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Here are five of our favorite tips from Ina Garten. Some of these seem simple, but they really do change everything!

1. Taste with your eyes closed.
In her sixth cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Ina asks, “Can you taste the lemon in the lemon capellini with your eyes closed?” If you can't taste it, give the sauce a tweak, close your eyes, and try it again — you'll be surprised by how much better you can taste things.

2. Salt everything, including your oatmeal…
Salt is an important ingredient in every recipe, including desserts. In an interview with Bon Appétit, Ina stresses the importance of salting even your oatmeal and says, “Most people don’t do their oatmeal with salt, and I think that without it, it just tastes like wallpaper paste.”

3. And salt your chicken as soon as you get home, too.
Even if you're not cooking it right away, go ahead and salt your chicken and rewrap it. “That way the salt really gets into the meat and gives it great flavor when cooked,” Ina explains in her cookbook Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics.

4. Rest your meat and fish before carving them.
No matter what kind of protein you cook, always let it rest for at least five minutes before slicing it. “This resting period allows the juices to be absorbed back into the meat, which makes it so much more flavorful than if you'd served it right off the grill or right out of the oven,” Ina says in her cookbook Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics.

5. Make chocolate even better by adding coffee to amp up the flavor.
In an interview with Epicurious, Ina shares, “If you add coffee to chocolate, it gives it a depth of flavor.” She goes on to explain, “You know the chocolate tastes better, but you don't really know that they're there.” Get her recipe for chocolate ganache cupcakes here and try it for yourself!

What do you think of these tips from celebrity chef Ina Garten? Do you have any favorite tips from her? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Article Source: Buzzfeed