Cooking: A lesson learned for this novice

I haven't cooked a lot or for a long time, unless you include grilling chicken on occasion or making a sandwich!!! But one important lesson I have learned when cooking from recipes: NEVER COOK the garlic at the same time as the onions as is called for by most recipes. most recipes say add onions and (chopped/minced) garlic and cook until soft or something to that effect. However, I learned the hard way that if you do that you inevitably burn the garlic. Now, I cook the onions first and then add the garlic when the onions are close to being done.

What other recipe lessons have you learned?

[Jenise]

I'll bet there isn't a cook in this forum who didn't learn that the hard way--I'm certainly one.

Didn't realize you were a recent novice--you certainly don't sound like one. Must be a fast learner, and that's probably easy with Traci around to learn from.

Do not add salt to anything that will be reduced during cooking, until the last few minutes of cooking.
To brighten flavors, add fresh herbs and alcohol (wine, spirits, etc) just before serving.

I'll bet there isn't a cook in this forum who didn't learn that the hard way--I'm certainly one.

Didn't realize you were a recent novice--you certainly don't sound like one. Must be a fast learner, and that's probably easy with Traci around to learn from.

Oh I am very much a novice. The hardest thing is probably timing if doing multiple dishes. I've really had to think about various recipes before I begin to make sure the timing will be right, ie, the steak is done I am waiting another 25 minutes for the potatoes or something like that.

I watch Traci quite a bit but also pick up watching Christine Huang, Christianne (another friend of ours), plus my friend Tom DeBiase and then the cooking shows. You can pick up quite a bit more than just recipe/dish ideas by watching how they chop, peel, prep, etc. Sometimes they'll do something that doesn't make sense to me so I'll read the recipe, watch the video and ask Traci what she thinks...

And who knew you shouldn't use the pyrex measuring cups to measure dry ingredients...

Do not add salt to anything that will be reduced during cooking, until the last few minutes of cooking.
To brighten flavors, add fresh herbs and alcohol (wine, spirits, etc) just before serving.

Jo Ann - on the salt front, why no salt until last few minutes? I learned that with the lentils I don't season until close to finishing.

Jo Ann - on the salt front, why no salt until last few minutes? I learned that with the lentils I don't season until close to finishing.

Because, like everything else, salty flavors concentrate the longer they cook. That means, if you put salt in at the top of or in the middle of your cooking -- what would taste adequately salted to your palate at that point will be oversalted by the time cooking is complete. You will also notice that anything you hold over in the refrigerator for reheating will also taste a bit saltier the next time it is heated for eating. That will be especially so for those dishes containing already salted products such as sausage. So, salt sparingly until just before serving, and leave slightly under-salted if you will have quantities sufficient for refrigeration and reheating. This is something I learned by disecting my mother's food -- which was always too salty. By the time I was 16 I realized that she salted everything as soon as she put the pots on to cook. I followed her pattern until I decided the kitchen was my domain and I began to experiment. Then one day, Voila! I had figured out the problem -- and I've never looked back.

I also learned the onion/garlic thing through trial and error.

I love a light lemon cream sauce. But when I would try to make it, even if following a recipe, as soon as I added lemon juice the cream would curdle. I don't know if I was doing something wrong or what. But I figured out that if I used lemon zest instead, it wouldn't curdle and added just the right subtle lemon flavor. Now I can make a delicious lemon cream sauce!

When heating oil in a heavy pan such as an All-Clad saute pan, do not add the oil to a cold pan and heat; instead, heat the pan first, then add the oil. Also, one of the more common errors of beginner cooks is to sauté at too low a temperature. (I also find that many of the recipes I have that call for heating something at "medium-high" heat really need a medium heat setting from my 15,000 BTU burners )

Mark Lipton

OK--I consider myself a fairly experienced Chinese/Thai/Indian cook. I routinely make recipes that call for a mixture of minced garlic and onions, often with minced fresh ginger as well. Very often to be stir-fried over high heat before other ingredients are added. I don't have a problem with burnt garlic. I've had problems with burnt everything, though, when I've lost control of the heat.

But I have observed that onions often take longer to brown or soften than garlic does (often because it's chopped into bigger pieces), so yes, I'd say that maybe one should reverse the customary order of garlic first and then add the chopped onions.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

But I have observed that onions often take longer to brown or soften than garlic does (often because it's chopped into bigger pieces), so yes, I'd say that maybe one should reverse the customary order of garlic first and then add the chopped onions.

-Paul W.

My guess about the timing difference is that garlic has less protective moisture. Where onions sweat, garlic just burns.

Not "learned through experience" but from watching Lidia Bastianich's show. When adding tomato paste to a dish she always clears a spot where she adds the paste and lets it rust before combining it with the rest of the pan. Amazing what that seemingly innocuous little step does to deepen the flavor.

And it adds iron.

I do a similar 'rusting' with pumpkin for my smoky pumpkin soup.