Knife School!

So last night I finally cashed in on my last Christmas gift from Jake: a knife skills course at Culinaerie, a local cooking school downtown.

I trussed and spatchcocked a chicken, then learned how to supreme an orange, and got complimented by the Chef as she walked by and saw my diced carrot (!) - though it was a bit uneven, it was much smaller and finer than the others around me. I also learned I hold my chef's knife a bit like a spaz and learned to get a bit more control on it. Nice -- sure that will come in handy long term!

What I learned most of all, is that I could not survive in a real chef's kitchen, or therefore, culinary school. I cook so much now, I have developed my own style for things, and am used to using my own tools and my own methods. I dice unevenly. This does not bother me. But my pieces, no matter how tiny, are uneven and would probably be trashed on the spot in a "real" kitchen.

The culinary arts intrigue me - especially after having read Julia Child's memoir, but I'm fairly certain that's not a path for me. I hope to continue taking "recreational" courses that focus on one skill or another, like the knife skills course, simply to learn from a real chef and boost my techniques.

Why I cook

A great blogger/food author I follow on Twitter, Michael Ruhlman, has inspired a flurry of posts about why folks cook, so here's mine.

Why do I cook? (thought it's really more, why am I learning to cook - have only been at it 5 or 6 years, really 2 or 3 seriously)

• First and foremost, I absolutely love food. I love delicious food, spicy food, savoury food, and sweets. 
• Not to knock my parents, but they have a much milder palate than I do. By 14 or 15, I was craving full-bodied flavors that went beyond the normal repertoire in our house.
• After spending a summer in Korea and working part-time in the kitchen of an unwed birth mothers' home, I now frequently cook Korean food. I'm adopted - so there aren't a lot of aspects of my life that are "legit" Korean, but I consider food to be one of them. Cooking, and learning to cook Korean (which, oddly has mostly taken place via the Internet -- there are fantastic Korean cooking video blogs out there), is a way for me to stay connected with a heritage I might not otherwise have. 
• My parents were never big "processed foods" types. I didn't experience Mac and Cheese out of a box until I was probably 10 or 11. I didn't even know mashed potaotes CAME in a box until a year or two after that. This continues to be the case - I make my own pasta sauce, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, taco seasoning - among other things. I try to rely on fresh foods and more importantly, real foods. 
• I'm poor. Cooking at home means I can pack a lunch 5 days a week -- without relying on PBJ sandwiches and potato chips (which, I'm not really a huge fan of anyway, much less than every day!). In high school, I worked a lot over the dinner hour and quickly tired of relying on drive through BK or a Subway run, so started getting creative with the leftovers in my parents' house. 
• Cooking is also very social. I think some people have this horrendous, out-of-date image of housewives slaving away in the kitchen -- ALONE. For me, cooking is about sharing food with the people you love, and learning and exploring new meals together. 

So, when I look back over the past two years or so, there have been really dramatic changes in the way I eat, because of the way I cook. My cooking style ranges week to week - sometimes I'll try something that approaches the level of gourmet and fancy, other times we eat fajitas and bulgogi most of the week. I like to make dishes that are unexpected - like red velvet cupcakes, carbonara or a Korean dish -- and share them with friends who might not have otherwise tried them. And I am SO thankful for the Internet for providing me with the resources to learn to cook.

My kitchen wishlist

One month later, I'm all moved into a great new place, my new kitchen is set up, and I've been cooking like mad.

I haven't been spending as much time perusing the websites of William Sonoma or Crate and Barrel, because, well, I'm pretty much set! (sidenote: this was NOT necessarily the case during #snomageddon when I was literally running out of things to do)

But, the past week or so, I've noticed there *are* a few things I could do with.

