I start thinking about what's for dinner when I wake up. I think about it all day. I look forward to the moment I will walk in the door and start cooking in the evening.
So here’s the deal: I'M NOT A RECIPE FOLLOWER. I don’t think there is one EXACT way to cook everything. Besides how often do you have all the required ingredients, equipment and time?! So why not improvise? I like to use recipes as inspiration and then take it from there. I get inspiration from various places – from cookbooks, from Chefs, from menus, magazines, grocery stores, specialty food shops, wine shops, cooking shows, non-cooking shows, articles, restaurant reviews, YOU NAME IT. Usually the inspiration will come in the form of an ingredient. Like, yum, I just read a succulent recipe for brisket, I immediately began salivating, and now I want to make slow-cooked brisket tacos. Sometimes I'll have to look up the proper cooking techniques or research ingredients. Like, for my Brisket Tacos, should I do Southern BBQ style? Does that mean a dry rub and a wet sauce for basting? Is that a vinegar or ketchup based sauce? I don’t know that offhand, I’d have to look it up. DON'T GET ME WRONG - I KNOW RECIPES ARE IMPORTANT. I love reading recipes. I love learning authentic cuisines and cooking methods. If you’re going to riff on a recipe, it’s best to understand the original or traditional version so you have a backdrop to guide you. I might look up 10 recipes for ‘authentic’ BBQ and I’ll find 10 different philosophies, then I’ll meld them together. Being a life-long student of food television has taught me an arsenal of cooking techniques, educated me on a variety of cuisines and has given me the confidence to cook intuitively without following recipes. I hope that the readers of this blog will learn how to cook with inspiration rather than recipes, to cook with confidence and just make it up as you go - I know it will be great and more importantly FUN! After all, it's just food, not brain surgery.
Ah, but FOOD! I love food. I love eating food. I love cooking food. I really love cooking food for the people I love. Yes, I know that sounds corny. And it IS corny, but if you love how food can bring people together and make a memory, you’re a bit of a cornball too! Primarily I learned how to cook from TV. Even before there ever was a Food Network (yes BFN) I would race home from school and flip on The Galloping Gourmet, or Great Chefs, or The Frugal Gourmet (that old perv - who knew?!) I loved to watch cooking shows, even in the 4th grade. I still love cooking shows – I love to learn about different ingredients, equipment, cooking methods and techniques. When you cook with others you can always pick up a new trick. Over the years TV taught me how to make everything from beschamel to bolognese. Actually, my mom taught me how to make beschamel. That lady makes the most delicious cheese sauce - and as I learned, beschamel is the base for her glorious cheese sauce. Also, I have to give a shout out to GJ, my Grandmother is QUITE the gourmet. I have vivid childhood memories of fancy dinner parties at Grandma Joyce’s. She would serve Coq Au Vin or Chateaubriand. I would always hover around the stove watching her whisk around the kitchen from saucier to the oven - anxious for dinner to be ready. I send a big thanks to all of my cooking tutors. Now, let’s make dinner!
