Professional chefs reveal their simple yet effective techniques to transform everyday dishes into culinary masterpieces. From unconventional uses of common ingredients to handy substitutions and flavour-boosting tips, these secrets are sure to elevate your cooking game.
Make a splash in the kitchen – top chefs and cooks share easy ways to take your dinner to the next level. This is something Neil taught me. It’s quicker, easier and you get all the flavour. You don’t even have to remove the skin because it won’t go through the holes. I do this now whenever I’m cooking with garlic, certainly if I’m making a pasta sauce. Make sure you’ve got enough oil in the pan and it’s on a low heat, as grated garlic burns more easily.
If you want to add a deep, roasted flavour to your slow-cooked meat, add coffee. People might be familiar with using coffee in chilli con carne, but I like to stretch this concept and add it to short rib and beef shin. I’d start with a shot of espresso and add more if you want. You don’t want it to taste like coffee, just enough to give it an intriguing depth. Just before you do the last flip, scatter with more cheese, turn it over and wait for it to make a crunchy crust. Cheddar or red leicester work best for this. And don’t forget to spread both outer sides with mayonnaise before you start cooking for that even gold colour. When browning mince for ragu, I like to fry it in large patties to increase the surface area for caramelisation. I sometimes do it in the oven as it’s cleaner and easier, but it does take more time. I read this theory that the oven dehydrates it more, so when you then add it to the sauce, the mince immediately sucks up all the liquid. Add oyster sauce to anything: it boosts the umami flavour and adds viscosity (because it contains cornstarch). You can use it in stir-fries and Asian soups and sauces but also in European dishes such as coq au vin, beef stroganoff and bolognese. The more I tell European chefs about it, the more I’m beginning to hear, “Yeah, we tried it, it’s amazing.” Use baking powder in marinades to tenderise meat. This is a traditional technique in Chinese cuisine and it works well with sliced meats in particular. Put the meat in a bowl and wash it, pouring out the excess water (don’t worry about drying it, a little residual water is fine). Sprinkle over the baking powder, about 1g per 200g of meat, mix it around and leave it for an hour or so before cooking. Brine from jars is usually thrown away, but this stuff is gold. It’s good in salad dressings, and adds punch to a pasta sauce. Instead of adding vinegar and salt to tomato sauce, use brine to bring the umami. I also shake mine into a caper brine margarita – about one tablespoon for two cocktails. Think about what olive brine does to a dirty martini – this is even better. Just be sure to always taste your brine before using it, as different brands have different levels of salinity. My cooking at times could be described as “things on top of yoghurt”. I’ll pile roast vegetables on top of it, use it as a base for dips, as a substitute for buttermilk in baking, and I often combine it with cream for a less rich whipped cream. I like to use it in soups, not just a dollop on top, but stirred through to give acidity. It’s brilliant for adding creaminess and brightening your food at the same time. A good example is the Syrian preserved lemon and herb pasta dish in my book. If a recipe calls for one type of yeast, but that’s not what you have on hand, don’t worry. Types of yeast are generally interchangeable. If fast action/instant dried yeast is called for, but you only have fresh, triple the amount. If fast action/instant is called for, but you have active dry yeast, increase the amount by a quarter. If you’re making a cake but you’ve run out of butter or want to make it dairy free, you can easily switch it out for oil. To make the cake as similar as possible, add 82g of oil for every 100g of butter, and up the liquid ingredients by 18g for every 100g of butter. This keeps the ratio of fat and liquid the same. Oil-based cakes often taste moister as the fat is liquid at room temperature. Try playing around with oil types based on what you think will pair well. Mild olive oil gives a subtle note, and if you’re making something citrussy, such as an almond and orange cake, extra virgin gives a lovely, floral fragrance. But if it’s going in a recipe with different ingredients that’ll overpower it, there’s no point spending the money, especially with its current price tag. Rapeseed, sunflower or vegetable will do a great job. Toasted milk powder is one of my favourite ingredients; I call it “double brown butter”. It’s made by very gently toasting powdered milk in a frying pan or low oven. It has the same flavour note as brown butter, so I add it instead of, or alongside, brown butter to emphasise that deep nuttiness. Cookies are a great way of using it, as they are often neglected when it comes to adding layers of flavour, so a little toasted milk powder makes them taste a bit more sophisticated and special. Where I come from in Bahrain, every family has their own version of da
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