Starting From Scratching Your Head

Letter From the Author

I decided to write this little book when I realized that the average person is scared of cooking. Maybe intimidated would be a better word. I started working in restaurants at fifteen-years-old as a bus boy/ food runner and have been working in the food industry in some capacity ever since, recently primarily cooking and butchering. It wasn’t until I began working as a fishmonger that I realized most people don’t know many of the basic fundamentals of cooking that I take for granted. Floods of people come up to the fish counter hungry not just for their shrimp and salmon, but also for very specific advice and instructions on how to cook their dinners. Many of these people are very competent and successful in their lives, but they somehow missed out on learning basic cooking skills.

It is very strange to me to know that a person can make a boat load of money on the stock market floor, trading all day, but not know how to sauté a piece of fish. There are police officers who put their lives on the line everyday, yet don’t know that olive oil burns at a lower temperature than a cheaper blended oil which is most likely the reason why they have been burning so many meals over the years. There are hardworking teachers who inspire and instruct our youth, but can’t ever seem to get that chicken moist enough.

Cooking is an essential part of our everyday lives, because most of us cannot afford to eat out every meal. If cooking is something that the majority of the our population has to do one way or another, multiple times a day, every day, then why are there so many people intimidated, uninformed and misinformed about cooking? It is an essential skill of survival and I believe it is a matter of self-respect and pride to know how to feed your self properly.

I wrote this book to let readers in on some basic cooking skills that I have picked up in my time in the industry and to inspire people to create better day-to-day meals. Most people cook to live, and don’t live to cook. That is to be expected. I am not here to inspire anyone to quit his or her job to become a three star Michelin chef. I am just here to pass on some knowledge because in my opinion, cooking is an enjoyable and essential skill that everyone should know the basics of.

Before we get into the real stuff, I think it is only fair for me to tell you a little bit about my background. I have been working in kitchens and restaurants in some form, since I was about 15 or so. After high school, I studied business at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and then I then got my Culinary Arts degree from the Academy of Culinary Arts in New Jersey. While I was in school I was awarded a gold medal at the New York Food Show, specifically for sushi presentation. Out of culinary school I got a great job working as a cook under a James Beard Award Nominee (James Beard Awards are kind of like the Oscars of cooking). I was then awarded a scholarship to study in the southwest of France where I learn about the culture and cuisine. During my time there I studied under multiple head farmers, chefs and butchers to learn French techniques and soak up the local regional cuisine. It was an experience that I will never forget. In France I fell in love with butchering and when I got back to the states I sought out a job as a fishmonger (technical term for seafood butcher). I come home smelling like fish everyday, but I love it and have a very understanding girlfriend.

I am still young and I don’t pretend to know everything about food or cooking. I still have TONS to learn, which I’m excited about, but I’ve picked up some basic skills and knowledge that I think will be useful to aspiring home cooks. Hopefully the information you take from this book will inspire you to be more confident and adventurous in the kitchen.

Introduction:

Theories of Atlantis

A “microwave culture” has firmly taking root in American society and I want to be a part of changing that. I want people to cook again. We have all gotten insanely busy and pre-prepared foods have become more and more available and convenient. Somewhere in between busy and convenient the culture of teaching the next generation the art of cooking broke down. The result is a generation of young people growing into adulthood with little to no knowledge of how to cook food for them selves. If we don’t make an effort to preserve these skills and to pass them on, then home cooking will become a lost art; a distant glimmer in our collective memory- like the city of Atlantis.

Comradery should not just be associated with soldiers on the battlefield or a football team bonding and playing for years together. It can be a family cooking a meal from scratch together, whether it is on Thanksgiving or on a random Tuesday. It can be two freshman college roommates who just met each other and cook a meal together for the first time.

I do however have an opinion on how we could possibly start getting it back to where it was.

In my experience most young adults come out of school lacking many of the basic skills necessary for life as an adult. I think “Life Fundamentals” courses should be added to high school and university curriculums. There should be high school level classes involving balancing a checkbook and doing your own taxes. I even think auto body should be required!

You should know where I am going with this and yes there should be much more extensive cooking classes as well. Yeah, yeah ‘but we have home economics’…please. Muffins and pillows are not what I am talking about here people. Don’t get me wrong, I think there should be baking classes and I think sewing should be taught as well, but more along the lines of hemming suit pants or patching a torn shirt. If the kids are interested, then they can move on and make all the quilts and pillows, but for now let’s keep it practical.

