Jacqui’s Basic Rules
1. Read recipes before starting.
2. Baking is like chemistry, the amounts/timing matter, so follow directions.
3. Cooking is about flavors, so experimentation and customizing to your likes and dislikes is perfect…do not be a slave to following a cooking recipe exactly.
4. Use sharp knives. A cutting board is for vegetables and fruits. A plastic board works best for meats and poultry. Do not use the same board for both. The bacteria from meat contaminates a wood board.
5. Believe it or not, the glass measuring cup is for liquids and individual-sized cups are for dry ingredients. The amounts actually come out a bit differently.
6. Never put fairly hot liquids into a blender or food processor. Learned the hard way that it will explode…quite the hot mess! Buy cheap chef aprons at restaurant supply stores.
7. When grilling, the heat rises and contributes to flavor. When broiling, the heat comes from the top and just cooks with little flavor addition.
8. Always let meat rest for a few minutes after grilling or cooking. It lets the juices redistribute.
9. Sizzle matters. If you want to know if oil is hot enough, stick the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil. If the oil bubbles and sizzles, it’s time for food.
10. Browning meat requires hot oil or a hot skillet to sear the meat. Pat the meat dry first. Brown meat in smaller batches to attain the sear. Too much meat in the skillet releases water and the meat steams rather than sears. Avoid beige meat!
11. Almost any chicken dish tastes better if you soak the raw chicken in buttermilk for 20 minutes first. Then, follow the recipe.
12. Saute onions in a hot pan with hot margarine. You want the sizzle. At a lower temperature, the flavorful oils in the onions leach out.
13. When making pasta, salted water adds flavor. It is your only chance to flavor the actual pasta. Contrary to popular belief adding oil to the pasta water does nothing to prevent it from sticking together. After draining, quickly stir in some olive oil or melted margarine/butter to gently coat the pasta and prevent clumping or immediately add sauce.
14. Extra Virgin Olive oil only matters in salads or when it will not be heated. Once heated, olive oil is basically the same. Save money.
15. Margarine and butter are not the same thing. Margarine is vegetable oil based. It became popular as “oleo” during W.W. II to save milk. Butter is derived from milk. Be sure which one you need or desire to use.
16. Roasted vegetables always taste better. Some olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper. Into the oven at 425 degrees and voila!
17. To enhance flavor, consider toasting nuts or spices. A quick bake at 425 degrees or so does the trick. Watch carefully. It’s a matter of seconds between “toasting” and “burning.”
18. When baking, even the color of the pan utilized can influence the recipe’s outcome. Light-colored pans produce cakes with pale crusts which tend to stick to the pan more than dark-colored pans. Dark-colored pans absorb the oven heat more readily. So, while the cake releases better from darker pans, it is generally recommended that you turn the oven down 25 degrees below what the recipe specifies.
19. Never add cold eggs to a hot mixture unless you want scrambled eggs in your pudding! In a small bowl, add some of the hot mixture to your eggs and quickly stir to gently raise the temperature of the eggs. Then add the slightly heated egg mixture to the main mixture in the saucepan.
20. Cake flour and all-purpose flour are not the same thing. Cake flour contains less protein and is much more finely ground. Most recipes call for all-purpose. If you need cake flour and do not have it on hand, substitute 2 T. of cornstarch for 2 T. of the all-purpose flour. Then sift it a couple of times before using.
21. Chilling cookie dough before dropping onto the cookie sheet makes a difference. This allows the baking soda/powder to work before the butter flattens out in the oven.
22. It’s amazing what a slight dash of Kosher salt on cookies right after they emerge from the oven does to the flavor. It’s that sweet-n-salty thing. And, who cares what the recipe says, adding or doubling vanilla in cookies never goes wrong!
23. Do not over-knead dough. It actually toughens the gluten strands. Going back to #2 – baking is chemistry.
24. Similarly, do not over handle hamburger when making patties, meatballs, meatloaf, etc. Over-kneading meat toughens the texture.
25. Try to clean as you go – it’s called the “McDonald’s Method.” However, the chef should never, never have to do the dinner dishes!
Hoping you find the joy in cooking and baking…
Love,
