Tips and Tricks, Home Cooking Edition

Hey, it’s the weekend! Time to kick back, lay on the couch, stay in pajamas and… oh, sorry, never mind, I guess. So, what to write about today? Well, I thought today I could continue on the off-and-on theme I’ve been running about cooking at home, especially since we’re all stuck inside. I thought I could offer home cooks some helpful tips I’ve picked up over my many years of cooking professionally. These are tips that I don’t see driven home enough in books or other blogs, and I think they really make all the difference when it comes to producing delicious food at home. So, let’s get into it:

• Use the big knife. Yes, the big, scary knife. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen people be like: “Why would I use a big knife on a little carrot?”, and I’m DYING inside. Gaining control over a larger knife means you’ll be working faster and safer. With a little practice, you’ll be slicing and dicing just like the pros, because a bigger and heavier blade means cutting more and using less force to do it.

• While we’re on the subject of bigger being better, get a bigger cutting board. Huge, thick and preferably wood. More room to work means more efficient work gets done and it’s cleaner and safer to boot.

• If you’re going to spend money on ingredients, consider investing in a better pantry first. Stuff that will last and make anything you cook taste better. Get a few boxes of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt off of Amazon. Get a case of high-quality extra virgin olive oil and keep it away from light and heat, it’ll last and make food taste better. Oil and salt are the building blocks of cooking. If you start good, chances are you’ll finish better.

• Speaking of salt, learn how to use it, properly. By tasting constantly and by being conscious of what you’re doing when you season. Don’t be afraid of salt, it makes food TASTE LIKE FOOD.

• Learn techniques, rather than recipes. Think broadly. Cook in a way that won’t teach you how to make one meal one time. Do things like learning how to roast whole chickens, how to make pie crust, how to make a smoothly puréed soup or how to make an emulsified vinaigrette. I could do a whole series of posts about this, or you could read Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home, which may be the best home cooking book ever written.

• Make salad. All the time. With nearly every meal. A simple salad is super quick to assemble, it doesn’t have to be fancy and it helps fill you up with good stuff so you don’t binge on other junk. Slice some vegetables, add some lettuce and boom! I usually don’t even make a proper dressing, I just season the leaves and veggies with salt and pepper, toss, coat with olive oil, toss again and then drizzle on some red wine vinegar and toss one last time. You’re done and it barely took any time at all.

• Pay attention to what is cooking, for the love of crap. I don’t care what the recipe says, just use good judgement. If it looks like it’s burning and smells like it’s burning, then IT’S PROBABLY BURNING. Likewise, if’s not making any noise in the pan and nothing seems to be happening, you can go ahead and turn the heat up a bit. You should be engaged while you’re cooking. Pay attention, it’s more enjoyable that way.

• Clean as you go. You’ll thank me later, I swear. Also, your spouse will thank you, which means I will be thanked vicariously.

• And finally, here’s one you might not expect to hear: mise en place is not always essential at home, at least not in a way that the shiny, fancy recipe blogs tell you it is. You don’t need all your ingredients lined up in cute, little bowls if your THINKING is organized, especially if you’re making a one pot meal.

If you put all these ideas together, then you get good home cooking, in my opinion anyways. So, tell me what you think! Are any of these ideas helpful? Should I expand on any of them in future posts? Leave a comment or send a message so I know more of what you guys want to read about in future posts. As always, I am here to serve.