I would like to see classes that include knife skills, utilization of product so food doesn’t go to waste, and information about food born illnesses. I am probably not going to bake muffins everyday, but chances are I am going to cook chicken at least 3 times this week. We should teach students how to do it properly so they can enjoy it and be proud of the end result. Remember cooking is a SURVIVAL skill.

I think if our schools and universities embraced this idea they would send their students out into the ‘real world’ better equipped to thrive. Students may not know exactly what they want to do as a career, but hey at least they would have the basic skills necessary live on their own. Who knows, maybe adding a couple comprehensive cooking and nutrition classes to school curriculums would have a positive effect on the obesity epidemic in this country.

Now on to the nitty-gritty.

Chapter 1

It’s That Time of the Season

SEASON EVERYTHING! I cannot stress that enough. Season your food before or while you are cooking it, not afterwards. A little salt and freshly ground black pepper go a long way, a very long way. You want to season the product, not to make it taste like salt, but because salt extracts flavor. Think of it this way, years ago the armies would put salt on soldiers’ wounds to extract the impurities out of the cut. Its kind of a gross example, but it gets the point across. Salt extracts. It pulls out the flavor of everything, yes everything; you should even season your salads. Why do you think when you get a gorgeous salad at a nice restaurant it tastes a little better than a similar one you make at home? It is partially because of the simple fact that it was seasoned. Why is this restaurants fried chicken better than mine? They seasoned it before and while it was frying. If you are planning baking a nice piece of wild Alaskan salmon that you just spent a $16.99 a pound on, you want it to taste good right? Great. Season it.

You now might be thinking, well ok but how much? This is a great question and there is no real right answer. Again this is why I wrote this, to instill a little more confidence in the everyday cook. You need to feel out how much to season. It depends on a few things. If I am about to cook a 5 pound rib roast, obviously I am going to be using a lot more salt and pepper to season that then if I was grilling a piece of tilapia. Grab some salt in your fingertips and sprinkle it on the product until you believe that there is enough salt until you feel the food is properly seasoned, not salted. Salt is not a BBQ dry rub so you can add too much and you can add too little, so have a little confidence in yourself and you will be rewarded.

There are a few things you should do when seasoning your food:

Number one - If you do not have a pepper mill, get one. Freshly ground black pepper is the only way to go in my opinion. Ask any chef and they will tell you the same thing. Pre-ground black pepper doesn’t do even half the job that fresh ground pepper does. Chances are you can buy whole black peppercorns right next to wherever you are grabbing the other stuff. Pre-ground black pepper seems to have a stale taste to it and I just think you will be better off with a pepper mill.

Number two - When seasoning with salt do not use iodized table salt. That is for baking and pastry because it dissolves very quickly. We are not talking about baking we are talking about cooking. You want to use Kosher salt, which has more of and ocean or briny like flavor to it and the larger granules are much easier the pick up with your finger tips, which brings me to my next point.

Number three - Season with your fingertips. When using a saltshaker, you cannot see how much salt is actually coming out let alone sticking to your food product. When holding the salt in your fingertips, you can feel how much you have and how much you are letting go of, giving you have a better idea of what is going into your food. You want to hold your hand about a foot more above the food when seasoning with salt. In the short distance it has between your hand and the food the salt will spread out and land evenly spaced creating a well-seasoned product.

Seasoning well is the first step to becoming a better cook. Now some people may be thinking, ‘well I am on a low sodium diet’ or ‘salt is bad for you and I don’t want to add salt to my food’. That is perfectly understandable, but that is your decision. I am not here to defend the health benefits or risks of using salt. I am just here to explain why chefs season everything. It extracts flavor to create a better tasting product, period.

Chapter 3

Down and Dirty

Your hands are your best and most useful tools in the kitchen. I am sick and tired of seeing all these stupid pointless gizmos and gadgets people actually buy. Avocado slicers, egg slicers, slap choppers, bullet blenders and the list goes on. They all sound like bizarre devices out of a Dr. Seuss book.

“Hey John check out this my cookie wumpler, it disperses chocolate chips perfectly throughout my cookie dough so every bite is perfect!”

Come on people, get a little dirty, get in there and use your hands, I don’t care if it’s kneading dough or gutting a fish. It will all help us appreciate and understand the food that we put into our bodies each and everyday.

Separate your eggs with your hands and stop doing that stupid eggshell to egg shell thing. First off you look like a mad scientist pouring weird things from beaker to beaker and more importantly you run the risk of breaking your yokes on the sharp edges of the shell. Just crack it into your hand and let the whites fall through in between your fingers into one bowl and put the remaining yolk left in you hand in another, no broken yolks!

