Cooking isn’t something that people are born with knowing how to do. It’s a skill that you learn over time by practicing and learning how to do it. I learned to cook by watching my nana and my mom and by experimenting on my own. Cooking is such a valuable skill to have because you always have to eat! My hope is that this post will give you practical tips to help you become a better cook and to make your overall experience in the kitchen better.
Tip #1- Season in Layers
Salt and pepper is key to anything you are cooking. Especially if you cook from scratch, you need a good amount of salt and pepper to draw out the flavor so you can actually taste what you’re eating. Seasoning in layers means- adding S&P when the meat is raw, and then again when it’s cooked, and if you’re adding into a dish with other things add some more. Now don’t over salt and pepper, this leads into my next tip…
Tip #2- Taste your food
This one may seem obvious but it’s important. In order to make sure your food is seasoned enough or needs more of something just give it a quick taste. There’s been times where I’ve at something at a party or get together and I just think “dang did they even taste this!?”
Tip #3- Have a dump container next to you
Having a little trash container next to you while cutting up vegetables is sooo much more convenient than running back and forth to the trash can with dirty hands. Most of the veggie scraps I have go to the chickens or in the compost pile. I use a little tupperware container for this and it makes my life easier.
Tip #4- Use fresh herbs
Fresh herbs can get pricey at the grocery store so I recommend growing them yourself. They are super easy to grow indoors or outdoors. You can do this even if you live in an apartment building. Using fresh herbs levels up your dish so much by adding in so much flavor.
Tip #5- Don’t be afraid to dirty dishes
Don’t be afraid to to use extra dishes if it’s going to make the dish you’re cooking better. For example, there’s this pasta I like to make. It has peppers and onions and sausage in it. I cook the peppers and onions first and then brown the sausage. After the peppers and onions are done, I put them in a bowl and cook the sausage in the same pan. If I was lazy and didn’t want to dirty another dish, I could leave the peppers and onions in the pan while the sausage cooked in there too but then the peppers and onions would be overdone. There’s lots of other times when cooking that this can come into play, so just don’t be lazy and use that extra dish!
Tip #6- Clean up as you go
In my household, I do the cooking and my husband usually washes the dishes. But if there’s a time when the food I’m cooking has to boil or sauté for a few minutes I will wash up a few dishes in that time. I have a hard time concentrating when there’s clutter or an excess of dirty dishes around. I could just put it all on my husband, but to make my life easier and his, I clean up as I go while cooking.
Tip #7- If you’re following a recipe, read the whole thing the day before (or morning of)
When I first started cooking I was usually following a recipe. I can’t count how many times I’ve waited until just before to read the whole recipe and realized I was unprepared. The biggest one that would get me is butter. Lots of recipes call for softened butter and I’d forget to set it out a few hours before hand. Or if a recipe calls for a room temperature egg. Save your butt and read the recipe in full the day before.
*Bonus Tip* Cook from scratch
Everything (normally) taste better from scratch. Real, Whole ingredients are so full of flavor on their own and don’t have preservatives, food dye or anything else unnecessary in it. Plus buying fruits and vegetables fresh is usually cheaper than buying frozen or already prepared food.
*Bonus Tip* Use sourdough
I might be biased on this one, but ever since I started my sourdough starter and started making sourdough bread and using it in my cooking, it definitely upleveled my meals. Sourdough is so flavorful, I can’t say enough good things about it!
I hope these tips will help you in your cooking journey! Cooking is a lifelong pursuit and you will learn something new every time you try a new recipe. So go experiment and try new things in the kitchen!
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