I worked for many years in many different
restaurants and commercial kitchens. Early in my career I would ask
how long something should cook, and the answer would invariably be "Until
it is done" which was usually accompanied by an impatient and withering look from
the chef or fellow cook whom I had asked. I soon stopped asking the
question. I also stopped asking for measuring cups and - for this I
got the most annoyed look in my cooking career - asking for measuring
spoons. And I asked the question about the spoons just that one
time.
What I'm saying is, you won't be a good cook if you make yourself a slave to precise measurements. Bakers have to pay attention more than cooks do. Proportions of ingredients are indeed important in baking. Like one of my kitchen heroes Rachael Ray says "That's one of the reasons I don't bake." She "eyeballs" just about everything, and so do I.
So, since we are not talking about baking we can talk about the flavors and the proportions that you like. Let's say you found a recipe for salad dressing that said "One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and four tablespoons of red wine vinegar" and you mixed that up. Well, first of all...let's suppose that you don't have extra virgin olive oil hanging around your kitchen because for whatever reason you don't like it. So you use what you have. See?? Already we are changing the recipe based on what we have on hand and what we actually like. If you don't like extra virgin olive oil, you won't keep it in your kitchen...right?? If you prefer soybean oil over canola oil or peanut oil, that's what you have. Next, you don't have red wine vinegar. You just have plain old distilled vinegar. There we go changing the recipe again. So you mixed the dressing with one tablespoon of the oil that you have in your pantry and four tablespoons of the vinegar that you found there as well. Now, you serve the dressing and you and everyone else just about dies from gagging on all that vinegar. Now what? Well, it's back to the drawing board. Make up a combination of ingredients - oil, vinegar, herbs, and spices - that you and your family will eat and enjoy. That's how you become a good cook.
Just remember: Use what you have, and use what you like. That is rule #1 of cooking. Rule #2 is called "The trial and error method." When you make a salad, mix your own dressing. Write down somewhere how much of each ingredient you used, and then add whatever comments you or anyone else who ate the dressing had. You can then tweak the recipe each time you make it until you and everyone else who is going to have to eat it is happy with the result.
And these two rules apply to *anything* you cook. Use the cookbook as a guide, but make your own recipe. Untie your hands and have some *Fun* in the kitchen!!
I hope this helped.
Bernie Zuccarelli
Seattle, WA
restaurants and commercial kitchens. Early in my career I would ask
how long something should cook, and the answer would invariably be "Until
it is done" which was usually accompanied by an impatient and withering look from
the chef or fellow cook whom I had asked. I soon stopped asking the
question. I also stopped asking for measuring cups and - for this I
got the most annoyed look in my cooking career - asking for measuring
spoons. And I asked the question about the spoons just that one
time.
What I'm saying is, you won't be a good cook if you make yourself a slave to precise measurements. Bakers have to pay attention more than cooks do. Proportions of ingredients are indeed important in baking. Like one of my kitchen heroes Rachael Ray says "That's one of the reasons I don't bake." She "eyeballs" just about everything, and so do I.
So, since we are not talking about baking we can talk about the flavors and the proportions that you like. Let's say you found a recipe for salad dressing that said "One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and four tablespoons of red wine vinegar" and you mixed that up. Well, first of all...let's suppose that you don't have extra virgin olive oil hanging around your kitchen because for whatever reason you don't like it. So you use what you have. See?? Already we are changing the recipe based on what we have on hand and what we actually like. If you don't like extra virgin olive oil, you won't keep it in your kitchen...right?? If you prefer soybean oil over canola oil or peanut oil, that's what you have. Next, you don't have red wine vinegar. You just have plain old distilled vinegar. There we go changing the recipe again. So you mixed the dressing with one tablespoon of the oil that you have in your pantry and four tablespoons of the vinegar that you found there as well. Now, you serve the dressing and you and everyone else just about dies from gagging on all that vinegar. Now what? Well, it's back to the drawing board. Make up a combination of ingredients - oil, vinegar, herbs, and spices - that you and your family will eat and enjoy. That's how you become a good cook.
Just remember: Use what you have, and use what you like. That is rule #1 of cooking. Rule #2 is called "The trial and error method." When you make a salad, mix your own dressing. Write down somewhere how much of each ingredient you used, and then add whatever comments you or anyone else who ate the dressing had. You can then tweak the recipe each time you make it until you and everyone else who is going to have to eat it is happy with the result.
And these two rules apply to *anything* you cook. Use the cookbook as a guide, but make your own recipe. Untie your hands and have some *Fun* in the kitchen!!
I hope this helped.
Bernie Zuccarelli
Seattle, WA
