A common saying goes that “the way to a man’s heart is his stomach.” The thing is, it’s not just guys that love a home-cooked meal. Women do too – especially when it’s cooked by their boyfriend or husband.
What? You don’t know how to cook? Here’s a list of beginner’s cooking tips to help get you started. Armed with a great recipe and these tips, you’ll soon have your girl falling in love with your cooking.
#1: Use sharp knives. Not only does this make your prep go faster; it makes it much less likely that you’ll cut yourself. Should your blade slip, a cut from a dull blade is almost always worse than one from a sharp one.
#2: If a recipe calls for you to sauté chopped veggies and garlic as a base for other ingredients, add the garlic in the last minute of sautéing the vegetables. Onions, carrots, and bell peppers take longer to soften than garlic (which burns rather quickly), so add the chopped garlic and toss it around for just a minute before moving on to the next step.
#3: Do salt pasta water, but don’t put olive oil in it. Salting the water gives flavor to the pasta. Adding olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking will also keep your delicious sauce from sticking to the pasta once it’s cooked.
#4: Speaking of salt, don’t be afraid of it. Salt and pepper the food before you start cooking it. Salt it as you cook it. Possibly salt it a little more at the end. Be sure to constantly taste it to judge the level of seasoning; there’s nothing worse than flavorless food.
#5: Finally: sugar is you secret weapon. You can add sugar in unexpected places to give an extra layer of flavor. It works especially well in red pasta sauces to help cut the tomatoey acidity. Sprinkle in a little bit and give it a taste!
All of these tips are things you’ll learn as you practice, so get out there and give it a try! Even if the results are less than impressive at first, your significant other will smile and say it’s the thought that counts, right?
