Cook Like a Rock Star (4 page)

Whenever anybody asks me for tips for the home cook, I crack myself up because the first thing I say is, “You have to read the recipe.” That’s exactly what my mother used to tell me to do—and I never did. So now when I’m teaching, I can’t help but hear her voice telling me to read the recipe. As much as I love my mother, I hate it that she’s always right. Whether you’ve been cooking your entire life or are just getting into it, reading a recipe is really important; and it’s amazing how it can help you prevent mistakes and frustration later on.

I’ve spent a lot of time writing recipes in my career and I work hard to make sure that they work, and work well—for cooks of all levels. With all of these recipes I’ve used what I call my “crap detector” to eliminate unnecessary steps, streamline the operation, simplify the process, and maximize the flavor. Look at me, always thinking!

DON’T MESS WITH MY
MISE EN PLACE

Okay, so I said no fussy words, and then I start with something that does sound sort of intimidating (or at least French). That’s because there’s always an exception in cooking—accept it and move on. The exception here is
mise en place,
which translates to “put in place.” It means get all of your prep work done before you start cooking. You’ll notice that the recipes in this book are not written by ingredients and then method like most books. Instead they start with
mise en place
—your prep work—and then the recipe is broken down into numbered steps. This is how I cook and how professionals cook, and it’s how you should cook, too. It doesn’t matter if you’re a four-star chef or a beginning home cook, you need to have your
mise en place
ready before you start cooking.

You have no idea how many times I have heard people complain that they were halfway through a recipe and realized the container of bread crumbs was almost empty or that they needed a cup of sugar and had only a quarter cup left. This is when things start to run amok and cooks start to get creative (Can I substitute bread for bread crumbs? I wonder if confectioners’ sugar would work instead of regular sugar?). Take your
mise en place
seriously and you won’t have to take chances with creative solutions that may or may not work.

So before you even think of turning on the stove, smash your garlic, dice your onions, wash your lettuce, and separate your eggs. Get out all your equipment so that you can just get in there and cook like a rock star. Good
mise en place
makes cooking less stressful (it also cuts down on clutter—you can clean as you go) and a lot more fun.

TASTE & SEASON AS YOU GO (
A.K.A. DITCHING THE “I-HOPE-IT-COMES-OUT-ALL-RIGHT” METHOD OF COOKING
)

As a chef, I make my living cooking for other people, and that includes seasoning their food for them. After years of practice, I have a very good idea of what a dish will taste like when it’s done, but I would never, ever think of waiting until the end of the cooking process to taste it. You MUST taste as you go. FOOD SHOULD TASTE GOOD! If it doesn’t, there’s something wrong and the only way to know is to
taste it.
For some reason, home cooks have a tendency to not taste their food during the cooking process—then they wonder why it doesn’t taste delicious when it’s done. I call this the “I-hope-it-comes-out-all-right” method of cooking, and it doesn’t work. Your palate is a muscle, and like any muscle, you need to train it. You know how you train it? Taste your food.

SALE & PEPE
(SALT & PEPPER) ARE NOT MARRIED, THEY’RE ONLY DATING

I’m going to jump right out there and say this: If you don’t cook with salt, you will NEVER be a good cook. Salt is a flavor enhancer; it makes things taste like what they are. Have you ever heard of someone putting salt on watermelon? And there’s always a pinch of salt in desserts. Salt is not something to be scared of. If you cook from scratch with good-quality, fresh ingredients—meaning seasonal produce and high-quality meat—and you steer clear of prepared, processed, frozen, canned, and of course fast food, then you can salt your cooking
with reckless abandon. As a home cook you’ll never get close to using the amount of salt found in most processed and packaged foods.

Pepper, on the other hand, is not a flavor enhancer. It’s a very strong spice and it adds ANOTHER flavor to food. That’s why I use pepper as an ingredient. I would never think to salt and
horseradish
everything, and I treat pepper the same way. I find when people are inexperienced in the kitchen they’re scared of salt, yet they go hog-wild with pepper. But Sale (sall-ay) and Pepe (Italian for salt and pepper) are not married. They are only dating. Sale makes the party; she’s the life of the party. But Pepe isn’t usually invited to my party—he’s too strong, so I tend to leave him home. He’s invited only when I want his strong personality around.

THE SPICES OF LIFE

Just because you buy spices and herbs in the same aisle of the grocery store does not make them the same thing. Dried herbs to me are gross. If you smell them, you’ll know instantly that they are nothing like their fresh counterparts. I’d rather cook with no herbs than dried herbs. Dried thyme smells like dirt. Dried parsley flakes smell like something from the lawnmower bag. Dried chives are just sad, and dried basil has nothing to do with summer. Adding these ingredients to your food will not improve it, so here’s my advice: Don’t.

Spices, on the other hand, are an ENTIRELY different story. They are transporting, exotic, aromatic, and sexy! They’re seeds, they’re bark, they’re pods! The world of spices is amazing and seductive, and these ingredients can add so much to your cooking—but they have to be treated with respect. Spices should be replaced annually, so buy them in small amounts and use them regularly.

