#cooking-tips

#cooking-tips

A nostalgic comfort food, the humble meatloaf has long been a dinnertime staple. But for those who prefer sticking to a classic meatloaf recipe, it's time to expand your horizons to the possibilities of new tastes and textures. Try a twist on the typical meat in your meatloaf by swapping in venison for your next batch. Venison, also known as deer meat, is a uniquely flavored wild game that would make an ideal meat swap for the base of a meatloaf.

A good gravy is one of the most useful condiments out there. It can elevate the most rock-like of buttermilk biscuits, the driest of turkeys, and butter-less mashed potatoes. But since it does a lot of work helping others, your favorite gravy recipe is probably just about due for an upgrade of its own. The next time your gravy is looking especially bland or pallid, give it a boost of flavor with an unexpected ingredient: soy sauce.

Now, on their own, right after you peel them off the cloves, garlic skins don't make a great snack. Technically you can eat them, but the tough, fibrous texture isn't exactly something that you'll look forward to either chewing on or choking down. If you do sample a bit, however, you will notice that despite seeming like a useless bit of waste all this time, these peels actually do contain a lot of flavor.

The idea is simple: gather an assortment of fresh herbs and fashion them into a bouquet, keeping them in a vase near your cooking area in the kitchen. We love kitchen decor that's actually useful - space is at a premium in the kitchen, so doubling up on form and function is a win-win - and herb arrangements are possibly the best example.

Whether you're making a dish for a potluck, preparing a hearty lunch, or looking for a quick and easy snack, popping open a can and preparing a tuna salad is almost always a good idea. It can be as simple or extravagant as you want it, depending on which ingredients you choose to use. If you're bored with the basics, lemon pepper seasoning is an essential ingredient to add for a much better tuna salad.

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli can be more than a little divisive. Some people love their strong, slightly bitter flavor, while others find them overly pungent and even stinky. A great way to improve the flavor in either case is to roast broccoli to perfection and hit it with some lemon zest. The latter will add a refreshing citrusy aroma to brighten the vegetable's savory, brooding flavor profile.

To confirm this rule, we spoke with Chef Kevin Tien of Moon Rabbit, who agrees with the guidelines for home cooks. "I do agree with it for the average home cook," Tien confirms. "It's a good rule because it works across multiple cooking methods and helps people from overcooking fish, which is really easy to do." Burnt, dried-out fish is a waste of money and a good meal, but it's the most common fish cooking mistake - one that you can't undo.

When it comes to making the best baked potato, which of the latter two appliances is better? Tasting Table asked Chef Kieron Hales, Managing Partner & Head Chef at Zingerman's Cornman Farms. "If you're short on time, both the air fryer and microwave can absolutely step in for the oven," Hales said. "It just depends on what you value more: texture or speed."

Per Tasting Table's assessment, Cholula Original Taco Seasoning Mix is the clear winner by far. The heat and smokiness of the piquin and arbol chiles complement the time-tested mixture of herbs, including paprika, oregano, garlic, onion, and just a whisper of sugar, creating a full-bodied and unforgettable taste. Additionally, while white corn flour is not necessarily a spice itself, this additive helps the overall substance and consistency of the taco seasoning to better adhere to your taco meat and create a substantial sauce.

To make Lagasse's family-favorite take on carbonara, boil the pasta until al dente. Throw in the peas for the last couple of minutes so they can cook as well. While that's on, fry off the bacon or pancetta and set aside. There's also time to beat the eggs with some parmesan. Once your prep is done, bring everything together in a warm pan.

It's easy to forget about the importance of the base ingredients. Toppings are meant to further enhance the base flavor.

