FOOD

 

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Thoughts on Food and Cooking:

Getting together with friends is a rewarding and bonding experience. Adding food to the experience helps. Get together with friends and share some food.... any food. Don't let inadequate cooking skills block your sociability. Prepare anything... coffee and cookies, dessert, bring in prepared food, do simple potluck, scramble eggs and toast. Remember it isn't about the food or your house keeping. It is about sharing time with good people.

Lets get serious about food and cooking. Eating is an issue we have to deal with everyday of our lives… we might as well get used to the idea and make it a fun and healthy part of our daily life.

Find a special item to build each meal around. Keep an eye out for something special to build a meal around. Perhaps there is a fresh vegetable just in season, or you found some interesting dried beans, or maybe an interesting loaf of bread. This interesting item helps perk up the meal, and when pared with other fresh items brings interest to the table.

Fresh quality ingredients. It does’t have to be expensive…. if its oat meal or what ever, get the best you can find and afford and learn how to prepare it so it is delicious. Experiment with different recipes. Failures are educational, usually cheap and the road to new ideas.

Buy things that are in season. They usually are cheaper in season and fresher.  Buying in season also helps you have a varied menu year around. In the off seasons look for different fruits and vegetables that you don’t normally try. Learn to cook the root vegetables, kales and beet tops. You never know what you are missing. Take the time to learn how to cook these items.  Experiment and you will have a friend for life.

Make a list of food terms and cooking concepts and experiment by trying to learn how to utilize these concepts.

Find a friend or group to talk food / cooking with. Share meals and knowledge.

Learn to make stock from scratch. Save bones, skin, peels and leftovers to boil into a good base. Once you have tried this you will notice the important difference in taste. Making stock is easy once you understand the basics.

Practice practice practice…. you have three opportunities every day to experiment with cooking new and different items. Experiment with changing a recipe. If you fail at making a dish, take notes, research options and try it again.

Learn about ingredients and how they respond to the cooking process. Learn the science of cooking…. what heat or freezing does to ingredients. How sugars, fats, and flours effect the taste and texture of food. The cookbook “joy of Cooking” is a good starting point.

Learn about the health effects of ingredients… whole wheat vs bleached flour. Mono unsaturated fats vs. trans fats, refined sugar vs sweetness rendered through cooking.

Canned soup was  a wonderful invention for survival in times of despair but comes pretty far down the list of food choices. One should keep a supply for such emergencies.  BUT it does have its place in the modern kitchen… again for use in a pinch.  Canned soup strait out of the can is a no no. But for a last minute emergency, it can be a useful base to build on.  Thinning it out, or thickening it up as the case may require. Adding vegetables, meats, tomato paste, left overs etc. and make for a passable dish.

Explore what others are doing, read and check out new restaurants.  Don’t just eat the food… pay attention to each bite. Try to discover what the ingredients are, how the textures and flavors were created. Ask restaurant staff what they can tell you about the dish before you. Imagine how you would recreate this dish at home. If you really like it, make some notes and try to make it at home.

Don't waste time and effort on bad food. Treat every meal like it is your last. It could be. You don't want to die choking on a diet cracker.

t.d. 1988

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