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Home | Recipe Index | Cooking Basics

69 Cooking Basics

Welcome to my Cooking Basics category—where I share the essential skills and simple techniques that help me (and now you!) cook with more confidence every day.

Discover the art of frying with our detailed guide on ‘How to Fry,’ perfect for achieving that ideal crispy texture every time. Learn ‘How to Roast Garlic‘ to enhance your dishes with its sweet, mellow flavor. Master ‘How to Shred Chicken’ efficiently, a skill that will serve you well in countless recipes from salads to enchiladas. And if you’re looking to impress at your next dinner party, our guide on ‘How to Spatchcock a Chicken‘ teaches you to butterfly a chicken for faster, more even roasting. Each guide is designed to improve your cooking technique, one basic skill at a time.

Diced onion, green bell pepper, and celery on a wooden cutting board with a knife.

What is the Holy Trinity of Cajun Cooking?

Jar filled with vibrant homemade sofrito with a wooden spoon resting inside

How to Make Puerto Rican Sofrito

Perfectly cooked and fluffed basmati rice in a small pot

The Best Way to Cook Basmati Rice (Without a Rice Cooker)

The five types of pork chops (rib chop, boneless chop, sirloin chop, shoulder chop, and loin chop) on top of brown butcher paper.

Pork Chops: A Complete Guide to Cuts, Cooking Times, and Temperature

Perfectly golden brown and crispy chicken tenders being lifted from a large pot of sizzling oil in a spider strainer.

Deep Frying 101: How to Successfully Deep Fry Anything

White bowl filled with perfectly cooked green lentils.

How to Cook Lentils

Five white bowls each filled with a different type of lentil: red, brown, beluga, French green, and green.

Popular Types of Lentils (and How to Use Them)

Large forkful of shredded cooked chicken breast hovering above a glass dish filled with additional shredded chicken breast.

Super Easy Shredded Chicken Recipe (Three Ways!)

Dutch oven filled with chopped root vegetables and topped with a perfectly juicy golden baked chicken.

Roast Chicken Recipe

A raw, uncooked spatchcock chicken on a large cutting board flattened with breast-side-up.

How to Spatchcock a Chicken

White bowl filled with creamy, rich, and fluffy mashed potatoes and topped with melted butter and minced parsley.

Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Whole bulb of roasted garlic with golden caramelized cloves on foil.

Roasted Garlic Recipe – How to Roast Garlic

Sauce whisk set inside a skillet filled with dark brown roux.

How to Make A Roux (Easy Roux Recipe)

One corner dinner roll removed partially from a pan filled with perfectly baked yeast dinner rolls with golden tops.

Yeast Dinner Rolls Recipe (Soft & Buttery)

White plate filled with cooked, peeled, and sliced red beets garnished with chopped parsley.

Instant Pot Beets

Golden juicy baked chicken breast sliced horizontally into thick strips and resting in its own juices.

Oven Baked Chicken Breasts

Small glass jar filled with homemade hollandaise sauce with a small spoon filled with hollandaise sauce hovering above.

How to Make Hollandaise Sauce

White plate with toasted white bread and three poached eggs seasoned with pepper.

Poached Eggs: How to Poach an Egg

Halved hard boiled eggs on a wooden cutting board displaying the difference between the yolks from six minutes cook time to twelve minutes.

How to Boil Eggs

Glass mason jar filled with homemade cream of chicken soup.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

Cooked quinoa in a large saucepot.

How to Cook Quinoa

White bowl filled with cooked jasmine rice.

Jasmine Rice

Small pile of garlic cloves separated from a single bulb.

What is a Clove of Garlic?

Close up image of one whole garlic bulb surrounded by additional bulbs of garlic in the foreground and background.

How to Mince Garlic

Shallow serving bowl filled with cooked pearl barley.

How to Cook Pearl Barley

Image of two white ramekins one filled with pearled barley and one with hulled barley with the text overlay "Barley: What Is It And Is It Good For You?"

Barley: What Is It And Is It Good For You?

Image of a small white ramekin filled with oat groats with the text overlay "What are Groats? Varieties and Cooking Methods".

What Are Groats?

Tender roasted wedges of kabocha squash on a large baking sheet.

Kabocha Squash (Japanese Squash)

Image of different types of winter squash.

Types of Winter Squash: A Guide to Winter Squash Varieties and Cooking Methods

White bowl filled with homemade chicken noodle soup made with carrots, celery, and chicken and noodles.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Homemade strained turkey stock in a large Dutch oven.

Turkey Stock

Image of two small white ramekins one is filled with rolled oats and the other is filled with quick oats.

Rolled Oats vs. Quick Oats

Types of Oats

Image of different grass fed beef products with text overlay "Grass-Fed vs. Grain-Fed Beef: What’s the Difference"

Grass-Fed vs. Grain-Fed Beef: What’s the Difference?

Types of Salt: Himalayan vs. Kosher vs. Sea vs. Regular Salt

Types of Salt: Himalayan vs. Kosher vs. Sea vs. Regular Salt

Three glasses filled with classic lime margarita on the rocks.

Classic Margarita Recipe (How to Make a Margarita)

Whole mango on a marble cutting board.

How to Cut a Mango

Close up of the crust from one slice of pizza.

Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

Image of cold brew coffee straining into a large glass jar with text overlay.

Iced Coffee vs. Cold Brew: What’s the Difference?

Image of cooked Instant Pot black beans in a white bowl with an Instant Pot in the background.

Perfect Instant Pot Black Beans – No Soaking Required

Image of small ramekins filled with different types of dried beans

15 Types of Beans – And How to Use Them

BUTTER VS. SHORTENING text overlay

Shortening vs. Butter: What’s the Difference?

White bowl filled with homemade pumpkin puree.

How to Make Pumpkin Puree from Scratch

Whole raw sweet potatoes and yams clustered together.

Yams vs. Sweet Potatoes: What’s the Difference?

Whole raw Yukon gold potatoes and Russet potatoes.

Waxy vs. Starchy Potatoes: Which One to Use?

Potato Types: A Guide to Popular Types of Potatoes Image with text overlay

Potato Types: A Guide to Popular Types of Potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes vs. Au Gratin Potatoes: What's the Difference? Image with text overlay

Scalloped Potatoes vs. Au Gratin Potatoes: What’s the Difference?

Grapeseed Oil vs. Olive Oil_ What's the Difference_ Image with text overlay

Grapeseed Oil vs. Olive Oil: What’s the Difference?

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