A few weeks ago I shared this blog with my Aunt D'lorah, who shares my love of cooking on a budget. I asked for any suggestions or tips she could give you as a new cook, and it resulted in a great procession of emails back and forth, with lots of recipes and suggestions for your kitchen. You'll like Aunt DD: she's good friends with her freezer and her microwave. I'll be posting the great material she's sending me as I am able to get through it (I have issues with posting recipes I haven't yet tried, so some of it may take me some time :) ), but I wanted to share with you an email I received from her tonight. (Thanks, Aunt DD!)
In this email, she talks about 3 tips for a new cook to become a confident cook:
1) One trait that makes you a comfortable, confident cook is seeing an ingredient and knowing the kinds of things it is used in.
2) Knowing the kinds of herbs and spices used in different categories of foods can be very liberating for a new cook.
3) The very best way to purchase herbs & spices is to find a co-op in your area that sells them in bulk; the second best way is in the ethnic grocery stores.
These will help you to gradually let go of your tight grip on the recipe book, because you will know things that you can substitute, what flavors go together, etc. You can see a recipe for which you don't have all the right ingredients, and you can find something that works from the contents of your kitchen cabinet. Better yet, you'll eventually feel confident looking through your fridge and figuring out dinner without any recipe at all! See her email below for the details:
Hi Joy,
As I was in the kitchen making brown sugar I figured I should share it with you and Tiffany....that is, brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added....then I realized that a person who doesn't feel comfortable with their cooking skills probably doesn't have a jar of molasses in the back of their cupboard....then I realized a whole bunch of other things that add up to being a cook, comfortable with one's skills, able to improvise on a daily basis.
Let's start with the molasses. Like honey, it doesn't go bad. The jar I used was one I brought with me to California from Detroit...purchased somewhere around '93-'94. I keep mine in the fridge, other great cooks just keep it in the back of the cupboard. Admittedly, after almost 20 years there were some crystals in the jar....easy enough to deal with, with a minute in the microwave. (If you haven't noticed, the microwave is a recurring theme with me....I love the convenience...they were invented when I was in junior high and I got my first one when I was over 30 and I've never looked back. Well, before now that is.)
Looking at the molasses I realized that one trait that makes you a comfortable, confident cook is seeing an ingredient and knowing the kinds of things it is used in. Or at least a few of the standard usages....
Molasses: Barbecue Sauce, Boston Baked Beans, Gingerbread Cookies, Breads (sweet ones) and of course it's also good on top of oatmeal....
or,
Dry Mustard: Potato Salad, Deviled Eggs, some salad dressings
Then I started thinking about herbs and spices and how knowing the kinds of herbs and spices used in different categories of foods can be very liberating for a new cook.
Let's start with Italian: Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Basil, Parsley, always onion and garlic of course, but I use them fresh, Marjoram, Black Pepper
hmmm, did I forget anything? In any case, you could even take an off-the-shelf, canned marinara sauce, add handfuls of the above herbs and have something truly special.
How about Chinese? Can you fill in the blanks? One way to gain confidence is to plug in the name of a Chinese dish into a search engine and read through all of the recipes to find the common herb/spice ingredients...and then take a look at the "unusual" ingredients as well.
You could use the same exercise with Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, or any other cuisine you might want to try your hand at....become familiar with the herbs and spices used by that culture and you will have an invaluable insight that will help you to experiment with the ingredients you have on hand.
It's nice to know that Salmon goes with Dill. When you decide to make a Salmon Pasta Salad, remembering the dill takes a so-so dish to extraordinary. It's nice to know the herb that gives Italian Sweet Sausage its name is Anise Seed. It's nice to know what herbs & spices go into a meatloaf, a tabbouleh salad, or pumpkin bread for that matter.
Since it's Christmas time, let's talk about Christmas baking spices: Cinnamon, Allspice, Nutmeg, Cloves, Mace, Ginger (also used in oriental cooking)
Hope this helps,
Your Aunt DD.
p.s. The very best way to purchase herbs & spices is to find a co-op in your area that sells them in bulk....That should be easy in the Bay Area, impossible in Long Beach....so the second best way I've found is in the ethnic grocery stores. The Mexican groceries sell herbs and spices in cellophane bags versus paying 10x more to get them in little glass jars at the grocery store.
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