Category: Cooking Tips

Cooking Tips

5 Dishes to Cook Up For the Seafood Lovers in Your Family

When it comes to seafood, the options are abundant. Whether you’re craving fried fish, grilled salmon, or hearty clam chowder, there is something for everyone. Seafood lovers can rejoice because fall means more opportunities to enjoy this protein-rich food all year.

Regardless of your personal preferences, there are many different ways you can incorporate seafood into your diet. It’s a great source of protein and omega-3 fats, which are not as commonly found in other foods.

Here are some delicious seafood dishes that will satisfy even the pickiest of eaters and leave them feeling full and satisfied after every meal.

1. Grilled Salmon

Those who desire salmon will be delighted to hear that grilled salmon is one of the most flavorful ways to get it. The best way to prepare this dish is by using an outdoor grill. This method allows you to create a delicious and unique flavor profile for your meal.

To make things even better, try grilling the salmon with a sweet and spicy glaze. For example, if you like your salmon with a bit of heat, add some cayenne pepper or paprika to the glaze before applying it to your fish. It is among the surf and turf meals you can prepare for the family.

2. Grilled Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp is another great seafood option that can be prepared in various ways. One of the most popular ways shrimp is cooked by having it sautéed in butter or olive oil until just cooked through. However, if you prefer your shrimp to be less buttery and spicier, try preparing it on the grill instead.

Try grilling some fresh shrimp over medium-high heat until they are golden brown, slightly charred on the outside, and soft on the inside. Be sure not to overcook them so they don’t become too tough or rubbery; these are perfect for eating right away but can also be used in recipes. If you think that’s not enough spice, add some red pepper flakes or chili powder to your sauce.

3. Lobster Tail in Garlic Butter Sauce

If you’ve never tried grilled lobster tails, you’re missing out on one of the best ways to prepare a lobster. For example, if you enjoy a nice buttery sauce full of garlic, try grilling your lobster tails in a garlic butter sauce. All you … Read more

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Cooking Tips

How To Make Mac and Cheese With Canned Cheese Sauce

Who doesn’t love a good bowl of mac and cheese? Mac and cheese is easily one of the best comfort food dishes in the world, and what’s great about it is that it can easily be made in just a couple of minutes with very few ingredients.

I have always loved making mac and cheese, it’s salty and creamy taste just makes me feel like I’m home. It’s also a great dish for the whole family since children like it a lot.

One thing about mac and cheese is that you would need a lot of cheese, hence the name. The problem with this is that normal cheese can take a lot of time to fully melt and cover all the bits and pieces of the pasta.

Using normal cheese would also take a lot of effort since you would have to grate it first before melting it. It’s a good thing that we have canned cheese sauce to make our lives a little easier!

So for this article, I will be teaching you how to make mac and cheese using canned cheese sauce using three simple steps. Are you ready? Let’s get started!

What You’ll Need

To start making your mac and cheese dish, you will need to gather these simpleingredients:

5-6 Cups Of Cooked Macaroni Pasta

To make your mac and cheese, you should prepare 5-6 cups of macaroni pasta. You can use any brand of pasta for this dish, but I prefer large sized macaroni pasta because it is easier to eat with with a fork.

You can prepare your pasta by cooking it in boiling water with a pinch of salt for flavor. Once the pasta is thoroughly cooked, all you have to do is strain it, and can set it aside to cool.

2 Cups Of Canned Cheese Sauce

For this mac and cheese dish, you can use any brand of canned cheese sauce that you prefer. You can buy all sorts of canned cheese sauce in your local grocery store.

However, for this recipe, you should choose the undiluted canned cheese sauce because we will be diluting it with milk later on. If you do chose to go with the diluted canned cheese sauce, you should no longer use the 1 cup of milk listed in this recipe.

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Cooking Tips

Can You Freeze Parmesan Cheese? The Unexpected Answer That You Need To Know

So many people ask me, “Can you freeze Parmesan cheese?” As a food enthusiast, a lot of my friends turn to me for answers regarding food. However, when it comes to cheese storage, I’m a bit less educated.