I also recommend buying spices in their whole form—for example, cumin, fennel, and coriander seeds. To use them: Toast the spices in their whole form in a dry sauté pan for three or four minutes or until they’re very aromatic. Then grind them in a spice grinder. (A spice grinder is nothing more than a coffee bean grinder dedicated solely to spices—it’s worth the investment and will make a world of difference in your cooking.)

I LOOOOOVE NUTS

Like spices,
toasting nuts is an essential step if you want to bring out their full flavor. Some people toast nuts in a sauté pan, but they don’t toast evenly this way—that’s why I’m an oven toaster. Put your nuts on a baking sheet and toast them in a 350°F oven. How long does it take nuts to toast? Just long enough to forget. Start with 6 to 7 minutes, but keep an eye on them. I’ve spent a lot of time in my career burning nuts. Once you start to smell them it’s too late—so set a timer!

What does toasting nuts do? It’s just like making toast! It makes them browner, crunchier, and far more flavorful. If you feel like toasting nuts ahead, go for it, then store them in the freezer until you’re ready to use them or for up to six months.

MY FAVORITE TOOLS
(
AND WHY I LOVE THEM
)

To this day, whenever I go into a kitchen supply store I still get turned on by all the wooden spoons, bowls, and other cool tools. I just want to buy everything because having the right equipment makes cooking so much easier and more fun. Of course, there are some tools that I love more than others, and there are definitely some that I use more often. To get set up with a basic toolkit, consider this list of my personal favorites. You can always add, but start with some of these essentials. You’ll begin to keep a wish list if you don’t have one already, because the more you cook, the more you’re going to want cool kitchen stuff!

BASIC KNIVES

Chef’s knife, boning knife, paring knife, and serrated knife

WOODEN SPOONS

Lots of them!

RUBBER SPATULAS

Large and small and definitely heatproof

BENCH SCRAPE

Useful for transporting little things from one place to another, scraping, cutting dough, and cleaning up

BOWLS

Mixing bowls of various sizes

MICROPLANE

A superfine grater

FOOD MILL

Great for passing tomatoes. A food mill lets all the big-money stuff fall through and leaves the seeds and stems uptown. Also great for mashed potatoes or anything you need to purée.

FISH SPATULA

A flexible metal spatula with large holes and a sharp edge

BOX GRATER

COLANDER

MEASURING CUPS

Dry and wet

MEASURING SPOONS

MESH STRAINER

MISE EN PLACE
containers

Various shapes, sizes, and colors (they’re cute!)

SALT CELLAR

A salt dish. Don’t try to cook with a salt shaker!

SPIDER

A wire scooper to get things out of hot liquid easily

SPOONS

Large metal ones, with and without holes

TONGS

WHISKS

Big and small

PANS

•
Large and small sauté pan with curved edges

•
Large, straight-sided sauté pan

•
Pasta or stockpot—a large, deep pot with a lid

•
Straight-sided, wide shallow pot with a lid

•
Large and small nonstick sauté pans

•
Various sized saucepans with lids

•
Baking sheets

FOOD PROCESSOR

IMMERSION BLENDER

For puréeing right in the pan

ELECTRIC MIXER

SPICE GRINDER

A.k.a. a coffee grinder used for spices only

KITCHEN SHEARS

PARCHMENT PAPER

SILICONE MAT

PASTRY BAGS

Disposable ones (or just use zip-top plastic bags)

TWINE

JAPANESE MANDOLINE

For slicing ingredients super-thin (use with caution, respectfully and lovingly!)

“THANK YOU FOR COMING” BOWL

A trash receptacle within arms’ reach so you don’t have to go back and forth to the garbage all the time.

MY BASIC PANTRY

Setting up your pantry is a bit of an investment. I know that cooking at home is supposed to be cheaper than eating out, but like anything, you need the right supplies to get started. (If you’re going to play golf, you have to buy golf clubs, right?) Once you get yourself squared away with some high-quality basics, the cost of cooking goes down exponentially (and when you’re cooking with good stuff and enjoying it, the fun factor goes up!). Here’s a list of what I keep in my pantry all the time. Of course, you don’t have to go out and buy all of this at once, but this list gives you an idea of what you ultimately want to see when you open your cupboard. Start with the things you’ll use the most often and build from there. With some or all of this on hand, you can whip up a delicious meal anytime.

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

KOSHER SALT

BACON OR PANCETTA

(or both)

FRESH PARMIGIANO

GARLIC

ONIONS

(BTW, when I say onions, I’m referring to onions about the size of a tangerine)

CRUSHED RED PEPPER

BAY LEAVES

DRIED PASTA

(some short, some long)

RISOTTO RICE

(Arborio or Carnaroli)

POLENTA

DRIED LENTILS

CHICKEN STOCK

CANNED BEANS

(cannellini, chickpeas, and black beans)

CANNED TOMATOES

NUTS

(almonds, pine nuts, and walnuts)

RED WINE VINEGAR

BALSAMIC VINEGAR

DRIED PORCINI MUSHROOMS

TOMATO PASTE

DIJON MUSTARD

BREAD CRUMBS

CAPERS

CORIANDER SEEDS

FENNEL SEEDS

PIMENTÓN

(smoked paprika)

ANCHOVIES

CORNICHONS

TABASCO SAUCE

UNSALTED BUTTER

EGGS

MILK

FLOUR

SUGAR

(white and brown)

BAKING POWDER

BAKING SODA