101 SECRETS OF GREAT COOKS


Whether you are a new cook, or a seasoned kitchen veteran, there are some simple tricks that you can use to improve the quality of your meals. Professional chefs everywhere use these techniques to wow their customers, and keep them coming back. Try some of these ideas, and see how your family and guests react to your amazing culinary delights.

Have you ever wondered why it is that when you make a meal, following the recipe exactly, you still cant make it look like the accompanying photograph? The answer is pretty simple. Professional chefs use little tricks to make food more appealing. Luckily anyone can master the tricks of the trade with a little practice. Here are some that you might want to try tonight.

Do you sometimes feel that your guests compliment your cooking just to be nice? Everyone who has ever set foot in a kitchen knows that there is always room for improvement in the culinary arts. Here are some of the tips that we have gathered from the experts that might help you to get your guests to say "wow", and mean it!

Samples:

General Cooking Tips


1. Add a little zest. When a recipe calls for a "zest" of a citrus fruit its referring to the colorful outer part of the skin not the inner white part which is known as the pith. The zest contains all of the aromatic citrus oils and provides a hint of citrus tang to the recipe. A simple method of obtaining a fine zest is by rubbing the fruit against the smallest holes of a cheese grater.

2. Dont be afraid to experiment. Good cooks are never afraid to deviate from a recipe and add their own flair. Whenever you make a substitution or addition be sure to make a note on the recipe so you remember next time whether you liked the change or not.

3. Salted butter vs. unsalted butter. Butter is available both with and without salt. The salt is added for extra flavor and to help preserve it so it has a longer shelf life. The problem is that sometimes the salt in butter can be more than a recipe needs. Choosing unsalted butter gives you more control over how much salt your dish contains. If you only have salted butter the best thing to do is omit approximately ¼ teaspoon of salt per ½ cup (one stick) of butter used in the recipe.

4. Use your kitchen scissors. Right now you probably only use your kitchen scissors for opening packaging and bags of milk. But next time youre trimming fat from a roast opening pitas or cutting chicken into strips consider using your scissors! Chefs use them all the time for cutting meats and other food items. Its probably best to have a pair that are designated as food scissors only. And be sure you clean them very well after each use because they do have crevices where bacteria can hide.

101 Cooking Tips is delivered in PDF format and is viewable on any computer. All you need is "Adobe Reader" or "Acrobat eBook Reader" which is available free and already on most computers. If you do not have it installed on your computer Please Click here to get the software. They are both Free.