Whether you're a recent college grad learning to cook for the first time, an amateur chef looking to improve your skills, or just a busy parent hoping to make dinnertime a little bit easier, you're in luck: thanks to the internet, learning new skills and recipes for cooking has become simpler than ever. If the sheer amount of information out there has become daunting, however, let this post presented by YaDa Chef's Miami and Fort Lauderdale Personal Chefs help with a few of our favorite tips and tricks for bringing out the master chef in all of us.
Cover the Basics
Take advantage of the myriad resources online for learning all the basic cooking methods, from baking and broiling to marinades and meringues. You can find tutorial videos for specific skills, or you can consider signing up for something like MasterClass and learning from renowned chefs like Thomas Keller, Gordon Ramsay, and Massimo Bottura. Either way, you'll learn the basic terms and methods that are the foundation of most dishes, so you'll be able to tackle any recipe that comes your way.
If you’d like a more social learning experience, check out some cooking classes. You can try a hands-on or demonstration class to learn new cooking techniques in person.
Lifehack proves that it's also easy to find kitchen cheat sheets for hints that you'll use again and again, from measurement conversions to substitutions you can make when you're out of an ingredient. Screenshot your favorites and save them on your phone, or print them out to keep them handy on your refrigerator.
Find New Recipes
Maybe you know all the basic cooking methods but you've simply been uninspired by your go-to recipes. Make use of the endless recipes online by trying and finding new favorites to spice up both the cooking process and mealtime itself. Use a search engine like Supercook to find recipes based on ingredients you already have, or try using new ingredients to pull you out of your comfort zone. You can also find plenty of recipes for all sorts of allergies and dietary restrictions.
Once you start searching, you'll likely find recipe sites that you keep coming back to, and it's easy to do a deep dive into inspiring new ideas and foodie tips on your phone or tablet while you're in the kitchen. Look for healthy meals, which are more convenient to prepare if you work from home. Your home office is likely relatively near the kitchen, which allows you to fix and consume nutritious meals and snacks throughout the day, food that helps improve your focus and performance.
Bring Your Favorite Restaurant Home
Some of the best dishes and drinks are those we indulge in at our favorite local restaurant. Try reaching out to one of your faves via social media or email, and ask if they'll share the recipe for a particular dish you've enjoyed there. They'll appreciate the compliment and just might give you some tips!
Even if they don't spill the beans, however, you can still take on the challenge of recreating that heavenly pasta dish or mouth-watering melt at home. If it's a chain's taste you're after, you can even search to see if someone else has already figured out a similar recipe, as with these copycat recipes from Kitchn. It might not be a total success the first time, but we guarantee you'll learn something along the way. You'll also be motivated to pay more attention to flavors the next time you're eating out—a crucial skill for any aspiring culinary artist!
Upgrade Your Kitchen
Even if you aren’t planning to sell your home soon, making smart upgrades to your kitchen can have great benefits for your cooking experience. For example, a smart oven can make cooking easier by saving recipes and being operated remotely. This can save you time in your busy day by letting you effectively begin the cooking process before you even get home!
From online videos, recipe finders, and smart ovens, today's technology has helped to make cooking easy and fun. There is no excuse not to have at least a few go-to dishes up your sleeve, so what are you waiting for? Dinner is calling!