2019-09-19
Successful cooking - learn the secrets of successful cooking
Effective Cooking – Discover the Secrets of Successful Culinary Art
The kitchen is the second most-used room in our homes, right after the living room – we spend even more time here than in the bedroom! Check out these handy tips to make effective cooking your specialty as well.
Simple, Proven Recipes
Some people love cooking and enjoy taking charge of daily family meals. Cooking is a challenge, relaxation, and a source of satisfaction for them. Others may feel differently. What if you’re not so keen on cooking, but you know dinner won’t make itself?
Here are a few simple strategies. First: use ready-made recipes. Yes! You don’t have to reinvent the wheel or create a recipe for a mushroom soup from scratch. It's all been thought out! Simply follow the instructions.
You can get a tried-and-true recipe from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, or neighbours – the source doesn’t matter. The key is that it’s tested and reliable, ensuring success even if your culinary skills are minimal. After all, 1 litre of water is always the same, and two tablespoons of soy sauce and ¾ of a cup of flour aren’t mysterious or difficult to measure. Effective cooking is about combining ingredients and balancing proportions.
You can save the recipe on your phone for quick access (for the digital-savvy) or print it out and create a special binder that finds a permanent place in your kitchen.
Effective Cooking with Food Blogs
Blogging is a very popular way to share passions. If we look at the number of culinary blogs available online, it quickly becomes clear that this is a favourite hobby among many! In 2019, at the Creators’ Gala in Poznań, which awarded the best blogs in each category, over 30 culinary bloggers competed for the title! These were already carefully selected blogs that had passed the initial qualification.
We recommend following bloggers whose passion is cooking and who often turn it into a source of income. Start with those whose cuisine suits your tastes best. Do you enjoy meat dishes? Asian cuisine? Are you a vegetarian? Do you love pizza and Italian pasta? We guarantee you’ll find a blog that perfectly matches your preferences. The secret to effective cooking is preparing dishes you truly enjoy.
Easily Accessible Ingredients
When cooking, it’s better to make things easy rather than complicated. That’s why we recommend using ingredients that are readily available. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are accessible at every market, greengrocer, or supermarket. They’re tasty and affordable. Buying them also supports local production, which has a big impact on reducing the carbon footprint and is more eco-friendly. Eggplants, courgettes, pumpkins, fresh spinach, broad beans, or wild mushrooms can be transformed into culinary delights. For baking and sweet dishes, use plums, cherries, blackcurrants, raspberries, or any fruit you like. The dishes will be healthier, and effective cooking relies on choosing easily available ingredients.
Cooking for Two Days
If cooking is more of a chore than a pleasure – try cooking less frequently. Effective cooking means cooking with a clever approach. A good idea is to plan meals for two days, giving you a break from kitchen duties every other day! Some dishes do taste best fresh, but many taste just as great the next day. It could be a pot of your favourite soup, ratatouille, meat or veggie patties, pasta with sauce, and many other dishes that can be quickly reheated at work or after coming home.
A Convenient and Functional Kitchen
Cooking in a cramped, cluttered, or poorly designed kitchen is less enjoyable. To make your time over the stove a pleasure, create space around you. Here are a few tips:
- Spacious worktops for comfortably spreading out ingredients and equipment
- Handy storage space to organise and store essential ingredients and supplies
- Keep key accessories within reach – in top drawers, on the counter, or on functional rails and hooks on the wall
- Ensure proper lighting – in addition to main ceiling lights, use task lighting that makes cooking easier
- Reliable appliances – they don’t have to be the latest and most expensive; they just need to meet your needs, be energy-efficient and durable
Effective Cooking with a Kitchen Hood
Always use a kitchen hood in the kitchen. It removes impurities from the air (grease particles, water vapour, odours) and provides an excellent source of additional lighting, as mentioned above.
If you cook a lot and often – your kitchen accumulates plenty of moisture, which can’t be removed by natural ventilation or an open window alone. Moisture seeps into walls, upholstery, and fabrics, leading to mould growth. Cooking without a kitchen hood means needing to repaint and redecorate more frequently.
Even if you don’t cook often but your cooking can sometimes be chaotic (burnt pots, steaming pans, spilled water, or scorched casserole dishes) – a hood will help you quickly restore order, so family and guests can avoid any unpleasant odours.
Moreover, when there’s a pleasant LED light above the stove and counter, effective cooking becomes a pleasure, especially in the evening or on cloudy days.