KitchenStew.com :: Handy Guidelines For Easy Cooking.

Cooking Can Be Easy if You Follow These Handy Kitchen Guidelines

Be sure to read the entire recipe from start to finish and be sure you understand the process involved. Be sure you have all the tools you will need before you begin.

Check your ingredients and be sure you have what you need and in the amounts required. Keep cooking sprays handy, while they're not listed as ingredients, They come in very handy. Be sure to use just small amounts.

Set out all the ingredients and utensils needed to prepare the meal on the counter near you before you start. Remember that old saying, a stitch in time saves nine. It applies in the kitchen too.
Prepare as much as you can before actually cooking. Do whatever is needed to prepare the ingredients and be ready before you begin. Preheat the oven at least 5 to 10 minutes before putting food in to bake, to allow the oven to get to the proper temperature.

Measure your ingredients carefully. Use glass measures for liquids and metal or plastic cups for dry ingredients. Most recipes are based on standard measurements. Unless it calls for a scant or full cup, measure the cup level.

To make sure your recipe comes out right, follow the instructions exactly. It's ok to substitute ingredients that don't change with the basic chemistry of the recipe, just be sure to leave key ingredients alone. For example, you could substitute ground turkey for ground beef but if the recipe calls for cook-and-serve and you used instant, you won't get the same result.

Use a kitchen timer to tell you when the cooking or baking time is up. In most cases, stove temperatures vary slightly from stove to stove, you may want to set the time for 5-10 minutes less than the suggested time to prevent overcooking. Look in on the dish at that time, and then figure out if you need the additional time or not.

Be careful about doubling or halving a recipe. Even though many recipes can be altered successfully to serve more or fewer people, many cannot. You must take extra care with this rule especially when dealing with liquids or spices. If you try to double a recipe that calls for one teaspoon ginger, for example, and you double it, you may end up with too spicy a taste. You may want to try increasing spices or liquids by 1 1/2 times when doubling a recipe. If it tastes a little flat, try increasing the spice to 1 3/4 times the original amount the next time you prepare the dish. Keep this in mind: you can always add more, but you can't take it out after it has been mixed in. The same is true for liquid ingredients. If you wanted to triple a recipe because you were planning to serve a large amount of people, you might think you should use three times as much of every ingredient. Don't, or you could end up with a sloppy mess! The original recipe may call for 1 1/2 cup of beef broth, so I'd suggest using 3 cups of broth when you triple the recipe.

Clean up as you go. It is so much nicer to wash a few dishes at a time than to deal a whole sinkful of dirty dishes later. Also be sure to clean up spills when they happen.

Make notes next to each recipe once you've served it. You might want to try and remember: was it a big hit? Did I have to add more seasonings to please my family? A One to Five spoon rating scale will help you decide whether to make this more often or not. Be sure to write down your comments while still fresh in your mind. This will help you customize the recipe to your own taste the next time you cook it.

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