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What's Gaby Cooking is a culinary student, turned private chef, turned food blogger/cookbook writer. She's now sharing her culinary school training in easy, simple videos. Check it out and follow her on Instragram.

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Great videos on the different methods from Cooking Light

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These basic techniques are essential for any cook. Learn all about them here.

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Looking for ways to keep food flavourful without adding a lot of fat? Cooking foods with 'dry heat' is an excellent way to prepare your favourite dishes. Read on to learn about ways to cook healthy using dry heat.

Cooking foods with dry heat is healthy

Cooking with 'dry heat' is a process where food is exposed to a source of high heat either from below or above (and usually in an oven). This form of heat brings foods to a much higher temperature than cooking with 'wet heat'. It also gives foods a brown crust or surface, which adds flavour. You can use less fat (like oil or butter) when cooking with dry heat and still get lots of great tasting food. Meats, poultry, fish, tofu and vegetables are excellent when prepared with dry heat.

There are many ways to cook with dry heat

Grilling, broiling, baking, roasting, sautéing or stir-frying, and searing are the different ways to cook using dry heat:

Grilling

Grilling uses heat from underneath to cook the food. Barbequing is a common grilling technique. Use a hot grill to make sure that food doesn't stick and use a lid to cook foods quickly. Grill ground beef burgers or beef steaks, marinated chicken breasts and fish like salmon. Kebobs with vegetables and meat or vegetables and tofu are also prepared well using the grill. Try these healthy and delicious recipe ideas that use the grill. If you don't have a barbeque, you can still grill foods using a griddle or grill pan on your stovetop, or an indoor grill (like a sandwich maker).

Broiling

Broiling is very similar to grilling, but uses oven heat from above (instead of below). Broiled food cooks quickly and evenly because it is exposed to very high heat for a short amount of time. To broil, place your food on the top rack of your oven and set it to broil. You can also broil foods in a toaster oven. Just watch your food carefully as it will heat up quickly. Like grilling, broiling is an excellent technique for different cuts of meat like the loin or chops of beef, lamb or pork. Try chicken pieces like the thighs, breasts or legs, or fish like this tasty Tandoori haddock. Vegetables can also be prepared by broiling, like this mushrooms broiled with thyme.

Baking

Baking uses the oven just like broiling, except food is surrounded with heat. Air moves around inside the oven, which bakes the food.Baking is the slowest cooking method with dry heat. If you have a convection oven you may notice food bakes faster. This is because there are more fans to circulate the warm air inside the oven. Baking works well for meat dishes, like these Green Meatballs. Fish also bakes well topped with fresh vegetables and herbs like this Mediterranean baked fish.

Roasting

Roasting is usually done in the oven, which allows the dry heat to circulate and evenly cook the food. Roasting is different than baking because it usually requires a high temperature at the start of cooking so that you get a crisp, brown surface. After a brown surface is formed, lower the temperature until the food cooked reaches a safe internal temperature that you measure with a food thermometer. Roasting is often used for roast beef like prime rib, whole or cut up chicken pieces and pork like this Pork Tenderloin and Glazed Carrots, and vegetables like these Parmesan Carrot Fries.

Sautéing

Sautéing and stir-frying are forms of frying, but use smaller amounts of oil and higher temperature than pan-frying and deep-frying. To stir-fry or sauté, cook foods directly on high heat on your stove top and stir frequently. This results in a crisp food product. Sautéing is great for vegetables like in Teriyaki Rice Noodles with Veggies, tofu in a sweet chili tofu stir fry or chicken or beef tenders.

Searing

Searing is a way to brown meat or fish quickly. To sear, place the food in a hot skillet, under a broiler or in a very hot oven. The high heat keeps the food moist inside but creates a nice brown crust on the outside. Use a little oil to help create this crust. After searing for a minute or two, lower the temperature so the food can cook all the way through. Searing is excellent for fish such as salmon, pork and chicken like Blackened Chicken and Creole Lentils.

Make cooking easy with dry heat

Keep temperatures high. When grilling, make sure the grill grates are hot before placing food on the grill. When sautéing or stir-frying, make sure the oil is near the smoking point. The smoking point is when the fat or oil you are using starts to produce smoke or a bitter smell. Try not to heat a fat higher than its smoke point since that can change the flavour and nutrition of the fat.

