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If you've cut back on restaurants, here are tips on how to prepare meals at home and enjoy it
By Lisa Abraham
Beacon Journal food writer
Published on Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009
So you can't boil water, huh?
Well, if ever there were a time to learn how to cook, it's now.
With no recovery in sight for the economy, many families are dealing with unemployment while others are watching their spending out of fear of what could happen. Eating at home is not only penny-smart, it's the hottest trend.
But if you've been eating out several times a week and making sandwiches or ordering pizza several more, you could find yourself at a loss when it comes to actually cooking.
With that in mind, we've gone to the experts: three local cooking school instructors who are loaded with ideas, tips and advice on how to hone the skills you need to prepare meals at home in a snap.
Cooking class is now in session.
Your teachers are chef Catherine St. John, owner of the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson; Bev Shaffer, cookbook author and cooking school director for the Mustard Seed Market and Cafe in Bath Township and Solon; and chef Mark Kent, cooking instructor at the University of Akron's School of Hospitality Management.
They have advice on what they believe are the most basic and needed skills for anyone learning how to cook, and we've put them together for you as a guide to five main skill sets your can work on to master the art of cooking and even come to see it as enjoyment, not work.
1. Organization and preparation
When you paint a room, you start with the blue masking tape.
So, too, when you cook, start with the prep work.
Shaffer said to start at the beginning, reading the entire recipe. Determine which ingredients you have and what you will need to purchase. Don't overlook duties like making an accurate shopping list and gathering all of your ingredients.
Organization also means storing your ingredients properly in the refrigerator, freezer or cupboard, so they will be in good shape when you want to cook with them.
Organization includes time management: knowing how much time it will take to prep a recipe and how much time it will take to cook it. Just as in painting, the prep work usually takes a lot longer than the actual cooking, Kent said.
St. John said accurately measuring ingredients is also part of prep work, particularly for baking, when careful measuring is necessary to ensure success.
The French phrase mise en place, frequently used in cooking, essentially translates to ''everything in place'' and includes the jobs of prepping and measuring all ingredients needed for a recipe. It also entails selecting the proper equipment for the job and getting it ready, Kent said.
When you watch cooking shows and the chef has all of the ingredients to be used in the recipe lined up in little dishes, that's mise en place in action.
''Figure out a way to organize yourself so it isn't drudgery. Then you can create something that people will love,'' Kent said.
2. Knife skills
Since much of cooking with fresh ingredients involves prep work, St. John said knife skills are key for anyone who wants to cook with ease. Knowing the difference between various cuts — mincing, dicing, chopping and julienne — is important because foods of different sizes will cook at different rates.
But equally important is using the right knife, she said.
The best chef's knife in the world is worthless for slicing a loaf of bread, because it doesn't have the serrated edge to do the job right. Trying to cut up a chicken without the flexibility of a sharp boning knife also is more difficult.
''You need the right knife for the right job,'' St. John said.
Her four recommendations for someone who wants to learn to cook include a 10- to 12-inch chef's knife for chopping and slicing, a serrated bread knife for cutting bread and tomatoes, a boning knife that's flexible for deboning items like chicken or fish, and a paring knife for simple chores, such as taking the peel off an apple.
St. John and Kent call the chef's knife their most important must-have kitchen tool, while Shaffer said she can do a lot with a good-size paring knife.
Shaffer said home cooks shouldn't get too worried if their chopping isn't perfect. ''Keep the sizes as even as possible and go from there. And keep your fingers out of the way,'' she said.
3. Sauteing
Master this one cooking technique and the kitchen is yours, Kent said.
St. John agreed. ''Understand this method of cooking and the possibilities are endless.''
Kent explained that sauteing is to cook food quickly in a small amount of fat, typically oil, over high heat. It's a quick method and it's perfect for chicken, fish and tender cuts of pork and beef.
The trick to sauteing successfully is to make sure that first your pan and then your fat are hot enough so that foods don't stick, he said. A saute pan is called a sauteuse, and has curved, sloping sides. It is a wide, shallow pan with a single long handle, and is made of metals that allow for heat to be transferred very quickly.
Foods are sauteed on one side until almost cooked through, then flipped and cooked on the other until done. The fat and juices from the meat in the pan are then reduced and turned into a sauce, typically with the addition of wine, juice, onions, garlic, vegetables, herbs or other aromatics to finish the dish, Kent said.
Knowing how to make pan sauces can turn boneless, skinless chicken breasts into a variety of dishes with little effort, St. John said.
4. Cooking with liquid
Our teachers all noted the importance of cooking with liquid — water, broth, stock or wine — whether it be boiling pasta, poaching fish or simmering a stew.
The trick here is to learn the difference. Poaching calls for liquid between 160 and 180 degrees, simmering is 185 to 205 degrees and boiling is 212 degrees, Kent explained.
Few items are actually cooked at a full boil, he said, including pasta, and raw vegetables that are blanched for a few minutes and then removed before they get mushy.
Most foods cooked in liquid will either be poached or simmered, which is essentially stewing or braising.
