Welcome to Positive Living!
- Cooking & Blogging -
Easy Solutions for You and Your family
HELP FOR NERVOUS COOKS
QUICK TIPS & TECHNIQUES
The one thing I love the most about cooking and having been in the food industry for 30 years is that most cooks and chefs collaborate. A rock-solid cook or chef loves nothing more than to share his or her ideas. It is one of the most rewarding parts of loving food.
Food is Love.
I first learned this from my grandmother when she used to bake her apple pies - she and her kitchen were covered in flour. It was one of the happiest sights for me to see. Grammy baking and looking all a mess. She loved to bake and she always said when we told her something was good "of course it's good...I've put all my love into it!"
In a nutshell; that is what makes cooking so special.
You too can be a great cook!
You do not need special training and you do not need to fear failing. Failing is an important part of being a great cook. All you need to do is want to be a good cook and to take a little inspiration wherever you find it. That is what I hope my blog posts do for you. To inspire you to be the best cook you can be and to really enjoy the pleasures of cooking in a stress free way.
On this page I list the top quick tips I hope you will come to rely on if you are a nervous cook. Quick tips often are just the little things that don't happen when your distracted or stressed. Like all things, knowing a few good tricks can empower and make something that might not come naturally - so much easier.
Baby Steps!
Quick Tips for Cooking Pasta
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Boiling Water for Pasta - The best way to cook pasta is to make sure the pot your using is large. Do not boil your pasta in a small sauce-pot as the chances are it will stick.
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The second quick tip on cooking pasta is that adding oil is not necessary. Just be sure to add a good handful of salt and to stir during the first minute. I use Kosher salt most often for boiling my pasta as opposed to sea salt.
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The next tip is do not rinse your pasta after draining. Not unless your going to chill it for a cold mac salad. If the pasta is for a meatball dish or your planning on sauteing it with sauce - draining and adding while hot will result in a great pasta that is not sticky or cold.
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Use a long pair of Tongs for grabbing your pasta or sauteing. You will not get burned using tongs and you will find these work much better than wooden spoons. See pic above for reference.
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The final tip if you like dry pasta is please try Barilla brand. It is by far the most reliable and forgiving pasta I have worked with. If you miss the timer by a minute or two your pasta will still have a nice bite. Other pastas often become extremely soft if you do not drain exactly when done. Stuff happens in the kitchen - you need a pasta that will not give you fits.
Quick Tip for Chopping lots of Vegetables
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​If you are not comfortable with a chef knife I recommend that you chop your vegetables with a vegetable chopper or you use a small sharp paring knife. (please see kitchen tools page for links to buy). One of the things nervous cooks will tell me as to why they do not like cooking is they have had a bad trauma in the kitchen around a hot stove or a sharp chefs knife. The only way to heal from such an issue is to relearn how to properly use a chefs knife to chop or use a handy kitchen tool like a vegetable chopper. I use small paring knives often and I find that new cooks are more comfortable with a small paring knife. The one knife I recommend in kitchen tools for you to consider will last for years and can do almost what a larger chefs knife can do. Learning to chop properly takes time. I have posted the best video on the various techniques below to demonstrate the proper way to chop. It is not necessary to chop really fast like the chefs on TV. I don't even try to chop this way. My tip is to go slow, take your time, use a knife or a tool that you feel comfortable with. Before you know it - you will be preparing lots of fresh vegetables and eating a lot more vegetables and salads.
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The biggest benefit is that you and your family will love and enjoy beautiful salads, just like the one I have displayed on this page, at a fraction of the cost of eating salads in restaurants.
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When using a chef's knife be sure to hold the knife and cut front tip down and back onto the vegetable. This will give you much better control and precision.
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When cutting onions I prefer to slice them, not dice. The video shows dicing which I do not do. I like rustic style vegetables that I can see in my dishes and dicing while a popular way to cut is not the only way to prepare onions. To do slices, just cut the onion in half and then make as thin or thick a slice as you want on each half of the onion. Trust me, you will love the results. Use this same advice for carrots, celery and potatoes. I think large chunks in any recipe are great.
