Cooking Tips Introduction

These cooking tips are motivated by our desire to help teach you some simple recipes, tips and chef tricks to use so that you can learn to cook with confidence and enjoy everyday cooking with cookscotland.blogspot.com

Cook Scotland aims to make cooking easy and stress free. Our collection of cooking tips, recipes and techniques has been collected from local producers, readers and expert sources. We regularly update our recipe database and ingenious cooking tip techniques for you. We are always on the lookout for new and unique cooking tips and personal recipes to share with our readers. Please send us your personal favourite personal cooking tips that you would like to share on cookscotland.blogspot.com

Top Ten Tips from Steven Doherty

One – Seasonality
It’s always cheaper and better to use seasonal produce. I would never use out of season fruit and vegetables. I wouldn’t use Strawberries in December and would not be using brussel sprouts in July!
Two-Practice makes Perfect
Even us hardened professional Never try a recipe out for the first time on friends, family or guests without trying it out. Recipes do move sideways and there are a few variables. Products do vary slightly, as do ovens and temperature. Buy an oven thermometer.
Three-Preparation
One of the most important lessons people leave the Cook School with is how much preparation we do ahead.
In busy professional kitchens, it’s called “mise en place” which literally translates as “getting everything in place”.
Most kitchens have short service periods, 12-3, 7-10 for example. The rest of the time is spent prepping for service time.
So do the same at home and get everything ready for your recipe prior to cooking. It’s so easy then!
Four – Meat
If you want to find and buy really good quality meat – find a good butcher and talk to them. Build a relationship with them and they will help you to understand what you need to buy, for example, ask them about “blade” for braising. You will not find this in the supermarket.
Five – Something Fishy
If you are lucky enough to have a local fish monger, use them. They are very hard to find these days. Like a butcher, talk to them and they will help you make the right choice for what you are doing. It’s their livelihood – they know what they are talking about.
Six-Masterchef
Becoming a competent then a great cook takes time and patience. Discover what you really like to cook then find the recipes, then start to cook them again and again. You will ultimately completely understand what you are doing and then cook with total confidence and love. If something does not work out first time, go over it and try again.
Seven – Kitchen temperature
When cooking any meats, joints or poultry always leave the meat out of the fridge for a good 45-60 minutes prior to cooking. This allows the meat to “warm up”. Fridges are very efficient at keeping the meat cold. By having the meat at room temperature the cooking process starts sooner, especially larger joints and poultry. The meat also cooks more easily.

Eight – Stocks
To make good sauces and gravies, buy the really good, ready made stocks, normally sold in pouches or cartons. Most good supermarkets stock these. They really do make gravy and sauce making so much easier.
Nine – Tatties
If you are not sure which potatoes to choose to make mash or chips – easy – buy Red Rooster, the most versatile potato on the market. I really do use them all the time as does my old mate Michel Roux Jnr from Le Gavroche.
Ten – oil
Never use expensive virgin olive oil for cooking. It’s just a waste that burns quite easily. Keep the good stuff for salads with lovely balsamic vinegars.
I usually cook with a splash of sunflower oil and a small knob of butter. This way the small amount of butter adds colour and flavour that does not burn.