Mastering the kitchen involves understanding healthy fat profiles, variety-specific grain preparation, and safe food handling techniques.
Olive oil is extracted from the fruit of the olive tree. There are different types, grades and uses of olive oil, depending on how the original oil is extracted. Pomace oil is a lesser grade and quality than olive oil due to the way in which it is extracted and the chemicals used in the process.
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The broiler cooks fish as fast as a grill, and just as effectively develops a crisp exterior while maintaining succulent flesh underneath. Broiling is the indoor version of grilling, using the same method of indirect dry heat, only with the heat source located above the fish, rather than below.
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Lasagna is a substantial make-ahead meal that you can pull out of your freezer on a busy night. This classic comfort food freezes wonderfully, is super-filling and is always a crowd pleaser. You can reheat frozen lasagna in the oven or microwave to have a delicious meal on your table with little effort.
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Tofu is basically coagulated and pressed milk of soy. Many varieties of tofu exist, including soft, firm pressed and silken tofu. Silken tofu has less soy and greater water content and is more fragile than either soft or firm tofu, and is usually used in salads and soups.
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Garlic can enhance all sorts of dishes and has some health benefits. A garlic-rich diet helps boost your body's production of antioxidant compounds and may lower the risk of heart disease and certain cancers, notes "The New York Times." Roasting garlic tempers its intense taste and makes it readily spreadable.
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Ribeye steaks are a boneless rib cut of steak and are one of the most tender cuts of beef. There are many ways to cook ribeye steaks, including broiling them in the oven. Broiling your steaks is quicker than grilling them and requires less maintenance than cooking them in a skillet.
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Gauging exactly how much pasta to cook can be a challenge. You don't want to get to the dinner table only to find that you didn’t make enough, which leads to cooking too much.
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Biscuits are not complicated to make, says "New York Times" writer Sam Sifton. According to Sifton, a basic biscuit recipe calls for baking powder, flour, a liquid like water or milk and a source of fat, such as butter.
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Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are the basis for hummus when they are pureed, and they are also delicious whole in soups, pilafs and by themselves. Cooking chickpeas by the regular stove-top method can take up to two hours, but with an overnight presoak, a pressure cooker reduces that time to just nine to 14 minutes.
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Bundt cakes make quite an appealing presentation on a dessert or kitchen table due to their simplicity and beautiful shape. Your cake mix may be homemade or from a box. Pound cake batters do especially well when baked in a bundt pan.
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A butcher cuts the eye section of a beef rib roast from a single muscle after he removes the rib bones. This results in one of the choicest meats for roasting. The Delmonico Restaurant in New York popularized the rib-eye roast in the late 19th century and it’s been a favorite of chefs and diners ever since.
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Also referred to as green beans, runner beans, string beans and wax beans, French beans are typically around 4 inches long and feature a bright green color. When the beans are sliced open, tiny seeds can be found inside. But don’t worry about removing these seeds before cooking — they are edible and nutritious.
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Frozen cheese ravioli is a quick and economical alternative to expensive fresh ravioli or making ravioli from scratch. Choose a frozen ravioli brand with low-fat cheese to keep your saturated fat and cholesterol intake low. For additional nutrition, look for cheese ravioli made from whole grain flour.
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Olive oil is an integral part of the oft-touted Mediterranean diet, a diet based on consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits, fish and unsaturated oils. Although a fat, olive oil has a number of components that appear to lower the risk of heart disease.
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Steamed rice adds toothsome, nutty -- and, importantly, gluten-free -- substance to health-minded meals. A rice cooker is the ideal tool to cook rice to fluffy perfection, but a resourceful cook has other options: both new-school electronic steamers and decidedly old-school bamboo steamers do the trick brilliantly.
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Baking bread in covered clay pots creates an old-world style artisan loaf. This bread has a thick, crisp crust like bakers used to produce in wood-fired clay ovens before the advent of electricity. This just can't be done in your normal kitchen oven.
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Any food can lead to weight gain if you consume too much of it, since you gain weight when you eat more calories than you burn through your daily activity. Pasta is no exception. However, pasta can fit into a healthy diet, especially if you choose the right type of pasta and healthy toppings to go with it.
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Pungent, piquant and peppery, cloves tie aromatics together in multifaceted dishes. You rarely find cloves as the main flavoring ingredient in a dish; they work best in supporting roles, such as infusions for finishing oils.
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More than half of all the snack nuts consumed in the United States annually are peanuts -- and salted, roasted peanuts are one of the most popular choices, according to 2013 information provided National Peanut Board.
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Angel hair pasta, also known as capellini or capellini d'angelo, is a thin, delicate pasta that cooks quickly. When cooked correctly, it's light and flavorful and can be paired with tomato, pesto or garlic sauce, either as a side dish or main course.
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