Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Why Some People Are Good Cooks And Others Never Are

Most of us have a relative or friend that is middle to old age and has been cooking for a long time, but is a terrible cook. We dread going to dinner at this person's house because we know it will be awful. We ask ourselves how someone who has been cooking so long manages to put such dreadful food on the table. The answer? They probably do not know or care about the observations that follow.Good home cooking is a skill, indeed an art, learned from long experience and/or having a good teacher. Many good cooks learn from their mothers who happened to be a good cook. Typically, you must start with a good recipe, either written or in your memory. But a good recipe does not guarantee a good dish on your table. The secret is in what you do with the recipe.For example, a recipe may call for 1 cup of celery, chopped. Most people understand, "chopped" but how you chop the celery can make a difference in some dishes. Celery is slow to cook tender so if you are using celery in a recipe that includes other ingredients that are slow to cook (carrots), then you should chop the celery in bite size chunks. This aids in having everything cooked tender at the same time without overcooking. If the other ingredients in the dish cook quick (tomatoes), you would want to chop the celery fine (diced) so the celery will cook quicker. This is not as important if you add ingredients at timed intervals according to their cook rate. Recipes usually specify when to add ingredients but, as mentioned, good cooks often cook from memory without a recipe. Knowing when to add ingredients without a recipe requires some skill and experience.Good cooks rely on taste, feel and appearance to perform their magic in the kitchen. When making gravy they depend on the appearance to determine when it is thick enough. They understand that it will be thicker as it cools so they remove the gravy from the heat just before it is the desired thickness. When working with dough they use appearance and feel to gauge when the dough is just right. And in everything they cook, they taste, taste, taste.So, you just made this fabulous macaroni and cheese that you are very proud of, but you notice two people at the table ate very little, one person left half on their plate and no one asked for second helpings. A good cook would have warning signs flashing before their eyes with this scenario. This is a classic situation of "I like it but no one else does".People are usually reluctant to tell you what they did not like about something you cooked for fear of offending you. A good cook does not let their pride or hurt feelings stand in the way of finding out how to revise their recipe when needed. Simply ask! It may be something as simple as the dish having cooled too much before serving. Nothing is worse than cold mashed potatoes. Frequently it is too much or too little salt.Good cooks have learned to be careful with ingredients that can overpower a dish. Some of the culprits are salt, vinegar, hot peppers and strong spices such as cumin and oregano. The solution? Taste, taste, taste. And, of course, listen to others comments about the food.A common problem novice cooks have is how to have all dishes ready to serve at the same time. The baked potato is ready to serve but the pork chops are still not ready and the coleslaw is yet to be made. The solution is simply a matter of planning. Good cooks have learned to analyze the whole meal in their head before lifting a spoon. They understand the coleslaw can be made first and put in the fridge. They are aware that 2 large potatoes take 20-25 minutes in the microwave while the pork chops take 10 minutes to cook. So they start the potatoes cooking 10 minutes before starting the pork chops. Sounds simple but many long time cooks never learn this and continue to serve hot pork chops and cold potatoes.In summary, the proceeding reflects the personal views and experiences of the author. It is understood that others may have differing views. The goal here is to help understand why some home cooks are consistently good and why some long time cooks never are. The conclusion appears to be experience, meal planning and an openness to criticism from those that eat what you cook. And, a willingness to revise recipes in response to that criticism.A final note on how to become a good home cook. How do you obtain experience? It is obvious. COOK! Cut back on eating out and using processed packaged food from the store. Cook from scratch at every opportunity. Avoid prepared biscuit mixes...make your own biscuits. Skip the frozen lasagna dinner and make your own from scratch. Leave that chocolate cake with all the preservatives and ingredients you can not even pronounce on the store shelve and make your own. Learn from trial an error... then stand by for the compliments.

K.A. Miller is a freelance writer and webmaster for www.olsouthrecipes.com where you will find a wealth of authentic Southern recipes a

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