FOLLOW THE FEW STEPS AND YOU WIIL PRO IN COOKING

How to Make a White Sauce
Here's How:
1. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium low heat.
2. Stir in flour. Using a wire whisk, stir the butter-flour mixture until it bubbles. This is called a roux.
3. Cook and stir the roux for 1-2 minutes. This gets rid of the raw flour taste and allows the starch granules in the flour to accept the liquid. Remove from heat.
4. Heat the liquid in a separate pan.
5. Slowly add the liquid to the roux, stirring vigorously with that wire whisk.
6. Return saucepan to heat. Cook and stir over medium heat until the sauce thickens. This process begins at the bottom of the pot, so be sure to stir constantly.
7. When the sauce is thickened and just begins to boil, remove from heat. You've made a white sauce!
8. Click on the link below to find a recipe for a basic white sauce and a few delicious variations.
Tips:
1. Heating the liquid ensures lumps won't form as easily in the sauce.
2. Make sure you cook the flour-butter mixture for 1-2 minutes so the sauce will thicken.
3. Using a wire whisk really is essential. It incorporates the liquid into the roux very well, preventing lumps from forming.
What You Need:
· heavy saucepan
· butter
· flour
· liquid
· wire whisk

How to Work With Filo Dough
Difficulty: Average
Time required: 1 hour
Here's How:
1. First, thaw the filo dough carefully, following the package directions exactly. This is usually best done in the refrigerator overnight.
2. When the dough is thawed, remove from the package, open the plastic bag, and unroll the dough.
3. Remove the top layer of paper. Have plastic wrap and a damp (not wet) kitchen towel ready to cover the dough while you're working with it.
4. Carefully pull one sheet of the dough off the stack. Don't worry if it tears - just keep it together the best you can. Immediately cover remaining dough with plastic wrap and the damp towel.
5. Place the filo sheet on a cookie sheet, and brush with melted butter, using a pastry brush or a spatula.
6. Repeat process with another sheet of dough, covering the unused dough immediately. Continue according to the recipe - usually you will layer 3 to 6 sheets of filo.
7. Prepare the filling and place on the layers, roll up or fold, according to the recipe instructions, and brush the filled pastries with more butter.
8. Bake as directed in the recipe, until the pastry is golden brown and flaky.
Tips:
1. Always, always cover the dough you aren't buttering and layering. If it dries out, it becomes brittle to the touch, and you'll never be able to work with it.
2. Don't worry if the pastry tears. Just brush butter on it and layer on another sheet.
What You Need:
· filo dough
· plastic wrap
· damp kitchen towel
· butter
· filling
How To Teach Kids Food and Kitchen Safety


