You’re doing just great
Have you ever told someone You’re doing just great; or been on the receiving end of a comment like that? And how many times have you really meant it? Sarcasm is a wonderful thing isn’t it? Well, get used to saying it a lot. Today is the national day of encouragement. But, don’t think that means you have to say things you don’t believe. Sometimes the best encouragement isn’t the backhanded compliment. Sometimes the truth is more helpful. We are not fans of giving out gold stars to kids for sucking. So, how about this? You’re doing much better than the last time, but you still have a way to go. Or, try something like: “Go ahead, try juggling some chainsaws; you’ll find out if you suck when you lose an arm.”
As a culinary blog, though, we try to encourage people as much as possible. While there is an art to cooking, it’s not brain surgery. So, when we say “You’re doing just great”, chances are we actually mean it. As long as you pay attention, you can probably cook. It’s a relatively forgiving thing. If you get too much color on an omelet: it’s toasted. If your souffle falls: it’s a pancake. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Precision is not an option (necessarily). There are so many variables when it comes to cooking. Even the temperature that water boils at is different depending on your altitude. You may think it boils at 212 degrees. But, that’s at sea level. If you are at Mile High stadium, it’s closer to 200. So, stop saying “I can’t do this”.
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Do we mean it when we say You’re doing just great?
As anyone who has ever taught a subject can attest, phrases like this may just be platitudes. When your voice coach says it, they probably have earplugs in. This person sings opera. I’m sure they’re sincere when you actually hit a true middle C. But, the rest of the time, they are cringing and asking why they aren’t making money like Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, or the other guy.
That’s why Simon Cowell is actually the best judge on his talent shows. He rarely candy coats things. Sometimes, it may seem rude. But, which is worse: Brutal honesty or insincere flattery that results in a person pursuing something they aren’t good at? Of course, he doesn’t have to be a dick about it. There are other ways to say things. At the same time, though, it serves as encouragement to either get better or pursue another line more suited to your talents. Constructive criticism is an art form. And, while he has the concept down, he has no artistry.
You can say “you’re doing just great” and actually mean it. When someone starts from a 1 out of 10, and reaches a 3, that is tripling their original effort. It still sucks. But, it’s going in the right direction. When it comes to cooking, if you aren’t breaking, burning, or spilling things, you’re well on your way. The one thing about cooking that many people miss is paying attention. All we ask is that you follow certain safety protocols. There are sharp implements, machines, super hot, super cold, and heavy or blunt objects in a kitchen. And, there are unseen dangers like microorganisms. But, as long as you respect the dangers and pay attention to what your doing, there’s no reason even the most timid people can’t cook well.
We need total Concentwation
As our friend from A Fistful of Yen points out, This is not a charade. We need total concentration. Those are words of encouragement. They recognize a deficiency, while pushing you too do better. Most of the time, when we come up short in an endeavor, it’s due to a lack of concentration. If you just “wing it”, it usually shows.
Another thing that holds people up is timidity. You always see recipes that tout a small number of ingredients. These are usually a cop out. I saw a 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe: Peanut butter, eggs, and sugar. Good luck getting those to stand up or taste right? Are we that lazy that we omit things like flour and salt? many of these recipes will say things like a can of soup, or a certain seasoning blend, or canned beans. That’s not one ingredient. That’s opening a can. Just because there are 8 or 10 ingredients doesn’t mean a recipe is difficult. Often, people build a mystique around food. They think the more ingredients, the harder it is. As long as you can chop, heat, and combine you are well on your way.
So, just because you see a dozen ingredients, don’t dismiss a recipe. Try grouping the ingredients into categories. Let’s take a soup recipe: chicken, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, peppers, mushrooms, Spinach, Broth, potatoes, thyme, bay leaf, basil, salt and pepper. You might see 15 ingredients…or.. you see chicken, broth, vegetables, and seasoning, 4 ingredients. Simple, easy peazy. All it takes is Total Concentration.
You got this
This website was founded on a simple premise: you can cook restaurant quality food at home. We don’t want you to stop going to restaurants. But, know that you can make things at home that are just as good. So, tonight, instead of making reservations, how’s about we make a tasty dinner? Here’s your day of encouragement: You got this! If you want a great steak, don’t go to an expensive steakhouse. They triple the price of the steak. You just need to start with a high quality steak. Try a local farmer’s market. Their meat is more expensive than supermarkets. But, you know where it comes from and how fresh it is. And, I’ll let you in on a little secret. You know how the steaks at steakhouses always seem so moist? It’s usually a pat of butter melted into the steak. You can do that at home too.
If steak is what you want, start with a simple marinade: Oil, garlic, fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Grille it over high heat. When it’s cooked, put it in a pan with some butter, and let the butter melt in. Bang, you just saved yourself an extra $30 to $50 for sitting at a restaurant.
