20 Pesky Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Making Serving Dishes. Do you ever find yourself serving the same old dishes repeatedly? Whether for family gatherings or casual dinners at your place, you will always find yourself making the same dishes repeatedly. Even if these dishes are excellent and tasty, they should be avoided as much as possible. These foods will make you think twice about serving the same dishes again.
These mistakes will not only make you cringe with embarrassment every time they are committed, but they will also prevent you from creating new delicious dishes in the future. If you want to serve your guests more delicious food without getting stuck with the same old recipes, keep reading so that you can learn what to avoid.
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Table of Content
- 1 Too many ingredients in a dish
- 2 Incorrect cooking time for the main ingredient
- 3 Chopping of raw ingredients before the actual cooking process.
- 4 Cooking is too long for side dishes.
- 5 Soaking dried meat or seafood before cooking.
- 6 Drying raw meat or seafood before use.
- 7 Incorporating step in making a dish that is not required.
- 8 Breading your main ingredient before frying it with other ingredients.
- 9 Using wrong utensils and equipment while cooking.
Too many ingredients in a dish
Serving Dishes: Simply put, the more ingredients you add to a dish, the longer your dish will take to cook. You don’t have to add as many ingredients as possible, but if you add too many, the entire dish could take too long to cook. Remember, your main ingredient should be the main attraction of the dish, not the reason why it took so long to prepare. Too many ingredients can add more color to your dish, but it could be overwhelming and disagreeable to the eyes. If you’re determined to have a specific color in your dish, you could add vegetables that are brighter in color.
Incorrect cooking time for the main ingredient
Serving Dishes: Main ingredients should be cooked thoroughly, although side dishes may be rushed. Adding pasta to a meal requires the standard cooking time for pasta. If you add vegetables to your pasta, add additional water so the noodles don’t get too soft. Note these errors when cooking to prevent them. You can monitor the cooking time of your primary ingredient and secondary items.
Chopping of raw ingredients before the actual cooking process.
Serving Dishes: Raw ingredients such as onions, garlic, and ginger should be chopped before they are added to the cooking process. When you add these ingredients raw to the cooking process, they will have a strong taste and smell. It can be overwhelming and disagreeable to your dish. When making a dish, you can use a raw ingredient such as onions, garlic, or ginger as a flavoring instead of chopping it. When you do it this way, the strong taste and smell come from the ingredient itself instead of the chopping board. This can be a nice touch and is not too noticeable.
Cooking is too long for side dishes.
Usually, the cooking time of side dishes can vary from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. You don’t want to cook your side dishes too long because this will turn the starch into mush and make them too soft. The side dishes such as pasta and potatoes should be cooked al dente, which means cooked with a slight bite at the center. This is usually cooked for less than 10 minutes. You don’t want to cook your side dishes too short because you don’t want them to taste bland. The ideal side dish is the one that compliments your main dish but is not too sweet and heavy.
Soaking dried meat or seafood before cooking.
Generations have eaten dried meats or shellfish steeped in salt or spices. Modern kitchens can’t preserve food for long periods, thus such spices aren’t suggested. You can flavor dried foods or shellfish without soaking them in salt or spices. Soaking dried meats or shellfish in salt or spices might impair your intestinal health. It’s best to throw these foods out and get something fresh instead.
Drying raw meat or seafood before use.
This is a no-no when it comes to cooking. Remember, when you dry raw meat or seafood, you’ll lose a lot of the natural moisture and flavor that comes from the animal. You can’t just pop a steak in the oven, let it cook for a while, and call it dinner. Depending on the cut of the steak, the cooking process could take from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The steak must be cooked all the way through, which means that the inside should be cooked to a temperature of about 70 degrees Celsius. You don’t want to eat meat that’s raw in the middle or has been undercooked for too long.
Incorporating step in making a dish that is not required.
One of the most common mistakes when making a dish is including an extra step or an ingredient that doesn’t need to be present. For example, you can see in this recipe for Baked Macaroni and Cheese that they suggest serving mac and cheese with corn on the cob. There is no corn on the menu, so why is it there? This is just one example of how you can make a dish with an extra ingredient that doesn’t need to be there. Another one is the step of adding cream to the mac and cheese. It doesn’t need to be there because it adds too many calories.
Breading your main ingredient before frying it with other ingredients.
Breading your main ingredient before frying is usually recommended, but it doesn’t have to be done with all main ingredients. You can decide for yourself whether you want to bread your meat before frying it or not. Breading is when you coat your main ingredient in breadcrumbs or cracker pieces before you fry it. It adds a unique flavor to your dish and makes it crunchy. You can decide whether to bread your main ingredient or not, but remember, your main ingredient must be the main attraction of your dish and not the reason it took so long to prepare.
Using wrong utensils and equipment while cooking.
Serving Dishes: One of the most common mistakes that home cooks make is using the wrong utensils or equipment for the job. For example, you can use a frying pan for roasting or baking, but you can also use a cast iron skillet. You can use a grill for grilling, but you can also use a stovetop grill or a cast iron pan. You can also use a blender to blend instead of the blender for making smoothies. The wrong utensils or equipment can change the entire taste of your food, so it’s essential to use the right tools for the job.
The most common mistakes when making dishes are:
- Too many ingredients
- Incorrect cooking time for the main ingredient
- Frying your main ingredient before adding other ingredients
These mistakes can be easily avoided if you make a mental note of them while cooking.
Now that you know what to avoid when creating delicious dishes, you can make these dishes with ease.
