Learning to Cook
Being a good cook is a simple case of learning some key skills. Here I am going to show you some basic recipes and cooking skills that will give you the confidence to become a great cook.
Perfect Rice
In this lesson we are going to look at how to boil perfect rice. The last thing you want is for your rice to be all stuck together. So I am going to show you how to cook perfect rice every time.
Lesson
Poaching an Egg
So many people get this wrong, but poaching an egg is actually very simple. You just need to follow a few basic rules. In this lesson I will show you the Do's and Don'ts of Poaching an Egg
Lesson
Making Pizza Dough
We are going to look at making some pizza dough. This is a great skill to have because this pizza dough can be used for more than just pizza making. You can make Calzone, garlic bread with it as well.
Making Puff Pastry
It is true that puff pastry is probably easier to just buy it ready made, but there is something very satisfying about making your own. This is a hard lesson to learn, but worth every minute you spend on it.
Lesson
Peeling a Pumpkin
When it comes to Halloween you are going to need a Pumpkin or two. We use Pumpkins to make Jack 'o' lanterns and making deliciously creepy recipes, like Pumpkin pie or even Pumpkin soup.
LessonCooking Terminology
- Al Dente - The point during cooking that food such as rice , veg or pasta is still firm to bite & ready to be removed from the heat.
- Blanch - To partially cook vegetables in hot water or oil to make them softer.
- Bouquet Garni - Fresh herbs tied together so as to be easily removed from stocks. Sometimes the herbs are in a net.
- Garnish - To decorate a plate of food with fresh cut vegetables , herbs or other garnishes. To make the dish look more attractive.
- Infuse - To leave ingredients soaking in a wine or liqueur to season them.
- Blind Bake - Baking blind (sometimes called pre-baking) is the process of baking a pie crust or other pastry without the filling, often using baking beans or rice to stop the pastry rising.
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Cornflour Slurry - A cornflour slurry is used mainly to thicken a sauce after it is cooked. You would normally use a 50/50 mixture of Cornflour with cold water to make a thick paste that you can tip into a hot sauce or gravy.
Please read our Ad Policy - Marinate - To soak meat or fish in an aromatic blend, to add flavour and tenderise it. Marinades are normally based on olive oil.
- Poach - Most often referred to an egg being cracked into boiling water. But you can also poach fish or meat this way.
- Puree - To turn a mixture of ingredients into a liquid in a food processor.
- Reduce - To heat a sauce or stock long enough for it to reduce and thicken in consistency.
- Season - To enhance the taste of a dish by adding salt & pepper.
- Julienne - To cut vegetables such as carrots into very thin batons. This is often done so that the batons absorb oil and other marinades. Ideal for salad dishes such as coleslaw .