Familiarise yourself with the seasonal growing calendar, so you only use fruit and vegetables at their peak. Choose vegetables without wilted or discoloured leaves, bruising, or other signs of damage. When it comes to buying fish, look for fish that smell of the sea. The eyes should be clear and prominent, not sunken; gills should be pink or red, not grey, or brown; the body should be shiny and firm. In the case of fillets, the flesh should be firm; a finger pressed to the flesh should not leave an indentation. We’ve summarised 21 core home cooking skills that you should learn in order to be a better cook.
Once I learned to roast, sauté, and stir-fry, I realized I could make low-key hot food with very minimal effort. Roasting really is as simple as putting vegetables or a protein in a pan, dousing in oil and salt, and popping it in the oven at 350°F, give or take 50°F.
However, I took a bite of my creation and immediately fell in love. The sharpness of the rosemary contrasted beautifully against the bitter artichoke and sweet lemon. Not only that, but I could create something GOOD and WONDERFUL from scratch. Even for experienced chefs, unexpected things can still pop up out of nowhere and ruin a meal. Although it can be frustrating to see all that time and energy go down the drain, keep in mind that cooking is a learning process and don’t give up. Instead, focus on learning something each time you cook by figuring out what worked and what didn’t, which will make you into a better chef for the future.
In the midst of your newfound passion for cooking, you might be tempted to tackle impressive dishes like a savory souffle or baked Alaska. But these dishes are only so impressive because they are quite challenging recipes that you should wait to attempt until you’ve developed your cooking skills a bit more. Instead, the best way to learn to cook is to begin with the basics, such as pasta or tacos. For around $20 a month, you can learn to cook from America’s Test Kitchen experts. The pros here develop tried and true recipes and also star on the famed, award-winning television show. America’s Test Kitchen teaches you the hows and whys behind innovative culinary techniques and classic recipes in a step-by-step approach. Classes cover everything from cooking basics to advanced skills.
How to Store Asparagus (so it stays fresh!)
Unfortunately, I was perpetually broke for most of my early to mid-20’s so I couldn’t really afford to eat out either. Read more about Food Blogging here. Being too broke for nothing more than an occasional Wendy’s $5 meal also meant that I couldn’t afford to buy a bunch of groceries to risk wasting them in my efforts to learn how to cook more. By the time I was making enough money to properly feed myself, the issue became time. I had enough time to buy groceries for the week, but never enough time to stand there for an hour or two in my kitchen to get anxious over a cookbook I could barely comprehend. So I stayed in my comfort zone and kept to my usual sad diet, content to survive rather than thrive with my TV dinners and butter. If the idea of preserving food scraps during an already-busy time feels insurmountable, Barber offered other ways to stay conscious of our food systems at this time of year. If you live in a rural area, he suggested finding a local farm and pledging to bring your scraps there to feed pigs for all of 2024.
I’ll help to guide you through the process so you can learn to cook at home for your family or for your best friend’s birthday party. If a dish has enough salt and still tastes flat, it’s often because it needs a mouthwatering burst of acidity — think of a squeeze of lemon on a piece of fish, or vinegary pickles on a sandwich. If a dish is too acidic, the way to achieve balance is to add fat or sugar to mute the sourness. Leanne Brown wrote Good and Cheap for those who have to watch every dollar, particularly those living on the U.S. food stamp allotment of four dollars a day. But the cookbook, which is available as a free PDF, is also perfect for anyone who wants to learn to cook. It will teach you how to plan, shop and cook on a budget — all-important life skills no matter your circumstances.
Two ways to add acid to food
Both the crockpot and air fryer were game changers for what I could cook. My crockpot became an oasis of soups and casseroles experimenting with all of my new spices that I’d assemble in the morning to enjoy in the evening after work. In fact, if you remember my ye olde YouTube days that I have since retired from, you might recall I had an entire video series all about how terrible of a cook I was. To be honest, it’s some of my best work and some of the most fun I had making YouTube videos so I’m definitely okay with folks checking it out. But the point of the series is that I couldn’t cook to save my life. It was almost a point of pride with how little I could cook because I loved people’s horrified reactions to my awful cooking abilities.
Cooking How to will help you discover the correct procedures for preparing a variety of meals. Read about how to saute vegetables, grill a streak, bake fish and more. Find the help you need for the task you want to accomplish with our comprehensive how-to guides. We’re here to help you prepare, cook, bake, decorate, and serve with confidence. I’ll never be the best cook on staff at Bon Appétit. I cover restaurants and food culture—code for the fact that I eat out constantly. I post up at restaurants for as many as six nights a week.
Learning to taste and adjust seasoning is one of the most important chef skills. It’s an indispensable skill you can practice to improve your home cooking. A pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon or a sprinkling of chilli flakes is often all it takes to lift a dish. Take care when using salted butter in cooking and baking as it can result in over-seasoning; most chefs use unsalted butter.
Every recipe you read, every restaurant you go to, could be the source of a new idea. The secret to cooking is sourcing the best ingredients you can find.