I have a confession to make. While I've always loved cooking, there was a time in the not-so-distant past where... oh, at least half of my cooking attempts totally flopped. It's true! I remember taking bites of new recipes only to stop chewing and think, "What on earth did I do to the chicken?!" My poor family. Despite my less-than-stellar results sometimes, I really did enjoy cooking, so I stayed with it and even cooked more, reading about cooking methods and watching "How-To" videos on YouTube. As years passed, I dare say I got pretty good, to the point where I'm very confident in the kitchen and of course, recruited friends to launch this cooking blog with me in August 2012! I'd love to share with you my 10 Tips for Beginner Cooks. I wish I'd found something like this about 10 years ago- I think it would have helped me tremendously!
I've included a personal example with each to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I'm sure many of you can add to those experiences as well! {Please do- I'd love to hear your comments!}
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| Mini Fresh Fruit Tarts |
1. Trust Your Instincts! If something doesn't sound good to you, chances are the end result isn't going to taste good either, even if it's in a recipe. There are millions of recipes out there, but each and every person has their own idea of what tastes good. Go with your gut and trust yourself!
- Personal Experience: When I was a teenager and just discovering my love of cooking, I often made dinner for my family. I was running low on time and was flipping through my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook and found an easy chicken recipe that had mayonnaise as the main ingredient. Baked chicken with mayonnaise. I grimaced when I read it, but thought, "Well, it's in the cookbook for heaven's sakes, it's got to be good!" Umm, yeah, it wasn't. At all. I still remember my mom asking me, "You baked mayonnaise?! WHY?" Ha!
2. Taste what you're cooking and adjust accordingly. Obviously you can't taste uncooked meat ahead of time, but for many other foods, you can and I say- DO. Taste away! Sauces, potatoes, rice- I try and taste anything I can prior to serving and usually add something- salt, pepper, sugar, onion powder or garlic are common adjustments I make.
- Personal Experience: I was making a cream sauce to go on top of savory crepes for a big church gathering one year. I had to improvise quite a bit and when I tasted it, oh my that sauce was so incredibly bland. I added so much to it. At the event I had a good 10 people ask for the recipe and I had no idea what to tell them. I'm glad it turned out OK, but if you end up changing the recipe a lot, be sure to write down your changes!
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| Chicken Cacciatore Bake |
3. Double check you have all the ingredients prior to cooking a recipe. I can't tell you how many times I thought I had an ingredient, only to find myself scouring my pantry while the pot simmers on the stove. Oftentimes in cooking, you need to add certain ingredients at certain times and when you don't have something, well, that's not good! I've gotten in the habit of laying all the ingredients out on the counter and putting them away once I use them.
- Personal Experience: Can I just tell you, it's pretty difficult to make caramel popcorn without corn syrup, even if it just calls for 2 TBSP. And yeah, Cherry Chocolate Cake doesn't taste the same without a can of cherry pie filling, I assure you.
4. Feel free to substitute expensive or obscure items. I'm a huge fan of swapping items out in recipes! Know that you can't swap out everything- swapping out main ingredients is risky! Cookies generally need flour, eggs, that type of thing. However if it's a smaller item or a topping, by all meals, change one item out for another. Use evaporated milk in place of cream, whole wheat flour in place of white flour, etc.
- Personal Experience: I had a potato recipe sent to me once by a friend I consider a really good cook. Everything looked good until I saw guyere cheese. What?! Is that referring to some type of special cow? Goat? Here's the thing- if you have to google an ingredient, that's probably not a good sign. I did find out that guyere cheese is like swiss, only more expensive. Awesome. Needless to say, I used Jack cheese instead- I had it on hand and it was much more my family's style.
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| Cherry Nut Bread |
5. Improvise in cooking, but not in baking, until you're a more experienced cook. So you know how I just told you that substituting items is okay? Well, let me clarify- it's easier to not mess up a dish that's being cooked on the stove, as opposed to something being baked in the oven. When it comes to baking bread, cakes, cookies and other desserts- follow the recipe or find a new one. Baked goods contain certain measurements of ingredients that contribute towards leavening {rising}, consistency, moisture, etc. If you change out baking soda for baking powder, it will not go well. Butter and shortening are not completely interchangeable. Until you get some experience under your belt, follow the recipe exactly with baked goods.
- Personal Experience: If you've read this blog for even a couple weeks, chances are you've caught on that I love to mess with recipes. Most of the time that turns out great, but even with years of cooking experience under my belt, I make mistakes and often it's from me swapping out ingredients in baked goods. I've made a few pancake-like tarts, muffins that crumble like ancient Italian landmarks and biscuits that resemble hockey pucks. It's no fun baking then having the food turn out inedible.