If you are making tuna salad, mix it and squeeze it between your hands. You will get it mixed together much better and the texture will be so much better, and the same goes most things that require incorporating multiple ingredients like that.

Next time you are making a pizza, stretch the pizza dough out with your hands and don’t use a rolling pin. The pin will just flatten the dough and the gluten. You want to stretch the gluten in the dough so it keeps the shape or form you want it to, plus it’s really fun especially if you get good enough and can toss it in the air!

Those are just a few simple examples on why the most important tools you own, not just in a kitchen, are your hands, so get dirty and use ‘em, that’s part of the fun of it.

Chapter 4

Stay Sharp Out There

Next on the list of important tools are your knives. If you do not have the right tools for the right job, you are starting with a disadvantage right off the bat, because most jobs you can get away with your hands and a good sharp chefs knife. One thing to note is take care of your knives, because if you don’t, they will take care of you. I mean that in a mafia, whacked kind of way.

You need to keep your knives sharp, very sharp. You are much more likely to cut your self with a dull knife than a sharp one. Now if you have spoons that are sharper then your knives I doubt you will cut yourself, but guess what? You aren’t cutting anything else either. If you have cheap knives that you don’t mind replacing every few years, then just get a hand held sharpener that fits in a drawer. That is what I use at home when I don't want to use my good kitchen knives.

If you are interested in really good knives, you have to understand that they are very high maintenance and very expensive. The average price of a price point German or Japanese steal knife (just one chefs knife) goes for about $100. Then factor in the stones you will need to keep them sharp with, easily another $40. In my opinion, if you don not get a paycheck for cooking stick with the cheaper ones you can replace every couple years.

In a kitchen, you don’t need a million knives lying around, all you really need is a chefs knife, a paring knife, and serrated bread knife and whatever knives you like to serve as silverware. If you like to butcher, I would have a boning knife and a cleaver within reach as well.

Another useful tool for maintaining your knives is a honing steel. Many people have one because they normally come with knife sets, but it is probably one of the most underutilized tools in the home kitchen. It is that long cylindrical thing that looks like a jousting pole for a cat. They are often referred to as “sharpeners”, but that is actually incorrect. A sharpener creates a new edge on the knife blade. A honing steel hones. Yup, I know it’s crazy to think, but a honing steel…hones. This little guy realigns the blade on a knife, because the knife may not be dull, it might just be a little bent from all the work it is doing for you and it just needs a little pep talk. That is exactly what the honing steel does, it gives your knife a little kick in the butt and says get back in there and cut some stuff. It is difficult to explain how to use a honing steel without physically showing you, so go look up “how to use a honing steel” on YouTube and I am sure something will come up.

Now that you knives are sharp, you need to know how to hold a knife. There is really no room for argument as far as properly holding a chef’s knife. I’ve shown two examples of how NOT to hold a knife. These are probably the two most common examples I see. The third photograph is the proper way. I don’t want to hear, “but that’s not comfortable,” or “I cut myself one time holding it like that”. It is comfortable when you get used to it and it will give you more control, making it less likely that you will cut your self.

TIP: A paring knife can act as a thermometer. Now you can stop wondering if “it” is done cooking. Simply take your paring knife and insert it into the center of whatever you are cooking. Hold it there for about 5 or 10 seconds. Now remove the knife and touch it to the very bottom of your lower lip (where it is very sensitive). Is it hot? If so then it’s done. Remember: you do not want to do this with burgers or steaks because the juices will run. This is more for fish, chicken, crab cakes, pies…you get the picture.

Chapter 5

Burning Down the House

Working as a fishmonger I am asked, “How do I cook that?” at least 10, 20 even 30 times a day. Another extremely common question I get asked when I am handing someone his or her seafood is, “so I just cook this in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil?”

…NO!

Before I go into why I said that, I want to lay down some terms regarding cooking oils. Each type of oil has what we call a “smoke point”: the temperature at which that specific oil becomes discolored, smokes and is essentially burnt. Burnt oil will ruin your meal. If you see your oil smoking, then you have obviously reached its smoke point. Be very careful because the next stage would be the oil’s “flash point”. I think we can all figure out what the flash point involves don’t you? Yup, fire. Be especially careful if you use a gas top stove because if your oil gets too hot the flame could ignite the oil and it is not fun. Bottom line when cooking with oil: if you get side tracked, forget about your oil heating up and it starts smoking, let it cool down then dispose of it because it is no longer usable. Start over.

