Home Chef Cooking Tips

I’ve always loved to cook.

I can still remember going to my aunt’s hoping that she made the warm Chic Pea Salad that I enjoyed so much. As I got a little older (into middle school) I eventually asked her for the recipe, figuring that I’d have my mother make it for me. But when my aunt started to give me tips, thinking that I was going to be making it, I thought ‘why not’. So when that first salad came out tasting pretty good, I suddenly thought I could cook anything (why not, I was only ~14).

A few years later when we were given the option of taking either Shop, or Home Economics – I obviously selected Home Ec. I didn’t hurt that my father was a carpenter, and having been raised with a hammer in my hand, there wasn’t much I was going to learn in Shop anyway. It didn’t take long before I started buying cookbooks to find more interesting recipes, after all you can only make grilled cheese and banana bread so many times before you start to get bored.

So I was off and cooking. I learned the most after I graduated college and got my first apartment. Having to cook every meal, I was always wanting to try something new. It was here that I really started collecting recipes from cookbooks, magazines, newspapers, relatives, etc. This was also the time I purchased most of cooking equipment (knives, pots & pans, food processor, Kitchen Aide mixer, etc), after all I was single and still had some disposable income (unlike today, with a house and twins). Anyway, it was during this time that learned some basic, and not so basic, lessons and tips about cooking that I continue to follow today.

Although it all started with a fairly simply Chic Pea Salad, I’ve done most everything from spending all day making my own pasta sauce with meatballs and bracciole (what can I say, I’m Italian), to preparing mini English muffin (and regular) pizzas with my kids. I’ve found cooking to be not only lots of  fun, but also very rewarding. Aside from the fact that all of your meals aren’t either fast food or frozen, you’ll have the self confidence of knowing that if you taste something in restaurant that you really like, you can probably make it yourself. As far as I’m concerned, the only way to get better at something, is to learn from someone who knows more than you do. This probably explains why I started watching cooking shows/chef’s like The Frugal Gourmet, Lidia’s Bastianich, Jacques Pepin, Mario Battali, Emeril Lagasse, and most recently even Iron Chef and Top Chef.

Being a wholly self taught, home cook (I am not a professional chef) I’ve learned quite a few things (some the hard way) about cooking, and thought I’d share it so others wouldn’t have to make some of the same mistakes I have.

So I hope you enjoy – and maybe pick up a new favorite recipe, or even give me one of your favorite tips or recipes.