After you have selected your ingredients and designed your meal, its now time to cook it.
D. COOKING STYLES – Mastering many Cooking Styles is another way to increase the diversity of your meals. Brush up on your cooking skills by not only practicing the various Styles of Cooking, but also by paying close attention to the details of the cooking process, what each Cooking Style does to your food and the resulting appearance, taste & texture. Xperiment with variations to the standard method (different temperature, time, sequence, combinations, etc.) and observe the results. Learn New Styles as you come across them, and also try your hand at inventing new ways to cook. To start you off, here are a few examples to get you going . . .
a) Frying – This is a quick way of cooking just about any food. There is Deep Frying, where you use a pot about half filled with oil, heat it till hot and put your food into the oil to fry for several minutes.
As you are heating to high temperatures, use cooking oils with a higher smoking point such as corn , sunflower or peanut oil. Usually, food is first coated with some batter, then Deep Fried. This Style is good for things like chicken, fish, prawns, vegetables, french fries; and even would you believe, ice-cream?
Pan or Stir Frying is when you use a frying pan or a wok with a little oil to fry your food, turning or stirring it frequently with your spatula. Steaks, pork chops, vegetables, and eggs are some commonly Pan Fried foods. When you do not require very high temperatures, such as when stir frying mushrooms, you can use butter or olive oil to add a different flavor. Frying will brown the exterior of meats, bring out the smell of the ingredients, and impart a crisp texture to foods. Consider this Cooking Style for a quick and tasty meal.
b) Grilling – You can Grill many foods; Salmon, chicken, shrimp, steaks, even vegetables. In this method of cooking, you place the food on a metal grill or rack and apply direct heat to it. Electric grills come in two main types, the first is an open grill where the heating element is below the grill, the other is an enclosed one with the heating element on the top. You have to turn the food while grilling to ensure that both sides are evenly cooked. Grilling is good for healthy cooking since you can do with lesser or no oil; just reduce or withhold salt from the ingredients as well. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the item you are grilling; you can use a meat thermometer to check the doneness of your food.
c) Microwave – In this modern age, we can Microwave our food. It is quick, usually taking about a quarter to a third of the time it normally takes with regular cooking. Microwave energy penetrates and is absorbed by food; the molecules in the food, especially fat, sugar & water, are excited and vibrate to cause friction and thus produce heat to cook. Food that is Microwaved will turn out like steamed or boiled dishes. You can use special equipment and techniques to increase the variety. For example a Microwave Browning Dish has a special base to absorb the microwave energy. Just flip the dish over to see the special coating on the bottom that will identify it as a Browning Dish. To sear lamb chops or steaks in the Microwave, first preheat the Browning Dish per the manufacturer’s instructions, then put in your meats and cook further. You will need to turn your food if you wish to sear the other side as well. A little oil will prevent sticking, and will leave the meat with a pan fried appearance.
There are many other methods of cooking your food; some more conventional like Baking, Barbecuing, Braising, Roasting, Stewing and Steaming. Some are more exotic like cooking meat on a slab of hot stone. So do try out the various cooking styles on your favorite foods and discover which are to your liking. Also Xperiment with combinations; for example you can first steam a lobster, then cut it open and put some cheese in before grilling for a short while to melt and brown the cheese sauce. Think of new ways to cook, after all its just applying heat to food. You can also broaden your knowledge and skills by observing how people of various lands cook their meals in special ways when you travel.
Inspired to cook something in your favorite method now? Great, go to it then! Have a wonderful time practicing and eating. Remember to pay attention to the details and the results; also try to pick up some new or different Cooking Styles as you go along.
Be back next time for the final secret on Page 5 .