But, I don’t want steak
That was just an example since steak houses are usually the highest price restaurants. But, the concept of keep it simple goes a long way. People can be pretty lazy. And, marketers reinforce lazy habits. Take vegan meat substitutes. They try telling you their product is healthier because it’s plant based. But, it’s been overly processed and loaded with preservatives and sodium to make it “taste like meat”. Why does it have to taste like meat? McDonald’s used to be proud that their burgers were 100% whole beef. Which means others were substituting ingredients to make it cheaper. Now you pay more for something that resembles meat, but isn’t? What’s wrong with this picture?
If you want good vegetarian food, just go straight to nature. Fresh whole fruits and vegetables, minimally processed, that’s the way to go. marinate and grill, saute, or bake Eggplant, squash, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, corn, or whatever is fresh. Roast, steam or boil some potatoes. Make a batch of rice or other grain. Let the food speak for itself. You can eat healthy tasty food while saving money. You can take a dozen ingredients to make a whole meal that is easy and quicker than going to a restaurant, getting seated, ordering, and receiving your food.
Feeling encouraged yet? You’re doing just great…
Jacques Pepin used to come to Boston to do Cooking demos. I remember attending his classes and leaving so inspired, I would go into work the next day and start creating dishes. People would say, “what are you doing?” The reply: “Jacquing off”. You can do the same. Go to the market. Look at all the produce. Think of what each item will taste like. Then, think of how they’ll taste together. You don’t even need a recipe. Look at what’s fresh and seasonal. Summer fruits, fall squashes, yams, golden, red, purple, and white potatoes, leafy greens, mushrooms, beans, legumes, the possibilities are endless.
There’s your encouragement. We encourage you to create. We can help too. we’ll give you a bit of a kick-start today with a couple simple recipes to get your juices going. So, if you feel encouraged to cook, pass on the feeling and encourage someone else in your life to get up and do something, anything! especially that no good teenager lounging on the couch playing video games. get a job ya bum. Now there’s some encouragement for ya’…
Heirloom Tomato gazpacho
Ingredients
- 4 Cups Fresh heirloom tomato, Cored and rough chopped
- 2 Cup Peeled and seeded cucumber
- 1 Cup Red Onion
- 2 medium Garlic Cloves
- 2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Jalapeno
- 2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Cilantro
- 1/4 cup Lime Juice
- 1/4 Cup Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp red Wine Vinegar
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Serve with Sour cream, creme fraiche, or unsweetened greek yogurt. Or use a vegan substitute for the cream You could also garnish with fine diced cucumber and tomato.
Lemon Tempura Vegetables with Ginger Plum Sauce
Equipment
- Fryer or pot to fry in
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 Lb Fresh Vegetables, green beans are a must, the rest is up to you: Eggplant, zucchini, carrots, Mushrooms, Broccoli, Onions, or more
- 1 Lb Rice Flour May substitute 1/2 AP flour and 1/2 cornstarch
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Bottle lager or pilsner beer, the lighter the better
- 1 Whole Lemon, just the zest and juice
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- For Dip:
- 1 Cup Whole Fresh Plums, pit removed
- 1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Ginger
- 2 Cup Seasoned Rice wine vinegar or Mirin
- 1/4 Cup Tamari Soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- Oil to fry
Instructions
- Make the plum sauce. Cut the plums into one inch pieces. Saute the plums and ginger, in a little bit of oil, over medium high heat until they begin to soften and break down. Add the mirin or rice wine vinegar and bring to a boil. Taper off to a simmer and cook until the liquid has reduced by about half and the plums are falling apart. Add the honey and tamari. Then blend until smooth. You can do this with an immersion blender in the pot or in a stationary blender. Cool down for service.
- Set up your frying station: Put at least 3 inches of oil in a pot on a stove or fill your frying machine to the proper level. Get your equipment together: Frying spiders, tongs, bowl to mix batter in, paper towels and pans or plates to dry the tempura on.
- Cut your vegetables. Green beans can be whole. For best results, try cutting everything in similar sizes so they will cook at about the same rate.
- make the batter: Whisk your egg. Add the flour, lemon juice and zest. and Begin whisking. Pour the beer in a little at a time, and continue whisking until the batter is at a consistency you like. You may want to add the whole beer or stop when it is a little thicker. Adding the whole beer will result in a pretty thin batter. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil to about 350 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, watch the oil. It will move freely about. drop a little batter in. If it bubbles up and forms a ball, your temperature should be about right. You can adjust the flame too. remember. when you add food in, the temperature of the oil will drop, so you can regulate the temperature by adjusting the flame.
