Getting Comfortable in the Kitchen

At least for me, it was important to get comfortable in the kitchen before I started to try Real Cooking. This cooking in this blog is meant to be Real Cooking for Beginners, but I've been doing a much better job with Real Cooking because let myself become familiar with basic kitchen processes. Feeling like a dunce in the kitchen can be the CAUSE, not just the result, of Fail Dinners! So if you feel like a non-cook, you can start out slow like I did.

A great way to do this is making easy-to-assemble meals that only require you to really cook the toppings. One of the first things I did was make spaghetti (just boil it) with pasta sauce (just pour it from the jar) with meat (which you kind of have to cook). Pre-cooked sausages are the easiest! I like to use Amy's Chicken Sausage. Cut the links up into chunks. Heat up some olive oil in a pan, and sautee the sausage chunks in the olive oil. Then add your pasta sauce and sautee for a couple of minutes. As you can see, you are using pots and pans, and oil and ingredients, but you aren't really cooking. It's idiot proof and delicious, and you get pretty comfortable sauteeing.

Another really yummy way to get comfortable with the stove is "homemade" pizza. You can buy pizza crusts and pizza sauce packets from Whole Foods. Then you can create your own pizza with whatever cheese and toppings you want. This makes me feel like I have created a "recipe" - it's all about building confidence, yo. I like to use shredded mozzarella and sometimes gouda. I learned HOW TO CARAMELIZE ONIONS FROM ALLRECIPES.COM. Except I use a buttload of brown sugar. After deglazing once, I add a few slices of turkey bacon and a little more brown sugar and, if necessary, oil, and cook until the turkey bacon is crispy. This makes a really tasty, sweet n' savory Brown Sugar Caramelized Onion & Bacon pizza. After making this a few times, I felt pretty safe in the kitchen and moved on to the recipes you see (and will see) here!

Bread

Honestly, Mark Bittman's amazing cookbook, How to Cook Everything, is a must-own. I would say it's a must-buy, but I got it as a birthday present and that worked out awfully well for me. This post is about the bread recipes in his book, which are great, but they are also a small portion of the book. The whole thing is full of dope recipes.

During the first quarter of my life (i.e. until this year) (that's right you heard me), I was scared of making bread. In my teenage years, I believe I may have had some magical thinking about bread-making, e.g. that it required all kinds of special equipment, ingredients, and special chants. Everyone else I know who makes bread at home is really good at it and has lots of experience, so I always thought it was pointless to try. But that's no kind of attitude to have so I decided to turn my frown upside down. Thank Jebus for Mark Bittman - he taught me how to make bread.

Seriously, I recommend that you buy his cookbook and read the entire section on breadmaking before you start. It is demystifying and empowering. You don't need no stinking breadmaker. You could use a stand-mixer with a dough hook, or a good food processor (I do tend to use one or the other when I'm making bread but you don't NEED them). Mark Bittman (I call him M. Bitty) will show you the way.

Here is the RECIPE FOR THE EASIEST AND BEST FRENCH BREAD from the Great Taste Coaster blog. They also back me up on how you should own this book now.

CLH TIP: Steam is necessary for the delicious crustiness of the crust. If you don't have a spray bottle (like I didn't) don't just throw water from a mug onto the sides of a 400 degree oven (like I did). I'm sure you're smarter than me and wouldn't think of it, but one never knows. I have an advanced degree and still thought it was better to go ahead and steam my face off. Just go buy a spray bottle - you can do it while the dough is rising.

I've also made the whole wheat sandwich bread (pretty good) and the brioche (awesome) and I am going to do a few more brioche loaves before I try challah. Challah back young'n (sorry).