6. Pay attention to consistencies in all foods that you cook. I find when I mess up a recipe, most often it has something to do with the consistency, so pay special attention to it while you cook. If a chicken dish just looks too dry, trust your judgement and add in some chicken broth. If your wrist starts to ache from scooping out cookie dough, you might want to add a bit of milk. Conversely if the cookies lose all shape once they're on the cookie sheet, you might end up with one giant cookie after baking, so add a bit of flour. Whisking a sauce will get rid of clumps and many chilled desserts need time in the fridge to set up. Your dish could have the best flavor in the world, but if it runs all over the plate instead of staying where it should, it's not going to be as enjoyable.
Another trick is to remember that breads with yeast need to be stirred and kneaded for the consistency to be light, airy and delicious. I add all the ingredients to bread, mix it in my Kitchenaid, then once I'm satisifed with the consistency, I set the timer for 7 minutes to knead with the dough hook. However, if I'm making a quick bread- one that uses baking powder or baking soda to rise, I try and mix it minimally, as too much movement overworks the bread and causes it to be hard.
- Personal Experience: I live in a high elevation in a dry state, so the weather often messes with the consistency slightly in baked goods. I often add flour to mixes and homemade bread turns out better on rainy days. I also bake a half-dozen of cookies initially, so that I can make sure they're not too dry.
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| Decadent Cherry Chocolate Cake |
7. Beware of Over Cooking. If the first cause of a messed up recipe is consistency, the second cause is over cooking. If the recipe says the cake will bake for 45 minutes, set the timer to 40 minutes. I often sit and watch whatever I'm baking for the final 5 minutes or so, to make sure it doesn't get too dark. Corner brownies are super good, but if you can't bite into them with your front teeth, they've been over cooked. Trust me too, dry chicken is awful. I am really meticulous about cooking chicken and tend to freak out if I see a little pink. On the flip side, if you refill your drinking glass 3 times trying to get through one chicken breast, it's probably been overcooked. If you want to use a meat thermometer, cook chicken until it reaches 160 degrees because it will continue to cook even after you've removed it from the heat source. That's actually my trick with chicken, to remove it from the heat just before I feel like it's done. It sits and finishes cooking on the platter and by the time it's being served, it's perfect.
- Personal Experience: I still struggle with over cooking from time to time. My biggest challenge is not getting distracted- checking email, Facebook and Pinterest are not good ideas when you're cooking a meal! Sometimes I feel like I'm cooking with one baby on my hip and 3 other kids all trying to get my attention. Do your best. Ban everyone from the kitchen while you cook, if that helps. Focus on the task at hand and check often for doneness.
8. Find recipes that include ingredients you like, but also don't be afraid to try new things! If you don't eat meat, obviously you're not going to buy a cookbook full of beef recipes. You know what your family likes, so find recipes that stay between your personal guidelines, with a little variation. If you regularly eat rice pilaf, try making risotto one night. If you have a freezer full of ground beef, instead of making the traditional tacos, search Ground Beef recipes on Allrecipes.com and try something new!
- Personal Experience: We eat a lot of chicken and one day, all my regular recipes didn't sound appealing. I searched Allrecipes and stuck to recipes rated 4 stars or higher and found one for Coconut Curry Chicken. I'd never made curry before but I knew my kids wouldn't eat something really spicy, so I made changes and it turned out fantastic!
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| Chicken & Dumplings |
9. Never try a new recipe when you have dinner guests. Please save yourself some stress and just don't do it. If you're serving a meal to people other than your immediate family, I highly suggest you serve something you know how to prepare and have made it a few times. Meal prep goes smoother and you know that the dish will turn out well.
- Personal Experience: Oh I have several. Refer to item #2 above. I also remember one year I had some family members over I don't see often and I decided to try a new dessert from a recipe magazine I subscribe to. It looked so pretty, I couldn't wait to serve it. It was terrible! It quickly turned into one of those situations where no one wanted to eat it but no one in their right mind wanted to break it to me how disgusting it was. Can you say awkward??
10. Make notes alongside recipes and in the margins of cookbooks. I'm willing to bet, each and every time you make a new dish, you're going to have something to say about it. If the recipe went well and you plan on making it again, do yourself a favor and record any thoughts or recommendations for next time. It could be anything from "needs salt" to "whisk quickly- sauce thickens fast." It will be hard to improve upon a recipe if you don't make suggestions the first time! Another trick of mine is writing down size variances for recipes. If you feel like you'll double a muffin recipe often, write down all the converted amounts to save yourself a step next time. I often find I can't do basic math when I'm cooking too and not having to think about what 2/3rds cup is doubled, is nice!
- Personal Experiences: I think of recipes as suggestions, so my favorite cookbooks tend to have chicken scratch throughout, especially when it comes to reducing or doubling. Before I started writing in converted measurements, I can't tell you how many times I'd randomly double one ingredient, then forget to double the next, etc. I had a lot of fails initially when the family started eating more and I began doubling!
