Oct 05 2008
Tips in cooking with a recipe
When all you have done in your life is eat the food that is already prepared, cooking it will be very much
like waking up in a world that you are not familiar with. This is where recipes and cookbooks come in.
These self-instructional guide to different dishes is your answer to that confusion. The cook book will give
to you a step by step account of what you should do, from preparing and gathering the ingredients to
actually cooking the dish.
You actually don’t need to ask anything because everything is already provided for you. But despite
the blow by blow account of what you should be doing, many still find cooking with a recipe arduous and
confusing. Some do not get the results that they want. Others do not get to cook it at all, stumped at the
first step in the recipe.
Here are some tips that will help you breeze through this cooking manual and make cookbooks your bestest
cooking buddy in the world.
1. Know the terms
Recipes may tell you what to do but they may not always be as simple to follow. Some cookbooks use
terms that only seasoned cooks know.
Words like batter, medium rare, tablespoon, minced and cubes will be like alien words for those who do not
have any experience with cooking a dish.
One solution to this is to always have a dictionary with you. That way, you can look at the meaning of
each word and then proceed from there. You don?t have to panic when you see those words. They are all in the dictionary, I assure you.
If a dictionary will not work for you, you can always buy a cook book that are especially made for the novice. Some cook books even have a section, where all the cooking terms are explained not only in words but also in illustrations. If a dictionary is not for you, you can always buy these simple cookbooks instead.
2. Always arm yourself with measuring materials
Measurement is the most important part in cooking a dish. If you have not measured your ingredients well,
chances are your dish will not taste as it should be. Too much of flavoring and you will have a too salty or
too sweet a dish. Too little flavoring and you will have a bland-tasting dish that your kids will not touch for a million years.
3. Go slowly.
Great food is never achieved in speed. If you want great tasting dish, let the meat boil for an hour and not 15 minutes shy of an hour. The quarter of an hour that you did not boil the meat will spell a lot of difference in the meal that you are cooking.
The same goes for instances when you are over the time frame. That is why it is important to always have a
clock in your kitchen counter or if possible a timer. This will make timing the food a lot easier as you can
always put an alarm to remind you. It is also a good idea to put more lead time for you to cook the food. If the recipe book says, 1 hour, then allot 30 minutes more. Do not be in haste to cook the food as this will
only spell disaster.
