CLEVER COOKing Do you want to cook fantastic food for yourself your friends and your family Many dishes look difficult but are really quite simple if you have a few cooking skills This book gives you the know-how to make all kinds of quick and easy snacks meals and treats Getting Started Before you start cooking gather all your ingredients and equipment Items like scales measuring cups and spoons cutting boards sharp knives a strainer peeler and grater are essential Some recipes also use a blender or hand-held mixer Unless a recipe states otherwise each one serves four people Hints and warnings Boxes with a lightbulb symbol contain handy hints for improving your skills Look out for exclamation marks too these boxes give safety warnings and other helpful advice Using the right utensils makes cooking much easier Don’t forget to wash up and put everything away afterwards 4
Using Your Head Kitchens can be dangerous places Here are some vital safety rules Be hygienic tie back long hair roll up sleeves wear an apron and wash your hands before and after handling food Work on a clean surface Use a separate knife and cutting board for raw meat In the fridge keep raw meat on a covered plate on the bottom shelf where it can’t touch other foods Likes and Dislikes When cooking for others remember to check whether they are vegetarian vegan or have food allergies Foods that can cause allergic reactions include milk nuts eggs soy wheat and shellfish Other people have an intolerance to certain foods which means that they feel sick after eating them Read food labels carefully to check what they contain Watch your fingers when cutting and slicing with sharp knives Concentrate Handle blenders and other equipment cautiously Never touch them with wet hands Remember that ovens and stoves get very hot Use oven mitts beware of rising steam as you lift pan lids and turn handles inwards so you don’t knock them off the stove Always get help from an adult if you need it D o n t k e e p l e f t o v e r fo o d fo r more than two days
ESSENTIAL SKILLS Some basic cooking techniques come up again and again in recipes Knowing them well saves you time improves your cooking and gives you confidence to try more complicated recipes Here are a few vital cooking skills Peeling To peel foods like carrots first cut off the ends then use a good sharp peeler to slice off the peel in strips from top to bottom Foods that don’t need peeling must be washed well in a strainer Peel away from your body so you don’t risk injuring yourself with the peeler Grating Graters come in different shapes and sizes but they all work the same way Hold your grater firmly and slide the food up and down against the holes It may help to rest the grater on a flat surface Keep your fingers out of the way If the food is too small to grate properly chop it finely instead Chopping When chopping a fruit or vegetable cut it first so that it lies flat and doesn’t slide around Use a sharp knife and don’t try to chop too quickly For foods with thick skins like tomatoes peppers and egg plants a serrated knife can grip the skin better Chop into roughly bite-sized cubes unless the recipe tells you differently Bigger chunks may not cook through and tiny pieces may turn to mush When grating lemon or orange zest skin stop when you reach the white layer It’s very bitter
Greasing Baking sheets pans and dishes need greasing to stop food from sticking to them while cooking Just smear some margarine or butter on a paper towel then rub it all over the inside Kneading Kneading is a way of mixing dough to make it rise when it cooks 1 Place the dough on a floured surface Put some flour on your hands too 2 Push a section of dough away from you with the heel of one or both hands 3 Now pull it back with your fingers and fold it over itself Turn the dough and repeat for about ten minutes until it feels smooth and stretchy 4 Test the dough by pressing your finger into it It should slowly spring back Be as rough as you like Mixing There are many different ways of mixing Whisking means mixing very fast usually with a hand whisk or fork Creaming means blending sugar and butter until they are smooth and fluffy Folding means combining ingredients very gently usually so you don’t beat all the air out of them hand whisk This book uses US measurements Here's a handy metric conversion chart 1 tsp 5 mL 1 Tbsp 15 mL ½ cup 120 mL 1 cup 250 mL
