Learn to cook like a chef - in your own kitchen

Cooking is something that needs practice; there's no getting away from it. You can read all the cookery books, and watch all the shows (not to mention eat at all the restaurants), but you need to get your hands dirty to really perfect those skills.

Luckily, we need to eat every day, so there are plenty of opportunities to try out new techniques. There are so many tips and tricks with cooking that are super simple, and that can transform your mealtimes from so-so to sublime. Here are a few that are worth getting under your belt.

Speed tips

There’s never enough time in the day, and however much you might enjoy a good meal, you don’t always want to spend a long time cooking it. Learning a few of these tips and techniques can cut down the amount of time it takes you to go from raw to ready.

Preparation

Before you start cooking, take a second to think through all the steps you will need to take. Being organised from the beginning helps reduce stress when things start to heat up, as you know what comes next. So, if you’re a new or nervous cook, this is an especially important step. Here are the best steps to take before you even reach for a knife:

• Getting all the required ingredients out at the beginning reduces wasted trips to the fridge and having to rummage in the cupboard for that lost herb while your pot boils over. 
• If you will be using the oven, set it to preheat to the correct temperature.
• If you need boiling water later, set it on the heat now so it’s boiling when you need it. Pro tip: If you have an electric kettle, you can also use this to reduce the time it takes to bring water to the boil.

Peeling and chopping 

Other than onions, there is no agreement on what needs peeling and what doesn’t. With most vegetables, especially potatoes, most of the vitamins and fibre are in the skin, so peeling will remove a lot of the nutrition from your meal. However, leaving the peel on often means a rougher texture and stronger flavour to your meal, and you will need to wash the vegetables first.

If speed is your number one priority, you can almost always skip peeling your vegetables, especially root vegetables such as carrots. Let your gut decide what works for you!

Tomatoes

If you are making a tomato soup, it might call for you to peel your tomatoes. There is a trick to this: Score an X on the underside of the tomatoes and then place them into boiling water. After 20-30 seconds, the skin should have started to peel away. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the hot water and put them in a bowl of cold water until cool enough to handle. Then simply pull the skin away.

Onions

Being asked to dice an onion can fill an amateur cook with dread, but once you know the techniques the chefs use for this, you’ll be slicing with abandon in no time. 

1. Hold the onion on its side, and slice the top off (the top is the end opposite the hard root).
2. Put the onion top down on the chopping board and cut it in half, bottom to top.
3. Peel the skin off each half.
4. Lay one half flat-face down on the chopping board. 
5. Making sure you stop cutting just before the root of the onion itself, cut the onion into slices, from the top towards, but not into, the root. The slices should remain joined together by the root.
6. Turn the onion 90 degrees and slice the onion sideways, starting from the top end. You’ll see the diced onion fall away as you cut.
7. Discard the final root slice.

Even with this speedy technique, it’s essential that you have sharp knives. If you find yourself struggling to slice through vegetables, get your knives sharpened - it not only makes cooking quicker and easier, but it’s also safer as sharp knives are less likely to slip.

Garlic

Finally, garlic. A base in many recipes, it can be a little fiddly to peel unless you know how. First, use the flat side or the handle of a knife to crush the garlic clove. Then take a tiny slice off the base of the clove. You should then be able to simply squeeze the clove out of its paper - simple! When a recipe asks for finely chopped garlic, you can usually also grate it instead, which takes no time at all.

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Flavour tips

It’s not only about speed, though. There’s nothing more disappointing than spending time slaving over a recipe and then finding it doesn’t really taste of much at all. Here are the best ways to get meals that really pack a flavour punch.

Searing your meat

Recipes that involve meat will almost always ask you to sear or brown the meat before you proceed with the recipe. However, they don’t always make it clear why or how to do this, which can make it a tempting step to skip or an easy one to get wrong. Don't skip it - your meal will taste so much better thanks to this quick and simple step.

Searing the meat means cooking it on a very high heat for just a few minutes on each side. This causes the fats in the meat to start to caramelise, and that's where the flavour comes from. Many new cooks worry about burning the meat when they first start searing - don't be!

You want the pan really hot for this. Really hot. It's best to add a little oil to the pan, just to ensure an even cook, and when the oil starts to shimmer, that's when you know it's hot enough. If you don't want to cook with oil, flick a few drops of water on the pan - they should dance and evaporate quickly. If they don't, it's still not hot enough.

Lay the meat in the pan. You should hear a good sizzle at this point. Don't be scared! Leave it alone for a minute or two. It is tempting to move the meat around in the pan or peek underneath it, but the longer the contact, the better. If you go to flip the meat and find it's sticking, it doesn't mean that it's burned onto the pan. In fact, usually it suggests you should leave it a little longer - the meat will initially stick to the pan, but as more fat caramelises, it loosens its grip and will turn easily.

Make sure there's enough space in the pan for all the meat to lie flat in the middle of the pan. If it's pushed too far to the edges or even up the sides, it won't sear properly. If you're cooking a big meal, be ready to brown the meat in batches. Trust us, it's worth that little extra time it takes!

Marinade magic

This is one that does require you to plan ahead, but a good marinade can completely transform a meal. Not only do they impart flavour to meat (or tofu!), but the acids in them also work on the fibres themselves, resulting in tender bites that melt in the mouth. 

The best thing about marinades is that they are so flexible. There's one basic thing you need to know, which is that a marinade should be made up from a mixture of fat, acid and seasonings. A good rule of thumb is to use three parts fat to one part acid and no more than one part other seasonings.

This means, for example, if you use 3 tablespoons of olive oil, you would want 1 tablespoon of something acidic, such as vinegar or lemon juice, and then up to 1 tablespoon of other seasonings, such as salt, pepper, ginger, cumin, paprika, soy sauce or any other herb or spices that you think will taste nice!

Typical fats that you can use include:

• Oils (vegetable, olive, sunflower and so on)
• Coconut milk
• Full-fat yoghurt

Acids are also very varied, and each has its own flavour:

• Vinegar (experiment with different kinds - rice vinegar is very different to red wine vinegar, which is different to apple cider vinegar!)
• Citrus juice
• Wine

The amount of time you want to leave your meat marinating depends on what you are cooking. Generally speaking, the bigger the cut of meat, the longer it should marinate for. If you are in a rush, cut your meat into chunks so there is a greater surface area in contact with the marinade. This will reduce the amount of time it needs to marinate. 

Here is a rough guide on how long to marinate different things:

• Shellfish: 15 minutes
• Seafood: 20-30 minutes
• Vegetables: 30 minutes
• Tofu: 1-12 hours
• Boneless chicken: 1-6 hours
• Bone-in chicken: 2-12 hours
• Pork: 2-12 hours 
• Beef: 2-24 hours

Get stuck in

There's no substitute for trying, so try not to worry too much about cooking. It will get easier the more you do it, and even mistakes can end up tasting brilliant if strange! Finding a good recipe, with clear and simple steps, is always the best place to start, and once you've nailed the basics, you can really start to let your imagination run wild.