Some women are kitchen princesses, and others have nothing to do with cooking. If you fall into the latter category, you don't have to resign yourself to a life full of takeaway and ready-to-eat meals from the supermarket. Follow these tips and your cooking insecurities will soon disappear.
Invest in the right tools
Sometimes when a dish fails, it's not you - it's your cookware. There's nothing worse than trying to make a basic dish like rice in the wrong pan. If you had the right pan, that rice would have cooked perfectly. You don't have to spend a lot of money, but it's worth investing in a few good quality basics, such as a chef's knife, good pans and oven dishes.
Start with a dish you love
Instead of making some difficult dish, start with a recipe for one of your favorite dishes, be it lasagna or cheesecake. It gets you in the kitchen and makes you motivated to make something. And if it works out well and you enjoy it because you already love this food, that satisfaction is the best thing you can do to develop confidence.
Read the whole recipe before you start cooking
If you're halfway through a recipe and realize you don't have the amount of flour or vinegar needed, then of course it won't go as it should. Read the entire recipe before you start and make sure you have all the ingredients (and adequate amounts of each) on hand. And try to follow the recipe exactly the first few times (this is especially important if it's a baking recipe, where precision is key). After you've mastered the basic version of the recipe, you can then proceed to try out some variations if you wish.
Taste and season your food before serving
Don't even think about putting everything on the table until you've tasted the dish. If it tastes a little bland, add some salt and/or pepper. It may sound like a simple trick, but it works:Having the confidence to say, 'It needs a little more of this or that' - is where you go from being a good cook to a great cook.
Always have the ingredients for at least one meal on hand
You know the panicked feeling when you're wondering what to do for dinner? Making sure you always have something in your pantry and fridge—even if it's just dried pasta and pasta sauce—helps allay those feelings. So make sure you have a few things at home with which you can immediately prepare a meal. For example, a bag of frozen peas, rice, potatoes, meat, pasta, etc. It really helps those found when you get home and have no idea what you want to cook.
When you go shopping, start with the meat
When you start picking up chicken thighs or ground beef, you'll have a much better idea of what you're going to eat and what other ingredients to buy. It's so much better than going down the aisles and buying everything, only to realize you don't even have the ingredients to make a meal.
When you cook for others, stick to what you know
It can be so exciting to try a new recipe for a night out with friends, but do what you do best. Finding that good thing you're really good at definitely builds confidence. Because who wouldn't feel great about her cooking skills after receiving requests for "those amazing brownies you're making" or "your delicious garlic mushrooms"?
