I hate bad food. Anyone else? Culturally speaking food is huge. It’s important. It brings people together. It lifts spirits. It nourishes more than the body when done correctly. And if you’re the one primarily responsible for cooking in your house, you know how disappointing making a bad meal can be. Thus, I give you some things to work on to help build some confidence in the kitchen.
Cook at the right temperature
There were a ton of things I thought were always cooked on high (or medium/high) that really do better at a much lower temperature. However, meat is not one of those. Generally searing, or even sauteing meat, requires a VERY hot pan. Medium/high at least. You want to lay the meat in and hear immediate sizzle. Not a little crackle. A big sizzle that doesn’t quit in 5 seconds. You should feel the need to take half a step back.
Meat isn’t the only thing that calls for higher heat. To get the most flavor out of your vegetables try turning up the heat on them. Whenever I start a soup or pilaf (try my recipe here) or anything where the vegetables will be flavoring the rest of the dish I go for a medium/ high heat. Caramelizing or at least slightly searing or charring brings all the sugars out of the veggies and creates a depth that you just can’t get any other way.
Conversely I always thought pancakes were cooked on medium. And you were supposed to wait till the griddle was very hot right? That’s what the directions always say. Well yes, you pretty much always preheat your pans before adding what you’re cooking. However if you’ve ever wondered why your pancakes are so dark instead of nice golden tan… it’s seems like it would be obvious right? Turn down the heat! You’ll have to learn exactly how much heat you need to cook the inside without over browning the outside but once you know you’ll be set.
I’m not sure if it’s breakfast foods or what but eggs and bacon also don’t want to be too hot too quick. Bacon is one of the exceptions to the high heat for meats rule. To get that perfectly crispy, almost melts in your mouth slice of bacon you need to turn it down to medium/ low. Now eggs are always instructed to be cooked fairly low but if you’re still getting rubbery slightly browned scrambled eggs or fried eggs with crunchy edges and uncooked middles… again it seems obvious but just turn down the heat. Another quick tip for eggs is to use a lid to help them steam. If you’re going for runny yolks however use the lid sparingly or not at all.
Season it!
Depending on the culture you may not have this problem but many I know do. The reason the restaurant food and pre-packaged items taste so much better than you’re from scratch recipes is because they aren’t afraid to use copious amounts of seasoning. Unfortunately they will rely heavily on salt and sugar. But we could do so much better ourselves.
Start slow and build the flavor. Don’t forget to get all the flavor you can from your veggies. But don’t be afraid to add extra herbs or spices beyond what the recipe suggests. The creator of said recipe would rather you enjoy the dish than follow the directions exactly and end up with something you won’t eat. Trust me.
There’s an order
When cooking in a pot or pan there’s generally an order of operations that happens.
- First you preheat.
- Then when you’re ready to start cooking you add your fat. Don’t be afraid of fat. You really do need it, even in a non/stick pan. If the fat starts smoking your pan is too hot or you’re using the wrong type for what you want to do. Now we start cooking.
- The first thing that goes in will be either meats and/or aromatics. Onions, garlic, leeks and the like.
- Next will be veggies that require longer cooking times. Potatoes before mushrooms or carrots before zucchini, yes? Alternatively if you’re cooking meat that will go in either first or after the aromatics but before the rest of your veggies.
- When everything is about one third to halfway done you’ll add herbs and spices and salt and pepper. Don’t let these things burn as it’s easily done.
- Your next step would be to deglaze the pan. Usually done with something acidic such as lemon juice, vinegar or wine.
- At this point you would add any uncooked grains.
- Lastly you would add anything that would be simmered. Such as broth, tomato sauce or teriyaki. Though when making a sauce using an acid and also a dairy product (such as a tomato curry) you would add the dairy product in after the acid has simmered and slightly cooled to avoid separation in your final product.
- Fresh herbs are stirred in right before serving.
You can take as many or as little of the steps in the example as you need or desire but this is the base order for many one pan dishes such as fried rice, chili, or arroz con pollo. Many will feel second nature as you become aware of the steps.
