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Sadly, good home cooking is on the verge of extinction. The art of cooking is fast becoming a lost art. Our busy lives don't allow time to learn how to cook. The grocery stores are full of prepared frozen meals and ready-made pizzas, enough to fill out a week's menus and more. Take-out fills in another day. Wouldn't you like to be able to turn out a tasty meal with your own two hands? Let's take a look at a few simple cooking tips that will give you new skills, to put a gourmet meal on the table, economically.
Sauces and gravies are simple to make. A few good cooking tips can make an extraordinary meal out of a pork chop or a chicken leg. For example, boil a bowl of rice. Dice up some cooked pork or chicken, chop up a few colorful veggies and set the meat aside. Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a pan, add an equal amount of flour, one tablespoon at a time and whisk the mixture thoroughly, over low heat, until smooth. This is the basis of your sauce. Once the butter and flour are thickened, add about three cups of broth, milk or cream gradually, stirring all the while with a whisk. Add the meat, veggies and some herbs. Serve over the rice. You've got a terrific tasting meal.
Here's a cooking tip for a quick and elegant meal. Both fish and chicken cook very well in the microwave. One dinner portion size of salmon fillet cooks perfectly in about four minutes. Turn the fillet over after two minutes. A chicken breast cooks in about six minutes. Whip up some packaged hollandaise sauce for the salmon, or just dress the fish with lemon juice. A dollop of salsa adds a little excitement to the chicken. Serve either one with a salad and rolls.
If you enjoy mushrooms, here's a cooking tip that saves you time and money. Fresh mushrooms can be sliced and frozen on a cookie sheet, in a single layer. When the mushrooms are quick frozen, bag them up for later use on a moment's notice. This allows you to buy in quantity when they're on sale.
If you don't have a slow cooker, get one. Using a slow cooker is one of the best cooking tips for the novice cook. In the morning, take just a few minutes to prepare an entire meal, ready to eat at dinner time. If you've been afraid to tackle a roast, the slow cooker produces a moist and tender result. Here's how: Set the cooker on a medium setting. Cut up some potatoes, onions and carrots. Lay these in the bottom of the cooker, set your roast on top, season, cover tightly and walk away. A tantalizing fragrance greets you at the door. You know how to make the gravy!
Just these few cooking tips will have you cooking like a pro in no time.
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