Cooking Tips
My mother began to teach me how to cook and shop for groceries starting at age 6 years of age. By the age of 12, I did all of the cooking and marketing. Sounds like a bit of a stretch, however, she was the daughter of full blooded, immigrant, Swiss parents, and was raised to value self-sufficiency plus resourcefulness. I thank my grandparents for those values everyday.
After high school, I went to visit an old friend in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Thought I would stay a few weeks. It turned out to be 5 years. I discovered Country Music and met Country Music, radio host, Buford Kegley and began to sing with his boy band. All the while, falling in love with Southern culture. I worked as a waitress, at a small country cafe, high on a mountain top. The ladies I worked with were serious country cooks. I ate well, and learned how a small restaurant was run. When I started my first year in college I became a banquet waitress at a large mountain Inn. There I learned how a corporate restaurant was run.
After graduation, I went home to Los Angeles and became a banquet manager at the 24 acre, Ambassador Hotel and Coconut Grove. I learned that there were dozens of cooks, chefs, and departments working, round- the-clock shifts, catering to the hotel’s daily clientele, which included street customers, banquets, weddings, and private parties. All said, I learned the simplicity of country cooking and the complexity of the Michelin Star dream.
The length of my culinary experience has taught me four important factors regarding Home Cooking.
Foods Needs To Be:
1. Flavorful
2. Simply prepared
3. Economical
4. Healthy
1. Flavorful:
Spices are the magic in your mix. If you are just learning to cook, with limited funds, then these are my six, must have, spices for your kitchen, aside from sea salt.
For: Eggs, Veggies, Chicken, Fish, Meats
Spices
Cumin
Chipotle
Paprika
Thyme
For: Salads
Spice
Tarragon
For: Eggs, Veggies, Chicken, Fish, Meats
Spice
Cayenne pepper
If you are unfamiliar with cayenne pepper, I will tell you, that just a PINCH of it, in anything that you make, will take it over the top. It increases the flavor of the dish with a hit of heat. This can include fruit salads including baked goods. Cayenne should not be used in every dish that you serve. Just a select item in the meal will do.
These six spices will allow you to mix and match and explore your possibilities with food combinations. If you’re unfamiliar with them, just put a little bit on different spoonfuls of food, as a test, to check for taste.
If you are a more established cook, with more available spending, three words for you.
La Boite Spices
Created by Chef and the Spice Master,
Lior Lev Sercarz. He has created dozens of amazing blends. Many, originally created, for Chefs in the Michelin Star World of 5-Star Cooking. See the book: “The Art Of Blending” laboiteny.com
To date, I have 80, such blends, including individual spices. They infuse my simple menu of legumes, beans, veggies, fish, chicken, and meats, with delightful flavors, never experienced before.
Lior’s spices are handcrafted and so fresh that you will never buy market spices again. The jars are filled to the brim, making the price very worthwhile. I buy two times a year, at the winter and spring sales.
If you are on limited funding, I suggest that you start your collection with the following selections.
For: Salads, Cooked/Baked/Vegetables
Spice
Lula
For: Vegetables, Chicken, Fish and Meats
Spice
Izak
Ararat
Salvador
Siam
Penang
Lemon Myrtle
You may not be familiar with lemon myrtle, Do not let that deter you. Once you use it in your cooking you will ask yourself,
“Where has this spice been all my life?”
2. Simply Prepared:
My secret for healthy, simply prepared, fast meals, is based upon my prepping and cooking 1-2 full days a month. I turn the music up, pour myself something to drink, and begins to washed the vegetables in grapefruit seed GSE extract. Then steam them less than 1 minute or, 3 minutes, depending on the vegetable I’m steaming. You do not want to cook the vegetables through. They should be par-cooked, still a bit crunchy, because you’re going to freeze them. When you go to use them in the future, they will only have to heat up and they will be the perfect texture. No overcooking here.
I do this for all of my jalapeno peppers, poblano peppers, chopped leeks, white/yellow onions, Swiss chard, and spinach. You can do the same thing with other vegetables that you might grow, or buy frozen to save time on peeling and chopping. If you have a large family, you know, time is of a premium. When they have cooled I spread them flat into one gallon freezer bags. These bags can stack upon themselves in the freezer without taking much room. Keeping them flat allows you to break off a piece, if you’re just making a small meal.
I pre-cook many kinds of beans, legumes,
polenta, mashed potatoes, etc., and freeze them the same way. I always have meals ready, in the freezer, of any combination I might want.
