Improving my cooking skills (2003)

[Jinmyo]

Tempura.

[MatthewB]

Tempura.

I'm convinced!

Japanese cuisine might be worth delving into, too.

[Jinmyo]

Japanese cuisine might be worth delving into, too.

Without question.

Korean as well.

And Thai.

But classical Japanese cuisine is at least on a par with French as far as subtlety and nuance go as well as bold and full flavours. The French have never really understood fish. The Japanese have never really understood dairy and meat.

Knowledge of both cuisines can deepen everything else one does.

[Dave the Cook]

I'm pretty content with producing simple home food.

You're too modest: the person whose only goal is to cook simple home food won't read the cookbooks you're reading.

However, where I've been caught is going to market, picking up the best & freshest stuff, & then returning home & finding recipes where I need to return to the market for additional ingredients.  That's what I'm trying to avoid.

I know: happens to me quite often. But i almost never shop for dinner without the laptop in my car. There i keep Word documents in which, while going through cookbooks, i write down the list of the important ingredients for most enticing/complicated dishes.

I fret over this stuff, too. I've been cooking for thitry years, and I still feel lost when I see something beautiful in the market -- I want to try this, but I have no idea what's involved. eGullet has helped me immeasurably in this regard, but I'm still far from fearless.

For this reason, because I cook for five people who need dinner on the table at a reasonable hour, and because I have a tight budget, I always do up a week's worth of menus, and try to stick to it. Deviation can easily throw the whole week into chaos.

The thing is, I think technolgy could solve this impulse-impairment problem. So Matthew, conquer charcuterie, bend bread to your will, or discover deep frying, but please also focus the power of your massive brain on linking the eGRA to an inventory of my kitchen, harnessing it to an awesome search and calculation engine, and pumping it all through a wireless network into the Handspring that would accompany me on my shopping trips.

Otherwise, I'll never have time to get through Complete Techniques.

Thank you. I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

[MatthewB]

Japanese cuisine might be worth delving into, too.

Without question.

Korean as well.

And Thai.

But classical Japanese cuisine is at least on a par with French as far as subtlety and nuance go as well as bold and full flavours. The French have never really understood fish. The Japanese have never really understood dairy and meat.

Knowledge of both cuisines can deepen everything else one does.

I can cook Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, & other nearby cuisines. (Don't tell anyone but I'd give up French food before I gave up Southeast Asian food.)

But I've never cooked any Japanese to speak of.

And no one's followed up on my mention of Indian. Replace Indian with Japanese on my working list?

[MatthewB]

The thing is, I think technolgy could solve this impulse-impairment problem. . . . linking the eGRA to an inventory of my kitchen, harnessing it to an awesome search and calculation engine, and pumping it all through a wireless network into the Handspring that would accompany me on my shopping trips.

This deserves its own thread.

Then again, maybe not. At least right now. Folks might demand it & we'd end up with AOOTT (Another One Of Those Threads).

[helenas]

Japanese, yes. One more reason to get this beautiful book: The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen

[MatthewB]

Yesterday afternoon I picked up Culinary Artistry, Cooking by Hand, & Pepin's memoir.

The first two fit the bill as far as improvisation. (Thanks for the recommendations! Helenas--Bertolli's book is a gem!)

And Pepin's cheese souffle from mama gets a try this weekend.

[Jinmyo]

St. Jacques' autohagiography "The Apprentice" is quite nice. But you should get Complete Techniques to receive the benediction and grace that flows from the thousands of photographs of his hands.

[MatthewB]

St. Jacques' autohagiography "The Apprentice" is quite nice. But you should get Complete Techniques to receive the benediction and grace that flows from the thousands of photographs of his hands.

Awhile back, I picked up the hardcover of Complete Techniques on a bargain closeout. It's about to come off the shelf.

[Jinmyo]

Wonderful.

It's old school but when it comes to learning, there's no better place to go than old school.

[alanamoana]

just because there are three thousand chinese restaurants to one of any other asian restaurant doesn't mean it should be ignored. where do you think all those other cultures' cooking originated? (well, i'm just telling you what my chinese mother tells me )

but really, if jean georges can't get it right at 66, it must be challenging enough. he had the cojones(sp) to say that the chinese have been doing it the same for 3,000 years and now it is his turn to make it better...well, after eating there i can tell you that my mother's (and my own crappy version) of chinese is a thousand times better than jean georges can ever produce...particularly since i don't think he's even present at any of his restaurants anymore.

but that digressed...you should try to master some basics

and i agree 100% with the charcuterie. particularly if you're working on it during the winter. can you imagine how much fat you can store?! i know how much i did this past winter

[MatthewB]

The puppy adores St. Jacques' maman's cheese souffle.