Olive oil has a lower smoke point than a blended oil or canola oil and so it often burns before the oil gets hot enough to cook your food well. Canola oil has a higher smoke point, so using it allows you to get a good sear on a piece of meat or fish with out burning it. Canola oil is more versatile than olive oil because you can use it to bake, fry, sear, etc. Bottom line, it is just a good all-purpose oil and I recommend using it to cook with.

Olive oil should still be on hand to use as a condiment to finish dishes or use in salad dressings and for things that you want to cook at a low temperature. It has a stronger flavor, which some people do not care for because it overpowers food with delicate flavors. Working in fine dining restaurants, I know for a fact that most chefs use a cheaper oil to physically cook the product and then finish the dish with a little bit of a higher end oil. If you have ever been served a dish at an upscale restaurant and noticed a drizzle of oil on and around the dish, that’s what it is. That way you still get the flavor without breaking the bank.

Olive oil is more expensive then a blended oil or canola oil and that can be reason enough to use canola oil over olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is even more expensive and then you can get into the grape seed and peanut oils, which get rather pricy. Don’t get me wrong, other oils have more flavor than canola oil and other blended oils, but for most applications in the home and restaurants canola oil will work just fine or better than olive oil.

Here are two great ways to find out if your pan and especially your oil is hot enough to sauté something: Run your fingers under some water and let a drop or two fall into the pan with your oil. If it is hot enough it will pop and sizzle. Another great way is to swirl you pan around and look at the oil. If it looks streaky or as if looks like someone is dragging a small rake through it, then you are good to go.

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Another little tid-bit of information that may be of use to you. When you are cooking with oil or butter in a pan you should not overcrowd the pan. I can break it down for you: say you have two of the same size pans side by side with the same amount of heat and oil. You are trying to sear some Spanish mackerel and you add four portions to one pan and only two portions to the other. The heat in the pan with four portions will disperse throughout the four pieces, thus lowering the overall temperature in the pan and making it much harder to get the results you want. On the other hand, the pan with two pieces will only disperse heat onto the two pieces, giving them a good crispy sear. Just think of it in a way that is relevant to your life. I like to think of it as if there are four people who own a business together and they all split profits equally, they each only get 25%, whereas two owners each get 50%, you do the math.

Chapter 6

Recipes: Guidelines not Rules

Take a moment and read the title of this chapter one more time. When people come to me for advice about a recipe, it almost always seems that they think the recipe is non-negotiable…wrong, wrong, wrong. Actually, to become a better cook you should experiment to expand your abilities, even if you mess up a few times. You learn from your mistakes.

It is a fact that chefs steal recipes. They don’t necessarily take entire recipes, but they see, eat, or read something that they like, get inspired, take it back to their establishment to tweak to their own style and call their own. So, I hear by challenge you to take at least two main ingredients from the next recipe that you plan on cooking and substitute them. Being able to substitute is one of the most important abilities to a cook. If a chef orders 10 pounds of duck breast for a dish that he or she wanted to run that night and it doesn’t show up for some reason, which happens more then you know, what do they do? They don’t just say screw it I will do it tomorrow. They find a substitution. If they planned on using duck, then chances are that chicken or turkey will work just fine. Mind you it may not be exactly how they envisioned it, but they still get the idea across and in some cases it may work even better.

Most home cooks think that recipes have no room for leeway. Just because it says to use half a cup of cilantro in a guacamole recipe does not mean that you need to use exactly half a cup. If you really enjoy the flavor of cilantro, then by all means add some more: maybe three quarters of a cup or a whole cup. If you do not like cilantro at all, then don’t put it in! It is your food. Do what you want with it. If you change a recipe or substitute something and it doesn’t work, oh well. Get over it and try doing something different next time. Do not get discouraged because you will learn a lot more from your mistakes than your victories. When you change something and it works really well then that is great and guess what? You now have your own version of the recipe. That’s what we want, for you to get more confident, creative and courageous in the kitchen because it is not scary, it is JUST FOOD!

One of the best things about cooking is that nothing has to be exact. The sector of culinary arts that requires exact measurements, is baking and pastry. Baking and pastry chefs are the mathematicians of the culinary world, but we are not talking about baking and pastry, we are talking about cooking. Another great thing about cooking is that in most cases you can fix your mistakes. If your chicken soup is too salty then add some more stock and let it reduce again until it tastes the way you want it to. The same common sense and simple problem solving skills that you use in every other part of your life can be applied in the kitchen.

Chapter 7

387 ½ Degrees

Let’s talk about oven temperatures, shall we? Another common question I get is what temperature do I cook this at and for how long? Except for baking pastries, temperature is not that critical. Just because whatever frozen crap you pulled out of what box says bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes does not mean it is done. Every oven works differently and heats differently, which brings me to a question that will help prove my point. When was the last time you check to see if your oven temperature was accurate? Just because the digital clock says it is at 350, doesn’t mean it’s true.

