Have you ever wanted to make a gourmet meal at home, but didn’t think you had access to the right ingredients? With a little creativity, you too can make great meals with ingredients from any supermarket.
Read below to learn some easy tips and tricks that will up your cooking game!
Can a Commercial Refrigerator Help Make a Meal Gourmet?
Restaurants have access to commercial refrigerators, so they can keep more food fresh for a longer period of time.
The word “gourmet” really only means high-quality, and you don’t need to go to a fancy boutique store to find fresh ingredients. If you choose your ingredients well, your recipes can be gourmet quality, whether you have a commercial refrigerator or you are cooking at home.
Fresh Herbs
If you are looking for the best quality herbs, your best bet may be to grow them yourself.
You’d be surprised how easy it is to grow herbs in your own home. Plants like thyme, basil, cilantro, and parsley can all be grown from your kitchen, and you can use them to easily add flavor or garnish to your recipes.
You can harvest only the amount you need to ensure that your herbs are fresh.
Olive Oil
One bottle of olive oil goes a long way, and you can buy it almost anywhere. It is also a healthier alternative to butter, but you can use it as a substitute for any number of ingredients.
Extra virgin olive oil is a great gourmet ingredient because there are so many different options. You can choose to get it from your local supermarket, or there are some specialty stores that will let you try different varieties.
Homemade Pasta
Believe it or not, you can make pasta from scratch without a pasta machine. You just need to do things the old-fashioned way.
Only four ingredients are required for homemade pasta – flour, eggs, olive oil, and salt – and all of them can be found at a regular supermarket. With a little practice, you can incorporate gourmet pasta into your dishes, which opens many doors.
Lemon Zest
This ingredient may sound fancy, but it’s actually very simple. Lemon zest is often used to garnish desserts or cocktails, and you can easily make it yourself.
All you need is a lemon and a paring knife to remove the outer rind of the fruit. This can be done with oranges as well.
Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables
Upscale restaurants tend to incorporate seasonal fruits and vegetables into their menu because these ingredients are sure to be fresh.
Commercial refrigerators and walk-in coolers are great for storing a lot of produce, but they’re no substitute for making sure you use the ingredients soon after buying them. You will always have the best results with ingredients that are in-season.
Keep track of when your favorite fruits and vegetables are in their prime. You may even have better luck going to a local farmer’s market than the supermarket, and you may just discover some new ingredients.
Does Your Recipe Make the Cut?
Wherever you find your ingredients, you just need to make sure they are the freshest possible. If the taste is exceptional, it doesn’t matter if you buy them at a specialty store or a supermarket.
Now you can make a gourmet meal without the gourmet price tag.