Cooking Essentials

To be able to cook somewhat successfully, there are certain ingredients that are fundamental to a solid dish. These ingredients are not meals by themselves (ground beef is not an ingredient, but italian seasoning is), but rather are accessories to the meal, but key in adding flavor.
Here are some simple ingredients that can make a big difference in your kitchen.
1.) Salt and Pepper
    It may seem basic, but I have been amazed at the kitchens I've been in on campus that lack the two basic seasonings. Salt in particular should be used more than when the food is cooked. It's an important beginning seasoning and should be used when boiling noodles, cooking eggs and boiling potatoes, just to name a few uses. Click here for more information on the importance of salt.
2.) Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
     This ingredient headlines Food Network's Chef Cat Cora's list of 10  essential cooking ingredients. Olive oil (or E-V-O-O if you are Rachael Ray) can be used in a variety of recipes. Adding a little olive oil in a pan and lightly cooking it, along with adding a couple of other choice ingredients (my favorites: garlic and baby tomatoes) can make for a quick and easy pasta. But olive oil can also be used to add flavor to any vegetable dish or anything cooked in a frying pan. And if that's not enough to add olive oil to your kitchen, it also has health benefits.
3.) Onions and Garlic
     While the two do not make your breath smell any better, they will make your food taste better. Onions are a more common ingredient than most people realize; they are present in nearly any sauce and and used to add flavor to many meat dishes. Garlic only requires a little bit to be effective. Be careful when you are using garlic; too much garlic can ruin a dish.
4.) Noodles
     This may go against my rules for this list being comprised of ingredients, but nevertheless, noodles are a quick and easy way to make a good meal. But to be able to eat noodles, you have to be able to boil them. Here is how to boil noodles (when I wrote this would be a basic cooking blog, I meant it):
Step #1: Boil Water. Fill a pot with water (any temperature works) and putting it on the stove on high. Typically, it takes water about 10 minutes (give or take a few) to boil.
Step #2: Add salt. This step can be done anytime before the noodles are added to the boiling water. The salt adds a little flavor to noodles.
Step #3: Add noodles to boiling water. When you add the noodles, you need to make sure that a.) the water is boiling and b.) you set a time right away. When adding the noodles, check on the box how long you should keep the noodles in the water. I prefer cooking the noodles al dente, which typically means 10 minutes for spaghetti and 8 minutes for penne.
Then, simply put the noodles in a strainer and add your olive oil, onions and garlic and you have a pasta dish. It's all about having the right ingredients