just cooking things things i've picked up as i've started having fun in the kitchen again:
best rule of thumb for improv food-in-a-pan is "have i had a dish that combined these two things? did i like it?" answer to both should be yes, but if the first question is a no, refer to the second rule of thumb.
second rule of thumb is the nose knows. give everything a big sniff -- if it smells good together, you're (probably) golden. you're not necessarily not golden if you don't like what it smells like in the meantime, but you should probably know what you're doing otherwise in that case.
a bechamel sauce is made from a ratio of one tablespoon of butter to one tablespoon of flour to one cup of milk (multiply or divide as needed). melt the butter in the bottom of the pan, then add the flour and whisk for ~1-2 minutes, until it's light and bubbly, then add the milk and whisk continuously until it boils. turn off the fire AS SOON AS IT BOILS, or it'll curdle. (the texture will be ruined; it'll still be safe to eat, though, so if you're not aiming for perfection and fine with a little grittiness, you're fine.) from there, you can add spices/herbs (parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, dried onion, garlic powder are some of my faves; turmeric (yellow) and paprika (red) can be used for color too if you want), salt/pepper, grated cheese, whatever. a extremely basic cream sauce that can be used in casseroles, over pasta, over veggies, that kind of thing.
if you're breading something (that thing where you dunk meat/veggie/whatever in liquid and then breadcrumbs), coat the thing you're dunking in flour or cornstarch before dunking it in the liquid. the covering will hold together and stick way better.
if you want to thicken a sauce, both flour and cornstarch work. flour is grittier and opaque. cornstarch is smoother and gelatin-like. flour goes in the liquid just as is, is whisked through, and then stirred gently until it thickens. cornstarch needs to be stirred into roughly an equivalent amount of water before adding it to a hot sauce, and only thickens once the sauce is at a boiling point. the amount will depend on how thick you want it, how much sauce you have, etc. but a tablespoon of flour to a cup of liquid or a tablespoon of cornstarch to two cups of liquid are very roughly the sorts of ratios you're looking at.
chicken is juicier if you cook it quickly at high heat. red meat gets tender if you cook it slowly at a lower heat.
"deglazing" a pan is where you add a liquid after cooking something else (usually meat, but not necessarily) and use it to dissolve all the crusted/caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, which then can be used as (or used to make) a really nice sauce. common liquids are red or white wine or beef/chicken/vegetable stock. i like adding a little bit of butter at that stage too, but that's a me thing. doing it with, say, mushrooms or tomatoes (or both) is entirely possible, because they have a lot of liquid to give.
on adding wine to sauces or soups:
it adds a really lovely richness to them, do recommend.
the cheapest wine you can find (like the stuff that's <$5) is usually just fine.
MAKE SURE TO LET IT COOK OFF FOR AT LEAST A FEW MINUTES.
and this is by no means a hard-and-fast rule, but my inclinations are towards red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat.
worcestershire sauce. to not underestimate its Sheer Deliciousness. add to things like marinara or meatballs or meatloaf or gravy. amazing.
tofu can be pressed just fine without a press, just wrap it in paper towels or kitchen towels and put it between two plates orcutting boards, and weight the top half with like... whatever's lying around. cans from the pantry are traditional.
also, dunking slices of tofu in soy sauce and sprinkling it with garlic powder before frying it for a few minutes in a bit of oil has gotten voracious rave reviews in my household, so make of that what you will.
if you have a garlic press, not peeling the garlic before you put it in there will make it much less painful to clean out at the end -- just pull the husks free and clean from there.
if you need to chop it, smash the unpeeled cloves under the flat of your knife (or under a glass or whatever) and it'll make just fishing the husks out much easier -- chopping can happen from there
minced garlic is sold in jars and is much less strong than fresh garlic, but can be used just as well (i usually double or triple what's asked for -- it's not quite as delicious, but it works). if you're using a recipe that says to 'cook until fragrant', skip that step. with minced garlic, all you'll have are little rocks of Burned Bits.
they also sell pre-peeled garlic in most of the grocery stores i've been to. just putting that out there.
above all, cooking is the process of designing an experience that you and/or others will enjoy, and gain necessary fuel from. all of this is VERY much down to preference and what sorts of experiences you like. aim for that, and take everything else with a grain of salt.
snowghoul
stormborns
2087
pixelskylines
