Flavor Boosting Tips

When you don't have a lot of ingredients to begin with, it's important that you make the ingredients you do have work for you. The following are a few tips to help you boost the flavor of any dish you're making.

1. Sauté Aromatics

Aromatics can include: herbs and chopped vegetables like celery, garlic, onions, and carrots.

Why this helps: Heat brings out more well-rounded flavors

Directions: Add oil to a skillet and place over medium to medium-high heat. Add your fresh herbs or vegetables and cook for 10 minutes.

2. Brown meat

Why this helps: If you're cooking with meat, browning in oil helps to create a more rich flavor and it helps seal in the moisture of your meat, making it more tender.

Directions: Cube meat and cook in batches on medium to medium-high heat, stirring frequently. This ensures the temperature of the skillet doesn't drop and allows you to get a good sear on your meat. If the temperature of the skillet drops, your meat will cook too slowly.

3. Deglaze your pan

Why this helps: whether you're cooking meat or vegetables, you'll most likely get little burned bits at the bottom of your skillet. This is called fond. That fond has amazing flavor, so if you deglaze your skillet (essentially getting the bits unstuck), you're capturing that flavor.

Directions: Carefully add a small amount of liquid to your hot skillet. About a 1/4 cup of water, soup stock, or wine  can be added while your skillet is still over medium to medium-high heat. With a spatula (preferably one that won't scratch your pan), gently scrape the bottom of the pan. The liquid will help the fond to release. As you continue cooking, this will get incorporated into the dish and add flavor.

4. Add dried herbs when food is simmering

Why this helps: When you add dried herbs at this stage, it gives the herbs time to infuse the food, adding a more complex flavor.

Directions: While your food is simmering, crush the dried herbs between your fingers and add to the pot. This helps release the flavors.

5. Cook low and slow

Why this helps: When cooking soups, chilis, or stews, if you cook at a lower temperature for a longer time it allows the flavors to meld.

Directions: On the stove, turn your heat to low and cover your pot. Let it hang out for a couple of hours. If you're using a slow cooker, turn it to low (6-10 hours) and let it cook while you're away.

5. Reduction

Why this helps: Allowing the liquids in your dish to evaporate helps to concentrate the flavors.

Directions: When simmering liquids (soups, stocks, gravies, etc), leave the lid off of your pot. This allows the liquid to evaporate. Keep an eye on your pot, though, you don't want your entire stock to evaporate.

7. Add fresh herbs at the end

Why this helps: Fresh herbs are more delicate than dried herbs and can add a bright flavor to your dishes when added just before serving.

Directions: Chop your chosen herbs and sprinkle over the dish before it is served.

8. Freeze & Reheat

Why this helps: Amazingly, when you chill or freeze something, the flavors continue to meld.

Directions: Bring your dish to room temperature, place is an airtight container and put into the refrigerator for 2-3 days or the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to reheat, you can thaw (if frozen) and microwave or heat on the stove or in the oven.