Cooking for two can be a challenge, particularly if you have a stubborn partner that won’t sit still during the process. Whether it’s because they don’t like the way it tastes or just because they think it takes too long, most couples can agree that it can be difficult to get things done around the kitchen when there’s no intermediary to communicate with. However, there are many ways in which you can improve your skills when cooking for two. The most important aspect is learning how to control the level of heat that you apply to different ingredients throughout the entire meal. There are several basic cooking methods and techniques that you should become familiar with in order to get the job done properly and to avoid an uncomfortable and possibly unhealthy dinner for your Simmers.
By simmering. While both boiling and simmering are very similar techniques used to cook food from pasta to steamed vegetables to boiled meats, both are simply levels of the same concept. They are both ways of heating food, and while neither requires any special skills, they are very different levels of how food is cooked.
Boiling. When you boil, the water is boiled to evaporate away any moisture, and the food is left to sit and cool itself down. Once it has cooled down, it usually reheats slightly as it sits waiting to be served, which can bring out some of its more flavors. For example, when making tomato soup, you would set aside the liquid until the soup is ready to be made, then simmer it for a few minutes until the liquid is completely clear and no longer dark-colored.
Rinsing. The boiling process is meant to clean away any excess liquid from the ingredients before serving them. However, it also rids the pot of any flavorful aromas or liquids left behind in the pot when it was first heated. Therefore, if you use a pressure cooker to cook your soup, you might not want to add any liquid at all to the pot, since you will likely get rid of any excess flavors as the liquid cooks. However, you might want to take some liquid before you go to the next step of cooking it in the pot, just to add up some more thickness and flavoring to your dish.
Baking. Although cooking in a slightly warmer temperature than boiling, baking is still very much a heating method, just in a different method. You use the oven to heat up the food and then add in the liquids to help the baking process along. Generally, the cooking process goes like this: browns bottom of the pot, simmers slightly, then browns again, simmers some more, and so on until the bottom is totally finished and the surface is fully baked.
Simmering vs boiling: What’s the difference between these two popular dishes? It all boils down to the heating method that is used for the preparation of your dish. Boiling takes longer and is less efficient than simmering, which allows for quicker foods. And since Simmering is an old method that gets rid of liquid flavor and moisture, it has become very popular in cooking circles. So, there really is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing one over the other.