Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I recently discovered rouxbe.com, and now I can make an omelet. When you're mostly self-taught (or at least generally lacking an all-might kitchen master to ask for guidance, it helps beyond belief to have a good video.

Food tv is entertainment, perhaps the occasional idea for a recipe. But this website is 100% about clear, detailed accurate instructional videos for technique. I watched the videos on sauteing, steaks, and omelets, and learned some things I'd never even heard of before (the water test for sauteing--not the same as for pancakes--and flipping steaks frequently if you're cooking them in a pan: I had no idea).

So that's my newly acquired tip: if you're not sure how to do something or not sure you're doing it right or even if you're doing it right but you don't fully understand why, this website is an excellent resource.

It's produced by some Canadian association, and unfortunately I just saw that the "Cooking School" videos are only free for 30 days; then you have to buy a pretty expensive membership. They have shorter, more specific videos that remain free.

I'm not a shil, either, I'm not Canadian at all.

Technique is important. There's a reason (for example) that when you bake a cake or muffins that you put things into the bowl in a certain order, and that you mix it at certain stages.

I know someone whose cakes always turn out the same, and we're talking about "not so good" the same. And I wondered how she could use so many recipes and end up with virtually identical results.

Basically, she dumps everything in a bowl together and mixes. No fluffing of the eggs or sifting of the dry or any other time-tested step. There's no way she's going to dirty a second bowl.

If you talk to someone who has cooked a dish for a number of years, they'll tell you to add something until it looks (or feels or tastes) right. That's because ingredients differ a lot. One can of tomatoes can be a lot more acidic than the next, and when you're talking about fresh produce, there are even more differences. When you're working with flour, one batch might absorb a lot more liquid than the next. Eggs are different sizes. They have to average out to a certain size, per carton, to be graded a particular size, but within th carton, there will be some variation.

So you really need to learn how things should look and feel and taste. And that takes experience. Videos and illustrated books and TV shows can help a lot. But if you're cooking something outside your comfort zone, it really helps to get some hands-on help and instruction.

Once you know how things should be at various stages, it makes it a lot easier to improvise. And when you know what things can be added, removed or substituted, you can make endless variations of things.

Maybe the best thing to endear yourself to your BFs mother would be to NOT try to impress her with your cooking, but to ask for her help in making a few things. Ask her what her son's favorite dishes are, and spend a few afternoons with her, learning how to cook those things her way. She'll probably be more impressed that you're asking for help and willing to spend the time learning, than if you showed up with a souffle in one hand and a roast turkey in the other.

I second that food tv is entertainment, but you can also learn some tips and tricks from there - even watching how they slice something a particular way can be helpful

There's a pretty good magazine called "CUISINE" that does a good job of showing you step-by-step photos of dishes. Start trying some basic classic recipes- omelets, simple roasts, a nice soup or chowder- and really pay attention and go SLOW when you cook.

Also, nothing beats using in-season, totally fresh ingredients. Good lettuce, a knock-out Parm, some really good olive oil - truly makes huge differences. Respect your ingredients and they'll reward you.

I spent an afternoon a few years back watching a Ukrainian woman who barely speaks English make her signature borscht recipe. I walked out of there filled, happy, and with tears in my eyes at the awesome privilege of watching her cook. Find someone with the knowledge and ask them to show you. Don't be afraid to ask to learn.

Learn from the Masters. By that I mean people you are close to who are good cooks...perhaps a Grandmother or an Aunt or even your BF's mother...ask for a Saturday afternoon with them in the kitchen for some "lessons" -- chances are they will feel flattered by your request and be more than willing to spend quality time with you in this way. Learn their signature dishes and watch closely. I've learned some of my best stuff and tried and true recipes from watching my grandmothers.

I think I am summarizing what everyone one else has said at this point...practice, education (web, magazine, etc.), more practice and ingrained in me from years of being a scientist...make a plan and take notes ...what went wrong, what you could change or do/make better. Finally, fearlessness and persistence - I can't tell you the number of times I took on food endeavors and failed miserably, taking a toll on my pride, pocketbook and time. But without fail, I am trying it again a couple months later...I refuse to be bettered by anything in the kitchen.

My personal thing is that everything needs to be seasoned - adobo or any other seasoning mix (salt/pepper/oregano) is the key for it to taste good. I season tofu, vegetables, root vegetables (viandas), in fact, anything I cook...

A tbs of SOFRITO , into anything - a stew, a pasta, a fritter, a soup, a sauce or even rice made in a rice cooker - makes everything taste even better.

Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking

I agree with everything above. The one thing I would add to this is timing. My kids and I laugh about the last sheet of cookies that always is burned, as usually I am distracted with cleaning up. It is especially hard to pay attention to timing when you have guests. My personal cooking tip is to set a timer and get a digital meat thermometer that beeps.

Marinate, baby, marinate!!!

the best advise i have for the kitchen is alway's have a sense of humor and take out menus with in reach. and buy the good bandaid brand.

Not really secret or personal, but: when people's food tastes better than yours, it's usually because they're using more fat and more salt than you are.

I learned if I am going to make something for company, I make something that I already know how to make. Something brand new to me I will either make it before hand to see how it looks, tastes, ect. and then if all goes well then make it again for company, otherwise stick what I know best.

the best advice I can pass on for cooking is the same as alot of others, enjoy yourself and play with your food! It's not rocket science, if what you make is a flop, well do it differently next time. Its food not life and death. oh yeah always keep pb and j on hand for nono nights ;-)

@healthygirl - if it would make you feel better, offer the MIL something simple that you've done before..... you can always experiment with one aspect of the meal.... like a crazy salad or a dessert that showcases your creative side.... hopefully she will appreciate the effort.

the first time i cooked for my x-FIL who was an old world sicilian grouch, he practically spit the food out. but i kept on going .... i was too determined to copy my x-MIL's cooking, she was a fantastic cook .... and eventually after much experimentation, trial and error - am able to cook food that people seem to like, myself included.

Be forewarned that some people are never happy. My MIL is an amazing Italian cook, but everything she cooks is carbs and cheese. When the in-laws visit, we try to serve healthier fare that my husband and I both love. My FIL will clean his plate, but no matter how delicious it is, my MIL always has a complaint. Some times, you can't win. Just try your best and make something delicious so that at least you and your BF will enjoy it!

My favorite idea so far is to ask your MIL for help and to spend time cooking with her. I can't think of a better way to bond. If she's any kind of nice human at all, she'll be impressed by your willingness to learn and flattered that you want to learn from her. If she's not nice, maybe she'll be impressed by your willingness to grovel.

Good quality, fresh ingredients always help.
I like the epicurious.com website for new recipes because the reviews aren't just forks, they're actually comments also, that tell me if a recipe is worth trying and if it needs to be tweaked at all. Of course I always end up tweaking anyways, but if it's something I've never attempted, it's nice to have a working recipe.
Play, play, play and rely on your sniffer. I believe it was Julia who said if it smells done it probably is--and that has saved me from burning things in the oven when I've forgot to set a timer or look at the clock.
The microplane is my easy way out for mincing garlic, onion or ginger to a paste as well as producing mounds of fluffy parmigiano.

My biggest tip is to think about what you want to do better and go from there--- For me personally it was kind of a broad thing, rather than "I want to learn to make a cherry pie." For me, my biggest cooking problem is the time factor (lack of, mainly). So I thought about what I could do to improve that, rather than buy prepackaged/microwave things. I researched recipes for my sorely under-used crock pot so that my dinner could be cooking itself while I was at work. I also invested in a nice pressure cooker, which has really expanded my options for meals after work (when I tire of stews and casseroles and other crock pot-ish things). Learning these kinds of techniques has really helped my creativity, because now that I know a basic technique I am more able to think about how to use that for something different.

Music. I cook much better to music than without. It helps put me in the zone where I can do no wrong. For me, a play list made up of The Wailin' Jenny's, Crooked Still, Patty Griffin and Ryan Adams pretty much guarantees a good meal.

Oh, that, and not turning things until they're ready. It is my own personal battle. It's ridiculously hard for me to wait the 2 minutes necessary each side when browning meat for stews, roasts, etc.

my secret, dont make a recipe that uses another recipe to complete it, thats too much for me to handle!

Poverty. I love to eat good food, and it's cheaper to make it. After awhile, my cooking was better than most restaurants, and bakery goods left a funny taste in my mouth.

I never use "phony" ingredients, like fake sugar, fake butter, no-fat milk, aka fake milk (in my house, anyway).

Timing is learned through experience, but the older I get the more I appreciate a good timer or two (I forget!), and my digital probe thermometer so meats are roasted or grilled perfectly every time. It also helps that the alarm is really loud. That forgetting thing again. I'm not that old, am I?

