Learning is fun to me, especially when it involves food. Cookbooks account for 100% of my bookcase.
Stacks of magazine subscriptions clutter every room of the house.
My internet bookmarks bar is filled with various food blogs and other recipe websites.
I recently read this pretty exciting list of cooking tips from chefs put out by Food Network. And, of course, that got me thinking about some advice of my own.
Although there are still about 100 lifetimes of knowledge to acquire before I even scratch the surface of the collective culinary world, here is a good start for those of you who are just starting in the kitchen.
Top 5 straightforward, straightforward ways to instantly improve your cooking.
1. SALT IS YOUR FRIEND
Properly seasoning your food is one tip that chefs and culinary professionals bombard us with time and time again.
Most home cooks either considerably under season their food or dump in some salt at the very end of the cooking process.
In his book, Michael Symon's Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen, the Iron Chef teaches that salting in stages throughout the cooking process will build more flavor. He suggests seasoning from start to finish because it extracts the most flavor out of your ingredients.
For instance, if I'm braising short ribs, I will season the meat before searing, then strengthen again as the vegetables are sauteing, and finally season one more time as the braising liquid is added.
Go ahead and get yourself some good Kosher Salt (Morton's or Diamond Crystal are the two standards) and keep it next to your stove in a handy-dandy salt cellar. That way, it's always within an arm's reach. And on the topic of salt, don't forget to add it to your water when cooking pasta. And not just a pinch. You want the water to taste like ocean saltwater. This will make sure your pasta is perfectly seasoned.
2. GET OUT OF THE RECIPE STRAIGHTJACKET
Cooking Books, Magazine. I love them all. I'm afraid to think how many cumulative hours I've spent reading about food. As much as I love and adore my extensive library of cookbooks and get super excited every time a food magazine gets delivered to my mailbox, they can also be a straightjacket in the kitchen.No recipe is perfect for every person in every kitchen.
So many factors can influence the outcome of a dish, even with a fantastic recipe.
For instance, exactly how hot is "medium heat"? What if the author's stove runs hotter or cooler than yours? How big is a large onion? A pinch of salt? Zeroing in on precise measurements, cooking times, and stovetop temperatures is quite challenging to quantify. So what's a person to do?!
Taste. Trust your instincts. Watch and experience your food as it cooks. Use the recipe as a guideline, not an absolute rule.
Like most things in life, there is an exception. Baking is a different beast than cooking. Recipes for baked goods should be followed as closely as possible. I always, ALWAYS try to be as precise and accurate as of the measurements in baking recipes. I highly recommend using a digital scale. Measuring by weight is much more detailed than measuring by volume (for example, 500 grams versus 2 cups). Here's the scale I have… it's been good to me: OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Digital Scale.
3. INGREDIENTS MATTER
Ever taste a straightforward, simple dish at a restaurant and wonder why it tastes a million times better than when you make the same thing at home? It happens to me all the time. I used to think that the chefs must be doing something crazy extraordinary in the kitchen when the opposite is true in reality.
They are just using the very highest quality, perfectly ripe ingredients possible.
Good restaurants take extreme care in sourcing the best of every ingredient. They don't just hope for ripe tomatoes or berries. They demand them. Unfortunately, most supermarkets we shop in the stink.
I've yet to have a fantastic tomato or strawberry from any supermarket, even when they are in season.
Do your best to shop at farmers' markets. Good farmers take pride in what they grow. It's almost guaranteed their produce is going to taste better. And they will only sell what's in season at that time.
4. GO CLEAN UP
Ever watch one of those cooking shows where the judges ream out the contestants for having a messy station. Chefs hate a dirty kitchen. A cluttered kitchen typically leads to a dirty dish.
Contamination can also more easily occur in a chaotic atmosphere.
And really, who likes having to deal with a filthy kitchen after the meal has been cooked and enjoyed? Clean as you go.
5. MISE EN PLACE
That's a fancy French word that means get everything in place. All ingredients are washed, measured out, chopped appropriately, and at an arm's reach before anything hits the restaurant pan. It's about being organized.
Here's what used to happen to me: I'd start a recipe, have some ingredients cooking in the pan, then realize I forgot to chop something up. I had to quickly wash it, haphazardly chop the item (not taking care to make uniform cuts since I'm in a rush), and then turn back to the pan to see that the food already in there started to burn. So frustrating!
Take the extra couple of minutes and have everything ready. It will make for a much happier, enjoyable cooking experience.
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