If you are looking to improve on your cooking skills, a refresher course in the basics can be a great investment of your time. But if you are too busy for that, the following tips can help you get back to some cooking basics that you may have forgotten or overlooked.
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If you are unsure of your boiling potatoes are done it would help if you stuck them with a knife. If the potato comes out of the water stuck on the knife then it means that they are not ready yet, but if they slide off easily then they are done.
Prevent your pie crust from burning at the edges by wrapping the outer edge of crust in aluminum foil for the first part of the pie's baking time. The outside edge always cooks faster than the portion that covers the filling, so the ring of foil can help to slow down the browning process.
A great way to save money by cooking is to substitute similar items. For example, let's say that you want steamed green beans at dinner. Fresh green beans cost about $1.50 a pound even during the season, but frozen green beans, which have much the same color and texture, cost less than a dollar a pound.
If you want to keep your cookies fresh in the cookie jar, a good way to do so is to crinkle up some tissue paper at the bottom of the jar. The paper will absorb all of the moisture instead of your cookies, keeping them fresh and ready to eat.
There are many different kinds of potatoes and they cannot be equally substituted for each other. Some potatoes are waxy and are great for making things like boiled potatoes or potato salad, but are not so good for french fries, mashed potatoes, or baked potatoes. For those applications you want to use fluffy potatoes like Russets.
To remove a batch of fudge from the pan with ease, first line the pan with aluminum foil that you have generously greased using butter, margarine, or a butter-flavored cooking spray. When set, simply lift the block of fudge up and out of the pan using the aluminum foil and you will then be able to peel the foil away from the fudge for cutting without the sticky mess.
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Avoid cooking soggy rice. When you are cooking rice, place a folded towel between the lid and the pot. When the rice steams, the moisture it creates will be absorbed by the towel and won't drip back into the rice. Cook the rice for the recommended amount of time, and you will have perfect rice every time!
Cooking the daily meal can seem like a chore sometimes, and throwing ingredients together quickly becomes tiresome. Cooking for pleasure can be relaxing, entertaining, and can be delicious. Remind yourself of some of the basic rules of cooking, and make cooking fun again for you and your family.
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