Cooking Tips from Celebrity Chefs

The majority of my cooking techniques have been picked up from others; watching my parents in action in the kitchen or hearing about friends trails and errors while testing out a recipe. My domaine recently sat down with 10 celebrity chefs to learn some of the best life-hacks for the kitchen and they are pretty great. I am already planning on adapting some of these in my home kitchen and a couple I can proudly say, I have been following for years. 

(bobby flay  //  image)

Bobby Flay:

Preheat your skillet before adding oil. “Home cooks never let their pans get hot enough. If you don’t see a wisp of smoke coming from the oil in your skillet, you’ll never get a proper sear on that steak or fish.”

(Giada de Laurentiis  /  image)

Giada de Laurentiis:

To make a recipe healthier; multiple your vegetables. “Italian cooking relies on fresh vegetables, but I like to use even more than a recipe might call for,” the chef tells cooking light. “Roasted vegetables give off so much flavor, and they can keep a dish interesting. Plus, they're filling. You can enjoy what you eat and not overeat. It is possible―and a lot of fun.”

(Mario Batali  /  image)

Mario Batali:

Go for the whole. “Always use whole tomatoes, because then you are in control of the product and know exactly what quality you’re getting. Usually canned diced tomatoes are parts of broken whole tomatoes, and crushed ones are a mix of all of the leftovers. Crush the tomatoes for the sauce with your hands. The pieces should be the size of your thumb— pieces that are too big don’t let you get a bite along with other stuff. Everything should be in harmony.”

(Thomas Keller  /  image)

Thomas Keller:

Salt from above. “Season your food properly—not by seasoning a piece of meat with salt when you’re really close to it, but by actually holding your hand up rather high, having the salt between your fingers, and letting it fall. As it falls through the air, it’s dispersed out evenly over the piece of meat, the vegetables, or whatever you’re using. Sometimes we tend to salt really, really close to our products. We therefore concentrate that salt in a specific area and don't get a uniform seasoning across the surface of it.”

(Tyler Florence  /  image)

Tyler Florence:

Towel-dry your meat. “When you’re grilling outside, one good tip is to make sure you put (the meat) on a piece of paper towel and dry it off really, really well. If you put that wet steak on the grill, the water content is going to heat up, and you’ll steam the meat before you caramelize the meat. And steaming doesn’t really add any flavor; caramelization of the protein is where all the taste is. You’ll have 10 times better flavor results.”

(Wolfgang Puck  /  image)

Wolfgang Puck:

Store tomatoes right. “Store tomatoes at room temperature. Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator, as their sugars will cease to develop and their flavor will be muted.”

To  read all the celebrity chefs' cooking tips, click here.