If you are cooking by ingredients you will need to know some basic cooking information.

If you are cooking by ingredients you will need to know some basic information. When cooking by ingredients, to prepare your homemade recipes, always be sure to use top quality ingredients. Cooks need to learn how to grocery shop for items such as pantry staples. You might think you will be able to do more budget cooking by purchasing outdated items which are on sale. Sometimes that does work but quite often the old items will ruin your homemade recipes and actually cost you much more than you would have saved.

Often flour or spices become old; outdated shortening might have a strong odor and flavor. Sometimes if flour is not stored correctly it will absorb odors. These problems will have a drastic effect on your cake recipes, cookie recipes and pie recipes. So much for budget cooking if all the baking recipes have to be destroyed. This is especially to remember if you keep additional emergency food storage.

Leavening agents are important when you are cooking by ingredients. Almost all of the baking recipes require some form of a leavening agent; it could be yeast, baking powder or baking soda. How to combine the right leavening with the right ingredients is important to know. Most baking recipes today carefully instruct you which one to use, but if you run out of maybe baking soda would you know how to substitute baking soda.

When cooking by ingredients you must know the different types of sugar and how to measure each. Can you substitute one for the other in a recipe? How will it change the product? Can you substitute an artificial sweetener for sugar? If you can, remember that one cup of sugar does not equal 1 cup of artificial sweetener. Sugar gives tenderness and flavor to dough and it also helps in the browning process. All this must be considered in baking recipes.

When cooking you have to know the difference in fats. Most of the time we use some form of fat to make delicious dishes. You have butter vs margarine; which do you choose and why? I always use butter but you may like the results from margarine. Should you choose a product like Crisco shortening over lard? Or what about using oils? Oil makes a different texture in baking recipes. I keep a can of solid shortening for pie recipe and I use a lot of olive oil and grape seed oil. I like the flavor of others, like bacon drippings, but I also like to practice heart healthy recipes. Bacon grease and lard add more calories.

The difference in the fat content in milk also changes the end result of the baking recipes. If you are trying to prepare heart healthy recipes or counting the calories, try using the low fat content in the milk. You will learn more about this as you gain experience in cooking. In the French restaurant we never used anything lower in fat than whole milk. For most recipes we used half and half or whipping cream and I must say everything was always delicious. Sometimes it is worth sacrificing the calories for a cream soup or a dish that has such wonderful flavor. If you are trying to cook healthy meals, you still have many options when you are cooking by ingredients.

Most cooks consider the good egg to be indispensible. There are many healthy and delicious egg recipes. They add flavor, color, delicacy and texture to dishes. Freshness is vital but they can also be too fresh. It is important to be able to tell a good egg or when it is bad. You must learn about each item when you are cooking by ingredients.

There are many grains available to cook with; they can be used as a whole grain or milled into flour. Ns stay fresh for years if stored in the original state. Much of our flour comes from wheat but others are available from rye, millet, barley, oatmeal, rice and quinoa. Quinoa recipes have become some of my favorites because this grain is high in fiber and high in protein. It can be used as a whole grain or as flour which makes it very versatile.

Fruits and nuts make a wonderful culinary addition to our cake recipes, bread recipes and cookie recipes. Whether you use fruits fresh, dried, canned, frozen or juices, they add flavor to breads, cakes and cookies. The natural sugar helps to improve the leavening process. Fruit with natural pectin will improve the keeping quality of baking recipes. The crunchiness of nuts combines well with the sweet chewiness of the fruit. Nuts also go well with cheeses, herbs and spices or can be used on their own.

Most of us love chocolate! Markets and candy stores have many kinds available. Be sure to use only the kind that the guide calls for when making chocolate recipes. For each chocolate the sweetness varies with each manufacturer. Find your favorite brands by trying different ones. Quality chocolate is glossy, breaks with a snap and has a delicious chocolaty aroma. Put a piece in your mouth and it should melt easily.

Cooking by ingredients will become a “breeze” when you learn about the products which you choose to use. The final result of your favorite recipes will be delicious to your taste.

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