Shaffer said anyone learning to cook should master poaching fish. Fresh fish, poached in wine or broth, typically will cook in under 10 minutes. ''It's the original fast food,'' she said. Pair with a simple salad for a fast and healthy dinner.
Aside from eggs, commonly poached foods include chicken breasts and salmon, Kent said. As with sauteing, poaching liquid can also form the basis for a sauce to accompany the dish.
Simmering or stewing is used when you want to cook a dish slowly for a long time to allow meat to tenderize, vegetables to soften and flavors to blend, St. John said.
Soups and stews often are simmered for several hours.
Other foods cooked in liquid include most grains and beans, which offer a lot of nutrition at a low price, Shaffer said. They often are brought to a boil and then are placed on reduced heat to simmer until they soak up their cooking liquid, plump and soften.
5. Dry cooking/roasting
When we think of roasting, we typically think of a turkey or a cut of beef. But other foods can be roasted in the oven without liquid, including vegetables.
Often some oil is added, which produces rich caramelized results when vegetables release their juices during roasting.
St. John said items can be roasted, typically at oven temperatures over 350 degrees, or slow-roasted, at temperatures below 350. A tenderloin of beef is roasted, while a Thanksgiving turkey is slow-roasted over many hours.
The method used often depends on the size of the item and how tender it is. Pot roast, a tougher cut of meat, becomes tender when slow-roasted. A tenderloin, which needs no tenderizing, is often browned stovetop to seal in its juices and then roasted in the oven at a high temperature just until it reaches the desired level of doneness.
Visit http://www.Ohio.com for videos of all three of our cooking school instructors showing you how to put these cooking skills to use.
St. John demonstrates chopping skills, Kent illustrates how to saute chicken breasts for Mediterranean Chicken, and Shaffer shows how measuring and having fresh ingredients ready to go result in a quick vinaigrette to dress a salad or use as a marinade.
Here are the recipes they're using:
BASIC VINAIGRETTE
1/2 cup white wine vinegar (see note)
2 large pinches coarse salt (sea salt or kosher)
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
In a bowl, whisk together vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard. Slowly whisk in the oil until an emulsion forms (it will be smooth and satiny in texture). You may not need to use the entire cup of oil.
Toss with salad greens and serve.
Store extra dressing in a jar or container in the refrigerator for several days.
Makes enough to dress 4 salad bowls.
Note: Use this recipe as a starting point for all salad dressings. Use different flavored vinegars or different types of oils to change the flavor of the dressing, keeping in mind the ingredients in your salad and working to enhance them. Add seasonings or herbs to change the flavor. This can be used as a marinade for chicken or fish as well.
— Bev Shaffer, cooking school
director, Mustard Seed Market
and Cafe
MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN
1/4 cup olive oil (see note)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp. minced garlic
21/2 tbsp. pine nuts
2 Roma or plum tomatoes, diced, or 1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes
1/2 cup artichoke hearts, cut into quarters
2 tsp. dried basil or 1/2 bunch fresh basil chopped into fine shreds
Place saute pan on stove over high heat until hot.
Salt and pepper both sides of each chicken breast. Add oil to pan and heat until oil is shimmering. Add chicken breasts presentation side down. (The presentation side is the side from which the skin was removed, not the bones.)
Let chicken cook undisturbed long enough to set, then shake the pan to release any steam trapped underneath the chicken. Cook until golden in color and chicken is nearly half done. Turn over and brown other side, adjusting temperature as needed. Once cooked on both sides, remove breasts to a plate and keep warm.
Add garlic and pine nuts to oil. Saute a minute or two until pine nuts begin to brown. Add tomatoes and artichoke hearts and cook together to form a sauce.
Return chicken to pan and continue to saute until chicken is thoroughly cooked and reaches an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees when a meat thermometer is inserted into the side of the breast. As an alternative, place chicken in an oven-proof pan, cover with sauce and finish cooking in an oven set at 350 degrees until it reaches desired doneness.
Just before serving, add basil to sauce and combine.
Makes 2 servings.
Note: This dish is great served over penne pasta. For two servings, boil about 1/3 of a 1-pound box of penne. Increase the oil to 1/2 cup to create additional sauce for the pasta. You can slice the chicken, or serve the breast whole over a bed of pasta. Toss pasta with sauce to coat.
—Chef Mark Kent, University of
Akron School of Hospitality
Management
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
So you can't boil water, huh?
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Akron, OH
Posted 06:56 AM, 01/20/2009
Awesome article.
Posted 07:22 AM, 01/20/2009
It is too bad this article didn't get much past the STUFF you need for cooking in versus going out. Cooking at home can be so much more satisfying once you know how to combine flavors that satisfy your own individual palette. Just turn on the Food Channel or PBS for a while, you can really learn a lot about basic techniques. It can be a great activity to do with your family and friends, too. Also, I have been to some of Catherine St. John's classes at the Western Reserve School of Cooking. Her classes are really well taught, and reasonably priced.
cool treehouse, oh
Posted 02:06 PM, 01/20/2009
The best way to enjoy food is have your wife cook it.