Keep temperatures accurate. The temperature you set your oven to and the actual temperature inside are often two different things. Use an oven thermometer in the centre of the oven to know the real temperature.

Keep air moving. When roasting, place your beef roast or whole chicken on top of a roasting rack or a bed of vegetables to encourage air to circulate and cook the food properly, inside and out.

Make sure you are roasting and not steaming your food! Use a shallow roasting pan or baking sheet and do not cover the food with a lid. This helps air circulate without creating steam.

Cook with a better oil. Choose healthy unsaturated fats like canola oil or safflower oil because they do not burn as easily as naturally solid fats such as butter.

You may also be interested in:

Cooking Foods with Wet Heat

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Looking for ways to keep food flavourful without adding a lot of fat? Cooking foods with 'dry heat' is an excellent way to prepare your favourite dishes. Read on to learn about ways to cook healthy using dry heat.

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Videos on how to cut many fruits & veggies

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Want to hone your basic knife skills? Here's a video tutorial for home cooks on how to cut fruits and vegetables: you'll be chopping like a pro in no time!
Want to hone your basic knife skills? Here at A Couple Cooks, we think that knife skills are invaluable. Knowing how to hold a knife and properly cut fruits and vegetables can drastically speed up your prep time and boost your confidence in the kitchen. So we created this video-based knife skills class just for you!

These 20 video tutorials share everything you need to know about knife skills! In the Basic Knife Skills Overview video, we share our best chef knife, how to hold a knife, and how to care for your knives. Then each video shows exactly how to cut 20 different fruits and vegetables!

Knife Skills videos: How to cut fruits & vegetables!

Video: Basic Knife Skills Overview!

Before you start on those fruits and vegetables knife skills, make sure to watch this Overview video! You can also review the information below. Here we share how to hold a knife, best knives and cutting boards, and an overview of basic cuts. Ready to get started?

Use a good non-slip cutting board

Before you start with your basic knife skills, let's talk cutting boards. It's important to have a good cutting board with non-slip feet. Without this, the cutting board can move while you're cutting, making the knife unstable and increasing the risk of cutting yourself! (If you don't have a cutting board with non-slip feet, place a damp towel underneath the board.) Here are a few of the best cutting boards we recommend:

Our best chef knife

People ask us all the time, what is the best chef knife you recommend? Here's our best chef knife: a 7″ chef knife, which fits well into both small and large hands. Alex likes to use a huge knife, so we also have a 10″ chef knife. Keep in mind that a good knife will last quite a long time: ours have lasted over 10 years so far! So it's a great investment. If you're looking for a more budget knife, we've recommended an 8″ affordable chef's knife. A few other essential knives for the kitchen are a paring knife and a serrated knife for cutting bread and tomatoes. These recommendations are perfect for outfitting your own kitchen, or great gifts for a wedding registry or someone who loves to cook!

How to hold a knife

THE MOST important thing you can learn to enhance your basic knife skills is how to hold a knife! Do not place your finger on the blade of the knife, or hold right at the start of the handle. Instead, get a firm grip on the knife handle right where the handle meets the blade. This will give you maximum control over the knife while you're cutting.

Master the motion of how to cut

Once you've mastered how to hold a knife, you can practice the motion of how to cut. This motion is also essential for your basic knife skills! When you're dicing, mincing, or slicing, you'll use a circular motion with the knife. Use the end of the knife blade to help balance. You can practice using this type of motion without even cutting anything. Watch the video for this one, since it's easiest to understand when you see it in action.

How to sharpen a knife

How to sharpen a knife? And how often? Alex and I actually get our knives professionally sharpened: there are a few stores in our city that offer knife sharpening. There is also a knife sharpening vendor that comes to our farmer's market. Without a home sharpener, get your knives professionally sharpened every 6 months. Ask around to find a professional sharpener in your city.

You also can use a home knife sharpener. Use this sharpener every few weeks, and then get your knives professionally sharpened occasionally. Here is the home knife sharpener that we use:

How to clean knives

Never, never put your chef knife in the dishwasher! Putting a chef's knife in the dishwasher causes the blade to dull faster. Always wash your chef knife with soap and water and dry it completely before storing it.

