A Few Quick Tips That Every Cook Needs to Know

Tip # 3: The Bread Test

I was lucky enough to grow up with a mom who was an excellent cook. Watching her through the years, I’ve picked up a lot of cooking techniques that are easy but make a huge difference. I hope these few rules of thumb help you as much as they have helped me.

1.  When making muffins and cupcakes, if you do not have enough batter to fill each cup, fill the remaining cups half full of water.  Filling the empty cups with water ensures that the heat will distribute evenly and cook the cupcakes or muffins at the same rate.

2. Speaking of heat, do you know how hot your oven is? The digital display is unreliable. Place an oven thermometer in your oven to ensure that your oven has reached the desired temperature.  This is especially important when baking.

3. THE BREAD TEST: Heat often distributes unevenly in many ovens.  This results in hotspots, areas where the oven is hotter than the thermometer temperature indicates.   To locate these hot spots, place 9 slices of bread in a 3 x 3 pattern on a baking sheet. Place on the middle rack of the oven at 350 F for 5 minutes.  The slices which become especially browned indicate the hotter spots in the oven.  Avoid these hot spots or make sure to rotate baked goods that are exposed to the hot spots.
4. When you bring meat home from the grocery store, salt it yourself and place in proper freezer wrapping.
5.  Before cooking meat, let it sit out so it can come to room temperature. 
6.  Let meat rest after you pull it off the grill or out of the oven.  This will make the meat tenderer.
7. Before eating lemons or oranges, grate the zest and place it in the freezer for later use.  Zest can add flavor to many recipes.  I use orange zest in my French toast batter, smoothies, and baked goods.  Lemon zest is great for many savory recipes.
8. Make your own steak rubs ahead of time.  Having pre-made dry rubs cuts prep time in half. 
9.  Always have the following ingredients in your kitchen: olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, good balsamic vinegar, kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper, garlic salt, Worchester sauce, soy sauce, Sriracha, Dijon mustard, and left over wine(red or white).  You can season just about anything with these ingredients and they even compliment sweet dishes (try fresh strawberries with sweet balsamic vinegar!).