Quick Tips on Working with Fresh Herbs
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The best way to enhance your skills in the kitchen is to learn how to use and prepare fresh herbs. Cooking with fresh herbs includes understanding how to get the most flavor from them. You can buy a small pestle and mortar or you can chop using a chefs knife. You can also grind your herbs in a small mini chop processor.
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I never use a large food processor. I don't like the sharp blades and I find the cleaning and the number of components tiring. But I do have the mini chop processor I have a link for on the kitchen tools page and I love it! It will chop your parsley and your rosemary as well thyme and sage. If you have a small mini chop on hand I think you will find using fresh herbs in your recipes will be a lot of fun and very rewarding.
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One of the best techniques for adding depth of flavor in any stew or one pot meal is to do what I like to call an herb/garlic mash. With a mini chop processor place one shallot,1-2 garlic cloves, fresh rosemary leaves, fresh thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper. Grind and chop until the mixture is a paste. It helps to chop the shallot and garlic first. Tap the chop and then grind button until you get a nice paste. Add this mash first with a touch of olive oil to a dutch oven or large pan and saute for 2-3 minutes. If you are making a stew or any meal that will go into the oven after - add next your selected vegetables i.e onions or carrots or any kind of potato - add a touch more olive oil to the mash if needed. This mash will do wonders for any recipe.
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The other really easy thing to do is use dried herbs when fresh herbs are not available. The rule is to use 1 tsp. of dried herbs for every recipe that calls for 1 Tbsp of fresh. Dried herbs are wonderful to work with.
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To release the flavor from dried herbs gently crush them in your hands or with your fingers then add to your recipe.
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TB or Tbsp = Tablespoon
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Tsp = teaspoon
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Unless your working with a very strong spice or herb (i.e. sage or tarragon) you can relax on proportions. Use as much or as little as you like. Remember when your cooking to be inspired. Every recipe by another cook becomes YOUR recipe when you make it.
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Be creative! Be fearless!
Quick Tips
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- If you live Alone -
Its not easy to be motivated about cooking, nor is it for most people enjoyable - if you live alone. I know, I was single until age 44.
Once I grew tired of eating out all the time I began to figure out ways to cook healthier and more balanced meals for myself (of course - always in the company of my cats).
My best advice is if your ready to start eating at home more is to review my pantry page and decide how to better stock a dry pantry with rice, pastas, tomatoes, spices and other ingredients so that every night you can make yourself a healthy easy dinner. When you have a well stocked pantry you might get away with 2 trips to the grocery store each week to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and dairy. With the essentials for any quick meal already at home, you may find that as you are driving home after work diverting to a restaurant will begin to taper off. Why throw your money away... when you can easily put on a pair of pj's, pour a glass of wine, put on some music and make dinner exactly the way you want.
I also recommend checking in on my recipe posts, from time to time, and pick 7-10 recipes for appetizers, simple pastas, soups and egg recipes you might enjoy. I found a rotation of meals I liked and was able to tweak with different ingredients kept me interested in cooking at home for myself. I stopped opening cans of soup or eating box macaroni and cheese and ordering take-out.
People wanting to be helpful might suggest that making a full weeks worth of meals on a Sunday is the trick. However, from experience, I can tell you I threw out more food trying to pre-make a weeks worth of meals. Something always came up - a late meeting, a spontaneous dinner with friends, a quick trip out of town and almost without fail, on the next Sunday, I was throwing out last weeks pre-made meals.
When you have pantry ingredients on hand and fresh meats in the fridge or stored into the freezer - you will save a lot of money.
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It just takes a few meals that you make for yourself, and that you enjoy, to turn your interest about cooking just for you around.
If you don't want to resort to a freezer full of commercial frozen dinners - please give one or two of my recipes a try and see how this works out.
I would recommend trying my creamy cauliflower soup, my tomato soup, the grilled cheese sandwich, or any of my pastas, and of course, my roast chicken and potatoes; which will last you for several days.
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You taking care of YOU will pay huge dividends for the rest of your life, physically and mentally!
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