Hello Everyone...
I made this topic because hencefort you dont have to open a new topic for asking to someone...
You Can ask it here...
And Please Dont Open A New topic !
Here I will give tips for cooking...
Thank You
Pia
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Tip Of The Day :
Always cook the rice less than fully done. A little amount of cooking continues when you take the dish off the stove. This technique keeps the grains from lumping together.
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Tip Of The Day :
Don't overcook your soups. It tends to lose color and body...
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Tip Of The Day :
Better Baking | ||||||||||||||||||||
A good cooking tip: leave 2 inches of space between the oven walls and your baking sheet for good circulation. Also remember to use top quality bakeware for best results. Without high quality bakeware you risk uneven baking and burning ******************************************
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Extra tips :
Kitchen 101: The Basics
Even world-class chefs have to start somewhere. Here are some basic tips for getting off on the right foot in the kitchen.
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Choose recipes that aren't too complicated when you first start cooking. You don't want to be overwhelmed by a recipe that has unusual ingredients or difficult steps, or that is time consuming. Try one- or two-pot dishes, and be sure to check out our recipe section for some simple meal ideas.
Read the recipe through from beginning to end before you start. Do you have all the right ingredients? Utensils? Appliances?
Make sure you understand all the directions.
Check the clock and make sure you have enough time to make the recipe. You don't want to spend tons of time in the kitchen - and with the right recipe, you won't need to. If you have to get dinner on the table by a certain time, figure out when you'll need to start in order to have the meal ready. Most recipe instructions include the amount of time it takes to prepare the dish. It might be a good idea to add 10 or 15 minutes to that time when you first try to conquer the kitchen - just to be on the safe side.
Assemble all your ingredients in one place before you start. Some chefs like to measure out each ingredient ahead of time before cooking. Pull out the utensils, measuring cups, and spoons you'll be using and keep them handy so you won't need to run all over the kitchen.
An apron is a good idea if you want to keep your clothes from getting dirty. (You can skip the chef's hat, but it's smart to tie back long hair.)
Always wash your hands with warm water and soap before any kind of food preparation. You may need to wash your hands several times as you cook, especially after touching raw meat, poultry (chicken and turkey), fish, and egg products.
Never put cooked or ready-to-serve foods on plates, cutting boards, counters, or other surfaces where you have placed raw meat, poultry, fish, or egg products without first washing these surfaces with hot, soapy water.
- Don't cook without a parent's permission.
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Biscuits will be crisp on the outside and flaky in the center if you roll the dough thin and fold it over once before cutting out biscuits. They'll also split open easily when you're ready to butter them.
To re-freshen and heat biscuits, put them in a well-dampened paper bag, twist it closed and put in a 300 oven for several minutes or until warm.
If you want soft-sided biscuits, bake them in a pan with sides and put the biscuits close together.
If you want crusty biscuits, bake them on a cookie sheet and place them apart from each other.
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Recipes: Where to Find 'Em
If you've never actually looked for recipes, you've probably never taken notice of them. But once you start keeping an eye out for recipes, you'll find them everywhere! Here's a list of some places you can find fantastic recipes:
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Your family - Does your uncle have a world-famous pasta salad or have you always loved your grandmother's spicy chicken? They'll probably be flattered when you ask for the recipe!
Cookbooks - try libraries, where you can photocopy them, or bookstores
Food, fitness, and women's magazines
Newspapers - there is a dining/food section in the Sunday edition of many newspapers
Supermarkets - check at the meat, produce, and fish sections
Food packages - the box or bag may have a recipe on or inside the package
Mail-in offers - if you send proof of purchase, some food companies will mail you a small book of recipes
TV cooking shows
Online - the Internet has many recipe and cooking sites (click on the Resources tab for a partial list of such sites)
Cooking class at school
Your friends
- Invent your own recipes and try them out on family members and friends.
- In a conventional oven, place the brown sugar in an ovenproof dish that has sides. Preheat oven to 225F and place sugar in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes. Do not overcook, bake only long enough for sugar to soften. Cool and store in an airtight plastic bag.
- Place hardened brown sugar in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and allow to stand at room temperature overnight or until the sugar softens. Store softened sugar in an airtight plastic bag.
- If you run out of brown sugar unexpectedly, mix a cup of granulated sugar with two tablespoons of molasses to make your own
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Getting Creative in the Kitchen
Once you get the hang of reading recipes and mastering some meals, you can get creative in the kitchen! Let loose and:
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Try experimenting with different ingredients - substitute beans for meat, or crunchy green beans for carrots, for example.
Learn to use herbs and spices.
Bring out your artistic side by experimenting with different colors and textures in meals.
Focus on one type of dish and learn lots of variations.
Try recipes from cultures or ethnicities other than your own.
Most of all, don't be afraid to fail a few times. Cooking is like anything else - it takes practice. So even if no one likes your banana tacos, just remember: delicious meals come out of creative (and adventurous) minds.
