Small Cooking Habits That Can Make A Big Difference

A good way to gain confidence in your cooking is by developing good habits that will make the whole process go much more smoothly, because preparation and forethought are better than winging it and risking a meltdown.

Unless the dish you're cooking requires whole chicken breasts or thighs you should be slicin' those mothers up into thin fillets, so they'll cook faster and taste better:

 "Chicken will cook faster if you butterfly the breast, pound it to equal thickness, and cut it into fillets. Otherwise, the small end of the breast will be overcooked and dry by the time the larger side is cooked. It’s an easy extra step, makes a huge difference taste-wise, and looks so much better when plated." —stephaniev23

With steak it's a good idea to let the meat reach room temperature before you cook it:

"I learned this while working with a butcher. Cooking a steak directly from the fridge means that once it hits the hot pan, the fibers in the meat go into shock, tense up, and result in a tough steak." —Debby Murphy, Facebook

And you should preheat the oil in your pan before you place the meat in, so it'll cook more evenly and won't stick:

"Heat your pan first, then drop the heat to a nice medium setting. You can't just flash cook everything — you will ruin your foods' flavor and texture that way." —Zach Rathier, Facebook

But here's the best tip of them all, for my fellow guacamole lovers out there:

"I made some guacamole the night before, put it in a bowl, smoothed the top, then covered it with about 1/2 inch of water and put the lid on. I took it to work the next day and poured the water off. It was perfect." —Connie Tanksley Stover, Facebook

See 17 Small Cooking Habits That Can Make A Big Difference here


Comments (2)

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Newest 2 Comments

Right up my alley. For starters, breasts are at least twice as thickas they were when recipes were created. Splitting them fixes a multitude of sins.
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"Some smart people have figured out how to get rich while everyone else funds their winnings,"...

How is this different from the way the American economic system works in general? Well, you can remove the word "smart" a lot of the time and substitute something along the lines of "grandpa did the actual work several generations ago, and the dumb kids are living off the inheritance and the family name." That much is true. But OTOH, there are still certain similarities. Only those privileged enough to have received the best educations of an incredibly specific type and-- even more importantly-- to be taken into the secret, exclusive, private groups and clubs are eligible. Everyone else need not apply. People are not going it alone-- if you read the article carefully, you can see that this is all about private, exclusive little groups that few will ever have the opportunity to join no matter how smart they are.
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Glad to hear someone figured out a way to "beat the system" for once! I'm sure the powers-that-be will notice what is taking place, and will slam that door shut in the future.

Personally, I don't see why they don't increase the dollar amounts of the smaller prizes, and have more winners. That would seem to generate interest in the game and fuel more sales.
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The lottery IS NOT a tax on the stupid.

If it is: every single "risk" you take would be a "tax on the stupid".

You take risks all the time. Life is basically one big succession of one risk after another.

Of course there are bad risks and good risks to take. Buying a lottery ticket for the price of one million dollars hoping to win one and a half would be a bad risk (keeping the same odds in mind of regular lotteries). Paying ten buck to have a chance of winning several millions is worth the risk. Maybe not for everybody, but it's definitely not a stupid bet to take considering the possible winnings.
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