KISS Cookery

Browning of cakes or meat is a process called caramelization.

Brown can mean over done! Dont presume Brown is good.

Dont try to cook "white" meats like darker meats.

Aim for Medium Rare or Medium and either sear at a high heat and then turn the heat or flame down or cook slowly and baste or for cakes try turning down the heat at the end.

Example One : cooking pork chops? Cut slits in the fat and rub salt and herbs in.

Example Two: Cakes or Puddings too dark at the edge and too soft at the bottom?
Unless the pudding is meant to be soft at the bottom (like batter puddings) try putting the fruit if its berries or sliced stone fruit on top?

Dont feel ashamed if you have to trim the edges and add icing or cream on top!

Why do you think icing was invented?

Dont feel bad if you cant afford a fancy food processor or blender or imported stone mortar and pestle!

Learn to use simple tools first! A wooden spoon or an old fork. A manual egg beater or whisk. A plastic or wooden spatula for frying. A set of plastic bowls of varying sizes. A pair of tongs. A roll of cheap paper towels.

Buy the fancy imported stainless steel and high tech stuff AFTER you master the basics!

Start with one frypan and a sauce pan and one larger pan or pot you can use for stews and soups that need simmering. Have one flat baking tray.

As you have the money or skills or storage space add baking pans or trays with varying sizes or special shapes. When you can afford it get a round spring pan for cakes! These open at the side and close with a spring. If your cakes stick to the side of pans get one of these!

Hopefully you may be one of those lucky souls who has or can learn the "touch" and feel "lingering greenness". Dont know what I mean?

Most of us have to rely on eyes and fingers. Fresh is Best!

Learn when your greengrocer or fruit and vegetable shop or deli or supermarket or food market gets its fresh stuff delivered.
Is deliveries: Daily? Weekly? Seasonal?

If something is on special it may have come out of cold storage or ripen too quickly! Check why it is on special!

If you have access to a farmers' market or growers' co-op use it!

Leaves flesh and skin should be fresh firm and crisp.

Dont worry about a few spots or blemishes though so long as they're very small and on the skin only!

If you're buying a fruit or vegetable that has a stalk check what color the end of the stalk is where it was cut. Green or brown? Soft or hard?

In my experience the best squash and zucchini are speckled or have green streaks on top however with bananas the less color on the skin the better!

Unless you are totally pathetic with plants you can grow many herbs on a shelf or any flat spot that faces a window. Basil, a small tomato, parsley, mint, and small lettuce type salad greens will grow indoors or in pots near the kitchen door! No room for compost or mulch? Plant food for pots comes in small boxes of concentrate!

Be careful not to overwater them!

A Note on buying Local versus Imported foods.

Let Quality be the deciding factor. Buy the Best not the Cheapest but dont presume high price always equals Quality! Define Best as a balance of quality and price and usability!

About Herbs. Basil is better fresh as is mint and parsely but many other Herbs and Spices actually taste stronger if dried.

If you dont have a lot of storage space have at least one jar of mixed herbs and spices but dont just have European or Mediterranean blends. Get mixed spices for cakes and pastries. Five spice or Thai for Asian and spicy dishes is fine or Mexican, if you havn't the time or space to mortar and pestle gourds and seeds and dry and fresh leaves together.

Tinned Fish. Herrings and Sardines yes. Tuna and Salmon? So so.
If you can afford it go for vacuum packed smoked salmon or trout.
If you use tinned tuna and salmon or pilchards you can reduce that soaked in brine or sauce flavour by adding thinly sliced (red) onion and some fresh basil or coriander in a salad or pasta dish?

Other stuff? There is nothing wrong with using presliced canned fruit if the fruit is not in season! Dried fruit can be soaked in hot water to soften it before cooking!

If you dont have room to cook a multi course meal or have never tried the recipe before for a some allegedly simple or quite complicated dish dont do it the first time for that special dinner and embarass yourself!

You are better off knowing where the best local takeaway is!

Cant roast a chicken or turkey?
Buy one precooked and heat it up and just do the vegies or vice versa.

Are you a yeast killer? Buy rolls or fancy bread!

Cant do light dainty cakes! Cook some other desert or buy them!

Some foods are best left to specialists!

If you're asked to cook some thing to raise money for a school or church fete and cant cook it ask if you can donate ingredients or help to some one who can !

Do not offer to cook things like lamingtons or 300 decorated minimuffins or cup cakes or any sweet requiring filo or puff pastry honey or melted chocolate unless you have a large wide kitchen table or counter and family and friends four and two legged trained to stay out of the kitchen if they cant or willnt help with the process! Just dont!

CONTENT is the magic word!

Don't be fooled by glossy pictures or clever page layout!

Is the Information Content HIGH! ?

Are there details and notes that show HOW and WHY thing should work?

Can you clearly see the instructor's hands and techniques?

Is it stated that the text or class is for basic or medium level cooks?

Are all new terms and techniques explained and demonstrated fully?

His or her knives are probably sharper anyway!

If you have a friendly butcher let them gut trim and cut the meat especially bulk buys!

Do they have a speciality like sausages or ready to cook items or bulk meat trays or herb stuffed and tied brisket rolls?

Let them do the work unless you have a set of really good knives!

Sure it's great if you have a stock pot or large sauce pan and can spend hours cutting simmering straining to do home made sauces but since sauces are better made in bulk why not buy a reputable brand and save time?

What you should have in cans or jars.

Tomato sauce or paste, passata or plain.

A good chutney / pickle / preserve too! They go with so many things!

Soy sauce yes! You can use soy sauce in many non Asian dishes!

If you have room I also recommend Ayam's Sweet and Sour and Oyster Sauce.

This isnt a "sauce" but I also recommend you try to get some kind of concentrated lemon or lime juice. Maybe a lime "cordial" or mixer base with a high percentage of real fruit juice and NO additives. You'll be surprised how many things you can use it for from sauces to sweets.

Shopping cooking and hunting have some thing in common.

LEARN TO READ THE TRACKS OF YOUR PREY
which are the ingredients tools and process that create good cooking!

So read the fine print on packets, follow instructions, learn from your elders and betters, and use quality tools properly!

Good luck and happy cooking!