Flickr/Marjan Lazarevski
Home cooks take a particular pride in knowing that their food is just a little bit better than everyone else’s. Once you’ve gotten down the basics and are able to throw in a few gourmet touches, it’s easy to get cocky and think that you know everything about making your favorite dishes. Even if you’re readying your MasterChef application and spend more time researching cooking techniques than anyone else you know, though, there are still probably a few things in the kitchen that you’re just not doing correctly.
Many times, the things you’re cooking wrong are just making your life more difficult, especially when the finished product is less than desirable. You’ve probably been making these seven dishes in your own kitchen for years, but there’s always room for improvement. Add these culinary swaps to your kitchen routine, and maybe you can perfect your bechamel sauce or learn how to roll your own sushi in all the time you’ve saved.
1. Bacon
Flickr/Didriks
Bacon is among the most delicious of all foods, but the cooking process is messy and often painful. Fortunately, you can avoid the popping grease and singed skin by simply switching to oven-cooked bacon. Preheat the oven to 425, line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, and place an oven-safe cooling rack on top. Arrange the bacon in a single row, and bake until crispy. As a bonus, you’ll have perfectly flat bacon that will look beautiful in a club sandwich.
2. Scrambled Eggs
Flickr/Brian Sanders
When cooked properly, scrambled eggs are heaven in a skillet. When cooked poorly, though, this dish quickly turns into a rubbery mess. It’s difficult to keep scrambled eggs stirred in a skillet, but a double-boiler will turn out the perfect pan every time. Chef Daniel Boulud, an obvious expert in the field of perfectly-cooked food, slowly cooks his scrambled eggs over low heat for twenty minutes. You don’t have to go that slowly, but even five or ten minutes in a double-boiler is enough to turn cheap supermarket eggs into a pillowy and rich restaurant-quality breakfast.
3. Roasted Chicken
This dinner classic is easy enough to make, but the results are often underwhelming. Oven-roasted chicken can be bone-dry with floppy skin, which isn’t exactly appetizing. Giving your chicken a quick “dry brine” in the refrigerator the night before will help draw excess water from the skin, along with infusing flavor into all parts of the bird. The night before roasting, rub your chicken liberally with kosher salt and place into a bowl lined with paper towels. Stick it in the refrigerator uncovered overnight, then roast at 425 until juices run clear. The hours of drying in the fridge will transform your lackluster chicken into a perfectly prepared bird.
