Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer – 10 tips every cook should know

Being in the kitchen whether you’re a 5-star Michelin chef or a home ‘cook’ that can barely boil water, knowing the basics and what works/what doesn’t is really helpful.  Just like you Mom and Dad shared with you their best tips based off of their experiences I’m going to share with you mine that I’ve learned or discovered over the years.  So on today’s Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer I’m sharing with you 10 tips every cook should know!

1. Mise en place – “Mise en place” in French translates to ‘everything in place’. When you are cooking or baking you want to make sure that you have all of your ingredients out ahead of time rather that stopping multiple times during developing the dish to go get this or that.  Kind of like if you took your car in to get oil.  You would expect them to get all of the parts out ahead of time before they put your car up in the air right?  I mean you wouldn’t want them to jack your car up and then say “Oh we don’t have the oil so we need to wait for it to arrive.”  It’s same in cooking.
2. A sharp knife –  I can’t not stress to you the importance to having a sharp knife.  You can get cut easier and worse from a dull knife than a sharp one.
3. Salt – yes salt.  Salt is used in both sweet and savory dishes. Whether it’s cookies or roasts, salt can elevate a dish. Start off with a pinch. You can always add, you can never truly take away.
4. Taste as you go – yes, it sounds simple but trust me you would not believe how many people do not taste their food as they are cooking it. And please, for the love of God, use clean spoons (unless you’re the only one eating it).
5. Sear meats – searing meat locks in all of the juices and moisture.  However don’t keep it over the flame.  Once the meats are seared on all sides then finish it up in the oven.  No one wants rubbery chicken or steak that’s like shoe leather.  This is the secret behind my globally loved New York Strip recipe!
6. Butter and oil – Butter adds such a great richness to a dish however have you ever tried to cook in butter?  99% of the time it ends up burning.  To prevent this, add oil. You want a 1:1 ratio of butter and oil.
7. Batters – when baking only mix until the ingredients are just barely combined.  You never want to over mix the batter as the longer you mix it the more air you incorporate in it and the more gluten you develop in the flour.  Gluten in baking is bad as you’re making it chewy.
8. Crowds are not fun in cooking – crowding the pan is a bad idea because what you’ll end up doing is instead of say frying that chicken, you’ll end up steaming it. Sure the inside will be moist but the outside will be a rubbery soggy mess.  You need air flow around the food.
9. Don’t be afraid of making a mess – We’re human, we all screw up a recipe but the key is to not be afraid to try.  Experiment and go beyond your comfort zone. It’s OK if the dish isn’t perfect right out of the gate.  Practice, practice, practice.  Trust me, I know not one single person that makes perfect food every single time. There were months that I couldn’t pan fry a piece of chicken to save my soul but I kept at it.
10. CLEAN AS YOU GO!!! – OMG NOTHING irks me more than a messy workstation.  And for the love of God do NOT put dirty dishes on the floor!  Keep a pan of hot soapy water ready, a garbage bin close by and if you’re done with something put it away.  Wipe off your counters as you go.