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Setting up a new kitchen is no easy feat by any means. This is especially true if you have never cooked before, because often, you will never get to know what you need in your kitchen till you are in the middle of trying out a new recipe. Most beginners often shy away from buying cookware because they are generally unaware of what is good and useful and what is simply good to look at and costly to buy. Good cookware often does not come cheap, but with the beginners’ cookware buying tips provided here, you know what will suit your needs best when it comes to cookware.

What To Buy: If you are a new cook, then you might want to look at readymade cookware buying sets that generally include most of the basic cookware that you will need. Generally a set comprising of a saucepan, frying pan and a couple of pots will suffice of you are planning on regular American food. However, if you like Chinese, then you should definitely buy a wok as well. If it is Italian that you like, then you might need more than one saucepan because these dishes will require you to make different sauces. So decide upon the kind of food that you are planning to cook before you buy your cookware. If you want to cook what your mom does, then think of what she has in her kitchen when buying your own cookware.

What Size To Buy: Often, enthusiastic beginners end up buying pots and pans in sets of four or five with each set comprising different sizes ranging from extra small to extra large. However, this will not only empty your pockets, it will also clutter up your kitchen with a number of useless cookware pieces. Others might buy cookware pieces that are generally too big for their cooking needs thinking that they might have to cater for guests. However, cooking for a small number of people in a pan that is too large will often end up taking the taste and pleasure out of your recipes. The key too determining size is to buy medium sized pots and pans where you can easily cook a meal for one or two and go up to at least six people. Mid size is the way to go for almost all cookware that you are buying in single pieces. Buy a set of three to four different sizes for one item that you plan to use the most, like the saucepan or the pot.

What Material To Buy: While pots and pans are available in almost all kinds of materials ranging from copper and aluminum to steel and cast iron, you will find that most have their own advantages and disadvantages. Most people buy steel cookware because it conducts heat evenly, is long lasting, strong, non reactive and economical.  If you are into quick and easy cooking, then a combination of steel and non stick pots and pans should do it for you. You can pass on copper and cast iron till you move to more advanced cooking.

Are you one of those people who has the bad luck of having your gourmet dishes failing on you just when the appetizers have already been served and the guests are waiting for the main course with their wine glasses in hand? In fact, it often happens to the best of cooks that our lovingly prepared meal ditches us in the middle and dinner turns to disaster as you discover that your vegetables have turned soggy and you have added too much salt to the gravy. If you are faced with a similar situation the next time you cook dinner, despair not, because our quick fix solutions to fixing common cooking disasters will help you make the best out of such situations.

Too Much Salt in Gravy: It has often happened to me that as guests pour into the kitchen to exchange pleasantries and small talk, I end up sprinkling too much salt into whatever I am cooking. The quick fix to too much salt in a gravy is to quickly slice a potato and put the slices in the over salted gravy while it simmers. Take out the slices before you serve.  If your gravy can take a couple of tomatoes, then chop some up and add to the gravy. This generally ends up making gravy tastier, zingier and there are no traces of excess salt left in the dish.

Cake Sinks In The Middle: You take out your nicely baked cake to cool on the rack and after fifteen minutes, you find that your cooked lump of dough has a big dent in the middle. Definitely un-servable to dinner guests as is! However, you can still put it to a number of good uses to make lovely dessert. If you have some canned or fresh fruits ready, pierce the cake all over the top with a knife, soak with fresh fruit juice or syrup from the can, put all the fruits on the top to make an even top and pour on whipped cream or some fruit sauce for a fruity cake desert. You can also cut up the cake and serve in separate bowls as a trifle after topping with ice cream, fruits and flavored sauces.

Lumps in the Sauce: You might follow instructions to a T when making white sauce, but it can still turn out to be lumpy. While stirring it and breaking down lumps by a spoon might solve the problem in some cases, the best things to do is to either put it in the blender and give it a whiz or to pass it through a thick sieve. Your sauce will instantly get back the smooth and creamy consistency that you wanted in the first place.

Overcooked Vegetables: Mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables often have a tendency of turning into mush, especially when you have invited guests over. The best way of using the veggies to your advantage as a main course is to mash the over done vegetables properly, add fresh bread crumbs, some corn flour and salt to taste. Fashion this mix into patties or cutlets, dip into a beaten egg, cover with bread crumbs and fry to make crisp vegetable cutlets for your main course. Just make sure you add enough bread crumbs so that the mixture becomes solid enough to hold shape.

Ever wonder why you promise your friends and family home cooked meals when they end up in your spending all your free time in the kitchen? Or do you wonder how people manage to feed guests who drop in just when they are all out of pre cooked meals? These and other similar questions make us wish we were one of those people who could just wave a wand and the food would be there on the table, Harry Potter style. Unfortunately for us muggles, cooking food is never going to be that easy. The best we can do is learn cooking recipes for fast meals, and what better place to start than right here, where we tell you how to put together a three course meal in less than an hour.

Chinese food is not only like by most people, it is extremely fast and easy to cook once you get the hang of the various sauces. If you have an hour or even less to prepare a home cooked meal, then why not try a menu of tomato soup, chili garlic noodles and stir fry vegetables? You are wondering whether we can do all this in just 45 minutes? You bet we can! Just follow the instructions below:

Tomato Soup: Put a pressure cooker on the burner and pour in a tablespoon of vegetable oil. While the oil gets hot, chop a medium sized onion, then pop into the oil to fry till tender and translucent. While the onions are getting fried, you chop two medium sized tomatoes. Drop these in the cooker; add a cup and half of water, salt to taste and a pinch of black pepper. Cover and cook for five minutes. Put the whole thing in the blender and churn for a few seconds when done. Pour into soup bowls, garnish with cilantro and serve with soup sticks. Serves 2. Note: Be careful when you put the hot soup mix into the blender. Splashes can cause serious burns.

Chili Garlic Noodles: Put a pack of quick cooking noodles in a pan of boiling water. While the noodles boil, chop some pods of garlic into small pieces and break a few dry red chilies into pieces (decide on the quantity of chilies based upon how hot you want your noodles to be). Heat oil in a wok, drop in garlic and red chilies, add a tablespoon of vinegar, one and a half tbsp of tomato ketchup and salt to taste to the wok. Once the oil starts coming to the top of the ketchup mix, put in cooked, washed and drained noodles and mix it all up. Garnish with more chopped garlic and your chili garlic wonder is ready to serve 2.

Vegetable Stir Fry: To make your vegetables in record time, I assume that you will have chopped and ready to cook carrots, capsicum, broccoli, corn and peas in your freezer. Take a wok or a frying pan, put in a tbsp of vegetable oil and add the chopped veggies. Fry for two minutes, then add salt and fry for a couple of more minutes on low heat. Once the vegetables are tender enough for your taste, add one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of white vinegar and some pepper. Serve as a side dish with your noodles and you will definitely have people asking for second helpings. What’s more is that you have cooked a three course Chinese meal for two in record time!

(Note: If you are cooking for more people, just add to the recipes, without varying the given proportions. Time taken will more or less be the same.)