The best way to store kitchen knives

So, what's the best way to store knives? Above all, do not store your chef knives loose in a drawer! This causes the knives to become dull and is a safety hazard! Instead, use a knife block, magnetic strip, or a our favorite option, a drawer organizer. Since we have a toddler, we've found a drawer organizer with a child lock is a slick and safe way to store knives. Here's the drawer organizer that we use:

What is chopped, diced, and minced?

Here are some basic knife skills and how to distinguish between some common cuts. Chopped refers to cutting into rough, irregular pieces.

Diced refers to cutting into smaller, more uniform pieces, usually about 1/4″ squares.

Minced refers to cutting something into a very small dice.

Want to practice?

Try what we like to call our Knife Skills Soup, which lets you practice several different vegetable techniques and results in a delicious soup!

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Knife Skills 101: How to Cut Basic Fruits & Vegetables! - A Couple Cooks

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Want to hone your basic knife skills? Here's a video tutorial for home cooks on how to cut fruits and vegetables: you'll be chopping like a pro in no time! Want to hone your basic knife skills? Here at A Couple Cooks, we think that knife skills are invaluable.

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The Incredible, edible egg! Basic info about eggs.

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The Early 1900s

Egg farms were still mostly backyard systems that supplied families with eggs. Any extras were sold at the local farmers' markets. As selling eggs became profitable, some farms started building up flocks of about 400 hens. The hens roamed around outside with a coop for roosting.

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Egg Nutrition & Benefits | Incredible Egg

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Egg farms were still mostly backyard systems that supplied families with eggs. Any extras were sold at the local farmers' markets. As selling eggs became profitable, some farms started building up flocks of about 400 hens. The hens roamed around outside with a coop for roosting.

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Tons of information about cooking with eggs

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All About the Egg

Have you ever wondered what that white stringy bit attached to the yolk is called or what albumen is? Here is everything you ever wanted to know about the anatomy of an egg and probably a little bit more!
Read More

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Have you ever wondered what that white stringy bit attached to the yolk is called or what albumen is? Here is everything you ever wanted to know about the anatomy of an egg and probably a little bit more! Read More

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Cooking always requires the transfer of heat from a heat source to the food being cooked. All cooking methods can be divided into one of two categories: moist-heat or dry-heat. Understanding how each process works will help you determine which cooking method is most appropriate for the results you are trying to achieve.

In moist-heat cooking methods, liquid or steam is used to cook the food. Flavored liquids, such as broth or wine, can be used as the heat transfer medium and will also add flavor during the cooking process. Leftover liquids from the cooking process can also be used to make sauce or stock.

Moist heat methods are particularly useful for softening tough fibers, such as meat protein or plant cellulose. Conversely, the softening effect can be detrimental to some food, therefore making moist-heat a poor choice

Blanching - Blanching involves dropping food into boiling water briefly and then immediately halting the cooking process by submerging the food into ice water. Blanching is used to loosen the skin on fruit and vegetables and to halt enzymatic action that causes fruit and vegetables to deteriorate. Fruit and vegetables are often blanched prior to freezing to maintain their color and freshness during storage.

Boiling - At sea level, water boils at 212° F. Boiling water has large, vigorous bubbles, which can disrupt or damage delicate foods. Boiling is used to cook stronger, hearty foods such as beans, pasta, or tough vegetables. Because of the high heat involved, boiling is usually a relatively quick cooking method.

Braising - Braising involves simmering large cuts of meat in a small amount of liquid in a covered dish. Keeping the braising dish covered traps moisture within and helps intensify the flavors. Liquids used for braising are often wine, stock, or the meat's own juices.

Poaching - Partially or fully submerging food into water or another liquid that has reached 160-180° F is called poaching. Water at this temperature is hotter than scalding but is not vigorously bubbling like boiling water. This allows for delicate foods to be cooked without being disrupted or damaged. Poaching is often used with eggs and fish, both of which would break apart if exposed to rapidly boiling water.

Scalding - Water that has reached 150° F is considered scalding. At this temperature, water will have bubbles attached to the side or bottom of its container that does not release or move as they do with simmering or boiling water. The scalding technique is sometimes used to help solids, such as sugar, flour, or chocolate, dissolve more easily into the liquid. Scalding was also used in the past to kill bacteria in milk before pasteurization was so prevalent.