Taste test
You need to be tasting your food all the way through the process. Sometimes of course you’ll be dealing with raw ingredients you can’t taste of course but as much as possible, taste your food before you serve it. When making meatballs try cooking just one to test before going through with the rest. Call it cooking tax. You’ll be able to re-season before it’s too late. Same goes for dumplings, raviolis, potstickers or pierogies. Try one before making the whole batch.
I strongly suggest you not only taste but smell your food. I know that’s gonna feel weird for some people but sometimes when I can’t really taste test I’ll use my nose instead. Learn what things should smell like when they’re right. Sometimes I can spot when the meatballs need more basil or pepper from this alone.
Learn Balance
Isn’t balance always the key to everything? Though the balance I’m referring to is much less elusive than you may be used to. Balance, in cooking terms is defined as a balance of flavor. That means while a dish may be predominantly sweet you could be benefited by adding either salt or spice. Because sweetness is actually enhanced by both of these complimenting flavors. Dark chocolate with sea salt anyone? Mexican hot chocolate with cayenne? Salted caramel? General Tso chicken?
Sweet and salty or spicy is the most common example but there are many other combinations you should be aware of. The flavor profiles are sweet, spicy, salty, bitter, and sour. There is also a mysterious flavor profile called umami. Sometimes defined as a savory taste such as in mushrooms or canned anchovies.
Learning which flavor profile to add to counteract or compliment what you’re cooking will go a long way for those who often find their cooking isn’t bad but missing ‘something’.
Invest in a recipe stash
For a decade I didn’t bother to write recipes down. Ones I created, replicated or drew inspiration from. I cannot explain how wrong I’ve been, While there are plenty of things I still cook without consulting a recipe of any kind there are also things I do like recipes for. Baking being top of the list. Anything that requires a leavening ingredient should be roughly followed every time you make it. Getting the right amount of moisture to dry ingredients, the correct rise or flakiness will all be variant until you follow the same recipe consistently.
In addition to baking, I’ve been slowly recording other recipes partly to share them here but also because when I’ve been asked for a recipe I constantly have to tell people that I don’t have one and that’s been a good way to lose the compliment I was just given about how yummy the food was. Not to mention it annoys my best friend endlesssly. But the bonus I hadn’t expected was that by keeping a tin of recipe cards my daughters have felt confident enough to attempt things since they had instructions written by mom.
For those who already follow recipes to cook but do so digitally I REALLY encourage you to start writing down recipes because you’ll find having them on hand instead of trying to find them again on your phone is a ton less work. Really. Even if you’re snapshotting the recipe and keeping a separate folder for them in your camera gallery. (that’s what I do to a recipe I want to keep but can’t write immediately) Sorting through the pictures is definitely more work than skimming a reasonably organized home cookbook or recipe tin. I just use 5×7 index cards by the way. Cheap, simple and I don’t feel bad if I go through a bunch reworking a particular recipe.
Learn how to do simple
This follows along with my trick for meal planning without losing your mind. Instead of trying to perfect the beef wellington or the french croissant try just mastering a good sauteed chicken breast or pork chop. Or a decent tray of roasted veggies. Individual dishes put together for a meal can be far simpler to put together than a casserole you add a bunch of stuff in and hope the meat is cooked before the rice is mush or the crust is burnt. Perhaps even more important is that a simple and reasonably quick but properly cooked pork chop is loads more satisfying than a botched chicken cordon bleu.
Master simple techniques first. Then move on to the dishes that require those techniques. I’m still very likely to mess something up if I try more than one new technique at a time.
Know when to use conveinence
While you’re working on a perfectly juicy sauteed chicken breast you may want to stick to what you know for side. Such as rice pre-seasoned from a box or a frozen veggie stir fry. I still keep instant mashed potatoes and salad kits in the house for when I’m either too tired or don’t have the time to do things from scratch. That’s totally ok. I have zero problem having homemade tortillas with black beans from a can. If I felt the need to cook everything from scratch just because I knew how, I would definitely have killed my love of cooking by now. Remember, it’s all about balance.
What lessons made you better in the kitchen that I’m forgetting? Drop a comment! I love hearing what other cooks prioritize to become better.