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How to melt chocolate
Please note that melting chocolate is not the same as tempering chocolate. Tempered chocolate has been subject to certain temperatures and techniques that alter its chemistry. Tempering produces the texture and sheen we expect from fine chocolate candies. To temper chocolate, consult a candy cookbook.
The enemy of melted chocolate is water. Even a hot and humid day can ruin your efforts. Be absolutely sure that hands, utensils, bowls, surfaces - everything that comes in contact with the warm liquid chocolate - are bone dry. One drop of water in warm melted chocolate will cause it to seize (bind, clump and turn grayish in color).
The second nastiest enemy of chocolate is too high heat. It's so easy to scorch! No matter what method you choose to melt chocolate, use patience. Do not take shortcuts.
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Cookie cutters
"Cutters should be sharp, with no rough edges. If the cutter sticks to the dough, dip it in flour each time you use it. Always start cutting at the edge of the rolled-out dough and work toward the center, cutting the cookies as close to each other as possible."
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Brown Sugar
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Placing a piece of bread in with the brown sugar will prevent it from becoming hard, or sealing the package tight and storing it in the refrigerator will also keep it soft and fresh.
To soften brown sugar after it has hardened, try one of the following techniques:
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Place a fresh apple wedge in the bag of hardened sugar, seal the bag and leave it for 1 to 2 days until the sugar is soft again. Remove the apple wedge and stir sugar. Store in an airtight plastic bag.
Soften in the microwave by placing brown sugar in a microwavable dish, cover with two dampened paper towels and then cover with the dish cover or plastic wrap. Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring with a fork after each interval. When it has softened, allow to cool and store in an airtight plastic bag. Do not overcook or sugar will begin to melt.
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Flour
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To prevent bugs from getting into the flour, add a bay leaf to your flour container or store it in the freezer.
- Make your own cake flour by substituting two tablespoons of cornstarch for two tablespoons of all-purpose flour for every cup of flour called for in the recipe.
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Bananas
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To ripen bananas quickly, place an apple with the bananas in a brown paper bag for approximately two days.
- Ripe bananas can be saved for baking purposes by mashing, placing them in a plastic bag, and freezing until you are ready to use them. You can also place the whole banana in a bag and freeze it in its skin.
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For soft Dosas, add some boiled rice to white gram and rice, while grinding.
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Adding turmeric will help pickles from getting spoilt.
Put some neem and turmeric pieces or garlic flakes in the container where you store rice or grains, in order to keep away insects.
To adjust salt in curries add roasted rice powder.
If the curd is too sour, add 4 cups of water to it. After half an hour, remove the water collected on top.
When you cook dal add some refined oil or garlic. It will reduce gas trouble.
Keep rice flour and basin in a polythene cover in refrigerator when you want tem stored for a long time.
Add some vinegar in the boiling water before steaming potato.
For crispy dosas, add a teaspoon of tur dal gram) and some fenugreek seeds while soaking rice
Add a pinch of corn flour to the jar of salt to prevent it from getting damp.
While chopping raw bananas and potatoes, put the pieces in a bowl of water to avoid it from turning black.
A bay leaf added to the flour container will keep the flour free from moisture.
To peel garlic flakes easily, wash and soak them in cold water for about an hour.
Green peas will retain their original colour, if you add a pinch of sugar while boiling.
Leafy vegetables will remain fresh longer, if wrapped in news papers when you are storing.
If you don't have any cream to add in the soup or gravy, add a mixture of butter and milk.
Apply some oil on the sides of the vessel in which you boil milk, in order to avoid it from overflowing.
After extracting butter from milk cream, add a little milk or curd to the residue and boil. You will get soft 'Paneer'.
For thick cream, cover the milk vessel with a thin muslin cloth and refrigerate over night.
Barley powder will increase the taste of meat and vegetable curries.
You can make tasty chappathi by mixing equal proportion of wheat flour and barley.
While boiling eggs, put a hole with a pin on the rounded portion of the egg so that the shell won't break when boiling.
Keep boiled eggs in cold water for 5 minutes, this will make removal of the shell easier.
Cut boiled eggs with a knife dipped in hot water to avoid breaking.
Boiled eggs will last longer, if you store the shelled eggs in a bowl of cold water in a refrigerator.
If the bread is too soft to cut into pieces, hold the knife close to a flame and then slice the bread with it.
If you need only the egg white, for storing the remaining yolk, cover the yolk with water or milk and keep in a cool dark place. Just drain off the liquid before using the yolk.
Add a little powdered lemon rind to puddings or deserts to avoid the smell of egg.
If you want to make crispy potatoes or banana chips, sprinkle salt water over them while frying.
Soak almonds in warm water for a minute, if you need to peel them quickly.
If a curry turns out too salty, garnish it with some grated coconut mix with cumin powder.
Add a pinch of sugar while cooking spinach, it will retain its green colour.
Dal will cook well, if you add a little sesame oil while cooking.
To make the 'poori' more tastier, add one tablespoon semoline for each 100g wheat flour.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda while mixing the dough for 'chappathi' to make it soft.
For making soft sauce, add some paneer.
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