6 Things to Consider for the Beginner and the Seasoned Cook

I hear a lot from people who want to get into cooking, but don't know where to start. In general, the question is a very broad one, and one I put a lot of thought into considering the goal of this whole operation is to help people cook more.
Over time I've come up with a few key concepts to keep in mind when getting into cooking. The more I consider these tips, however, the more they influence my own practices. So while they are intended to help people fall in love with cooking, they might help others rekindle the flame.
Here they are.

1. Keep it simple
When jumping into any preparation, keeping it simple will go a very long way.
- You buy less ingredients, spend less money, and are left with fewer specialty ingredients that sit in your pantry for ages
- the process is easier: less prepping/chopping, cooking, and clean up
- Less room for error. A botched effort can leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.

2. Stick to what you know
At least in the beginning! When you understand what the final product of your efforts should be, the process somehow is more intuitive. When your mind understands the particular flavor profile of say . . . a tomato sauce, or a Vietnamese salad (depending on your upbringing) it will make make more sense to you why a dish might not work out. Maybe it needs salt, sweetness, or a squeeze of lime.
Staying in a familiar arena will help you develop a method for understanding taste, and how to adjust it to your liking. As opposed to when a recipe foreign to you doesn't work, it's much harder to understand why.
Once you have this down pat is when you can start to scribble outside the lines.

3. Adjust as you go
Monitor the process! Every kitchen is different, tools are diverse, and ingredients will vary a lot. As you cook, taste a lot and be aware of changes throughout the process: react accordingly. Many people simply execute a recipe and expect a result, but it just doesn't work that way. You have to learn to adapt as you cook.

4. Do it for you
This kind of relates to keeping it simple, I find a lot of peoples' first efforts are for groups of people. This is a risky undertaking. It distracts from the process, and introduces a lot of variables, meaning it's more likely to bomb. It could be embarrassing. All things that might prevent one from cooking more.
Cook for yourself (and maybe a friend/partner/spouse/etc.) It makes it more enjoyable, and let's you take more away from the procedure.

5. Buy quality
I say it over and over again, better ingredients translate to better food. Of course you have to prioritize this a little. A very common question is "How do I make great tomato sauce?" and the answer is simply, "With good tomatoes." Whatever the recipe, it wont be great with mediocre tomatoes. Again, this is much easier to do when keeping it simple.

6. Screw it up
You're going to fail. New to cooking or not, you'll bomb from time to time. It's the best way to learn and hone the practice moving forward.
You'll realize your boundaries and how to test them. You'll find your groove and develop a true love for cooking.
Just don't miss the learning opportunity that failure presents.

Open Ended Mac & Cheese

Who doesn't love a good mac & cheese. Like the horizontal mambo, even a bad one is still pretty good. It's one of the few food items in America that people have an opinion about. Like a mother's tomato sauce in Italy or a grandma's hummus from anywhere in the middle east, people across the states debate the way mac & cheese should be. In the oven or on the stove top? Saucy or gooey? Eggs or no eggs? With topping or without?
Like many Americans, my first impression of macaroni & cheese came from a box. (which I still indulge in from time to time for posterity's sake) So for me it's a saucy concoction made on the stove top. Though these days I go for a little more flavor than my original.
This recipe has a base cheese sauce that's good on just about anything. The recipe is perfect for a one pound box of pasta. I like cavatappi in particular, it's reminiscent of elbows, but longer for substance and with ridges to hold onto the sauce. I'm always tempted to put some hot sauce in with the cheese mixture, but you have to avoid this as it can make the cheese separate. Lastly, I included and "accent cheese" so you can make it your own. Put in whatever cheese floats your boat or sub in some more cheddar for strait old school.

Mac & Cheese

5 tbsps Butter
4 tbsps All Purpose Flour
1 qt. Milk
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp mustard powder

1 Cup Gruyere, grated
1 Cup Sharp Cheddar, grated
¼ cup accent cheese (Parmagiano Reggiano, Blue Cheese, stinky cheese: Tallegio, Camembert)

1 lb. Pasta

1. Melt the butter over medium heat until bubbling. Whisk in the flour. Cook for 5 minutes continuing to stir with a wooden spoon or spatula being sure to scrape the bottom of the pot. (you're making a roux here by the way)
2. Add the milk and whisk vigorously. Bring to a simmer, whisk in the garlic and mustard powder and cook for 8 more minutes.
3. Add the cheese, kill the heat, and stir gently until the cheese is completely melted.
4. To complete, simply follow the directions on whatever you deem to be the best pasta for the job. Stir the 1 pound of cooked pasta into cheese sauce and your ready to go.

The roux, the cheese sauce, and the final product . . . mmmm!


Note: I like it best straight out of the pot. You could put this in a casserole dish and reheat in the oven, but I find it heats better in a pan with a splash of milk. It keeps the sauce nice and creamy.

For a topping I slowly toast 1 cup of panko in 3 tbsps of butter and
then toss in some herbs. Each helping then gets a healthy dusting.
HOWEVER, crushed kettle cooked potato chips make a great topping as well.

New Amsterdam Market

This coming Sunday (June 27^th) I’m going to be stationed down at the New Amsterdam Market -fielding cooking questions as usual. If you like food and haven’t been, then you need to go.

First off it’s a great market, the list of vendors goes on and on. You need to show up hungry and plan on leaving with a snack in your pocket and grub to cook dinner - if there’s still room.

Secondly, it’s a great market to support. A non-profit organization aimed at revitalizing what an American marketplace once was; a crossroads for great people and great products. The New Amsterdam Market has its heart set on building this bazaar in what used to be the Fulton Street Fish Market. Such a venture could be more of an asset for the culture of our great city than condos and offices with a view.

Lastly, as I said before, I’m gonna be there to help you find your way through the place. So come on down and pay us a visit.

**If you have a kind heart and some extra time The New Amsterdam Market is looking for some helping hands to help facilitate all of the yummy do-gooding. To inquire email info@newamsterdammarket.com

Summer's Easiest Hors d'oeuvre

Summer's backyard BBQ's and picnics have their hosts scrambling for menu ideas that coincide with the casual environment while still being dressed to impress.
One of my favorite summer treats meets all of these criteria with hardly any effort at all; a do-it-yourself platter of crispy radish slices around an array of compound butters and some nice salt.
A suped up butter is the perfect thing to cut through that unique residual heat that radishes have, topped off with a pinch of coarse sea salt to accent the experience.

Plain butter works just fine, but I like some variations. You can make the butters up to a few days in advance, just be sure to set them out so they soften up a little for easy spreading. Here are a few ideas; in each instance bring 1 stick of butter to room temp and mix well in a food processor with the listed ingredients.

Anchovy - 1 tbsp anchovy paste+1 tbsp shallot minced
Lemon Caper - Juice & Zest of 1 lemon+1 tsp capers+1 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
Mint - 1 cup mint leaves, chopped
Blue Cheese - 1/4 Cup of Strong blue cheese (Gorgonzola, Stilton, Maytag, Cabrales, etc.)
Coriander & Fresh Turmeric- 1/2 tsp coriander (freshly toasted and ground if you can) + 2 inches fresh turmeric grated.

A little too much anchovy butter, some coarse sea salt and a
little sage leaf make for a perfect bite.