A Guide to Basic Cooking

I heard it on the Today Show. Beyonce admitted that she can't cook. She said she would learn to in the future. If you are like Beyonce, have no fear, cooking is not quite as hard as you think. Let's start at the very beginning.

Boiling Water
This is so incredibly easy. Find a pot to boil the water that is big enough to hold the water, and the food that you'll be adding to it. If you don't have a big enough pot, what you are cooking-say pasta will boil over. Next, place the pot on the stove burner and use a measuring cup to pour in the water. You can also just fill up the pot with cold water at the tap. Place the pot on the burner. Turn the heat up to the hottest position, and cover the pot with the lid. After a couple of minutes you can check the water to see how it is doing. Keep checking to see if there are large bubbles that rise from the bottom of the pot to the top of the pot. At this point the water is boiling. Keep the water at the same heat point the entire time. Do not let the water boil until there is no water left in the pot. It could ruin the pot.

Cooking Rice
If you soak your rice, it will take less time to cook, and it expands the grains of the rice. Usually the time for soaking is 30 minutes, but their are often other times.If you are going to cook it as is, you'll need 1 1/2 cups of water or less. If you use more water, then you will get softer rice. You can add a little salt, and olive oil, so the rice will not stick. Once you have all the ingredients in the pot, set it to boil,cover it, then it must simmer. Cook for about 12 minutes. If you find that your rice is hard, just put about 1/4 cup water in the pot with the lid on, and cook on low for about five minutes. If you burn your rice just let cold water hit the bottom so the burnt taste on the bottom won't get to the rest of the rice. Don't put water in pot, just over the bottom of it. Any problems cooking rice can be avoided if you just don't open the lid.