Bonne cuisine! (Happy cooking)
When I got married I thought I could cook. I could, with some effort, follow almost any traditional recipe with success. I found out from my husband, after the honeymoon period begin to wear off, that I was, in fact, blissfully ignorant when it came to the science and the mechanics of HOW to cook.
Let me illustrate, I once was trying to sear a piece of fish. This is generally done at high temperatures with a good amount of oil or fat. I, on the other hand, took to this task without any oil or grease in the pan and in return succeeded in only burning it. Instinctively, I added cold water to cool it off, effectively stopping the burn but also undoing everything I was attempting to do and ultimately leaving my fish a mushy broken mess.
Another time, I remember spending a great amount of energy achieving the perfect, crunchy fries only be disappointed ten minutes later, when, what once had the perfect crunch came up soft and mushy. This, all thanks to my attempt at keeping it warm.
As my husband and I began to invite friends over to share in meals as newlyweds I had the opportunity to survey others’ reactions to the food I was preparing. One thing was clear, I needed to get better at the skill of cooking or at least find some tried and true recipes…fast.
In those days, we could not afford to spend much money on fancy ingredients or botched bulk-meals. In fact, if it was just not very good, we ate it anyway.
There was ONE exception.
A mess of vegetable soup I had the unfortunate blunder of adding too much garlic to. We ate our soup the first night with some complaint but no casualties. By the second day, however, it was a tear-jerking pungent mess that would cause anyone’s blood pressure to plummet by the sheer amount of garlic it boasted. We couldn’t eat it. Our once iron stomachs couldn’t keep it down. I cried as I threw away this $10.00 soup; money, food, and time….a total waste…or so I thought.
Today, We laugh about my soup. Its vile flavor possibly magnified by time and memory, the “Soup of Infamy.” But nothing is really wasted if we are willing to be taught by it. I used my many cooking fails from the culinary school of hard knocks to bolster my resolve and educate myself on what it means to cook and cook well.
The goal was not just to see or replicate technique or trade but to be able to explain why or why not something was a success.
I had worked in the food industry. I had learned to julienne fruits and veggies, prep and dismember raw chicken, and knew the proper lingo for a steak’s doneness. I had not been taught how to cook those individual elements or how to manipulate them for various recipes. That would have to come later. No one told me I should have worn gloves the first time I cut fresh jalapeños for guacamole. Spoiler alert: I had one eye swell shut after rubbing it.
Zucchini Noodle Spaghetti and Meat Balls
Through the years I have learned to budget better, read food labels, and turn leftovers into stand alone masterpieces. The majority of the things I make are measured by heart and adaptable to the everyday. Multiple births of the same recipe often yield various results, but all are excellent and none preferred.
If your looking for a method, an ethos, and a few rules of thumb; I’ve got you covered. If your looking for a few good tried and true recipes; I’m sure you’ll find them. I And if you have no idea what your doing in the kitchen; read up my friend, and shoot me an e-mail if your still lost. There’s no judgement here. We all have to start somewhere and I’m living proof that there’s hope for you yet.