People want set it and forget it type stuff and that is just not how proper cooking works, sorry. Is it to much to ask for some to get up and check to see if something is done a few minutes before the “recommended” time is up just to make sure that it isn’t in fact already done and not even close so you can add time. Don’t worry kids, Facebook and eHarmony isn’t going anywhere, you can set your iPhone down for 30 seconds and open the oven.

People want an exact answer and instructions from me when they ask that question. They want to hear 350 degrees for 10 minutes or 425 degrees for 8 minutes. I am seriously tempted to tell people the most random numbers and times just to mess their food up because I know they do EXACTLY what I tell them word for word. That way they will learn a lesson and try and figure it out on their own.

“Oh that? Cook that at 387 ½ degrees at 13 minutes and 42 seconds, it will be perfect.”

You can pretty much figure any time and temperature out if you just think about it. If you are cooking a huge roast beef or something that is going to take hours, yes, make sure you do some research on what would be an appropriate time and temperature, but for a portion of salmon or two let’s break it down. Chances are you would put it in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, fine. If I put it at 325 degrees, it will cook slower and the end result in a moister product, but, for it to be cooked through we will have to cook it longer then 15 minutes because the temperature has been lowered. If you wanted to bake a piece of breaded something or other let’s take advantage of the breading that I am hoping you want to get crispy. Why don’t we blast it for 5 minutes at 500 degrees to get the outside golden and crispy since the outside is what cooks first. Now let’s lower the temperature back down the 325 degrees and the product cook through and stay moist, instead of drying it out the whole time at 500. Use multiple temperatures to get the best out of your food.

It’s an oven; we are not defusing an atomic bomb. Have a little confidence in yourself and cook.

Chapter 8

How to Cook a Steak Well, not Well Done

Red meat LOVES salt and pepper, and I mean LOVES it. However much salt and pepper you use to season your chicken, or fish with, you should most likely double and in some cases triple it for a steak depending on how you normally season your food. It has so much flavor, that needs to be extracted and enhanced, simple salt just lets it shine. Also, freshly ground black pepper helps get a really good charred crust on the outside while still leaving the inside to the desired temperature.

On a side note: before seasoning and cooking your steak, you want to try and get it to room temperature and make sure you pad it dry. So ideally removing your steak from the refrigerator about 30 to 60 minutes before cooking. The reason for this is simple, the colder the product, the longer it will take to reach temperature and you want the piece of meat to be as evenly cooked as possible.

Let’s assume the steak is now around room temperature and believe me you can cook a steak right out of the fridge, it’s still going to be good, I am just informing you about creating a better product for yourself or whoever you are cooking for. If you are starving and want steak but cannot wait a little while, by all means cook it and eat it, not starving is more of a priority at this point.

Seasoning comes next before we start cooking and remember that red meat loves salt and pepper. Now we are ready to cook, and we shall. Whether you are cooking your steak on a grill or in a sauté pan you want to get the grill oiled up or the pan nice and hot, then add your oil.

If you are working in a pan and it is a thick steak you probably want to turn your oven on if you like it anything past medium. On a grill if you have a hot spot (the hottest place on the grill) and lower temperature areas we should be fine with just that.

Get your steak in the pan or on the grill and don’t play with it. Do not jiggle the pan around like you see on TV because that’s just what that crap is, TV cooking. Let it sit and cook and do not cover it! Covering the steak will cause steam, which is just added moisture we do not want, therefore not allowing us to get a crust on the meat, which is what we want.

In a pan you will only flip it once, try everything in your power not to flip it back on the first side we cooked. If you made the decision to flip it over to the other side, that should have meant that you were confident enough to think the first side was done and that is what we are tying to build, confidence. On a grill we want to get diamonds on our steak to show we know what we are doing and that the steak was in fact grilled. Diamonds are the grill markings you see on a properly cooked piece of meat, they are mainly for aesthetics and again proof that it was grilled.

Getting diamonds is easy, when you place your steak down on your grill, leave it there and do not fiddle with it. When you think that particular side is about halfway done, simply turn the steak 90 degrees and leave it until that side is done. When ready, flip the steak over in that exact place and repeat what I just explained. When you think the second side is about halfway done, turn it 90 degrees and leave it until it is done. Obviously the times for each steak will be different depending on the size and what temperature everyone prefers.

