Sounds irrealistic? From my previous post you know that it isn’t. But if you haven’t read it yet or still don’t believe it, keep reading.

Cooking may seem complicated, time consuming or boring. And of course - it can be, but only if you choose the same or complicated recipes all over and again.

But cooking may be simple, quick, easy and fun. It will expand your knowledge about other cultures and give you joy from people’s reactions.

Some people think (and I used to be one of them) that skills are something you either have or haven’t. If you were so unlucky to have no “cooking gift”, you will be never able to cook anything nice. This is not true and I have demonstrated it in my first introduction post.

What you only need, is attention to detail, patience and determination. You will also need to believe in yourself, but I will make sure that you will do after reading my articles and provide you with basic knowledge and tips to speed up your learning process and prevent unnecessary mistakes.

In this article I want to introduce you 10 Golden Rules which you must always adhere to if you wish to succeed in your Kitchen Kingdom. Be aware there are not in chronological order. I would say that they are all equally important.

ꜰᴏᴄᴜꜱ ᴏɴ Qᴜᴀʟɪᴛy

Taste of your meal will depend on many factors. One of them is the quality of ingredients you use. Whenever you can, use fresh and seasonal ingredients. They have more intensive taste, smell and also contain more vitamins than canned/frozen/powdered products.

Remember that quality does not always go along with the price. High quality food is not always the most expensive, sometimes it is the other way round. I tent to go for the medium price, as the cheapest products tent to be lower quality (however not always, it all depends on the brand).

Also – make sure that food is not out of date, and keep in mind that the sticker may be wrong. The product may be either out of date already, or still fresh for a while – always consider it and don’t risk if you are preparing an important meal 😉

ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ

In most cases time plays a key role. Whether you are baking a cake, roasting potatoes or boiling an egg, time will overshadow on the meal quality. If you will allow it more or less time than it needs be, in effect your end product will be to dry, to wet, to sticky or over burn.

There are some standard timeframes for preparing different food and mostly it will tell you on the recipe or packaging, but if you are still unsure, do further investigation.

When possible, try to cook as shortly as you can, as the longer you cook, the more vitamins you lose from your meal.

ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ꜱᴩᴇᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴜᴩ ɪꜰ ɴᴏᴛ ɴᴇᴄᴇꜱꜱᴀʀy

Some meals require longer attention and lower/higher temperature, therefore increasing the heat to higher just because you are in a hurry may not be a good idea and even blight your efforts.

From my own experience, in most cases where I burned my food was when I wanted speed up time of cooking and changed low/medium heat to the highest.

Some meals just need the low heat, otherwise the chemical process in its structure will not proceed correctly.

Where needed, stick to low/medium/high and above it all, use your common sense to judge if it needs changing.

Stir, smell, taste and you will know.

ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɢɴᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴅ

Always check if it is required to put cover on the pan or not. Without cover on, the water/other liquids will evaporate faster. The same process with cover on will proceed much slower, as vapour evaporated from water in your ingredients move around and make them to be ready earlier on.

Remember:

RICE always requires A LID

PASTA always requires NO LID.

ᴋᴇᴇᴩ ɪɴ ᴍɪɴᴅ ᴩʀᴏᴩᴏʀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ

Depending on the recipe, you may need the dish to be more well-knit or soft, and you may have more or less freedom to decide how much wet and dry ingredients you will put in.

If your meal is too dry you can add some more liquids. If it is to liquefied you can add some more flour or other dry ingredients (depending on the type of meal).

But always be careful and rather add them on carefully.

ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴍᴏʀᴇ

To follow up on the above, it is always safer to go for less than more.

This rule can refer to all aspects of cooking such as time/heat/ingredients and more, but I want to get your attention to spices as they are the tricky ones.

Whether you use dry or fresh spices, always be careful with how much of them you are putting in. Once combined with other ingredients, they will be not to take out. Unless you are a Cinderella and have the patience to separate peas from lentils 😏👠👩‍🍳

And please – don’t be too relaxed when it comes to salt, it can really ruin your meal if you will put too much in.

ᴏɪʟꜱ ᴀʟꜱᴏ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀꜱ

Oils also add to taste and meals’ consistency.

A few examples:

For the best cakes’ consistency use unsalted butter (avoid margarines and low fat spreads).

For more healthy frying (if frying time won’t be long) use extra virgin olive oil, or coconut oil (for any length of frying).

For better taste of scrambled eggs use butter.

For salads’ better taste and nutrition add extra virgin olive /linseeds/sesame oil.

ᴜꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏᴏʟꜱ

Using the right tools will make you more effective and keep you safe.

For example, using right knives will shorten chopping time and save your fingers 😉

ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍʀꜱ ʜyɢɪᴇɴᴇ

For your own and your loved ones’ happiness and safety, keep to hygiene rules.

Make sure cutlery/kitchenware are well cleaned, in good condition and use them as intended.

Do not put fingers into food to try it. Do not put the food from the floor and put it back to the pan, and so on. Wash your hands when needed.

I guess you know it all but I can’t skip it as it is important 😇

ᴩʟᴀy ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴜʙꜱᴛɪᴛᴜᴛᴇꜱ

There is no requirement to stick to the recipe in 100%. You are free to change it as you like. Just remember that if you will change it too much, you will get a different meal 👀

I will give you a few examples of substitutes for different taste/nutrition/calorific value:

Milk – any plant milk/water/yoghurt/buttermilk

Sugar – xylitol/stevia/honey/maple syrup/agave nectar

Nuts, Flours, Pastas, Rice and Groats are one these ingredients where you have very wide choice and you can replace them with any alternative of your choice, depending on what result you want to get.

ＳＵＭＭＡＲＹ

As you see, there is nothing mysterious and difficult behind the scenes. These rules are universal ones but applicable in all cuisines of the world.

In my next article I will share with you a few useful tips which will make your learning process even smoother. And then we will head over to some interesting recipes 😎

I hope you liked my post and found it useful. If you know of any other important rule I didn’t mention or would like me to expand on any of the rules or answer any question you may have, just let me know in comment and I will reply as soon as I can 😊

Have a happy sunny weekend!

With love,

MуƘιтcнєηLαв