{"id":587,"date":"2015-11-12T11:15:07","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T11:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/?p=587"},"modified":"2019-03-29T12:02:47","modified_gmt":"2019-03-29T12:02:47","slug":"30-nuggets-of-culinary-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/culinary-tips_30-nuggets-of-culinary-wisdom","title":{"rendered":"30 nuggets of culinary wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"\nHere are the 30 nuggets of wisdom for when you are entertaining (and even when you are cooking just for yourself).\n\n

1: Prepare all your ingredients in advance<\/b> and have them ready to hand when you start cooking. Once you start cooking you don\u2019t need chaos and distractions.\n\n

2: Don\u2019t add too many ingredients<\/b>, the fewer and the simpler the better. Three main flavors are enough for a single dish.\n\n

3: Never cook with wine you wouldn\u2019t drink<\/b>. If it’s corked, it’s corked. Throw it away.\n\n

4: Your hands are the most important tool in the kitchen<\/b>. Use them in preference to a kitchen utensil whenever you can.\n\n

5: Buy the best ingredients and utensils you can afford<\/b>. Good ingedients will improve your cooking. Good utensils will last a lifetime.\n\n

6: Always taste and test<\/b>. Never serve something that you haven’t tasted, and be prepared to adjust the seasoning as required.\n\n

7: Clean up as you go<\/b>. A chaotic kitchen will lead to chaotic results.\n\n

8: When entertaining, don\u2019t use untested recipes<\/b>. If you want to use a new recipe on your guests, test it out yourself first\n\n

9: A botched recipe is actually a great way to learn and do better next time<\/b>. Just try to botch it when you’re cooking for yourself rather than when you have guests (see #8 above)!\n\n

10: Use a recipe as a guide, but make it your own<\/b>. Don’t be afraid to vary the ingredients and cooking methods to suit yourself.\n\n

11: Always use a bigger bowl\/pot\/cutting board than you think you need<\/b>.\n\n

12: Wherever possible, buy fresh, local produce<\/b>. You’ll notice the difference in your results.\n\n

13: Invest in good knives and treat them well<\/b>.\n\n

14: Trust your senses and your intuition<\/b>. Don’t rely on a timer; learn to hear and smell the just-done sizzle. It will add to your joy of cooking.\n\n

15: Keep it simple<\/b>. Don\u2019t drown great food in unnecessary sauces (unless you screwed up and need to hide the evidence!)\n\n

16: Add spices sparingly<\/b>. You can always add more, but you can never take away.\n\n

17: A little crystalised sea salt makes almost anything taste better<\/b> \u2014 especially vegetables.\n\n

18: Always allow yourself extra time<\/b>. Always.\n\n

19: Determine what time you want to serve your main dish, then take account of the timing of each dish and plan everything backwards<\/b> from that.\n\n

20: If you are serving direct onto your guests’ plates, serve just enough of something to make people want more<\/b>, not so much that their palate gets tired of it.\n\n

21: Bearing in mind #20 above, create a feeling of abundance<\/b> so guests feel like they can indulge in seconds (make sure you’ve cooked enough!)\n\n

22: Cook with your guests’ tastes in mind<\/b> and never serve something you would not eat yourself.\n\n

23: Stop fussing and start relaxing<\/b> at least 15 minutes before people arrive.\n\n

24: Aim for a few dishes that don’t have to be served hot out of the oven<\/b>, that can sit around for a while or be reheated.\n\n

25: Always keep a well-stocked bar and serve great wines<\/b>.\n\n

26: Presentation is key<\/b>; take the time to garnish and wipe the edges of the plates clean.\n\n

27: Make sure you have complementary colours in your dishes<\/b>. Bland food will taste bland.\n\n

28: When serving always consider how your food will look on the plates and serving dishes that you want to use<\/b>. The last thing you want is to have your cooking undermined by plates trying to steal the show.\n\n

29: Mise en place means “everything in its place.” Organize and arrange your ingredients where they are easily reached<\/b>.\n\n

30: Never use full heat<\/b>, except to boil water.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are the 30 nuggets of wisdom for when you are entertaining (and even when you are cooking just for yourself). 1: Prepare all your ingredients in advance and have them ready to hand when you start cooking. Once you start cooking you don\u2019t need chaos and distractions. 2: Don\u2019t add too many ingredients, the … Continue reading 30 nuggets of culinary wisdom<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[82],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":592,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions\/592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}