Cooking Tips From My Mom

Trying out a new restaurant can be a terrific experience, however do not you miss out on home-cooking? Sometimes you just require some basic suggestions to create hearty, home-cooked meals, and here are a few that I have picked up over the years.

Consider taking a cooking class for couples if you and your substantial other love cooking! Couples cooking classes can help you explore brand-new foods, enjoy each other’s company and likewise learn more about collaborating in the cooking area. A well-kept trick is that the guys delight in these classes as much as the women and it typically results in the fellows taking a higher function in cooking in the house.

Sometimes you may have an urge to make banana bread and do not have any bananas on hand. Don’t panic, especially if you have an infant in the house. Banana baby food is an excellent option. Two little containers of banana baby food equals about one cup of mashed bananas. Plus, baby food is easy to shop for and will not spoil.

Here Is A Really Simple Dessert Recipe

Do you remember a dessert called Angel Delight? It’s a breeze to whip up at home . All you need is 5 active ingredients:

1 pack of flavored jello

1 pack of shelled nuts

1 small can of your favorite fruit mixed drink

1 cup of cottage cheese

1 frozen tub of whipped cream.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large blending bowl and cool well before serving. Easy!

The trick to a making a fantastic mole sauce is to concentrate on the cocoa powder. Using a little bit of cocoa powder in your standard Italian tomato pasta sauces can make a huge difference in their taste as well. A touch of cocoa powder can give your dish a certain detailed flavor while not being too overpowering.

If you are going shopping for meat at the butcher shop be sure to ask if the meat is being fresh cut or ground. It’s perfectly fine to ask at the meat counter for a fresh grind if they do not know when the meat was actually ground

How To Make Delicious Chicken At Home

Pan roast your chicken pieces and let them take advantage of slow roasting in their own juices. Heat oil in an oven-safe pan till it is very hot. Add the chicken, skin side down, and shake the pan, you should hear the chicken start to crackle. Brown the other side when the skin side is golden brown. Put the whole pan in a 375 degree oven, and cook for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan, and place the pan back on the stove top. Toss in one half cup of sliced shallots to the pan juices, and fry till golden. De-glaze the pan with red wine. Stir in 1 tablespoon of butter, and cook for a minute or more. Pour over the chicken and enjoy! Hint-this is a perfect recipe to make with your cast iron skillet!

Start to use what you’ve discovered here, and you’ll soon get sufficient understanding to prepare home prepared meals for yourself and those you surround yourself with. You’ll be impressed at how one cooking pointer or trick often leads to the learning of another, and you’ll quickly be able to start teaching others what you know.

You’ll Love This Black Bean Soup Recipe

If you are looking for an easy recipe that can be created in less than 10 minute you will love this black bean soup recipe. This is very similar to the soup served at your local Panera and we thank the folks at Food.com for this copycat version of the original.

Black Beans Are Super Foods.

The word superfood is overused and often used incorrectly, but black beans have some superfood qualities that make them a great addition to any diet. Like other legumes, black beans are positive foods for their high fiber and high protein levels. They also are loaded with vitamins and minerals such as iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, and zinc. Numerous studies have shown that adding black beans to your diet can aid with healthy bones, lower blood pressure, a reduction in the onset of diabetes and an assist in fighting off heart disease. Not bad for a small, easy to prepare bean that can add some great flavor to many foods.

Black beans are available both canned and dried, you will receive the same health benefits with either style. Pay close attention to the labeling on canned black beans, some manufacturers add sodium to the final mix and the levels can be quite high. Try to use sodium free or reduced sodium canned beans. Because of their dense texture, black beans are a favorite addition to vegetarian and vegan dishes. They also make great add-ins to salads, tacos, casseroles and burritos.

This recipe uses only 10 common ingredients (plus water) and needs only a good blender and pot for heating. You can also use your slow cooker for this recipe, just set it on low for 4 hours, add the cornstarch. Stir the soup until thickened and serve.

Black Bean Soup Ingredients

1 onion finely chopped. Reserve 1/4 cup for garnish.

2 garlic gloves finely minced.

2 celery ribs finely chopped. Don’t add any of the leaf.

1/4 red bell pepper finely chopped. Green pepper is fine.

1 1/2 cups boiling water.

2 low sodium chicken bouillon cubes. Watch the sodium level!

2 Fifteen ounces cans of black beans. Don’t drain.

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Juice from 1/2 lemon or 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Black Bean Soup Directions

Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil and add chicken bouillon. Mix completely and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons of COLD water to the cornstarch and mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a pot and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add 1/2 can of beans, the salt and the cumin and cook for 5 minutes.

Pour this mixture into your blender and puree. It’s okay to have a few small chunks.

Pour the mixture back into the bowl and set on the stove top. Set heat to medium.

Add the chicken stock.

Add the rest of the beans (including the liquids in the can).

Add the lemon.

Add the cornstarch and stir until the soup has thickened.

You can garnish this delicious soup with chopped onions, chopped red and green peppers, sour cream, cilantro or grated cheese.

Do You Have These Basic Kitchen Utensils?

If you are simply starting to cook, or are moving in on your own, opportunities are, you don’t have much in terms of cooking utensils and tools. Here is what we recommend for you to get, as you are beginning. As times goes by, you will, obviously, get more kitchen gadgets. Here are 5 that we recommend beginning out with:

Cutting Board

This is something extremely fundamental, but there are quite a few options when it comes to cutting boards. It’s a basic utensil as you can’t slice anything without having one, but you need to make sure you have the kind you will want to use.

