Can you learn to cook in one easy blog post? Don't be ridiculous! Will I teach you the art of cooking in one blog post? Maybe, or at least I will try to convince you that anyone and everyone can tackle the basics and manage to survive eating what comes out of their own kitchen (frozen dinners do not count). First, a few ground rules:
1. Cooking is an art, baking is a science.
2. Own a good, basic cookbook (betty crocker, better homes and gardens, cooking for idiots, whatever, just own something that will teach you the basics of boiling water, measuring, nutrition, spices, implements…).
3. Do not be afraid to try, just try new things or you will never get anywhere.
4. Use what you have on hand and expand from there, do not go out and buy all sorts of fancy ingredients, pans, or kitchen doodads, just use what you have and gradually add to your inventory as you figure out what you like/want.
5. Start simple. If you have never boiled water or fried an egg, these are great skills to master before trying to make a soufflé. Don't discourage yourself by trying something too complicated at the start.
6. Cook something you will eat. Don't make snails and then wonder if it turned out because you can't find anyone to try it. As the saying goes, 'the proof is in the pudding,' but only if you like pudding, if you don't like pudding try something else.
7. You will never be a perfect cook and there will always be someone better than you, the goal is to become a competent cook, not a cordon bleu graduate or the next celebrity chef.
8. No watching the weird chef competitions on the food channel, they rarely make anything edible or with home application.
9. Use common sense: cook meat and eggs well, wash your hands, etc. Don't make yourself or your victims (I mean guests) sick by ignoring precautions that are meant to keep you happy and healthy. Salmonella is not fun.
1. Cooking as art:
Cooking is an art, just like painting or singing. It is a learned skill and some people have a more natural talent for it than others, but most people can do it to some degree or other. It is also very flexible and there is room for substitution, personal taste, and creativity. 'Good' also varies widely between critics. I do not like seafood, therefore I will never call a seafood dish, 'good.' Learn what you like, the techniques that work for you, the ingredients you prefer, and have fun. As an art, it takes practice. The best way to practice is to do it, keep doing it, and to occasionally challenge yourself. Study your basic cookery book, browse online for recipes and tips, talk to other people, watch cooking shows with caution as you can get good tips but you can also get confused or discouraged (edamame?). Cooking is very flexible but baking is much more precise. Baking is more like chemistry than opera. You can add as much or as little salt as you want to your spaghetti sauce, but follow the recipe closely if you are attempting cookies, bread, or anything in that family. Why? Cooking is a matter of taste, whereas the ingredients in a baking recipe interact to produce the final product and altering the recipe slightly can significantly alter the results. Think of mixing the wrong chemicals in chem lab and accidentally setting the lab on fire. Don't mess with a bread recipe until you are well versed in bread and know what will happen if you leave the sugar out to save a few calories (and end up with bread that won't rise for some, strange reason). You can be creative with your baking recipes, but cooking is much more flexible than its more persnickety cousin.
2-3. Owning a cookbook and overcoming fear:
The hardest part of making balloon animals is not being afraid to pop the balloon in the attempt. The same goes for cooking. Be willing to burn something, to be laughed at because something tastes funny, to try things that are slightly outside your comfort zone. Get a friend or relative to help you get started if you have no idea what you are doing. Own a good, basic cookbook and reference it often. When I left home I could boil water and brown hamburger, but not much else. Trial and error and Betty Crocker taught me much. There are some great resources online, but a good 'flesh and blood' cookbook is invaluable in the kitchen and it will not blow up when you spill marinara sauce on it. Start easy, start simple, and branch out from there. Have fun and remember this is the one discipline where you get to eat your mistakes. Make something you like and find a recipe online to try at home. Ever wanted to make bagels or lo mien? Give it a try!
4-6. On simplicity, buying stuff, and menu choice:
If you inherited a kitchen full of 'junk' from various relatives, neighbors, and fate, great! Cooking does not require thousands of dollars invested in professional grade pans to start. Plastic margarine tubs are just as usable as that expensive tupperware thingamajig. Garage sales, thrift stores, the dollar store, and your aunt's basement are great places to find bits and pieces to round out your kitchen paraphernalia. You don't need to own a waffle cone baker unless you plan on opening a custom ice cream store. As for ingredients, if you have only ketchup and beer in your fridge you may want to go shopping but again, start simple. Find a recipe that calls for salt, pepper, ketchup, and beer; you have just added salt and pepper to your stash. Add to your collection gradually, figure out what you like and don't like. If you can get it on sale or at the dollar store, even better! As you figure out what you are doing, you can continue to expand and improve your collection of kitchen junk and ingredients, don't do it all at once. Make things suited to your taste preferences, with equipment you have (or can borrow), with ingredients you have or want to own. I do not know if I can make good seafood, as I don't like it so can't appraise my skill so I don't make it. Watch out for all the 'fad' type cooking too. If you can't afford organic, buy regular stuff. Don't feel like you have to substitute splenda for sugar or avoid gluten unless your doctor says so. First learn to cook, then worry about specialty cooking. Don't start doing something just because 'everyone else is doing it,' begin as you plan to continue, you can always specialize later. Onions are just fine if you can't get leeks. I don't know what edamame is. You can use regular vegetable oil if you can't afford olive oil. Don't be intimidated (or discouraged) by people that insist there is only one way to cook (their way) because there isn't. Do what works for you, your budget, your taste, the items available in your area, your dietary needs, and your personal beliefs/preferences.
7-9. Celebrity cooks and food safety:
Just like a neophyte singer probably should not watch American Idol, neither should a natal chef watch some of those crazy cooking shows. Sure, you can get some tips and learn what you can aspire to, but you can also get some bad habits, get discouraged, and get really confused. Duck feet ice cream anyone? That was from the last show I watched, definitely a great starter recipe! Instead, invite your friends over and have your own 'kitchen show' night. Have fun, be creative, and keep trying, that is how you learn to cook: by doing it. And just remember to use common sense when handling food. Refrigerate leftovers, cook meats and eggs thoroughly, wash produce well, wash your hands and counters frequently, avoid unpasteurized dairy products…you get the idea. This does not mean you can't sample the cookie dough on occasion but I would avoid sampling the raw hamburger. Use your brain and have fun.
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