I think that teaching kids to cook is one of the most valuable things you can do. But it does take some time, and some lessons will have to be repeated. Stick with it, and your kids will gain a valuable new skill.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 1 hour
Here's How:
1. The first rule is about food safe . Basic rules include: keep your hands clean, wash them often in soapy water, don't lick your fingers while preparing food, separate raw and cooked foods, and cook food to the proper temperature.
2. Always begin by reading the recipe through completely; be sure you understand the instructions. Gather all your ingredients, utensils, and pans that you need before you start.
3. Hot mixtures can burn quickly. Use hot pads when removing food from the oven or microwave, and never lick or handle hot food. If you hurt yourself, tell an adult immediately. And have a first aid kit in the kitchen.
4. Be careful with knives. Kitchen knives should be sharp, which work best. Learn how to work with knives and practice before you start cooking. Don't put knives into soapy water because someone could reach in and get cut. In the dishwasher, place knives point side down.
5. If a fire starts, call an adult immediately. NEVER put water on a fire. If the fire is small, throw baking soda on it to smother the flames. If the fire is in a pan, ask an adult to put the lid on the pan to remove oxygen from the fire. If flames are large and leaping, call 911 and leave the house immediately.
6. Wear shoes in the kitchen. If you cook barefoot, you risk getting burned with hot mixtures or cut with knives or forks.
7. Make sure that pot handles are turned away from the front of the stovetop. If they're hanging over the front of the stove, the pot with its hot contents could be knocked onto the floor, and you.
8. Never taste uncooked food. Unless you are using pasteurized eggs, don't lick the bowl or the mixing spoon. And be careful when tasting hot food. Foods from the oven should cool for at least 10 minutes for entrees and side dishes, 30 minutes for breads, and 20 minutes for cookies. If the recipe says to cool completely before serving, follow that instruction.
9. When you're done cooking, clean the kitchen. That means wipe up spills, place utensils and bowls in the dishwasher, clean pans, and put ingredients away.
10. Before you leave the kitchen, make sure all appliances are turned off and are clean. Unplug mixers and food processors. Clean off the stovetop after it has cooled. And wipe down the inside of the microwave with damp paper towels.
11. Work with your kids at first, then when you're confident they understand the rules of the kitchen stand back and see them soar!
What You Need:
· Recipe
· Ingredients
· Pots and Pans
· Spoons and Other Utensils
· Hot Pads
· Timer
· HOW TO USE GELATIN
There are a few tricks to learn when using gelatin to make molded salads or desserts, but they are simple and easy. Make perfect gelatin creations with these easy steps.
Difficulty: Easy
Time required: 6 hours
Here's How:
1. Sprinkle unflavored gelatin over a small amount of cold water taken from the recipe and let stand. If using sheet gelatin, immerse sheets in cold water for a few minutes (don't use liquid from the recipe for sheet gelatin).
2. Heat half of the remaining liquid used in recipe to boiling and pour over either the softened unflavored gelatin or commercial powdered gelatin in a large bowl. For sheet gelatin, pick up the soft mass and squeeze excess liquid from it and drop into hot liquid.
3. Stir gently but thoroughly with a metal spoon until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Make sure that you don't see any tiny particles of undissolved gelatin in the liquid.
4. Add the other half of the recipe's liquid to the dissolved gelatin mixture and stir. This half of the recipe's liquid should be cool.
5. You can partially chill the gelatin if you are adding fruit, meats, or vegetables to the salad. Place gelatin mixture in the refrigerator and let chill for about 1 hour, until the gelatin looks like thick unbeaten egg whites. The added ingredients will then be evenly distributed throughout the finished salad.
6. Rinse the salad mold with cold water. Do not dry. Pour in the gelatin mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least four hours before unmolding.
7. To unmold the salad, run the tip of a knife around the edge of the mold. Invert the mold onto a dampened serving place.
8. Dampen kitchen towels in hot water, wring out, and apply to outside of mold for 30-60 seconds. Gently shake mold until gelatin slides out. Repeat process if necessary.
9. Return mold to refrigerator until serving time.
10. Store the salad, covered, in the refrigerator.
Tips:
1. Never use fresh or frozen pineapple, guava, figs, kiwifruit, or ginger root in molded gelatin salads. They contain bromelin, an enzyme which will destroy the gelatin's protein bonds. Canned versions of these products are fine - the heat used in the canning process has denatured the bromelin enzyme.
2. You can oil your salad mold with a light, no flavored oil instead of rinsing it with water.
3. Make sure that the gelatin is thoroughly set before you try to unmold the salad.
4. You can add other ingredients without prechilling the gelatin. They will just settle to the bottom of the mold and be on the top when the salad is unmolded.
5. You can pour gelatin into individual serving cups so you don't have to bother with unmolding a large salad.
What You Need:
· gelatin
· bowl
· metal spoon
· liquid or water
· salad ingredients
· mold
· plastic wrap
refrigerator
How to Fillet a Fish
Whether you have a fisherman in the family or got a great deal on whole fish, here are instructions on how to fillet fish.
Difficulty: Average
Time required: 15 minutes
Here's How:
1. Hold the fish on the cutting board with the back of the fish toward you. Using a thin flexible knife, cut through the back of the head to the backbone and turn the blade so it's running along the backbone.
2. Hold the fish by placing your non cutting hand over the head. Push the knife along the backbone to the tail using a sawing motion.
3. Pull the fillet away from the body of the fish while making small careful cuts with the knife to retain as much flesh as possible.
4. Using small strokes of the knife, remove the fillet from the rib cage, feeling your way around the bones with the knife.
5. Turn the fish over and repeat steps 1 through 3 on the other side.
6. Using a flat bladed knife, slice a bit of the skin away from the flesh. Cut a hole in the loosened skin so you can fit your finger through it.
7. Hold the skin through the finger hole and pull the skin away from the fillet, using the knife to hold the fillet down. Hold the knife at a 45 degree angle.
8. With your fingers and a clean tweezers, feel for any pin bones and pull them out of the fillets.
Tips:
1. Make sure your knives are very sharp or you will rip and tear the flesh.
2. Go slowly at first. It takes practice to become an expert at filleting a fish.
3. Removing the fillet from the rib cage is the most difficult step. Be very careful and go slowly.
What You Need:
· whole fish
· sharp thin bladed knife
· sharp flat bladed knife
· cutting board tweeze