A good cutting board is extremely versatile, as you can chop practically anything on it. Almost every recipe calls for something to be cut, sliced, trimmed or chopped and you don’t want to do this on a counter top.

Some people prefer to get separate slicing boards to meat, dairy products, vegetables or fruits. This is a good idea as some cutting boards are softer than others. You don’t want meat juices getting deep into a board, they can be very difficult to clean. Many experienced cooks will get differently sized boards. They may like to use them depending on the volume of things they need to chop. Start out with a basic wooden cutting board, they are the most versatile. As you become more experienced you can look at plastic and stone.

This may seem silly but you will not be able to slice or chop anything on your cutting board unless you have a good quality knife. A good quality knife goes a long way to help you prepare food and will last you for years. This is one place you probably don’t want to be cutting costs in.

Get A Big Pot

You will need a big pot often. While it may sound basic, it is one thing you will constantly be reaching for. Starting with basics like boiling pastas to making soups and stews, you will always be using some type of pot for cooking. Some pots include straining inserts, that makes it much easier to prepare pasta. Others have steamer attachments for corn or lobsters.

Along with a good big pot, you will need a sturdy frying pan. We like saute pans, and use them all the time. They are smaller than a typical frying pan and are really versatile. Look for pans with a non-stick coating and without wooden handles. Often you will put the frying pan in the oven to finish off a dish, make sure it is ovenproof.

You will find that you use one frying pan more than others. It may be a saute pan, it may be a big multi purpose frying pan.

– Roasting Pan. These are ideal for preparing things in the oven. From roast to roasted chicken to roasted veggies, a roasted pan can assist you prepare your preferred dishes in the oven.

Do not be frightened – cooking is enjoyable. Start getting a couple of things that we recommended, and contribute to your collection of kitchen area devices as time goes.

Make These Fabulous Steakburgers On Your Electric Griddle

he ultimate meal for some is a juicy grilled hamburger. This recipe goes a step further by mixing two blends of steak to become a steakburger deluxe. You can use any blend of ground beef that you want but try these two grinds if you can find them.

Ingredients:

1 lb. cube steak, minced
1 lb. ground chuck
2 tbsps. Montreal steak seasoning, divided
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup steak sauce (A-1, Heinz 57)
1 large sweet onion, sliced
4 slices jarlsberg cheese (or any mild white cheese)
4 pretzel hamburger buns (or any other sturdy bun)

Instructions:

Preheat griddle to 375 degrees.
Combine the minced cube steak, ground chuck, 1 tbsp. of steak seasoning, a pinch of red pepper flakes and a quarter cup of steak sauce in a large bowl. Mix with hand until thoroughly combined.
Divide the mixture into 4 portions and form large patties; sprinkle a little of the remaining steak seasoning.
Add in enough oil on the griddle once it is heated.
Scatter the onions and cook until slightly soften and golden brown. Remove and set off to the side.
Add little more oil to coat the griddle and place the patties with the seasoned-side-down. Cook for about 6-8 minutes and flip; add cheese on top and cover with dome lid to melt the cheese.
Cut the buns into half and place on the griddle for 2-3 minutes to toast.
Assemble the buns, steak patties with cheese and onions.
Serve with drizzle of steak sauce. Enjoy.

Don’t add too much liquid to your meat mix before grilling, it can cause the patty to get loose and fall apart. If you want to add more steak sauce, try basting it on towards the end of the cooking cycle. This will help to keep the patty moist and keep the steak sauce on the burger. Same applies to barbecue sauce, don’t mix it into the meat.

Don’t put the cheese on the burger too soon. You don’t want to end up with a runny cheese sauce, you want a melted pieces of cheese that still holds its shape.

Cook For Fun, No Just Sustenance

Cooking can either be simply a means of feeding yourself or it can be a fantastic and fun creative process that will provide you with fabulous meals! I have tried to list some great ideas on how to make cooking an easier and more pleasurable experience for you before your next meal!

Prep Work-Do It Right!

The most difficult and time consuming thing about cooking is doing all of the prep work. You can buy pre-prepped vegetables or prep your ingredients the day before to cut down on the time you are in the kitchen. This is very helpful if you need to get dinner out in a hurry.

Microwaving a lemon or a lime for a few seconds can release the juices. Sometimes the citrus at a grocery store is not as fresh as it could be, making it difficult to juice. If you microwave it for 10 seconds, and then roll it between your hand and the counter it will release more juice.

If you’ve forgotten to soak your beans over night, quick soak them instead. Just put the beans in a very large pot and cover with water. Bring this to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about two hours. This method is just as effective as an over night soak and can save you time.

One of the things that you can do if you are cooking cauliflower is to add milk, which will help to brighten your vegetable. This will add to the aesthetic appeal of your food and will also maintain the freshness until you decide to serve it to your friends or family.

Shelling pecans can be really challenging. Make it easier by soaking them in a cup of water and put the cup into the microwave for 5-6 minutes. It is always possible to soak the pecans into boiling water to get the same effect. Hot water makes the shell softer and easier to crack.

How to achieve perfect scrambled eggs. Always cook your eggs in butter. Don’t be tempted to use oil. Allow two eggs per person, and beat with a little salt and freshly ground pepper. Scrambled eggs should be cooked slowly over a low heat, and stirred continuously. Scrape the bottom of the pan and constantly bring the outside edges into the middle. Serve on a warm plate. Enjoy!

We all need to eat so we might as well make the process of preparing food something we love. It can be interesting to find tips on improving your life in the kitchen! It can be a great way to enjoy a major part of our lives so take what you have learned here and apply it to your next meal and bon appetit!