water until you get the consistency you want. Then just use the frosting to make even more delicious scones, cakes, and other pastries.
9. Keep your kitchen knife sharp. A common misconception is that people cut themselves in the kitchen because their knives are too sharp. The reason for most cutting accidents in the kitchen is actually just the opposite. When you use a dull knife, the knife will slip off whatever you are cooking and this is when the knife usually cuts your hand. To keep your knife sharp, use a diamond steel and run the knife down the steel at an 18 degree angle.
10. Break an egg without shells coming out of the glass. This sounds easy enough, but it’s surprising how many experienced cooks still experience the hassle of having eggshells in their favorite foods. The way to avoid this is to first gently tap the center of the egg against a hard surface. Then use both hands to do the rest. If you are right-handed, hold the egg in your left hand and use your right thumb to push the center in, then pull the egg apart with both hands. If you’re left-handed, just change the directions above.
Good luck with your culinary adventures!