At first, I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t know the answer. After investing a lot of time and effort in searching for the answer online, I can finally give an accurate answer. If you’re curious to know, keep reading below.

What Is Parmesan Cheese?

Parmesan cheese or Parmigiano Reggiano is considered as one of the prime cheeses by cheese experts. Composed of a natural yellow rind, this straw-colored hard cheese boasts a nutty and fruity flavor.

It is produced from unpasteurized cow’s milk. If you want to see how Parmesan cheese is created, watch this video here.

Although Parmesan has new versions from United States, Australia, and Argentina, the authentic Italian variety stays superior in taste. This is because it has a longer maturing time of about two years as compared to newer versions which are matured for only one year only.

Today, a cheese can only be called Parmesan if it is made from cows feeding on fresh grass.

So, Can You Freeze Parmesan Cheese?

Yes, you can freeze Parmesan cheese because it has a low moisture composition, making it perfect for freezing. It is also less prone to freezer burn because it doesn’t glob together.

According to Still Tasty, you can freeze grated Parmesan cheese up to three months. Solid blocks of Parmesan can also be stored in the freezer up to six months.

As compared to softer cheeses, Parmesan can endure the freezing process better. The flavor and color should not deteriorate by freezing. However, the texture can become more crumbly when thawed that’s why you should not use it on salads but for cooked dishes only, like sauces and soups.

How To Store Parmesan Cheese

If you bought a pre-grated cheese, you may consider using the original package given that it comes air- tightly sealed. If not, transfer the contents into a resealable plastic freezer bag. Before you seal it, make sure that you remove all air out as possible to protect your cheese from freezer burns.

Using a vacuum seal bag, it would be nice to use a vacuum sealing

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Cooking Tips

Elevate Your Cooking Skills: 6 Tips on Becoming a Great Cook

Want to make tastier, more appetizing dishes at home? Use these helpful cooking tips and tricks and you’ll soon be a great cook!

Are you hoping to improve your cooking skills?

Become a great cook is possible with a little effort. You don’t have to become the next Rachael Ray or Jamie Oliver overnight.

Little changes can help you up your game and wow your family with your latest culinary creations.

Try these six tips to become a better cook and some tips work in a restaurant by Five Guys Daphne.

1. Read the Full Recipe First

Jumping right into a recipe can cause you to make mistakes or have difficulty getting everything done correctly.

Reading the recipe thoroughly before you start anything helps you understand how to do all of the steps and how they relate. It also helps you figure out what you need to do ahead of time.

If you don’t read the recipe, you might find out you were supposed to start your sauce earlier. Meanwhile, your meat is fully cooked and now has to wait, possibly getting cold, tough, or overcooked.

2. Prep Your Ingredients

Mise en place is a term chefs use to describe preparing everything before they start cooking.

It includes gathering all of the cooking utensils, bowls, pans, and equipment you need. You’ll also want to do any prep work to the pans.

Gathering and preparing ingredients is also a part of the prep phase. If your recipe includes vegetables or fresh herbs, you should wash, peel, and prep them.

Other ingredients might also need preparation, such as toasting nuts or coconut flakes.

By prepping everything before you start cooking, you ensure you have all the ingredients. You also know they’re ready to go, which prevents delays in cooking.

3. Try Different Cooking Methods

If you’re stuck in a cooking rut, expand your skills by trying new cooking methods.

Roasting is a versatile method that works for proteins and vegetables. It brings out lots of flavor.

Sauteing is another easy and flavorful method that allows you to brown your food.

Experiment with cooking your favorite foods in different ways to see how the results vary.

4. Choose Quality Ingredients

Starting with fresh, high-quality ingredients creates better cooking results. Ensure your meat is fresh, and choose quality cuts of … Read more

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Cooking Tips

How Long Do Boiled Peanuts Last?