HG78 - I saw your comment about drowning fish in olive oil and thought to myself.."Is she following a recipe or just winging it?" While it's great to improvise and add your own touch, if you haven't mastered the basics, then it's time to following the recipe EXACTLY. And, those recipes should be tried and true types with good directions. After a while of seeing how things are done in sequence and what goes good with what, you will be able to add your own flair. Good luck! and keep cooking!

These are the secrets I have learned

1) you don't need to multitask. Make items ahead of time and reheat gently. For example, your roast is cooking, while it is in the oven, cook your potatoes for mashed potatoes, mash them cover them and nuke them gently to warm them for serving. You can't bake dinner rolls at 400 degrees when your roast is at 350. A restaurant has a bunch of cooks, you are all by youself, be realistic. You can't make a three course dinner without staggering the cooking times. The microwave is your friend at serving time.
2) get a good oven thermometer and timer. They keep you from overcooking.
3) Get a good meat thermometer. Know your meat will keep cooking after you pull it out, so always pull it a few degrees before it is "done"
4) if youv'e never made the dish you plan on serving, do a dress reheasal. A lot of cook books have untested filler recipes. I recently did a lunch for several executives in my corporate world, you bet I cooked everything at least once before they arrived, even the things I made before.
5) make it fun, not stressfull. If you never cooked a prime rib, you aren't going to have fun worrying about screwing it up for your company, cook to your abilities, as they grow, so will your confidence, and the quality of your cooking.

The secret is practice and confidence, what looks easy is only because it was practiced. And eating your mistakes encourages you not to make them.

I almost never serve a recipe that I haven't tried at least once on myself and family. I made two complete rehearsal dinners before I served my first Thanksgiving dinner, even though I was sick of turkey, etc. by the time the big day arrived. But by that time, I had the timing and the recipes down pat - an even bigger challenge in my eensy meensy NYC one person stand up kitchen with no dishwasher.

Make checklists (prioritized by timing) and complete shopping lists - it can be a big problem if you're in the middle of preparations and don't have enough eggs or whatever. Consider the amount of room in your refrigerator/freezer in advance, and also what can be prepared in advance. Also keep in mind that the sink might be loaded, you might be tired and getting cranky by the time for dessert, so stick to something delish and unfussy, like brownies, etc., that can be prepared the night before.

Good luck, and I've gotten a lot of great hints from the posts.

Buy the best ingredients.
Mise en place.
Presentation is vital.
Remain calm in face of disaster.
Give up if it is not immediately salvageable.

I so totally agree with those who emphasize good, fresh, REAL ingredients. Real dairy--no oleo, no cool whip, etc.
Good luck.
Also, check out Chef John on foodwishes.com. A great food blog!

Two words:

Alton Brown.

host of "Good Eats". Known in my house as "The King".

I also watch a lot of shows on the Food Network and have found it to be extremely helpful. The more, the better.

Oh yeah - and also, don't be afraid to fat up or salt up your cooking (as Anne Burrell might say).

Those are my secrets, but I'm not that great of a cook. :) I think that years and years of practice and experience are the key.

I am known in my circle for making the best roasted anything, and here's my main tip: When it comes to roasting larger cuts of meat and poultry, a good crust using plenty of salt, garlic powder (fresh garlic tends to burn while roasting), and olive oil (and whatever other herbs spices you prefer), married with high heat (400 - 450 degrees) is almost always a recipe for success. The high heat, salt, and olive oil seal in the juices beautifully.

Also, if you want the roast at a certain level of doneness (i.e. medium-rare), remove it from the oven when it is 5-7 degrees cooler than the ideal temp, cover with foil and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. It will come to the perfect temp while it's resting.

Cheers,

~ Paula

The secret to doing anything well is to do it with passion. If your not into it, it won't be your best, so only cook the things you want to cook when you want to cook them.

There is magic when you remove the food from the pan. I pour off the liquids from a roast turkey, deglaze the pan with a grape-based spirit (brandy/port/marsala - don't know if whiskey, or sake... would work?), add crushed green peppercorns, then meld in cranberry jelly. It gives the sauce for the Thanksgiving bird a different zing.

Deglazing leverages your culinary chops. I get more compliments than effort merits by using the re-hydration waters from sun-dried tomatoes, and from dried mushrooms, used in another night's recipe... which I freeze in ice trays.

Try deglazing a pan - in which you cooked your flank (or other) steak - with the iced cube of water from when you cooked an earlier reecipe with dried morels/shiitake/etc. The ice cube trays make for convenient portion control. Also good for surplus caramelized onions.

