One of the more useful cooking tips I ever got was to add salt (and pepper, if needed) at each step of the process, rather than all at once at the beginning or the end. I think it helps make sure each element of a dish is properly seasoned.
I have to say, if you're waiting 20 minutes, (a) there's probably other people waiting behind you while you ask your questions, too, who you're now holding up and (b) you have to have known something about Shopsin's in order to have been willing to wait on a 20-minute line for the food. And I can't imagine hearing about Kenny Shopsin without hearing about the fact that he calls 'em like he sees 'em. So the way I read it, either you're totally insensitive to the people on line behind you, or you were trying to bait the man, or both. Who do *you* think comes off worse in the story?
Lately, I've been mixing up a big batch of yogurt, fruit and muesli at the start of the week and eating it at my desk at work every morning -- it's probably more expensive than my other options, but it's delicious, healthy, and pretty well-balanced. When that's not an option, I generally have a bagel with butter, or a Lara bar.
Weekend breakfasts are more likely to be something small just to get me out the door: I"m not a big bruncher.
My favorite pasta for a special occasion meal is actually from the first Al Forno cookbook - a baked penne with four cheeses and basil. Ridiculously over-the-top, calorically, but simple to make, delicious, and impressive.
My everyday favorite is whole-wheat cavatelli with turkey sausage, arugula, and cherry tomatoes - delicious, nutritionally sane, and I can make it pretty much in my sleep.
My favorite pasta for comfort-food occasions is sort of a poor man's carbonara - I take olive oil in which some garlic has been smashed and browned and then removed, and then, just as the pasta is done, I break two eggs into the hot oil, mix the barely-cooked eggs and oil with the hot pasta, and top it all off with lashings of black pepper and some Parmesan cheese.
Oh dear! Salt can be tricky for a new cook, in all the ways others have mentioned. I hope I can add a little :)
When a recipe calls for "salt to taste" it means taste it first, then if you think a little salt would help, add some, "because most people who have tasted this recipe like a bit of salt with it."
I break "rules" all the time, mostly regarding seasoning; I encourage new cooks to experiment, too--except in baking where precise measurements are much more important. As I eat a lot of raw foods, it's easy for me to pick up a cucumber, tomato, radish, celery stalk, lemon, orange, cantaloupe or watermelon and just take a bite. From there I can choose salt, pepper, vinegar, cheese, etc. or nothing at all. But my taste preferences will likely be different from yours. Say I'm making chicken broth: I add a lot of onions and celery, plus lemon juice--those nearly negate the need for salt.
Salt is one of my favorite seasonings (and crucial in preserving), but because I like the look, feel and taste of the expensive or imported ones (Maldon is my most affordable), I save it for garnish and wouldn't (i.e., can't afford to) put it in pasta water. In fact, I don't always put salt in pasta water, and maybe I should, but I got on a low salt kick and perhaps I just got lazy. The few times I cook pasta it's almost always in leftover veggie water, or with a bouillon cube (which is mostly salt), or some variety of seaweed.
By switching to a larger grain/flake size, I've found I use less salt--a goal one should consider, especially if you eat processed foods and/or don't read labels. If you've been eating "fast foods," you probably have developed a love for salt, but for the wrong reasons. Take French fries--ever tried oven fries? Slice (leave the peel on), toss with olive oil, a pinch or two or three of coarse salt and freshly ground pepper (add rosemary, yum!); cook until the texture appeals to you. Serve with dips or eat as is. They don't become nasty overnight like fast food fries do.
Depending on the soil, fertilizers, water conditions, etc., my celery may taste very different from my neighbor's. I'm no nutritionist, but excess sodium in many American's diets can cause health problems, as can sugar, fat, and other stuff that is OK in smaller doses, but devastating in larger amounts.
I hope these comments give new cooks some confidence :)
In Maine we have an old adage that Lobster should be cooked in water that is as salty as the sea. In fact, when we're down on the beach, the water that fills the pots is indeed from the Atlantic itself. I learned when I moved to Oregon that the same holds true for Crab.
When I lived in Brooklyn way back when, I had the luxury of being invited at least once a week to join her quite large family for dinner. Pasta was always served. She explained to me one night that the reason her pasta was so good was that the water she boiled it in was as salty as the mediterranean.
But for other dishes, I have to agree with the majority that taste as you go works best. That said, everything benefits from some salt prior to service. It helps to bring out all the natural flavors.
Hey Chefhorn - I don't use a blackberry, there are no subways where I live, and both my thumbs were lost in a horrible 'vagina dentata' incident years ago.
But it does sound like a challenge to type that way.
Hey FastFoodCritic - let me see you 1 thumb a response via a blackberry on a bumpy subway while holding a venti latte and see if you fare better!
You guys are brutal.
Peace, love and salty.
Ha ha ha ha ha, Chefhorn!
But you forgot to mention that each of the people's tongues who will be tasting the final dish have to be individually measured to be sure the tastebuds are in the right places and extant then they must be swabbed and tested by the CSI Team for chemical sensitivities!
Only then can the correct salting process of the dish continue.
deidcated
guidlines
your're
aluminium
percisly
infered
tomotes
excell
coorespnding
maches
caled
factos
@Chefhorn -- A quick glance of those two posts reveals at least 12 misspellings of simple, common words. Perhaps before you criticize others with such smart-ass comments, you should at least how to spell above a 4th grade level.
Now excuz me, my chikon pot pye is redy to eet. Hav a nize daay.
Heat a 1/8 inch thick, 99.9% pure aluminium ,10 inch saute pan to percisly 412F (use an infered surface probe calibrated to your exact elevation for accurate results) next measure the sugar content of the tomotes. Using the following excell spreadsheet, find the coorespnding cell that maches the brix content and add exactly the amount of salt caled for. make sure the the salt has less than 2% dissolved minerals...
THATS why you specific salt in recipes, because the factos that govern it's usage are so variable that it's impossible to specify..
In a forum deidcated to 'serious foodies' I am amazed that so many people dont realize that recipes are not blueprints... they're guidlines. You probably should be reading Rachel Ray's site if your're too timid to make a judgement call on something as basic as seasoning...
Add salt - taste - ask yourself, "is this better than before?" if yes then add some more - repeat until the answer is 'no' then stop.
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