So, here it is, my new Kitchen Wishlist:

• apron -- I keep cooking in old T shirts, all of which are now stained or oil splattered. It's becoming a nuisance, and wish I had an apron or two for clothing protection. Needs to be of durable material, so stains won't soak throw, and dark colors, so it doesn't get ruined the first time I use it. 
• Large, wide bowls. With the amount of mul naeng myun, and now pho, I eat at home, I need to stop eating of my mixing bowls (which, is too narrow, and I end up making a huge mess). I had some great ones (OK, they were plastic, but at least the correct shape) at my last place, from the dollar store, but I think they got thrown out. 
• Kitchen timer - I bought a $7 one at Target, and surprise surprise, it broke after about a week. Because my oven isn't that accurate, I just keep a close watch on things anyway, but it would be nice to know HOW LONG things have been cooking for.
• Sugar bowl - I love the tupperware set I have for storing flours, sugar and salt, but there is something that says to me "this is a home" when sugar can be stored in a beautiful little jar or bowl. My mother has a very distinct one, my grandmother has a very distinct one -- it's just something that feels important. And would be convenient. :) 
• Tiles - I recently saw a post about using simple tiles as a pizza stone and to moderate heat in your oven. My oven is notoriously bad for having even heating (as proved Sunday with burnt outsides and wobbly insides on my first attempt at pound cake). The concept of having an accurate and evenly heated oven sounds wonderful.

Ingredients I'd love to try

So, I'm feeling in a bit of a cooking rut. I've been making the same things over and over again, buying the same ingredients, and occasionally branching out into a new use of them.

Last year was a pretty good year for me, in terms of learning how to cook new things, and I'm hoping to push the envelope on that again this year.

Here's a short list of ingredients I'd like to learn how to use this year:
* fennel (confession: I don't actually know what this looks like, what it tastes like or if I will like it... But it appears in a number of interesting recipes I've seen lately!)
* greens that aren't spinach or arugula, ie: swiss chard and kale (same confession as the fennel)
* lemongrass -- used in Thai and Indian cooking, mostly, from what I can tell
* fish (OK, I *do* know how to cook fish... I just rarely do it, and even more rarely do anything interesting)

Any ideas or tips for these ingredients?  Would love to hear!

dreaming? of all the new things I might cook this year

Kitchen Faves

OK, First Things First:

IT CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to me! (courtesy of my VERY loving grandmother, Nan!!) I am now the VERY excited owner of a 9-cup Cuisinart food processor. Looking forward to making some soup and hummus this weekend to break it in!!

Now...

I feel like I've been having kitchen-withdrawal. Between being at my parents' house, and now being in the middle of the move, I've only been doing minimal cooking.

So, while I've been missing my kitchen things, I put together my list of my favorite kitchen things that I'm most looking forward to using when I finally get all set up! (which sounds like it may be Monday)

Tools I Love:

* short wood handled spreader

* hand held strainer

* bread knife

* pastry brush

* rice cooker

* kitchen scissors

These are all things that I love because I use them often, and use them for a TON of things. The spreader? it's a cheese knife, cupcake froster, mayo spreader, etc. The bread knife? best thing in my kitchen for cutting up pineapple. And while most people think they have no use for a rice cooker - I would counter that. You can make quinoa or couscous, you can steam fish or vegetables, and rice is a REALLY easy thing to prepare. This is my go to wedding gift - because most folks don't think to register for one. I, of course, also tuck my favorite fried rice recipes inside to give it a little personal touch.

Dreaming? of getting back into cooking every day, of course!!

Merry Christmas, kitchen!

As promised, here's the rundown of the great Christmas gifts I received this year -- nearly all to benefit my new kitchen! A beautiful candy/dessert bowl, french-style rolling pin (can FINALLY throw out that old wine bottle!!), various kitchen tools, new knives (and a knife technique course), and 8 bowls to match the plates my parents bought me for my birthday last year. I really do feel lucky to have such amazing friends and family to be supporting my cooking in 2010!! a BIG thank you to you all.