- Dip your vegetables in the batter one at a time. Shake off extra batter and bring the dipped item to the oil. Swirl the item a little bit until it begins to float up a little bit. Then, let go and let it fry. repeat this step until you have an amount of vegetables in the pot that you feel comfortable keeping an eye on. You will notice that the underside of the vegetables will begin to get more color than the top. Flip the vegetables at this point to get an even color. Cook until golden brown, remove from the oil onto paper towels. Repeat this process until all the vegetables are done.
Notes
Cinnamon Rubbed Chicken Breast with Avocado Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Mustard Powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 to 2 Lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- 2 Tbsp Avocado Oil
- For Salsa:
- 1/2 Cup Diced Fresh Onion
- 1 Cup Diced Fresh Tomato
- 1 Cup Diced Fresh Avocado
- 1/4 Cup Lime Juice
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 Tbsp Avocado Oil
- 1/2 tsp Chopped Fresh garlic
- 1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Jalapeno
- 1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Cilantro
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix all the spices from the beginning of the recipe in a bowl. Rub the Spices on the chicken breasts. Save an extra spice mix for future recipes. Put the chicken in the fridge for at least 2 hours, up to a day.
- Make the salsa: Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Adjust seasonings as needed. Refrigerate until service. To prevent the avocado from discoloring, we recommend making the salsa closer to service time. You can mix all the ingredients except avocado ahead of time, though.
- Heat a little avocado oil in a saute pan over high heat. Carefully place the chicken breasts in the oil. Cook about 2 minutes per side to get a good color on them. If the breasts are very thick, you may want to transfer them to a sheet pan and finish in the oven. You want to cook them to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- When the chicken is cooked through, let it rest a couple minutes. Then, slice it into thin pieces and garnish with Avocado salsa.
Vanilla Mint Crepes with Grand Marnier Apricot and Cherry Flambe
Ingredients
- For the Crepes
- 2 Large Eggs
- 11/2 cup Light Cream
- 1 cup AP flour
- 2 Tbsp Melted unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pan spray for cooking
- For the Topping
- 1/2 stick Butter
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup pitted fresh rainier or other type of cherries
- 1 cup fresh apricots, pits removed and cubed
- 2 oz Grand Marnier
Instructions
- make the crepe batter: Whisk the eggs. Add in sugar and mint and continue whisking. Add the cream and vanilla. Continue whisking. Slowly add in the flour until it is well incorporated and there are no lumps. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.
- Heat a non stick pan over medium heat or use a crepe maker. A flat pan works best. Spray the pan with pan spray and carefully ladle the mix in in a thin layer, turning the pan to get maximum thin coverage. If it is too thick, it will be more of a pancake than a crepe. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute depending on your heat level. It should be golden brown on the bottom. The top should be just about cooked through. Then flip the crepe, either by hand or using a rubber spatula. Stack the crepes when done. repeat this process until all the batter is used up.
- make the flambe: Melt the butter over high heat and stir in the sugar. They will make a caramel syrup type of base. Add in the fruit and stir until well coated. Remove the pan from the heat and add in Grand Marnier. Dip the pan toward the flame and allow the flames to catch. This will result in a bluish flame. Burn off the alcohol and continue to cook about 30 seconds to a minute. The result will be fruit in a caramel syrup.
- Fold the crepes in quarters and arrange on a plate. Spoon the fruit and syrup over the crepes, garnish, and serve hot.
Notes
Eggplant, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Frittata with Tomato basil salad
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1 pt heavy cream
- 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
- 1 cup cooked spinach
- 1 cup diced eggplant
- 1/2 cup diced sweet onion
- 1/2 tsp Chopped fresh garlic
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Pan spray
- For Tomato Salad
- 2 cups diced fresh tomato
- 1 cup Diced Sweet Onion
- 2 Tbsp Chopped or julienne fresh basil
- 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Wilt spinach at high heat with a little oil, salt, and pepper. Strain excess liquid.
- Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over high heat until translucent. Add in eggplant, and brown it a bit. Season with salt and pepper.
- Whisk eggs in a bowl. Then add in cream, spices, salt, and pepper. Then fold in the rest of the frittata ingredients.
- Heat a cast iron pan in the oven. Spray with pan spray. Add in the eggs, etc. Put back in oven ad bake for 20 minutes. Check to make sure it is cooked all the way through. The mix should stand firm. Give it more time if needed.
- While the Frittata is baking, make the tomato salad bu tossing all ingredients together to be evenly coated with oil and vinegar.
- Let the frittata rest a few minutes before serving. Place a platter over the pan with the frittata. Then ivert. It should pop right out onto the platter. If not, carefully run a paring knife around the edges of to loosen the frittata. Once on the platter. garnish with the tomato salad.