Top 10 Handy Cooking Hints

Don't fry a piece of meat that you've just taken out of the fridge. Leave it for an hour or 2 before cooking to let it come up to room temperature. Now you'll fry the meat evenly and get a great meal, regardless of how you like your steak done. If you want a beautiful brown crust on your steak, get rid of all the moisture in the meat before frying.

2. The Juiciest Meat

It takes time to fry chicken or pork properly, and you can dry them out very easily. To avoid this, many European chefs use a simple trick: they put the meat in a brine. It's very easy to make a good brine: take 3 cups of water, and add ¼ cup of salt and ¼ cup of sugar. Pour the brine onto your meat so that the liquid covers it, and put the bowl in a fridge.

3. Flavoring Spices

To extract natural flavors and enhance the taste of the black pepper or cumin in your dish, toss them in a pan over medium heat, toasting them until they're fragrant. After that, you can use a mortar and pestle to grind your spices. You can substitute ground black pepper with black peppercorns and crack the seeds. When you add it to your dish, you'll get a much better aroma and flavor.

4. Fish With a Delicate Crust

If you want to fry fish on a grill, spread some mayonnaise on it to get a tasty delicate crust. Take a pastry brush, dip the tip in the sauce, and lightly apply mayo to the fish. Add some salt, and then grill it. We guarantee you'll get a perfect golden crust.

Use the minimum amount of spices on your fish. It's better to use salt. When the fish is done, spritz it with lemon juice for the best result.

5. Creamy Mashed Potato

Before turning boiled potatoes into mashed ones, you need to dry them properly. Just place them in a clean heated frying pan, and keep them there until the remains of water dry out. Don't let the heat fry them. When the potatoes are dry, you'll get the best creamy mashed potatoes.

A little secret: to avoid hot milk splashing you when you make mashed potatoes, smash some of them in a pan, and then add the milk.

6. Excellent Cream Soup

Right before you start cooking vegetable cream soup, fry all vegetables separately with olive oil. Then add some water or a broth. Frying will caramelize the sugar in the vegetables and enhance their flavor. The dish will be exquisite and tasty. The same trick can be applied to a vegetable stew.

7. Sugar As a Seasoning

Sugar can be as good a seasoning as salt. Add a bit of sugar to a dish with pickled or fresh tomatoes or a tomato paste – the sugar will reduce their natural sourness and make any meal taste better.

8. Perfectly Fried Egg

The 3 components of perfectly fried eggs are a thick-walled frying pan, butter, and minimum heat. Heat up the frying pan, and add 1/2 tablespoon of butter. It has to melt slowly, not reach a sizzle. Break the eggs, and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add salt, and enjoy perfectly fried eggs.

9. The Best Pancakes

A clear broth is the main component in many soups, sauces, and other dishes. To make a crystal clear broth, you need to cook a chicken on a low heat without a cover for at least 3 hours. Don't let it boil, and remove the suds as they appear. After cooking it for 1.5 hours, you can add parsley, celery, carrots, and onions.

When cooking a beef or a lamb broth, you might want to roast root vegetables before adding them to your soup. Just cut them into halves, and put them in a heated frying pan without oil. Fry until a dark brown crust appears, and then add them to the broth. This trick will make the taste of your dish very rich.

10. Clear Broth

A clear broth is the main component in many soups, sauces, and other dishes. To make a crystal clear broth, you need to cook a chicken on a low heat without a cover for at least 3 hours. Don't let it boil, and remove the suds as they appear. After cooking it for 1.5 hours, you can add parsley, celery, carrots, and onions.

When cooking a beef or a lamb broth, you might want to roast root vegetables before adding them to your soup. Just cut them into halves, and put them in a heated frying pan without oil. Fry until a dark brown crust appears, and then add them to the broth. This trick will make the taste of your dish very rich.