If you have just started out in the kitchen or think cooking is challenging, you are definitely not the only one. There are a number of people who struggle with cooking, but this doesn’t mean that things don’t get better. Fortunately, there are some simple and easy rules that you can follow for cooking efficiently and keep your blunders to a minimum. Ido Fishman has outlined some of these in order to help make the process of cooking comfortable and more fun for you. Let’s take a look at some of them:
- Slice the chicken before you cook
You will be able to cook your chicken faster if you cut it into pieces of equal thickness and butterfly the breast. Otherwise, you will have an overcooked small end of the breast and it will be dry by the time the larger side is cooked properly. Slicing the chicken is an easy extra step, one that can make a big difference when it comes to taste.
- Preheat the pan before adding the food
It is not recommended by any experts, including Ido Fishman, to add food to the pan straight away when you begin cooking. Instead, you should wait for a bit until your pan and the oil has become adequately heated. Otherwise, the food will cook unevenly or stick to the pan. However, you should drop the heat to a medium setting once the pan is heated up or you could end up ruining the texture and flavor of your food.
- No need to be afraid of salt
Even though it seems rather basic, but one of the biggest rookie mistakes is under-seasoning. Unless you want your food to taste super bland, you should always add salt to it.
- Sharpen your knives
According to Ido Fishman Chef, one of the most important rules that you should remember is to sharpen your knives. Trying to chop things with a dull knife is not a good thing to do. First, it takes twice the effort and secondly, there is a good chance you will end up cutting yourself, something you want to avoid at all costs. You can sharpen every kind of knife and it will prove less dangerous than using a dull knife.
- Don’t cut into the chicken to see if it is done
Rather than poking a hole in your steak to check if it is done, you can simply use a thermometer to know so. If you poke a hole in it, no matter how small, it will allow the juices to escape. The thermometer is a better option to check the doneness of your steak.
- Season vegetables when you start cooking
When is the best time to season your vegetables? Experts like Ido Fishman indicate that this should be done when you add them to the pan. This ensures that you don’t overseason them and can improve the flavor profile, making it a lot better than if you seasoned at the end. It is recommended that you season throughout the cooking process. The food will taste a lot better and you will not need to use a lot of salt either.
- Use a baking sheet to cook the meatloaf
You shouldn’t put meatloaf into a loaf pan. All the fat and grease is trapped within and the meatloaf will be left soggy. Rather, Ido Fishman suggests that you use a baking sheet for your meatloaf, which will allow everything to drain away and the meat can get browned and nice.
- Wash your rice to get the fluffiness
When you are cooking rice for anything, you definitely want them to be fluffy. As per Ido Fishman, you can achieve this goal if you wash your rice. This will prevent them from getting too sticky and it will also provide you with the fluffy texture that you were after in the first place.