Things I Like - Food

I know I've mentioned that I like to cook. I'm not a great cook, but my meals are generally edible and often tasty. Friends (who are probably just being kind) have told me that they would come to dinner at my house any time. While this is likely due more to the opportunity to eat a dinner prepared by someone other than themselves than to the desire to have a meal prepared by me specifically, I will admit to being a confident cook.

This was not always the case. Early years (my 20's) were ruled by the recipe. I wouldn't make a PB&J sammie without one. It wasn't until I was married that I started to cook more from feel than recipe - the need to prepare dinner on a regular basis combined with limited time made recipe-driven cooking difficult. Initial attempts did not always go well but Mr. White was great about eating whatever I put in front of him (he's not stupid). "It's not my favorite" was the indicator that a 'wing-it' dish hadn't been successful.

I've had quite a bit of practice now and the 'not my favorite' comments have been significantly reduced due to a few key points :

1. Use more salt. I guarantee you that most of the difference in taste between what you cook at home and what you get in a restaurant is proper seasoning. Bonus hint: use sea salt.
2. Cook with fresh herbs. The fresh flavors and fragrance take things to a new level. And it's easy - you can buy them at any supermarket or grow your own. btw, dried herbs don't last forever. Anything in your cabinet more than 1 year old is likely useless as far as flavor goes.
3. Browning meat is key to creating flavor, something to do with Maillard reactions. And the keys to proper browning are high heat and undisturbed meat. Your pan needs to be hot and after dropping the meat, you need to leave it alone. Cook based on time - i.e., 3 to 5 minutes per side depending on the size of the piece(s) being browned.
4. Meat needs to rest. Whether it's been grilled or roasted, meat needs to rest for at least 5 minutes and as much as 30 (depending on the type of meat and size of the cut) before carving. Resting allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat rather than running out when carved. Meat juices all over the cutting board means dry meat on your plate.

There you go - four easy ways to improve your cooking whether you're following a recipe or winging it.