Boiled peanuts have been a common snack all over the world. They are popularly consumed in Northern Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The raw materials of boiled peanuts are green peanuts, which are boiled in the salty water to create a typical legume flavor.

If you are a fan of boiled peanuts, then, you must be looking for the answer to the question “How long do boiled peanuts last? If so, in this post, we will together find the answer to your question.

How Long Do Boiled Peanuts Last?

To help the remaining boiled peanuts stay fresh for a few days, you should put them in the refrigerator as soon as possible.

The boiled peanuts can stay fresh for seven to ten days when they are refrigerated. Besides, the frozen boiled peanuts can be used after 6 months, even up to 1 year.

The boiled peanuts will spoil very quickly unless they are frozen or refrigerated. Because peanuts are still legumes, therefore, you should think of boiled peanuts as boiled beans.

The quality of water may have a certain impact on your boiled peanuts. In case the water is packed with minerals, which is also known as hard water, then it will take you more time to boil the peanuts.

In addition, you must re-boil your boiled peanuts before eating, in case you want to eat this dish again.

What Are The Advantages of Eating Boiled Peanuts?​

​There are many reasons for you to consider boiled peanuts as an essential part of your daily diet. The peanuts themselves have many great benefits for your health. Those low-fat nuts offer a lot of vital nutrients and have a good impact on your body.

#Low-calorie Nut

Though peanut is a kind of legume, it is often considered as nuts due to the fact that it possesses the same nutrient value. However, in comparison to other types of nuts, the peanut is noticeably lower in the calories.

A common 1 oz. serving of shelled and boiled peanuts only includes 90 calories, compared to the same amount of the dry-roasted shelled peanuts, which is 166 calories, and dry-roasted almonds, which is 170 calories.

You should replace common dry-roasted peanuts by the boiled peanuts so that you can save a noticeable calories number and aid in your … Read more

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Cooking Tips

How To Thicken Baked Beans: Tips And Tricks In Cooking This Healthy Dish

Baked beans are one of the most versatile meals around. You can modify these beans into how you like them to be.

For example, if you’re looking for a heavy dish that’s a meal on its own, you can cook it with meat like sausages. On the other hand, if you’re thinking of vegetarian cuisines, you can serve it with baked sweet potatoes.

The secret with baked beans is giving it a lot of intense flavors to compensate for its density and blandness.

Beans need a lot of help, so you must also intensify your seasonings by allowing it to thicken. Hence, you’ll need to learn how to thicken baked beans for the best results!

The Principles Of Making Baked Beans

As we previously stated, baked beans need a lot of seasoning. The worst thing to happen is your beans taste nothing but beans.

That scenario is horrific given that beans, as it is, are rubbery and waxy. When seasoning beans, you’ll need to remember three things, and these are texture, intensity, and consistency.

Texture Matters

First, when we’re talking about texture, beans need a lot of other ingredients to go along with them.

It’s unappetizing to eat baked beans were the only ingredients that you’ll munch are the beans. It won’t be different from eating soupy rice. And no, we’re not even referring to porridge, just poorly cooked rice.

To avoid having this problem, you can incorporate your favorite meat or vegetable to the beans. A famous technique is cooking ground beef, broken sausages, or shredded pork to go with your baked beans.

Not only will this give the beans a new texture, but it will also give it a new dimension of flavor.

The silky texture of the beans will go well with the rough and crunchy texture of the meat.

This is why pork and beans are one of the famous combinations in Europe. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a vegetarian approach to this dish, you can use robust vegetables.

Using healthy vegetables will help it resist the temperature of the oven when baking it with the beans. An example of such vegetables are onions, carrots, and potatoes.

These are sturdy crops that can take a beating in the oven. Not to mention, it adds a delicious sweetness to your beans while

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The Most Ingenious Kitchen Cleaning Hacks For Lazy People
Cooking Tips

21 Of The Most Ingenious Kitchen Cleaning Hacks For Lazy People

A common saying about tidying up is this: “Cleaning house is a full-time job.” Sadly, and with much frustration, our actual jobs would already suffice in tiring us out to the point of neglect. Maybe, even indifference. Besides, not everyone can afford a maid, butler, or, well, house-bound spouse.

