Being able to cook is essential for a healthy, sociable and fulfilled lifestyle. There comes a point in life where it is time to up your cooking game. Leaning how to be a good cook is fun. It also opens up many possibilities for creating more interesting and tasty food. Here is our guide on how to be a good cook.
1. Get the right appliances and utensils
You can’t to a job without using the right tools. Therefore to be a good cook, your kitchen needs to be properly equipped. There are the obvious things like a good set of knives, pots, pans and dishes. But there are also loads of different kitchen appliances that are essential for certain kitchen tasks. There are also kitchen appliances that make life a lot easier, allowing you to make fantastic meals with minimum effort.
Your time in the kitchen can be made a lot more fun with some brilliant kitchen gadgets. Chopping, sautéing, straining, sprializing are all made easier and can add a splash of colour to your kitchen.
2. Organise your kitchen
If you have a clutter free workspace, your time in the kitchen will be more enjoyable, less stressful and easier making you a better cook. So make sure everything you don’t need is out of the way. You also need it to be well lit, near to the bin and within close reach of a glass of wine.
3. Make a shopping list
Make a list of what you want to eat during the week, and make a shopping list of everything you need to cook it. Going to the supermarket every day is not a valuable use of your time. Do one shop per week. This way, you have everything at home and you can easily change your mind about what you want to eat each evening.
Online shopping is an even better use of your time. Services such as Amazon Fresh will deliver everything to your door. Click here for a free trial.
4. Keep versatile ingredients in your cupboards
When you are making your shopping list, make sure you have some stock ingredients on it. Cans of tomatoes, pasta, soy sauce etc are essential for whipping up a quick meal. They are also a lot more healthy than having an “emergency pizza” in the freezer. With some practice, a good cook can make great tasting dishes easily with what they find in the back of their kitchen cupboards.
5. Season and use Herbs and Spices
A good cook always remembers to use salt and pepper. This may sound obvious, but it is often forgotten. Dried herbs are great and are very convenient, but fresh herbs much better. They create vibrant aromatic dishes, which makes them taste much better. Additionally, have more health benefits. If you have a spot where you can grow herbs in your garden, that is great/ But, you can also grow them easily in a pot on your windowsill.
We really like the Aerogarden. This allows you to grow herbs under an L.E.D light and tells you when you need to add water. Click here for details.
6. Get some recipes
There are loads of cook books to choose from, all with varying themes. BBQ, vegan, Asian, bacon and vegetarian styles are all available (they also make great gifts). However, there are loads of recipes on the internet, including here.
7. Prepare
This goes with organising your kitchen. Before you start cooking, get everything ready. Get out all your ingredients, weigh and chop everything and put everything in place. This way you won’t forget essential ingredients and have everything close to hand. Also, clean as you go. This is better for hygiene and means there is less to wash up at the end of the evening.
8. Sharpen your Knives
A good cook has a selection of sharp knives. Sharp knives make chopping much easier and safer. There are loads of cheap and easy to use knife sharpeners available for the home kitchen.
9. Create side dishes to compliment the meal
A good way of becoming a good cook is to make side dishes to compliment your food. This is a great way of impressing guests with little effort. You don’t need to go too fancy. You can start with simple with home made bread. This may sound like a faff, but with one of these bread makers, it is super easy.
10. Grow your own ingredients
As we said before, home grown herbs add much more flavour to your food. But you can grow lots of other ingredients too. Tomatoes, chillies, ginger, carrots can all be grown indoors. Using ingredients you have grow yourself will make you feel extra smug about your cooking.
Bonus: Keep everything clean for an easy life
Earlier, we said cleaning as you go is a good idea. But, there are a few things you can do to make sure you make less mess while cooking. For example you can buy reusable silicone sheets to catch drips in your oven. This keeps it clean, saving you time.