Simmering - Simmering liquids are above 180 F but not vigorously bubbling like boiling water. Simmering liquid has gentle bubbles that rise swiftly from the bottom of the pot. Simmering is a more gentle cooking method than boiling and is often used for long and slow cooking processes because there is less evaporation than with boiling. Tough meat, soups, and stews are often simmered over low heat for long periods of time.

Steaming - Steaming involves the transfer of heat through vaporized water or other liquids. This is by far the most gentle moist-heat cooking method. Because food is not allowed to steep in the hot water, steamed food retains more nutrients than food that is boiled or simmered. Pressure cookers utilize steam and pressure to increase the cooking temperature above the boiling point of water.

Stewing - Stewing is similar to simmering in that the liquid is heated until it forms gentle, yet quickly moving bubbles. The difference between stewing and simmering is that stewing generally involves a much smaller amount of liquid that is retained and served with the food as a sauce. Stewing is great for softening tough cuts of meat or fibrous vegetables.

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Ways to Cook with Moist Heat - Moist Heat Cooking Methods

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Cooking always requires the transfer of heat from a heat source to the food being cooked. All cooking methods can be divided into one of two categories: moist-heat or dry-heat. Understanding how each process works will help you determine which cooking method is most appropriate for the results you are trying to achieve.

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A handy little infographic.

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All the yummy things you want to eat, made easy to do at home.

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is also a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are incredibly important for your body and brain. Here are 11 health benefits of eating fish that are supported by research.

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We've gathered simple and quick egg recipes just for you. From breakfast ideas to kid-friendly meals, you'll find a variety of nutritious meals with eggs that satisfy the whole family. Find your favorite recipe for eggs by selecting the category or using the searching and sorting function.

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Easy & Healthier Egg Recipes | Incredible Egg

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We've gathered simple and quick egg recipes just for you. From breakfast ideas to kid-friendly meals, you'll find a variety of nutritious meals with eggs that satisfy the whole family. Find your favorite recipe for eggs by selecting the category or using the searching and sorting function.

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Egg lovers, rejoice! Here's a recipe for every Sunday until this time next year from Food Network Magazine.

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Tons of information about fruits & vegetables.

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A comprehensive list of veggies from A-Z

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is a great source of vitamins K and C, a good source of folate (folic acid) and also provides potassium, fiber. Vitamin C – builds collagen, which forms body tissue and bone, and helps cuts and wounds heal. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and protects the body from damaging free radicals

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See what's growing in Washington and when. Best prices and flavors!

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Ever tried to buy blueberries at a local Washington produce market in March, only to find they're not available? That's because although they can be found in grocery stores for most of the year, it's truly in season in the summer, between July and September.
SEE MORE: Washington's Top 10 Ag Products
We've created an in-season produce calendar for Washington so you can easily see when it's the right time to find the freshest eggplant or tomato, or if you've missed strawberry season. Feel free to share this seasonal calendar on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, or contact us for permission to reuse or reprint a full-size version.

To learn more about U.S. agriculture and what's in season in different states, browse our collection of digital magazines here.

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What's In Season? Washington Produce Calendar

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Ever tried to buy blueberries at a local Washington produce market in March, only to find they're not available? That's because although they can be found in grocery stores for most of the year, it's truly in season in the summer, between July and September.

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Top 10 Healthy Ways to Cook Fruits & Vegetables - Have A Plant

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Cook It Up the Healthy Way Bake ... Sweet potato fries by cutting up into slices and seasoning with olive oil, cayenne pepper and a dash of salt....

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When you are preparing your dinner of an evening, you probably don't worry about how you are cutting your ingredients. Many recipes specify how ingredients should be cut e.g. finely diced, but there are just as many that don't. However, understanding the basic knife cuts would be a huge benefit to your cooking. Learning basic knife cuts is actually one of the first things that a culinary student will learn, and they will need to perfect them all before they can move on to more complicated skills.

You should consider the way you cut your ingredients as the foundation of the meal. Just like the foundations of a house are imperative to keeping it standing, your ingredients and the way they are prepared are imperative to making your meal, delicious and attractive. There are also a couple of other reasons that understanding basic knife cuts is so important.

✓ Cooking Time

This is less to do about the type of cut and more to do with the consistency. If you are cooking a large batch of a particular ingredient, e.g. sautéing onions, then you need to make sure that every piece is uniform in shape and size.

