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Instead of potentially ruining a recipe when trying to come up with (bold) new spice combinations for a dish, check them out ahead of time by holding the jars together and taking a tiny whiff of the combo, or better yet...combine them all in a pan just warm enough to activate the mingling aromas.
Extra precaution would be if you had a small piece(s) of meat say (if that was the main ingredient) to add to the cooked spices for a final check.
Relax and don't get overwrought if you make a mistake - it's only food - not life saving nuclear medicine, and you've learned something! (I used to get pretty upset over mistakes. )
When you bake a whole chicken (or any whole poultry) in the oven, rub the skin with mayonnaise. The high heat of cooking will burn the mayo, causing it to char slightly. In the end, you will get a chicken skin that's crispy without being dry. You can experiment with flavored mayo, like chipotle or even wasabi, if you so desire.
Salad dressing might work for this too, since it's chemically similar, but I never tried it. All I know is mayo. I'm guessing it might be too "tangy", although that could vary from brand to brand.
This is interesting. I oil my chicken (I slip bay leaves under the skin first). My old oven was convection and I used to get amazng browning. Now that I have a non convection oven, I learned to splash sherry over the chicken about half way through its roasting time. This will give a lovely brown and crackling skin.
You can poach eggs in the microwave. Use a low power setting for 3-4 minutes. You do have to experiment with each individual oven. I use an egg, a little water and a mise en place bowl.
I do a large batch of bacon on the broiling pan in the oven. I think the right setting for this is about 375 deg.
I do two or three pieces of bacon in the micro. I put them on a paper towel over a folded section of newspaper and use a med high power.
You can cook rice in the micro. 5 minutes on full power and 15 minutes on medium power. For brown rice, add five minutes to the second cycle.
For crunch in salads, I add sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds. Roasted and salted are best, I think.
If you make biscuits, handle them gently and as little as possible for the tenderest texture.
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