Chocolate Chip Cookies Troubleshooting Guide

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Meat Done-ness Hand Test

If you never know just how long to cook your meat to get the perfect doneness try using the hand test. By poking the meat of your hand and then comparing that to the feel of your meat you can see if your meat is safe to be eaten.

Encyclopedia of Pasta

Have you ever stood in the pasta aisle at the grocery store and thought to yourself, “why are there so many damn pasta shapes?” If so, you’re not alone. But before I answer that question (hint: the answer is sauce – spoiler alert), let’s look at where pasta came from, and what makes up pasta.

WHAT IS PASTA

Pasta is, at its most basic, a kneaded mixture of flour and water. Pasta, at its most exuberant, is still essentially a kneaded mixture of flour and water – okay, and oil, egg, salt, and other flavorings. Like all great dishes however, the possibilities are endless. Most pastas use a semolina dough. Semolina dough and water makes a simple dough. Semolina dough with water, egg, and oil makes a rich pasta dough. Flavored and colored doughs can use herbs, vegetables, fruits, and more.

Guide to Flavoring with Spices

What makes spices so exciting? Let’s use the analogy of an artist. You as the cook are the artist and spices are your paints – they can bring a blank canvas (or dish) to life! They allow you to be creative and adventurous with your cooking and best of all, they prevent you from eating another bland meal.

Spices serve several purposes in cooking and can be used to:

Add Flavor and Aroma. Spices can transform a meal by adding a range of flavors, from a hint of sweetness to a kick of heat. They also give beautiful aromas that are often our first determining factor for whether we want to eat a meal or not.

Enhance taste of food. We always think of salt as our go-to when a meal tastes too bland, but there are other spices, like cumin, that bring out the natural flavors of food.

Change or enhance color. If you’ve ever eaten at an Indian restaurant you may have noticed that many of the dishes have a deep yellow, orange or red color. That’s because the spices used in typical Indian cooking, such as turmeric and paprika, give color to the foods making them more bright and appealing.

Seasoning with spices can be intimidating if you’re not familiar with it but – like painting – with the right tools and practice, you’ll be cooking up a masterpiece in no time.

We created our ‘Guide to Flavoring with Spices’ infographic to show you some of the most common spices that are hiding in your cupboard and how to use them. This chart gives you an idea of the flavor each spice will add to your meal, what spices go well together, and what foods to add them to.

Grill Master: Properly Cook Meats and Veggies Everytime

There are a few different factors that go into determining when those burgers are good and done (direct vs. indirect heat, heat intensity, time, etc.) but the most important thing to keep an eye on is the actual internal temperature of the meat. A seasoned grill-master will probably be comfortable eyeballing the quality of the food, but for those less experienced it’s recommended to have a meat thermometer on hand to thoroughly check the food’s internal temperature to keep everyone safe and healthy.

This graphic, with its variety of meats and veggies and their appropriate cooking times/heats, should be a handy guide for anyone looking to have good cookout.

10 Easy Homemade Soups

Soup is one of the easiest and most forgiving things you can possibly cook. Plus you gotta love that the broth-based stuff keeps beautifully in your freezer and seems to improve over time, even if that’s only overnight before reheating it to enjoy for a comforting lunch at work the next day.

Each of the following recipes in this infographic, brought to you by Shape, serves four people and follows the same can’t-screw-it-up directions:

1. Cook your aromatics in 1 tablespoon healthy oil (such as olive or canola) until softened.
2. Add remaining ingredients except garnishes. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
3. If appropriate, puree in a blender until soup is smooth and creamy.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add garnishes as desired.

Conversion Charts: Measurements and Temperatures

How to Store Your Groceries