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10.24.2011

10 Tips to Make You a Better Cook

I decided to put together a list of tips that will make any home cook like me a little better.  I watched WAY too much Food Network over the last year, and I have learned many-a-tip and trick that make meals so much easier and tastier.  This is school of hard knocks stuff.  Confidence is seriously the difference between the people that say “I can’t cook” and the ones that cook awesome stuff.  Hopefully these tips will make you a little bit more confident at dinnertime.

Number 1:  Cook (almost) everything on a HOT surface.

I know…not exactly something you’ve never heard, but when I say HOT, I mean HOT, not warm.  This means, heat your pan or grill so that the food makes sizzle noises when you drop it in.  Cooking with hot metal makes good, crusty, brown food…nobody likes a gray steak or soggy, wet vegetables.  There are exceptions (chopped garlic burns fast, eggs are better with low heat, and bacon will get crispier if start with a cool pan) but generally speaking, go hot metal.

Number 2:  Learn some knife skills.

Important early lessons include dicing onions, julienning (is that a word?) and dicing carrots, squash, zucchini, potatoes, and other similar vegetables.  There are hundreds of how-to’s on Youtube for proper knife technique.  When things are cut the same size, they cook evenly.  Do some Googling and practice often.  Speaking of cutting practice…

Number 3: Approach each meal/recipe with some organization.

Plan ahead as often as possible with prep.  I use onions in almost every meal, so if I happen to be cooking dinner, I will dice one extra onion and bag it up for later.  Dice up vegetables, defrost meat, make salad dressings, and get meals in the Crockpot early and cooking is much easier.

Number 4: Clean as you go.

No one likes a sink full of dirty crap after eating a nice meal.  While things are cooking, clean up.  If you are constantly cleaning and cooking, you lose no time, and leave no mess, but keep a sharp eye on your pan so nothing burns.

Number 5: Cook more than you will need.

Might be the most useful tip of all.  Huge dinner on Tuesday night = Wednesday breakfast and lunch.

Number 6: Season everything…salt is your friend.

If you stay away from processed food, no need to fret about the sodium.  As you cook, add good salt…probably more than you think you should, and everything will taste better.

Number 7: Buy a nice digital meat thermometer.

It is very hard to ‘eyeball’ medium rare steak or medium pork chops.  If you can do that consistently, congrats, you are better than my blog and me.  For everyone else, use a thermometer stuck into the thickest part (or area near a bone) of the meat and use this chart.

Number 8: Keep some fresh herbs around.

Add them to pretty much every meal, chopped up.  Chopped parsley looks good on the plate, too.

Number 9: Learn how to make some vinaigrette's.

Pretty easy stuff.  First, buy some good vinegars (balsamic, red wine, champagne, apple cider are my go-tos) and some good extra virgin olive oil.  Most basic version is about 1 part vinegar and some salt and pepper to 2-3 parts olive oil.  Whisk them together by slowly drizzling in the oil.  Play around with this recipe by adding Dijon mustard, herbs, chopped garlic, shallots, or any other spices (you can also replace the vinegar with citrus juices).  Good vinaigrette's make great salad dressings, sauces, and marinades.

Number 10: Wing it often.

Don’t get caught up in the “Is it ½  teaspoon or ¾ teaspoon of paprika game?”  I still do this too much.  It really doesn’t matter…it will taste good if you are in the ballpark. 

When going off-recipe, it helps me to think in terms of flavors.  Try to balance one part of the meal with another. Pair salty pork with sweet apples.  Stuff spicy jalapenos with creamy cheeses.  You get the idea.

Now go cook something!



10.11.2011

Easy Salmon


Salmon is widely considered one of the healthiest proteins you can cook and eat.  They pack a solid dose of Omega 3’s, and they are full of protein.  Many people are not totally comfortable cooking fish, but I have learned an easy, almost foolproof way to get it done. Today I share an easy, delicious, impressive-looking way to cook up some salmon fillets.  I usually cook these up with a salad for a nice, light dinner.  They are also especially good with some pureed cauliflower.  Anyways, onto the step-by-step…

Pan Roasted Salmon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:
-Salmon fillets (skinless is easier, but either is fine) that are dry and at room temperature. If skin is on, cut very small scores into the skin trying not to pierce the flesh under.
-Salt
-Pepper
-Oil/fat (in order of preference: butter (not Whole30 compliant), coconut oil, or olive)
-Cast iron skillet or other heavy-bottomed, oven-safe pan. Cast iron rules.

