| 1. Making great biscuits: biscuits are great from scratch | | | | professional cook uses and there's good reason. |
| because most recipes use only 5-6 ingredients. My | | | | Regular iodized salt breaks down right away when |
| personal recipe uses only baking soda, baking powder, | | | | added to water. In contrast, kosher salt breaks down |
| flour, buttermilk, salt, and butter. The most important | | | | slower and delivers a more pronounced flavor to |
| thing to remember to ensure that your biscuits come | | | | whatever you are cooking. If you want your steaks to |
| out fluffy is to make sure that you use cold butter and | | | | taste like steak house quality, all you need is kosher |
| that you leave the butter in small chunks throughout | | | | salt and coarse ground black pepper.6. Extra virgin |
| the mixing process. A common error is to mix the | | | | olive oil is pasta's best friend: after cooking pasta, |
| butter smoothly into the mixture. If you leave the butter | | | | make sure that you mix the pasta with some extra |
| in chunks, as your biscuits cook, the butter will form | | | | virgin olive oil immediately. Otherwise, you'll find that the |
| layers in the dough and the result will be more rise and | | | | pasta will start to stick together after a short amount |
| fluff. This also works for making any puff pastry from | | | | of time. Don't ever refrigerate plain pasta without |
| scratch. Another great idea is to take the dough and | | | | adding olive oil. If you do, you'll end up pulling a big pasta |
| put a thin layer over the top of a bowl of soup, then to | | | | block out of the fridge. Also, when you boil pasta, |
| bake the whole bowl in your oven. This will give your | | | | make sure you add a cup of kosher salt per gallon of |
| soups a beautifully fluffy top. Of course, make sure | | | | water. This is what will give the pasta its flavor.7. |
| that your bowl is oven safe before baking it.2. Get a | | | | Making amazing french toast: the best way to make |
| really good non-stick skillet: if you're tired of having | | | | amazing french toast is to avoid using regular bread. |
| food stick to the bottom of your cookware, then you | | | | Extraordinary french toast is made with cakes or |
| really need to invest in a great non-stick skillet. The one | | | | specialty breads. Try slicing a pound cake from your |
| that I have only set me back $30 and I can cook an | | | | local grocery store and turning it into french toast the |
| egg on it over easy without any oil and not break the | | | | same way you'd usually do it with bread. Another |
| yolk . I'm very partial to Caphalon's commercial lines, | | | | great idea is to make french toast out of banana |
| but definitely check out Anolon, T-Fal, and Farberware | | | | bread.8. Making icing for pastries. Making icing for |
| as well. Some other very important features are | | | | pastries is one of the simplest secrets in the pastry |
| whether the skillet comes with a cover, whether or not | | | | world. To make icing, all you need is water and |
| the handle gets hot when it cooks, and how long other | | | | powdered sugar. Start with the powdered sugar in a |
| buyers have found that the non-stick surface lasts for. | | | | bowl and add water slowly until you get the |
| Make sure that you don't confuse non-stick with hard | | | | consistency that you desire. Then just use the icing to |
| anodized. Hard anodized is definitely not non-stick and | | | | make danishes, cakes, and other pastries even more |
| you'll get very frustrated if you get the two mixed up. | | | | delicious.9. Keep your kitchen knife sharp. A common |
| The additional bonus of a non-stick pan is that cleaning | | | | misconception is that people cut themselves in the |
| is really easy. Run your pan under water and most | | | | kitchen because their knives are too sharp. The |
| extraneous food will slide off easily.3. Grilling or pan | | | | reason for most kitchen cutting accidents is actually |
| frying chicken without getting it stuck in the pan: one of | | | | the total opposite. When you use a blunt knife, the |
| the biggest problems with cooking chicken is trying to | | | | knife will slide off whatever you're cooking and this |
| move it off the grill or pan. The key is to be patient. | | | | when the knife usually cuts your hand. To keep your |
| Use a spatula and wait for the chicken to release, | | | | knife sharp, use a diamond steel and bring your knife |
| because it will. Of course, if you didn't use any oil then | | | | down the steel at an 18 degree angle.10. Cracking an |
| the chicken will most likely get stuck anyway. But all | | | | egg without getting shells in the mixing bowl. This |
| proteins reach a certain temperature where they will | | | | seems easy enough, but it's surprising how many |
| release and it's just a matter of being patient and | | | | experienced cooks still experience the annoyance of |
| waiting for this.4. It's never too late to marinate: a lot of | | | | getting egg shells in their favorite foods. The way to |
| people end up eating bland food because they think | | | | avoid this is to first gently hit the egg's middle against a |
| that they don't have time to marinate their food. Even | | | | hard surface. Then, use two hands to do the rest. If |
| if you only have less than an hour, you can make a | | | | you're right handed, hold the egg with your left hand, |
| great marinade. Just make the marinade twice as | | | | and use your right thumb to push the middle in and |
| strong, and use strong flavors. Here's a few quick | | | | then pull the egg apart with both hands. If you are left |
| marinades that have worked for me - balsamic | | | | handed, just switch the directions above.Good luck |
| vinaigrette, soy sauce and minced garlic, or lemon juice | | | | with your culinary adventures!Jonathan Chin is the |
| zest and white wine. Also try using dry rubs such as | | | | editor of an online resource that helps regular people |
| crushed red pepper and garlic powder.5. Use kosher | | | | connect with great home cooking secrets. |
| salt to season: kosher salt is the what every | | | | |