Bread and butter are an inextricable duo, but adding garlic and herbs into the mix is the upgrade that no Italian American meal is complete without. Garlic bread is rich and aromatic, with a delightful contrast of toasted crunch and buttery, fluffy crumb. One of the keys to making homemade garlic bread is choosing the right type of loaf. To help us decide, we consulted Maxine Sharf, recipe developer and author of "Maxi's Kitchen: Easy Go-To Recipes to Make Again and Again,"

One average, one lime contains 2 tablespoons of juice and 2 teaspoons of zest. However, should you get a lime that's on the more pithy end, you can estimate an average of about 1 tablespoon of juice. Similarly, with a lime on the more juicy and plump side, you'll get an average of up to 3 tablespoons. So if your recipe calls for a certain amount of lime juice, you can use those estimates to ensure you're prepared with enough limes.

Melted chocolate can seize and separate into grainy clumps for various reasons, including exposure to excess moisture, cold ingredients, or overly harsh or rapid heating. This separates chocolate's emulsion, or the combined structure of fat, liquids, sugar, and cocoa solids made by tempering the chocolate over gentle and controlled heat. Unfortunately, chocolate can seize in what seems like an instant - and it is incredibly frustrating.

White pepper is many a chef's favorite spice for these white-colored dishes, despite being milder than the more popular black pepper. White pepper can blend right into the food without messing up the aesthetic with those telltale black flakes. The good news is that black pepper works just as well in its place. Sure, it's a tad stronger than white pepper, but unless you're cooking for a secret Michelin inspector, no one's going to notice.

If you haven't heard of the spice, no worries. Basically, nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast made from cane or beet sugar. It comes dried in light yellow flakes or a tan powder, and is known for its savory taste as a cheese alternative, its high B vitamin content, and inclusion in many plant-based recipes, from sauces to vegan tacos. When used to coat spuds before baking them in the oven, nutritional yeast imparts a balanced, savory, nutty flavor.

"It creates a wonderful, velvety, thick sauce without any cream or anything else," she said. This is because the starch that pasta releases into the water when you are cooking helps to emulsify and thicken the sauce. To do this, De Laurentiis recommends reserving at least a cup of the hot pasta water before you drain your pasta. She also says to add a bit of the water to your sauce a time as you stir it into your cooked pasta.

We've all been there. You get a flash of inspiration or a sudden late-night craving for something comforting with a creamy sauce. But a quick assessment of the fridge reveals you're missing a key ingredient: heavy cream. It might not be something you always have on hand just in case. The good news is that you can assemble a good substitute for heavy cream from a couple of more common ingredients.

There's hardly a cuisine or country on Earth that doesn't view rice as a staple. From African jollof rice and Southern jambalaya to South Asian biryani and the universally ambiguous beans and rice, the grain is one food that brings the world together. Still, despite our collective reliance on the ingredient, there is a more nutritious swap that will give any rice-based dish a nutty twist: oat groats.

It would certainly increase the umami/savoriness and earthiness of the spaghetti sauce,

While you should definitely grill lobster in the shell, Foltz sees pros and cons to baking lobster tails in the shell and out of the shell. Just as shells are the outermost protective layer for live lobsters, they are equally protective when cooking them. "Baking inside the shell helps retain moisture, giving you a juicy result," Foltz says, "but it can take a little longer." Taking the meat out of the shell means lobster tails are more susceptible to drying out in the oven but "the meat cooks faster, allowing for a nice golden crust and more direct flavor from the seasoning."

Exceeding those limits can disrupt how your food cooks, or worse, the safety of your kitchen. In fact, one of the quickest and messiest results of overfilling your slow cooker is it bubbling over. As the food heats and liquids begin to simmer, there's little room for expansion, causing liquids such as sauces, broths, or oil to spill over the edges of the pot, under the lid, drip down the exterior, and onto your counter or stovetop.

Although movie theater concessions are always shockingly overpriced, that doesn't have to stop you from enjoying your favorite snacks at home. A sumptuous bowl of popcorn may be prepared as a quick treat, sustenance for your next movie night, or as part of your game-day party offerings. Choosing from a number of different seasonings to toss with your popcorn will amp up your food with even more flavor. But, to ensure your snack is fully coated with seasonings and stays nice and crisp, spritz the popcorn with either water, vinegar, or any other complementary liquid to provide something for the seasonings to stick to.