How You Could Be A Gourmet Cook.
by Rich Sfolate
http://www.fuzzyrecipes.com
How You Could be a Gourmet Cook.
Anyone can be a gourmet cook. All you need is patience, some
basic ingredients, and the ability to follow directions.
With just a little knowledge, you can cook like any fancy
chef you care to name, and in any style you choose. Starting
out with the basics and a good recipe is the start, but
don't find yourself slavishly following it as if it were
carried down from a mountain carved on a stone tablet. When
you know what the individual ingredients do, it doesn't take
long before you can create your own recipes just like the
pros.
Some basics to remember for a perfect result every time is
that each ingredient has its own properties, and you can't
always just use something else. For instance, tomato juice
adds flavor and thickness as well as liquid, so substituting
an equivalent amount of something like water won't do the
trick. However, adding enough water to tomato paste to equal
the amount of tomato juice required will give you better
results. While flour and corn starch will both thicken a
liquid, corn starch will hold much more liquid than flour
and requires a lot less to obtain the same result.
Everyone has their favorite tricks of the trade, and when
you have been cooking for a while, you'll find yours. For
instance, when you are using a recipe for making gravy, it
is common for you to see two tablespoons of butter and one
quarter cup of flour. Regardless of the instructions, if you
always melt the butter, add the flour, mix well and then
allow to cook for three minutes, you will never have lumpy
gravy. A combination of reading the recipe and a trick
learned from long practice create the perfect result every
time from an item that is infamous for its difficulty!
If you have a recipe that calls for a clove of garlic and
all you have is jarred, one half teaspoon will be enough. If
all you have it powdered, you need one eighth teaspoon. A
teaspoon of dry onions combined with about a quarter cup of
warm water will give you approximately one small diced
onion. When reading a recipe calling for spices, assume that
the author is referring to dried spices. These are much less
powerfully flavored than fresh in most cases, so reduce the
amount accordingly. Although jalapeno peppers are famous for
their heat, habaneras are much hotter so if you like your
chili a little spicer, go with that instead of cayenne or
jalepeno.
The upshot is that recipes are a great starting point, and
if you don't have a lot of experience, you can guarantee
getting an edible result by following the recipe to the
letter. However, if you know how to change it up a little,
you can take any generic recipe and create a masterpiece
with just a couple extra steps and a few special touches.
You can find some excellent basic recipes on the backs of
cans, boxed products, and even the internet. They make an
excellent starting point for your culinary adventures.
Rich Sfolate is the owner of
Fuzzy Recipes, one
of the leading on-line resources on recipes and related
topics. For more information, be sure to visit his articles
archive at: http://www.fuzzyrecipes.com/newsletters/
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