 

 

My grandmother also gave me some money for Christmas, and this is what I'm ordering once we get back to Washington:

A few notes on food-related gifts:

• Gifts for food people can generally be grouped into two categories: actual food-things, and cooking things. Some cooks might be picky about tools for his or her kitchen - though I'm still in the process of setting up my first kitchen, so I love all kinds of tools! Serious cooks, from what I can tell, tend to shy away from things that can only be used for one particular thing (garlic peelers, pineapple corers, etc) or things that are bulky to store (waffle makers, blenders, etc.)
• Another great gift is something that looks unique that can be used for serving: relish dishes, appetizer plates, bowls, serving spoons or tongs, sugar bowls, cream pitchers, salt/pepper shakers, etc. Places like Marshalls or Homegoods make these available at really great prices. They're also great because they don't necessarily have to match anything else at the table. 
• Actual food items are a great idea for folks cooking on a budget -- this can range from a simple grocery store gift card (maybe a place they might not usually be able to shop - cheese shops, Whole Foods, Kowalskis) to higher end ingredients your cook might not normally buy for him or herself: fancy olive oil (or other flavored oils: walnut, truffle, sunflower seed, etc), spreads and jams, peppercorns, dried mushrooms.
• And a great standby? Kitchen towels. I've received some fantastic dish towels from people -- a gift you use everyday, and rarely think to buy nice ones for yourself. Everywhere from Target to Williams Sonoma to Anthropologie sell a range of beautiful prints, patterns, and a variety of textures. 
  

Dreaming? of putting all of my new kitchen gear to use in the New Year!

#10in10 update: I started food journaling again - writing down everything that I eat, and the exercise I've done, each day as a strategy for the #10in10 challenge, hosted by Recipe Girl. Hopefully this will help me to think about everything that goes into my mouth throughout the day, and consider why I'm eating them!

New Year, New Kitchen

This isn't the big Christmas goodies post (though it's coming!), but more a year-end round up of some of my thoughts on cooking and eating from this year.

I started this blog to try my hand at a little food writing - which I'm finding isn't coming all that naturally. I have a slightly disheveled style to cooking (as I rarely follow recipes, and tend to measure things in handfuls), which translates into non-sensical rambling when I try to write it out.

But, I'm finding that it's helpful to read a ton of other blogs -- I've recently started reading Amateur Gourmet, The Recipe Girl, The Pioneer Woman and A Tiger in the Kitchen, in addition to some great friend blogs.

I also just like to keep a record of this time -- stumbling through recipes and new techniques, building up my repetoire, and of course, stocking my first "real" kitchen.

So, here's a quick list of things that stick out in my mind from cooking in 2009:
* pâte-à-choux became a game changer for me. The New York Times did a major post on how easy it is to make in summer 2008, but it took me until last year to really start using it. I started easy, with some cream puffs last winter, and ended the year with some beautiful cheese gougeres.

* Soups and stews were new territory, when I branched out beyond the world of chili. I came up with a great chicken tortilla soup (after moving from Washington and missing Eddington's for lunch!), tried seafood stew to go over quinoa, and am really excited to try this Potato Leek soup in 2010. I'm debating whether or not an immersion blender is a worthwhile purchase.

* Pitas (and bread in general) became almost a hobby during the stay in Washington. From my grandmother's Irish Soda Bread, to my old standby (half-wheat artisan loaf) to green onion flatbread, Thanksgiving rolls, and of course, pitas. I'm still amazed at how easy it is to make bread from scratch -- even if you don't have a stand-mixer with a dough hook, or even a loaf pan.

* Ethnic grocery stores really changed the way I shop and cook -- for the better. Rather than relying on pasta (because it's 10 for $10), I was able to get a lot more creative with fresh meat and produce, since I wasn't over-paying for it at the "traditional" market. I'm excited to be even closer to an H-Mart in our new apartment!

Dreaming? of a great year for cooking - 2010. A new kitchen, a knife technique class (amazing xmas gift!) and I'm also taking part in a 10-week shape up hosted by The Recipe Girl.