So you’re left there, after a long day or night’s work, staring at the dirty dishes, greasy floors, as well as your food-encrusted ovens and pans. You can’t deny that, in the home, your kitchen is one of the most difficult rooms to clean.

Although maybe you’re just lazy, because you’re incredibly hectic work schedule has taken a toll on you. Or you’re lazy and would rather put your feet up to a beautiful song and a cold drink.

On the other hand, you just might be too pressed for time to bother with the cleaning. Fret not. Here are 21 clever kitchen cleaning hacks for lazy people; or busy people. Again, we won’t judge.

Hacks To Cleanness

Let’s start these hacks with the preemptive measures you can take as well as the cleaning hacks with tools or solutions you’d easily find at home without the need to run to your nearest grocery store

Prevention

You won’t have to clean up what you don’t dirty.

  • Avoid dumping anything down your sink that can clog or build up. These culprits include but are not limited to, meat and fish parts, oils, coffee grounds, tissue paper, left-overs, food scraps, and so on.
  • Cover pots and pans as much as possible to avoid spills and oil splatters.
  • ​Fully utilize your exhaust hoods. You can easily avoid foul kitchen odors by routinely turning up your hoods when cooking.
  • ​Use the takeaway box. Takeaway comes ready to eat in its containers. Hence, avoid the need to wash plates by eating right out of the takeaway boxes or food containers!
  • ​Clean as you go. This mantra is one of the most important things for a chef. However, chef or not, it will go a long way in kitchen maintenance by striving to tidy up one thing at a time as you go around the space. Instead of sitting down while you wait for aldente pasta, wipe a counter, wash the used dishes, or scrub that chopping board. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at all that you
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What Goes With Chicken Salad
Cooking Tips

What Goes With Chicken Salad?

Chicken salad is one of the most balanced meals out there. It’s a versatile meal that doesn’t have any particular recipe. The idea with a chicken salad is to meet the right amount of protein and fiber without needing to eat high-calorie food.

Since there’s no real recipe for preparing it, chicken salad can have different flavors. It can be tangy, smoky, and creamy depending on the dressing and leafy greens that you’ll use.

Knowing what goes with chicken salad will help you prepare a complete meal that’s pleasing to the palate.

Read more:

What Kind Of Chicken Salad Are You Making?

When we’re pairing food, the first question that we should ask is “What’s the flavor of the first dish?” In this case, we have the chickens salad to experiment on. Personally, since I’m from Southeast Asia, the chicken salad that I cook is inspired with tasty spices.

Among these spices include palm sugar, five spice, star anise, turmeric, paprika, and cinnamon. I also use leafy greens that are easier to get in my region.

Ingredients like kale, mint, and rocket are hard to get in Asia, so I opt to use cabbages, carrots, tomatoes, and Thai basil.

With that said, there are so many variations of the chicken salad. Hence, you can’t make a list of what goes well with it. Instead, you should be aware of what taste goes well with another.

An example of this is if you’re making a spice-oriented salad with dense flavors, then your side should be very light and cool to the palate. On the other hand, if you’re making a dressing based on oil and light seasoning, you can opt to serve it with a sweeter side.

Asian-inspired Chicken Salad: Served With Steamed Halibut Or Teriyaki Salmon

When we’re dealing with an Asian-inspired chicken salad, we want to pair it up with another Asian dish. The reason for this is Asian cuisine regional, and it doesn’t mix well with other cuisines like that in Europe.

However, it’s important to remember that even in strong-flavored Asian dishes, the light-to-heavy matching is still important. After all, we don’t want to abuse our palate with overpowering flavors.

Usually, an Asian Chicken Salad makes use of dressings that are salty

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