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The Kitchn: 13 absolutely free ways to improve your cooking

By Faith Durand on

TheKitchn.com

Do you wish you had more money to splurge on luxurious ingredients such as really high-end olive oil and aged cheese? (Personally, I wish I had a white truffle perched on my windowsill all the time.) Or do you wish you could go to culinary school and learn the fine arts of French cooking?

So much of cooking well seems to involve money, doesn't it? Buy this perfect piece of cookware; make sure you have three kinds of salt in your cupboard; stock cherry vinegar as well as balsamic, red wine and rice. Shop at the farmers market; is that tomato the best it can be? And what about that seafood? Wild salmon only, please.

While spending money wisely and well on tools and food is important -- and good food should command priority -- savvy thrift is at the root of many of the world's great dishes, such as bread panade, pasta e fagioli and any number of other rustic classics.

There is much you can do to improve your cooking right now, without spending a dime. Here are 13 absolutely free ways to take your cooking up to the next level.

1. Read the recipe all the way through before beginning.

 

This is a common admonishment, and for good reason! How many times have you got halfway through a recipe and then discovered you forgot an ingredient, or added something all at once when it should have been divided? Reading a recipe all the way through and taking time to put it in your own words in your head will help you cook a little better, and it will teach the underlying mechanics of what is happening.

2. Start cooking with a clean work space, even if it means putting dinner on the table a little late.

This is a point I need to remind myself of all the time. I will fly through a work day and then toss myself into the kitchen, shoving yesterday's cereal bowl and pasta pan out of the way. It would be better to take a deep breath, clear up and, yes, have dinner ready a little later, but enjoy the process of making it in a more cleared-up space.

3. Set a daily time to clear out the fridge.

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