Directions:
-Heat pan on medium to medium-high for a few minutes. If you heat the oil with the pan, it will probably burn and smoke before you start...no bueno.
-Season fish with plenty of salt and pepper on both sides.
-Once pan is good and hot, add enough fat/oil to sufficiently coat the bottom of pan.
-Immediately add salmon into the oil (skin side down if skin is on).
Notice the whitening flesh creeping up from the bottom...
-Leave it alone until the flesh of the salmon is white about ½ to ¾ up the side of the fillet.  If you leave it alone, you will have a nice crust that looks pretty Pro.
-Flip the fillets over and immediately put the pan into the heated oven.
-Cook about 1-2 minutes until flesh is all white.  Careful, this will happen quickly.
Boom. Crispy.
-Serve with some steamed or roasted veggies or a salad!

*For a good sauce, I like to bring some balsamic vinegar, some orange zest, and a squeeze of orange juice to a simmer, and cook until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Plate the salmon right on top of some of the sauce…good stuff.

Go get those Omega-3s!

10.06.2011

Sweet Potato Hash


Some call breakfast the most important meal of the day.  Certainly debatable. In fact, I have been experimenting with some intermittent fasting by skipping breakfast completely with really good results (another post for another day).  What is not debatable though, what is not refutable, is that breakfast food is always delicious. Fried eggs with runny yolks, bacon, sausage fluffy omelettes, waffles (I never claimed to be Paleo Perfect)…all legends that stand proudly in my food Hall of Fame. 

Today, I am sharing an awesome Whole 30 compliant recipe for sweet potato hash and poached eggs.  I was going through my food pictures trying to pick a recipe to write about (and to break a bit of a blog-slump) and I saw about 10 recurrences of The Hash, so I figured it was the only way to go.  This is a great breakfast meal, but it also works great as a post workout meal filled with some healthy carbs and protein.  Here we go…not just the recipe either, we’re gonna cover the prep work, too. 

This is your meal.

Ingredients
-Spices/seasoning: salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne (if ya like it spicayyy)
-Sweet potato (about 1 small potato per person)
-Onion (about half of a small onion per person)
-Handful of spinach
-Eggs (2 per person)
-Coconut oil
-White vinegar
-Fresh parsley

Prep
-Dice potato: cut off a long edge of potato so that it will lay flat on the board.  Repeat on all sides.  Cut long way so that you have even, long slices.  Lay one or two slices at a time flat and cut long ways through to make “fry” shapes.  Cut the fries the short way into dice.

(Lil step by step action)

-Chop parsley.

Cooking
Hash
-Heat pan on medium-high heat (cast iron is great for this).  Melt enough coconut oil to sufficiently cover the bottom of pan.
-Add potatoes and seasoning (experiment with seasoning amounts, to each his/her own!) and cook for 3-5 minutes before adding onion and some chopped parsley.  Stir every minute or so until potatoes are tender and browning.
-When potatoes look right, turn heat to low and fold in spinach so that it wilts.
-Move to the eggs while the hash stays in the hot pan.
**Optional - we often add any leftover meats we have to the hash later in the cooking process...sausage, ground beef or turkey, and even chicken work great.

Eggs
-Bring pot or saucepan filled with water to a near-boil (should not be bubbling wildly, but should be steamy).
-Add approximately 1 tsp of vinegar per cup of water.  This step is crucial, as it will prevent the whites from “swimming” all over the water.
-Crack eggs gently into a small container, one at a time to make sure the yolks are intact, and then add them to the water/vinegar.
-Cook for about 5 minutes or until they are cooked to your liking.  Best way to get a feel for timing is to use an extra test egg…take it out first to see if the others will be done.

-Plate the hash.  Top with two eggs, chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

Enjoy breakfast and all of its yolky goodness!