First of all DO NOT use a thermometer or cut into the steak to see if it is done. This will release all the juices and good stuff that you just took the time to obtain and enjoy.

Any half decent cook or back yard grilling enthusiast should be able to touch, poke and squeeze the steak with their hands and know what temperature it is. I am not writing this for them, I am writing this for people who want to learn. Here is a little trick that some people, especially professional cooks are skeptical about, only because they do this everyday and it is second nature to them.

Take your hand at its normal relaxed state, and with your other hand’s pointer finger, poke that big fleshy part of your palm that leads into your thumb. Feel that? Poke it a few more times, because that is what a rare steak should feel like, give or take slightly. Oh you like medium rare? Touch your thumb and pointer finger together with barely any pressure and poke again, because that is what medium rare should feel like. Thumb and middle finger? Yup, medium. Thumb and ring finger is medium well and thumb and pinkie would therefore be well done.

Now that you have figured out that your steak or burger is cooked to the desired temperature, it is not ready to eat yet. Why? Red meat needs to rest. Steaks or burgers are not meant to be eaten straight off piping hot, they need to rest at room temperature for about 5 minutes or more so all the juices can evenly re-disperse throughout the meat, thus giving us a properly cooked piece of meat.

…Wait for it…

Ok you can cut it open and eat it now and see how you did…is it the proper temperature? If yes then great job and enjoy your meal. If not, do not be discouraged. If it is under cooked then cook it a little longer, it’s fine, get it to the temperature you want. If it is over cooked, again do not be discouraged, there will be plenty of more chances to get it right, and the more you do it the better you should get. Either way you still have an edible piece of meat in front of you, things could be worse.

Chapter 9

Do You Measure Up?

A very important thing to keep in the back of your mind while following a recipe to the tee is that dry ingredients do not measure the same as wet ingredients. They make dry measuring tools and they make wet measuring tools, which should be used accordingly.

When measuring dry ingredients you must use graduated nesting measuring cups. These are meant for dry ingredients because dry ingredients do not level out like liquid does. You must measure dry ingredients by overflowing the appropriate cup and level the top off with the back of a knife or something else flat. You should not pack down the dry ingredients unless it says so, and that only normally involves brown sugar.

As for liquid measurement, you should use those translucent liquid measurement “pitchers” that come in many different sizes and materials. Ideally you should set the cup or pitcher on the table and pour. Then lower yourself to eye level of the desired amount until flush with the measurement.

The measurement of dry and liquid ingredients are about the same all the way up to a pint, after that, there are significant differences and it is simply not worth the risk of miss-measuring.

If you try to measure 1 Cup of liquid ingredients in a 1 Cup dry ingredients cup, you need to fill the liquid to the top of the cup and therefore likely to spill it all over the place. Yeah, I know, but what if I measure directly over the vessel I need to pour it in? Go ahead and risk it, it may end up fine but you should train yourself with good habits, not risky shortcuts.

Now, if you try and measure 1 Cup of flour in a liquid measurement vessel of say 4 Cups, then that is an even bigger mistake. If the vessel measures up to 4 Cups and you only need 1, then you only need to fill it up a forth of the way, simple. Ah, but now you are unable to level the measurement because the vessel is over 3 Cups higher then your flour and just shaking it until it is level is just being stubborn and you and I both know it will not be the right amount that is needed.

I understand this is an argument that some people will take to the grave with them, and some people think that there is not a big enough difference in wet and dry measurements. If you simply do your research and look at the facts, you should see the truth and hopefully admit it.

Chapter 10

I Sea Something Wrong

Do you ever cook pasta at home? Do you ever poach chicken, fish, shrimp or anything for that matter? Do you blanch anything?

Well, if you do any of those things, then I can probably make your food taste a whole lot better by telling you one thing, although I am sure you will figure it out as I go on, I am not going to tell you yet.

When you refer back to the chapter about seasoning your food, you season your food before you cook it, right? Right, but I cannot season dry pasta or even fresh pasta, because it won’t stick, and even if it did stick, the “poaching liquid” would wash it all off. The same goes if you were poaching a piece of fish or chicken, the salt may stick to the protein, but as soon as you place it in the “poaching liquid” it will fall off.

So what do we do? We definitely don’t season it after it is cooked. It will just make our food taste like salt and it will not be seasoned. We need to basically beat the system, and by doing that, we must…ding ding ding! Season the water, right! I am not just saying that you throw a teaspoon of salt in a gallon of water; I am saying that it should taste like the ocean. Pasta, fish, anything, season your liquid, you will be glad you did.

