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No More Ramen: Real Cooking Tips For Real Food Are you a kitchen guru? Maybe you are just a kitchen veteran? Or like many others, you may be a novice. Whatever the case may be, helpful cooking advice can add some fresh ideas to your cooking. Take some time and learn a few things that can splash some new fun into your kitchen routine. When possible, complete all of the prep work in advance. Be prepared in advance to make your cooking go smoothly. http://www.tongji.org/members/insainhotsauce32/activity/161876 , when you're ready to cook, it takes some of the stress out of it, especially if you have a deadline to meet. You can spare yourself a great deal of hassle by doing prep work in advance. When baking pie or tart crusts, bake them longer than you think you should. Rather than pale blonde, they should have a golden caramel color. When you see the golden color it indicates carmelization, which lends a crisp, sweet flavor to the pie crust. Cook your pasta one minute less than the package suggests, then finish cooking it in a pan with sauce. Your pasta will absorb more of the flavor of the sauce without having an over cooked texture. This can be a quick and effective way to prepare a pasta meal. If you are cooking pasta and are tired of the same taste, you can add a hint of lemon. Lemon will give it the extra taste that you desire, and this additive is also a very powerful antioxidant. Adding spices and different flavors can help improve the quality of your meals. Have you felt guilty for throwing out some moldy fruits? Ever thought if you could just pick out the mold and salvage the fruit? You should never eat or keep a piece of fruit that has any mold on it. It must be discarded because mold spores that you cannot see may be present on other areas of the fruit. If eaten, you could become ill. Always use the freshest ingredients you can find for your cooking. Fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood all taste better when they are fresh. Besides better taste, fresh ingredients are usually healthier than pre-packaged, canned or frozen ones. Fresh foods have superior nutritional content and lack the unhealthy additives found in packaged foods. Burgers cooked on the grill are delicious; however, many times they stick to your grill. Brush the grill with oil so that food does not stick to it. Vegetable oil works great and will not make your grill greasy. You should cook chicken stew if you need to make a quick meal. Take a carton of chicken broth and put it in a large stock pot. Add cooked shredded chicken, diced potatoes, carrots, green beans and onions to the pot. Season to taste and cook for three hours on low. It is a tasty meal that does not take a lot of work. Avoid dry sandwiches by making sure the spread reaches every corner of the bread. Whether its mayonnaise or a cucumber cream cheese spread, it rids the sandwich of the dry taste of bread, meat and cheese. A quick dollop in the middle leaves only a well moisturized middle and less flavored and prepared edges. When cutting corn kernels on the cob, try this tip: Use the side of the knife that is not sharp to scrape the cob. This will extract the excess sweet juices from the cob, which can be applied to your corn dish and add a hidden burst of flavor to it, creating a new taste to the dish. It is a good idea to cook your green vegetables in boiling hot water. If you place the veggies in cold water and wait for it to come to a boil you will lose a lot of the green color because the chlorophyll in them will leech into the water. There are two good ways to warm tortillas. For example, place the tortillas directly onto a rack in a oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees. Remove the tortillas from the oven when they are sufficiently crispy. You might also wish to put your tortilla shell right on the grill if you have a gas stove top. Be sure that you have the heat on extremely low and you only leave it on there for a few seconds. These methods make delicious and fresh tortillas. Ensure that herbs and spices are stored in an area that is dark, dry and cool. Being exposed to humidity, heat, and light will cause your spices and cooking herbs to lose some of their potency. This just exposes them to the elements and degrades their flavors. Even a basic dish needs some big flavor, so try to add fresh herbs in your dishes whenever possible. Dried herbs like oregano and basil are generally more appropriate for highly complicated dishes with varied flavors. Fresh herbs are still preferred, and they will provide a much better taste to your dish. If you have a hard time finding fresh versions of your favorite herbs, then consider planting an herb garden. Add a cast iron skillet to your kitchen if you do not already have one. These multipurpose pans can sear, fry, roast, bake a cake, broil a steak and more, making them essential cooking gear staples. Cast iron heats evenly and holds heat well, allowing you to use a lower burner temperature. When seasoned well, cast iron cures into a nonstick surface, too. Taking the time to do some preparation on the preceding day will enable you to still create a delicious meal even if things are hectic. Save time by doing things ahead of time when possible. Chopping onions or putting together a casserole ahead of time is a great idea. Advice is great when you can be hands on with it. Cooking can be lots of fun and with the advice you have read in this article, you will see that you can enjoy your time even more. Take these ideas and use them and maybe even experiment while you are at it. The kitchen is a great place to try new things with the right help.