Your date/guests won't need to know you "cheated", but will be glad you did. You can "pre-load" work in the kitchen, and deliver flavor they will think should or must have taken hours behind a hot stove.

Try to get a good handle on your most basic skills-- scrambled eggs, making pasta, making a roux, etc and other basic dishes/skills. Most of the more complicated dishes will probably require a knowledge of those rudimentary skills and they will make your dish even better! ie, a well cooked pasta with the right toothiness and salt added to the cooking water will elevate the dish and bring out the flavours of your sauce!

garlic and wine

What's my strange, secret and personal cooking tip?

Well, not too strange, nor personal, but a lot of people don't know about this little trick. When preparing meat to BBQ the night before with a rub, those in the know rub the meat with a light coat of mustard before applying the dry rub. When smoked or grilled slow and low, the mustard helps form that nice bark on the outside of the meat.

...and no, you can't taste any of the mustard flavor. It just helps hold the rub on as well as create the bark I mentioned.

Mise en place and always read through a recipe several times before beginning.

THE TOP SECRET TO AFTER TASTE IS TO USE A LITTLE CAYENNE. I USE IT ON ALMOST EVERY THING. I BELIEVES IT OPENS THE TASTE-BUDS ON YOUR TONGUE AND THAT GIVES YOU THE LASTING FLAVOR. OLD CHEF

Couple of things that I recommend to people who ask me for advice:
1. Recipes can have mistakes in them. Have a good source for them. Read them thoroughly. Not to get too corny but imagine making the dish in your mind as you read the recipe. try to understand it. Typically, you'll find the process you're reading will appear in other recipes. There is a reason they do. It Works! Figure out the concept and apply that to other recipes.
2. Taste as you cook. Taste what adding the listed spices/herbs, wine, butter, cream, etc. does to your dish.
3. Mise en place. Have everything ready before you start.
4. Clean as you cook. Wipe up spills, put things away. Sounds like more work but it keeps your space set up for the process of cooking.
5. Afterwards, get comments...honest ones. Save those recipes and write notes on them to help the next time you make them.
6. Your hands on your best tool in the kitchen. Learn how to use them: how to whisk, how to use a knife, how to peel, pare and prepare.
7. As people wrote above, start with good ingredients.

- Identify a circle of willing regular tasters, who will give you uncensored feedback.
- Throw Kirmizi Biber (hot turkish pepper flakes - great find from Kalustyans) on everything.
- If that fails, douse with Lea&Perrins Worcestershire sauce!

I don't want to be redundant - there is some good stuff here. I would add two things:

1) Learn WHY ingredient A is preferred over similar ingredient B, why steps are done in a particular order, at a particular temperature, etc. This way, if it goes wrong, you will be able to taste or see the problem and know exactly how you want to modify it next time, or maybe you can even salvage it. Someone already mentioned Alton Brown, I will also throw in my favorite resource: a cookbook called "The Best Recipe" which is associated with Cooks illustrated. The premise is that the authors make the same recipe (pancakes, roast chicken, you name it) a bzillion ways and explain the effect of varying all the variables, then finally list the "best" way and why.

2) If cooking for others to impress, just add extra butter and/or cream. Makes everyone happy. Except my FIL who is lactose intolerant. ;)

here are a few of my fave tips:
1. i recently discovered that pre-fried, dried shallots, onions, and garlic that you can find in Asian stores taste as good as ones you fry when trying to add flavor to a stew. forget all that slicing and frying and carmelizing, i will buy the store prepared kind from now on.
2. if you want butter taste in something, butter flavored Pam is more buttery than real butter. butter delivers richness, but the scent is stronger in butter flavored Pam
3. everything tastes better when carmelized. baking things to give them a slightly carmelized crust makes things taste MUCH BETTER

here is a weird thing i do--i make chocolate pork chop sauce by combining chocolate syrup with ketchep (roughly 1:1 ratio) it is an interesting combination and you would never guess it came from those two things

Practice simple things first. I started with lasagna. I used those no boil noodles and followed the directions on the box using bottled sauce and packaged cheese. You know what? It was great! Even though I've advanced way beyond then since then, I still sometimes make it on my husband's request. He's been eating it for 10 years now and I don't think he realizes that it takes 5 min to assemble... Oh, and if you're worried about cooking meat and getting it right, my first attempts were meatless. I built my confidence gradually and now I roast chickens, sauté fish, you name it.