If you have already noticed that I place “poaching liquid” in quotation marks, is because a lot of people just assume that you poach things in water. I am not saying the poaching things in water is a bad thing, I do it all the time, but I make it more than water.

We season the liquid to make our food taste better, so why would we season just salt? If whatever we are poaching is going to absorb the salt, then why wouldn’t we put other things in the water for it to absorb as well and make our product even better? How about a roughly chopped onion, some garlic, or how about squeezing some grapefruit in there? This is common sense if you think about it.

Earlier I mentioned the word blanch, and if you know what that means, good, as long as you are seasoning your liquid. If you don’t know, then this is for you. Blanching is a technique used, first of all to partially cook them, which in turn extends the shelf life of the product and in some cases to enhance color.

Have wondered why you green beans are army green, yet when you are out to eat they are bright green just like when you first bought them? This is because they blanched them and you most likely did not. When blanching, you simply need a boiling pot of seasoned water (no need to add extra ingredients to blanching water, just salt) and a large vessel with ice water or an ice bath as we call it. Simply place the green beans into the boiling water and do not over crowd the pot. Stir it around little and after about 30 seconds they should be bright green and still have a crunch to them. Quickly remove them into the ice bath to stop the cooking process and then drain them once they are cold again, and do not let them sit in the ice bath too long or they will get soggy.

There you have it folks another reason why salt is a beautiful thing. Poaching and blanching are two healthy techniques unless you poach in butter, which is delicious. Utilize your ingredient to there fullest potential and I cannot stress this enough, experiment and try new things.

Chapter 11

Lime Disease

Here is a little trick that I was taught from a chef I used to work under. When juicing a lemon you cut it in half and squeeze the juice out, or use whatever little gadget you bought 2 of for $19.95 plus shipping and handling.

Ok, so when juicing a lime what should you do? Cut it in half and then squeeze the juice out, right? Wrong!

Just because lemons and limes are both in the same family does not mean they work the same. They are both completely different animals, or should I say fruit.

When juicing a lime you want to slice the lime long-ways, not down the center, but slightly to either side of the nubs on either end. You then want to set aside the “nub less” half aside. Take the “nub less” side and do the same thing, cut directly next to the center, right past the nubs long-ways. There are now three sections to the lime now, and you now want to take the one section that still has the little “nubbies” and cut the white part the runs through the center of the entire length of the lime. Now you have three pieces of the lime and now all you need to do is squeeze out the good stuff, so do it.

By doing this little extra work, you will get about double the amount a juice then you would if you just cut the lime in half like you would a lemon. Test it out, buy two limes and see what happens.

Chapter 12

Muscle Memory

I am going to quickly go over some shellfish dos and don’ts with you because I think that I don’t get enough questions about this that a lot of people are unaware.

Have you ever bought clams or muscles and cooked them only to find them gritty and sandy. Well, no one likes that so here is the remedy. You need to “purge” them in water, but not just plain water. Place your clams or muscles in a large container and submerge them in cold water, then stir in about 1/3 of a cup of sea salt and a little bit of corn meal, and measurement is not critical by any means. Let them spit all of that gritty stuff out for about two hours or more.

Once all of that is done, you are now ready to clean or scrub the clams or muscles (not entirely necessary) but shouldn’t be overlooked. You also need to remove the byssal threads from the muscles. It’s that little fuzzy thing that hangs out of the closed shell and it looks like a little beard, because that is what it’s called, the beard. Just rip it out and believe me some do not want to be removed so keep at it and once you are done, your shellfish are ready to be cooked. Remember that clams and muscles are done cooking as soon as they open, so keep checking them and remove the ones that are done and leave the closed ones to cook longer. Each clam and muscle cooks for a different period of time. If you just cook all of them for one length of time and pull them all out together, chances are you will have a very inconstant batch of shellfish.

While we are on the subject of bivalves, let’s not forget scallops. Scallops are a little less high maintenance then the other guys. Although, it takes a little more skill to get a proper sear on a scallop, we are more worried about preparing them to cook.

Have you even bought scallops and noticed that little semi translucent thingy attached to the side of them? That little side muscle needs to be removed and discarded or used for a stock. No matter what you do to it, that little muscle with always be tough and rubbery so just get rid of it. If you order scallops at a restaurant and they come to you with the side muscle still on, then you may want to send them back, because if they do not enough time and care to remove that side muscle, then chances are they didn’t take the time or care to cook them properly as well.

The shellfish family is an amazing group to enjoy cooking and eating so, if you are going to take the time to cook them, take the time to cook them right and prepare them properly.

