- Cook often. Nothing beats practice and experience to make you more efficient and give you confidence in the kitchen.
- Cook what you like. Make what you want to eat. You know what you want it to taste like, you’ll be looking forward to it, so you will put your best effort in.
- Read the recipe…twice. You’ll know what to expect, so everything will flow easier. You’ll understand what equipment and ingredients you need, the timing of the steps and the techniques you’ll be using. You also won’t be caught out by suddenly reaching a step that says ‘marinate for 4 hours’, when you were expecting to eat in 30 minutes!
- Use a decent chef’s knife and keep it sharp. A dull knife can be dangerous in the kitchen, because it can slip across a surface instead of cutting through. A sharp blade will make your chopping and slicing faster, more precise and safer.
- Prep everything before you start cooking. Get out your flavourings and measuring spoons and chop your ingredients ready to go. You could overcook your dish if you have to leave the stove to chop something at the last minute.
- Use a good pan. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but it is worth spending a bit more to get a couple of heavy-based pans to cook with. Cheap ones don’t heat evenly, they burn easily and make cooking a lot harder.
- Don’t overcrowd your pan. You should be able to see the bottom of the pan between the pieces of food (when sautéing, frying or roasting). An overcrowded pan cools down, which lengthens the cooking time and affects how the food cooks. It makes your ingredients release water, which makes meat dry out, vegetables soggy and dilutes the flavour of everything. A hot pan also seals food quickly so that it doesn’t absorb oil and get greasy, so preheat it too! If your pan is too small for what you’re cooking, get a bigger one out or cook in batches.
- Make notes in your cookbooks. Less salt, 10 more minutes, more garlic. Record your experience to help you next time you cook each dish.
- Be a tidy chef. Before you start cooking and while you are preparing food, tidy up after yourself. Put ingredients away when you’re finished with them, put rubbish in the bin and put dirty equipment in a sink of hot soapy water or rinse and put in the dishwasher.
- Try new recipes. Challenge yourself and pick a few new dishes that use techniques you don’t use often (or ever!) and make them a few times. This will get get you out of your comfort zone. Even if they don’t turn out how you want them at first, at least you’ll be learning! I get ideas from leafing through my cookbooks, restaurant menus, TV shows, and the free food magazines from my supermarket.
If you have any questions about any of these tips, get in touch! Leave a comment below or on my Facebook Page.
