It should be a pleasure rather than a chore (Home Cooking - Helpful Hints and Tips)

Member Name: cerys82

Product:	Home Cooking - Helpful Hints and Tips
Date:	15/09/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: satisfying, nutritious, rewarding, fun!

Disadvantages: nobody should feel guilty about the occasional takeaway

Cooking tips

I would be the first to admit that I am not a naturally talented cook. However I do love cooking, these tips have just come from my own personal experience and I hope that they may be helpful or interesting to someone....somewhere....

1) Learn the basics for certain dishes....
I am referring to dishes like soups, risottos, stir fries, stews and curries. I say this for many reasons. Firstly, they are largely wholesome and nutritious (well, depending on the ingredients that you use. Secondly many of these dishes can be cooked in bulk and in advance for eating later. This is particularly good if you know you have a long day ahead and won't want to cook when you get home. And, above all, these dishes are incredibly versatile as to what you put in them, be that meat or veg. This is especially good if you have leftover cold meat or any veg which is lurking in your larder or fridge at the end of your weekly/fortnightly shop.

2) Ensure that you build up a good herb and spice rack
These ingredients go well in curries, with mayonnaise for a dressing, spicing up potato dishes, couscous, sauces and marinades with the minimum of effort. Own brand herbs and spices in supermarkets are quite cheap and you can buy refill packs. Julian Graves sells herbs and spices in bags which can be decanted into any spare herb and spice pots that you have lying around; they are particularly good for chunky cinnamon sticks and vanilla pods.

3) Know when to splurge when buying equipment and utensils

A good set of knives are well worthwhile, making easy work of food preparation. A good food processor will be especially designed so that it is easy to put together and clean and will process food to the right consistency for further preparation. But, above everything else something you must invest in is a good set of non-stick pans (including a wok). My personal favourites come from Tefal but Tesco and Lakeland do fine own brand ones. They minimise your need for oil, and remain undamaged and easy to clean if you do 'catch' your cooking.

4) Build yourself a good recipe collection

The best bit about this tip is that it can cost you virtually nothing to get a great everyday recipe base. Most supermarkets have free regular magazines that they give away instore. These tend to include recipes which are family orientated so not too expensive or complicated and with ingredients which are reasonably priced and that you are quite likely to have in the house anyway.
Newspapers, especially at weekends, tend to come with a number of recipes and associated food articles that may be useful. Websites such as the 'goodfoodchannel' and the food section of the BBC website have an enormous wealth of recipes which can be copied or printed yourself. They also have excellent search engines and are organised well within the site. If you actually want to buy some books without spending a massive amount of money then you could do worse than to try the Book People website or to buy a selection of student cookbooks (these are now contain a lot more info than just basic cooking info, encouraging healthy ingredients and cheap eating without slaving away for hours in the kitchen; especially if you are only cooking for yourself or one other person.

5) Search out local producers

A good farm shop within a reasonable distance is worth its weight in gold. Quality is often utmost and on a completely unaltruistic level - it does give you a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside when thinking about supporting local suppliers.
It is always nice to find a locally sourced ingredient which is really very special like a cheese or a locally produced drink like cider and then introduce friends and family to your discovery. An excellent place to search out and discover new products like this are at local festivals. There you often get to meet the actual producers face-to-face as well as to 'try before you buy'. You will probably be really surprised as to how many small local producers of quality products exist in your locality.

Summary: feed your body and feed your mind