Chapter 13

Ode to Philadelphia

Having grown up 15 minutes outside of Philadelphia, Pa and now having lived in city for over 8 years now, I can say I have had a lot of “gravy.” No not that brown stuff you put all over your turkey and mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. I am talking about tomato sauce or as most south Philadelphians call gravy.

After reading that paragraph you’re probably thinking that this chapter is going to be about tomato sauce, but it is actually going to be focusing on onions, and their potential.

There are little Italian places all over Philadelphia and there is an especially congested amount, not necessarily in a bad way, of restaurants in south Philly, as we call it. I do not even want to single out just the Italian restaurant population but ANYONE who puts sugar in their tomato sauce or gravy. Home cook or professional establishment, here this: IT IS NOT NECESSARY! If you think that your tomato sauce needs to be sweeter, then that simply means you have not used your onions to their fullest potential. That is to say that you used them in the first place, which I really hope you do, and if you don’t, shame on you.

There also maybe the case that you do not put sugar in your sauce but you think it should be sweeter just the same. I have the perfect solution for you…use more onions, and specifically use them in the correct way, which is what I am getting to.

Onions are very sweet when used correctly, and if you are sautéing your onions before proceeding with the rest of your recipe, then we have already discovered your problem. Sautéing may sound all French and fancy, and you are getting the onions all nice and brown, but that is exactly what we don’t want for this specific application. We want to simply “sweat” the onions. I know that sounds boring but at least your sauce won’t be. You want to cut your onions to your preferred size, and they should all be about the same size. Now you want to sweat them in your pot or pan in whatever fat you so choose, but remember chapter 3. If you are sweating something it should be at such a low temperature that you hear nothing, absolutely nothing, and if you do, it is too hot and turn it down a bit. The fact that it is at a lower temperature obviously means this process will take much longer that when you were sautéing the onions but it will be well worth the wait. Another thing to remember is that you want to get no color on the onions, you just want to get them translucent, which gives you the indication that all their sucrose (sugar) is getting released and will be enhancing the sweetness of your “gravy” soon enough. I am not trying to put anyone down by using sugar in his or her gravy because it is the obvious thing to do when you want to sweeten something, add sugar. I just think that if the ingredient you need to remedy the problem is already in the recipe, why waste sugar and money. I doubt I am going to change any south Philly grandmas view on this debate that has been going on for generations, but to all the up and comers of the gravy world…utilize what you already have and you will have a better, healthier, more technically sound product for less money. Any arguments? Thought so.

Chapter 14

Food First Date

In my opinion, a good part of our society is getting more concerned about what types of foods they are putting in their bodies. I do believe that our knowledge base is still lacking overall.

You should shop at open-air markets if you can find them, (they are not that hard to find). If you can’t find one or do not have the time, then find grocery stores that actually give a crap about what they are providing you. I am not going to name drop, but you know who they are because there are only a handful of companies out their with a conscience.

If there are local butchers and fishmongers around, go check them out because they are extremely knowledgeable about their product, as are those more conscientious grocery stores. They should know how the animals are raised, fed and hopefully most of it is butchered in house. Get to know them and ask questions, because if you show you care, then they will care enough point you in the right direction. Butchery and mongering is rapidly becoming a lost art more and more, so show some appreciation for the men and women who provide you with those items, or at least provide the correct information about what is being sold. Don’t ever forget the farmers, produce, animal, or a combination, they are the heart and soul of what we eat, even if you are not eating from a can or box, a lot of that stuff comes from farmers and fisherman as well. Most of them love what they do and you should show them some love and appreciation as well.

Chapter 15

Put a Fork in it, it’s Done

This book has been somewhat of a diary of mine. I have been jotting down ideas here and there to inform people about cooking techniques that I get questions about every single day. This book has been more therapeutic for me more than anything. I simply want shake the fear out of people even just a handful of people who are scared of the kitchen and replacing it with basic simple knowledge that can help them become more confident and experimental in the kitchen.

Experimentation is probably the most beneficial trait you can have in the kitchen. Whether you try to make something from scratch on our own or just tweak an already established recipe to make it your own. If things are working for you then you are probably better then you think and are not giving yourself enough credit. If things are disastrous, you can only learn from you. Again, mistakes should be taken advantage of, just step back and think about what you might have done wrong, because it’s normally very easy to figure out.

Mind you, I didn’t just tell you some top-secret information, I just told you what professional cooks and chefs and some home cooking enthusiasts consider fundamentals.

You can use this book as a reference, or just as a kick in the pants to get more confidence in the kitchen. Hopefully it was helpful, one-way or

another.