When the hostess prepares dinner, she expects not a mean "thank you" from her family members, but true delight in their eyes and on their face. Hence the desire to cook complex restaurant-level dishes that require a lot of knowledge, time and effort. In fact, unrivaled taste can be achieved using the simplest tricks. Novate.ru talks about them in more detail.
Method 1: use fresh herbs
When there are no fresh herbs on the market, willy-nilly you have to buy dried ones in bags or use the stocks made in the summer. But when greens are sold on every corner, it is worth using it, because it is much more fragrant than dried. To turn a tasteless food into a masterful dish, you need to select the right herbs and add them to your food in time. For example, it is better to take parsley not with curly, but with even leaves, it has much more taste. Cilantro will be an excellent complement to oriental dishes, and tarragon, which has a light aniseed taste and goes well with fish and chicken, can add an exquisite touch.
Aromatic herbs like oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary are best added at the first stages of cooking, so that they have time to give the dish the maximum of its aroma. But dill, parsley, green onions, basil, cilantro should be put at the very last minute so that they do not lose their color and delicate aroma.
Method 2: cook meat with dried fruits
Almost all types of meat and poultry go well with dried fruits. It can be dates, prunes, raisins, cranberries, dried apricots - choose the option that suits you the most. They give the meat a spicy flavor and aroma, as well as a delicious spicy note.
You can cook meat with dried fruits in a variety of ways: bake stuffed, stew in slices in sauce, add to the filling or roll into a roll. Popular dishes are roast veal with prunes, pork baked with dried fruits under honey glaze, souvlaki with figs (Greek kebabs that are fried on short skewers), etc.
Method 3: add soy sauce
Things get better when you add soy sauce. Just a few drops help enhance the flavor or even change it beyond recognition. We will tell you where you can and even need to use it:
• for marinade - pre-marinating pork, beef or chicken in soy sauce softens protein fibers, makes the product softer and more tender. It can act as a stand alone marinade or as a base for other options. Soy sauce will help to combine all the ingredients (lemon juice, herbs, peppers) and balance the overall flavor;
• for icing - pour the sauce into a bowl, add ginger, garlic, honey, herbs, citrus zest, mix the ingredients well and use a brush to apply to meat, potatoes or vegetables that are fried in a pan or baked in the oven (in the second case, the coating needs update every ten minutes);
• as an ingredient for dishes and sauces - the superpower of soy sauce is that it enhances the taste of any ingredients without overwhelming their own, and also gives the finished dish richness and color. For example, the sauce can be added to the broth, to the potatoes during the frying process, or to the stew to "glue" all the ingredients;
• instead of salt - soy sauce is a balance of sweet and salty flavors. If you want the finished dish to be just like that, feel free to add a small amount of sauce.
Method 4: add anchovies to vegetable dishes
This product goes well with vegetable dishes, revealing their taste. Therefore, you can safely add it to stews, salads, stews and other dishes where vegetables are used as a base. In addition to adding a spicy flavor to food, anchovies are also a great alternative to harmful salt.
Also, the product is added to mayonnaise, vinaigrette and is used as a flavor enhancer when it comes to meat and fish dishes that lack an intense component.
Method 5: marinate meat in alcohol
A juicy steak that melts in your mouth can be tasted not only in a restaurant, but also at home, if you know some tricks. The easiest way to make it is to marinate the meat in a dark beer. It is great as a marinade not only for steaks, but also for any tough or stubborn food that should be tender as a result. And before sending the dish to the oven, grease it with pomegranate juice with the addition of honey, cognac or diluted wine - this is necessary in order to form a beautiful ruddy crust.
Another secret ingredient is avocado. The nutritious fruit helps the meat open up with a new flavor. In addition, avocado makes ready meals less heavy, but more healthy and nutritious.
Method 6: "You can't spoil porridge with butter"
This product is needed not only to add it to porridge, mashed potatoes, pasta and other side dishes. Butter is a staple ingredient in any kitchen and goes well with many recipes. It not only makes the dish more flavorful, but it can also be used as a thickener.
A steak fried in butter takes on a completely different taste, as well as boiled and stewed vegetables in which this ingredient is present. In the latter case, after boiling, drain the water from the vegetables, put a large piece of butter in the pan and finish the cooking process over high heat. Finally, add salt, pepper, your favorite spices and a small amount of finely chopped parsley.
Method 7: Brew coffee with salt
The main property of salt is to enhance the taste and aroma of any product. Therefore, if you add it to coffee, the taste of your favorite drink will certainly become much brighter and richer. In addition, salt can be a great alternative to sugar if you need to limit your intake: it will not make coffee sweet, but it will remove bitterness and help you stay within the framework of a proper diet.
There are also a few more advantages of this "tandem". Salt softens hard water, which has a positive effect on the organoleptic properties of coffee - the sourness becomes less pronounced, and the drink is balanced in sharpness and softness. Plus coffee with added salt restores the body's salt balance, which is disturbed by profuse sweating (important for hot summer climates).
Note: You can only add salt if you are making coffee in a Turk. In all other situations, salt is useless due to the nature of the brewing, as well as too coarse grinding of the coffee beans.
Method 8: use lemons as a condiment
And not simple, but frozen. Wash the lemon well and put it in the freezer. After it's frozen, grate it along with the rind and add to the dish you are cooking. The food will taste more intense and you will have a secret ingredient. In addition, the freezing process reduces the lemon bitterness.
By the way, when a recipe requires a few drops of lemon juice, it makes no sense to cut it in two. Better to pierce the fruit with a nail and squeeze out the required amount of juice. In this case, the lemon will not dry out.
And don't forget to take on arms 11 kitchen life hacks, the authors of which can safely be given the Nobel Prize