[Suzanne F]

Et toi?

[Jinmyo]

The puppy adores St. Jacques' maman's cheese souffle.

No no no.

The blessings are never to be found in recipes. St. Jacques' or anyone else's. These are the merely the deluded ramblings of the measurer and the mad mutterings of the accountant. Recipes are the Devil's "Little Black Book" of souls that have been lost.

The techniques.

It's the techniques. Et la methode, n'est pas?

[MatthewB]

Last night was quick, easy, & light after a huge lunch to celebrate my SO's father birthday. So my post concerning the souffle wasn't about the cooking education.

Just noting a yummy souffle!

[oraklet]

The puppy adores St. Jacques' maman's cheese souffle.  

No no no.

The blessings are never to be found in recipes. St. Jacques' or anyone else's. These are the merely the deluded ramblings of the measurer and the mad mutterings of the accountant. Recipes are the Devil's "Little Black Book" of souls that have been lost.

The techniques.

It's the techniques. Et la methode, n'est pas?

i think nigel slater's got it right. he gives you a recipe, and then tells you what is essential to a good result and what is not. and why. makes the reader think.

[MatthewB]

I think you'd be suprised at what you could accomplish if you just jotted down a few ideas (even a very simple one like "pork & apple") and attempted a simple dish around those pairings.  It can be scary as hell, no question, but if it's not good, you throw it away and try again, ordering pizza in that night. Nothing's really lost, and there's even knowledge to gain with each kitchen failure. Each success will make you more comfortable and confident and soon you'll be glancing over recipes, working only off the descriptions.

I'll bet you don't use recipes to scramble eggs or make an omelet, but rather add in what you want, leaving out what you don't - it's something that's probably very comfortable to those of us that find our way here. Different ingredients don't complicate things, it just makes it different.

Don't expect Thomas Keller, but rather something that's simply satisfying. I bet you have it in you.

Thanks for your encouragement to "riff." I did a fair amount of this last week & I've found out that I know more about this then I gave myself credit for. A nice lesson to learn.

[Stone]

FYI -- Autodidact.

[MatthewB]

If you have trouble finding The New Cook, let me know; I bought extra copies specifically to send to friends in need. 

I found a remainder of this today.

[sherribabee]

For dough, you could work your way through Baking with Julia -either the Basics chapter or the whole book, depending on your free time and current BMI- or The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Baking seems like such a natural thing to practice in the winter. I'm a happy camper with soup and bread for dinner in the winter. (Myself, I make the stock and soup, but buy the bread.) If you haven't perfected your stock skills yet, you could do that, too, then improvise to your heart's content on the soups.

I think I'll take you up on Baking with Julia. I have BB Apprentice & I've done a couple of recipes from it. I want to work more with that book.

FWIW, I'm pretty good at stocks & make stock on many Sunday mornings. I'm known for good soups & stews. Fresh bread is the next step, as you've noted.

I've just started the Baking with Julia book. Made...er, finished the croissants yesterday (it actually turned into a two-day project (I must read ahead next time)).

So I'd recommend working your way through that book, if for no other reason than I'm selfish and wouldn't mind having someone to commiserate...er, celebrate with.

[MatthewB]

I've just started the Baking with Julia book.  Made...er, finished the croissants yesterday (it actually turned into a two-day project (I must read ahead next time)). 

So I'd recommend working your way through that book, if for no other reason than I'm selfish and wouldn't mind having someone to commiserate...er, celebrate with.

I picked up Baking w/ Julia last week. I've browsed it & it looks great.

I'll be working through it so commiseration & celebration will be on our agenda.

Now I just have to get out of this cooking rut that I fell into this week.

[hannahcooks]

As soon as my copy arrives, I'll join y'all.

I love Jacques Complete Techniques, too- not that I ever plan on making a cucumber turtle, but it is nice to know I could if I wanted to.

[sherribabee]

I love  Jacques Complete Techniques, too- not that I ever plan on making a cucumber turtle, but it is nice to know I could if I wanted to.

I have that at home -- it was a gift. I've picked it up a few times, stared at it, briefly contemplated it, and promptly returned it to its rightful spot on the shelf, where I imagine it will forever stay. It's intimidating.

[Rachel Perlow]

Might Dornenburg & Page's Culinary Artistry move me in the direction that I think I need to go in?  (Or should I not even concern myself with "cooking without a recipe"?)

The Culinary Artistry book is good in that it has abundant ideas for flavor pairings, some that might not be so obvious until you read them and have one of those "hey, yeah" moments. Great book that I take off the shelf a couple of times a year to just browse for inspiration.

Just a reminder that Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page are online for an eGullet Q&A right now.