Just because you are trying to lose weight doesn’t mean that your diet has to become a bunch of bland, tasteless foods that make you regret dinner time! You can enjoy flavorful foods with some simple tricks and cooking secrets that will help you prepare your next meal so that it is bursting with flavor. When a meal has more flavor, it is more satisfying, and you will find that you will actually crave less junk food or snacks between meals when you have a tasty meal.
High Heat & Caramelization
Cooking meat at a high heat helps to add extra flavor to the meat. This method of cooking includes methods like pan searing, broiling, and searing, which all help to caramelize the meat and brown it with plenty of flavors. While high heat does create a deep flavor profile, you do have to be careful not to overcook or burn your piece of meat, as this can deplete flavor and render your meat dry. Caramelizing food brings out a natural sweetness, and not only meat is caramelized but also mushrooms, onions, and vegetables.
The Fond Is Your Friend
Don’t know what fond is? Well, we are about to change the way you cook for good! The fond is a name for the browned bits of food that coat the bottom of your pan when you are cooking. We bet you usually put your pan aside or in the sink to scrape off all the food later and shine your pot to as good as new.
Well, this next tip is going to make your food more flavorful and your cleaning a lot easier! Add some cooking liquid, water, broth, or stock or even wine to the pan and leave on the residual heat to lift off the fond. This scraped up fond is very delicious and can be sued to make a gravy, or added to soups or stews for added flavor.
Don’t Forget The Fat
If you’re disappointed in the flavor of your meat, try using fattier cuts of meat instead. While you do not necessarily have to eat the fat, using fattier meat when cooking will yield a tastier dish because the fat is where all the flavor is. This is exactly why bacon is so darn delicious! Beef that is marbled with fat is considered the best for a tasty steak or a delicious roast. The same is true of pork or loin – the fat around the meat shouldn’t be cut off! Roast or pan-fry your meat with the fat and let it render and allow the flavor to permeate the meat. When you are eating, you can place the fat on the side.
Bring on the Booze
Drinking alcohol is one way of complementing your meal, but have you tried using it in the kitchen as well? No, not just to keep you tipsy as you toss your salad, but to bring out the flavor in your dish by cooking with it. Beer, wine, and liquor can be used to boost the flavor of food through molecular bonding and evaporation. The alcohol bonds with fat and water molecules to create magic in your pan! Delicious flavors actually tie in with the aromas in the nose, and alcohol helps these aromas reach your aroma receptors, making food tastier!
Add A Little Acid
Sometimes, you don’t want to add salt or butter to your dish. Butter is extra calories and salt may be holding water weight, so perhaps you are cutting down on these two. There is still one more way to flavor your food – with acid. A dash of vinegar, lemon, lime, or rice wine vinegar can help balance out the taste of your dish without a need for salt or fat. Also, If you have over-salted a soup, a splash of acid can help balance out the flavor.
Freshly Ground Is the Winner
When it comes to spices, you can transform ingredients into a magical dish! There is such a wide variety of spices to choose from to make a dish taste amazing and playing with different combinations is a lot of fun and rather delicious. You can enjoy many foods by using different spices so as not to become bored. However, when spices are ground and exposed to air, they lose their flavor and become stale very quickly. It is best to store spices whole and grind as needed. Better still, s=toasts whole spices before grinding for an earthy element to your food! Yum!
So with these many tricks and tips, you can really surprise your next dinner guests or start preparing tastier meals for yourself so that you look forward to your healthy meals at meal times! These tips really can make your food restaurant-worthy!