If they are not, you will find that the cooking process is different for each piece. You might end up with some being burnt and some being undercooked, which could definitely tarnish the end product. If your cutting technique is consistent, the pieces will be uniform and they will all cook the same way to exactly the stage you want.

✓ Aesthetically Pleasing

There will be many times that how your food looks is the last thing you're worried about. When you're rushing around after work trying to feed hungry kids, the most important thing is getting the food on the plate and making sure its at least edible.

However, when you have time to be a bit more flamboyant with your cooking, the way it looks is just as important as the way it tastes. That's why good kitchen knife work is so important. If your cutting looks sloppy so will your food.

Basic Knife Cuts and Shapes

To get you started on the road to culinary stardom, here are some basic knife buts that every budding chef needs to know to show off their food to its best.

The large dice cut is one of the more straightforward knife cuts. The cut should result in a piece measuring 3/4 inch on each side. This is the ideal cut to use for big vegetable such as potatoes. You could significantly speed up your preparation process using this knife cut.

Like most things food, this kind of knife cut originated in the land of the croissant; France. When translated the word Batonnet literally means little stick, so this gives you a pretty good idea of what the cut looks like. A cut Batonnet should measure at approximately ¼ inch x ¼ inch x 2 inch. This should also be the starting point for the small dice cut.

The medium dice is probably one of the most common cuts and is used to cut literally any vegetable you can think of. From potatoes to cutting tomatoes this cut is king. A sharp chef knife should be used to first cut the vegetable into batons and then to cut the batons into medium sized cubes.

The Allumette is a cut that is primarily used to cut very firm vegetables such as potatoes and it is also commonly used to cut puff pastry. The look of the cut is very similar to small sticks such as matchsticks.

The small dice is commonly used for softer vegetable such as tomatoes and also for vegetables like zucchinis. The process will be exactly the same as when using the large or medium diced cut, apart from the resulting cubes will be considerably smaller. The cubes should be around half the size of when using a large diced cut.

The Julienne is the non-potato version of the Allumette. The end result is pieces cut into long and relatively thin strips. The look of this cut has also resulted in it being referred to as the matchstick cut. A perfect Julienne cut should measure 1/8 inch x 1/8 inch x 2 inch.

The Brunoise knife cut is an extension of the Julienne. The ingredient in question, is first Julienned and then it is turned a quarter and diced again. The resulting cubes should be measuring around 3mm or less than on each side. The typical vegetables that this type of cut is used for include; carrots, celery, leeks and turnips.

The fine Julienne is essentially exactly what you think it is. It is the standard Julienne cut made much smaller and thinner. In terms of the actual measurements, the fine Julienne should be half of a standard Julienne, making it 1/16 inch x 1/16 inch x 1 inch.

The Fine Brunoise can be considered one of the more difficult basic cuts just because the end result is so teeny tiny. The first step in this process will be to use a Julienne cut to create small matchsticks. These matchsticks will then need to be halved, turning them into a Fine Julienne cut. From this point the matchsticks will be cut into cubes that are considerably tiny in length, width and depth. You definitely need a steady hand for this one.

Now you know your basic knife cuts, you can get down to some serious cooking. Having a little bit of knowledge on your side is always a good thing. Knowing which knife cuts to use and when will ensure that all of your meals are cooked to perfection.

You won't need to worry about uneven cooking and it's always going to look like a masterpiece on the plate. However, remember that a chef is only as good as their tools, so make sure you have a nice sharp knife to put your new skills to good use.

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9 Basic Knife Cuts Everyone Needs to Know! * Kitchen Knife King

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When you are preparing your dinner of an evening, you probably don't worry about how you are cutting your ingredients. Many recipes specify how ingredients should be cut e.g. finely diced, but there are just as many that don't. However, understanding the basic knife cuts would be a huge benefit to your cooking.

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Cookbooks Mega Menu

Upload your own recipes, choose your favourites from our recipe partners and easily turn your collection into a FREE personalised eBook.

Free recipe partner eBooks for all seasons

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what is the difference between white rice and brown rice

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Upload your own recipes, choose your favourites from our recipe partners and easily turn your collection into a FREE personalised eBook. Free recipe partner eBooks for all seasons