3. Economical:
There is a little trick, with chicken and meat, that I’ve developed, to save money as well as time.
Chicken/Beef/Meats:
Save money buying, skinless, chicken thighs. They are less costly and are more flavorful. Put them in a frying pan with a little bit of oil and saute them for 8 minutes, per side with medium heat. They should be just a touch pink. When you remove them from the heat they will continue to cook. Let them cool down, then chop them up. Put the chopped, cooled, pieces into your Cuisinart spin, and tap the pulse button four or five times. Then you can push the pulse button down and let the Cuisinart spin until the chicken becomes powdery. You can leave it in powdery form, or you can continue until it becomes more of a pate like paste. Don’t over process.
I then put this mixture into a one gallon freezer bags and flatten them out. Using my hand, I can crease through the bag and through the paste making serving size squares. These go into the freezer. When you’re getting ready to make a meal, you can pull these out and put them in a pan that has heated up your beans, or vegetables.Within 4 minutes the meat pate will be ready to serve, along with the rest of your meal.
The heated squares can be used to make quick sandwiches and be put on top of salads. It’s a an amazing time saver. You will use less meat in the serving process, saving money. Additionally, they are very convenient for young children and older adults, with less chewing ability. If you have capped or crowned teeth it also assists in chewing.
It’s very important not to overcook the meat in the reheating process. 4 minutes is just about right at medium heat. The process for beef and other meats is the same. The timing for an 8 oz steak is probably 5 minutes on each side, if you want medium. Just like steaming the vegetables, you want it just this side of being done, because you will be reheating it, and then it turns out perfectly cooked.
When serving a lunch, I will cover the plate with salad. Drizzle it with walnut oil, or sesame seed oil, or avocado oil and then a vinegar, depending on what I’m serving. I do not use olive oil on my serving dishes because it stains our clothing. Avocado oil is a better choice because it doesn’t stain plus it can take high temperatures. And almost has the same complexity and vitamins almost as olive oil. I do bake with olive oil because it brings a softness to the cakes and muffins I make.
After the salad is put on the plate, I then put beans, or lentils into the center of the plate. I top that with the crumbled meat patty. Then I top that with fresh diced red onions, or steamed leeks, or steamed Swiss chard, or spinach that has been previously frozen. Any kind of vegetable that you choose.
I use a range of vinegars from rice, champagne, red wine, and sherry vinegars including balsamic.You will eventually, through taste, learn which vinegar will go with which type of beans, lentils, or vegetables that you’re serving. I like rice vinegar with mung beans. Red wine vinegar with tomato based lentils, champagne vinegar with fruit salads and Sherry with spicy dishes and balsamic with chicken. It’s all a matter of taste. You will eventually create your own combinations.
When it comes to economical cooking, I recommend buying in bulk, when pantry items are on sale. If they’re not on sale, you can ask the market if they’ll give you 10% off, if you buy a case. If you shop at Walmart or Costco that is already taken into consideration in their pricing.
The real saving Grace is the website: vitacost.com
They already sell anything you can buy in a market or drugstore at a lower price plus they send you coupons each month for the categories of food, sports, herbs, 20% off they’re already lower price. It’s free to sign up and they will give you 20% off your first order. Shipping is free after $49. If you are in college you can combine a roommate’s order with yours and easily meet that level. I ordered most things from them to include drugstore items. Saves driving time and money. They have several categories of coupons: Food, Sports, Herbs, and All-Site.
4. Healthy:
Eat five fruits and soluble vegetables a day. Easy to do. One at breakfast, two at lunch and two at dinner. These can, also be put into a smoothie. Recommend:
Garden of Life Meal Replacement.
Vitacost.com If you can afford it, choose organic meats and produce. Note: the category for this particular product on vitacost.com is under Sports not Food. Look for the coupon that is for Sports, when ordering this for the 20% discount.
Keep in mind, that you need more water to drink than you think. Our bodies are approximately 60% water. The next time you go to reach for a cup of coffee, a sugary soda, or alcohol, THINK Water. You will be rewarded. The filtered water we drink is Life Giving. If we view the food we eat as Sacred, and the body as a Temple, we will give more thought to the ART of Cooking than ever before. Bon Appetit.
If you are new to cooking, choose the first two cook books to buy. The other cook books listed are for experienced cooks, with international recipe choices.
Click: The photos below will enlarge.
Disclaimer: There no receipt of company funding for any recommendations made on this website