I’m definitely not a chef but I really love to cook. I wanted to learn to cook ever since I was little. I would love to watch and help my grandmother (we called her Nanny) in the kitchen. Most of her dishes were these really simple recipes. My favorites were her Pepper Steak and a dish she called Swiss Steak. Both had a very simple tomato sauce base. Her dishes weren’t fancy, but they were good.
Early memories..
I can remember when I first wanted to learn to cook. It was watching the Graham Kerr cooking show every day with My grandfather after school. Graham would make all these beautiful dishes and I always wished I could try them. Nanny did most of the cooking for us and we enjoyed it but when my mom cooked, it was special because it was more of an elaborate meal. It was usually on a Sunday or a holiday because her specialties took time. Our favorite is her pot roast with her incredible mashed potatoes. This dish was never without her delicious sour cream & onion mushrooms on the side. Truly the definition of home cooking.
Actually learning to cook
When I was old enough to use the stove on my own, I would ask my Mother and Grandmother to teach me. There were never any precise measurements. It was usually “a dash of this and a pinch of that” or we were told to eyeball it and “you have to taste it”. I think that’s when cooking becomes second nature, when you know exactly how to just figure it out by using your senses. This is definitely how I learned to transform these dishes into my own. I guess that’s how recipes get created right?!
Sunday cooking and memory making
Even my Dad would cook. My sister and I would go to his house on Sunday’s, and he would make the simplest dish of spinach and beans. Only 4 ingredients and though this dish was so simple, something about the way he cooked it made it so special and comforting. We’d sit around the table eating and watching Lydia’s (Bastianich) Kitchen. My father really liked her show. Her Italian roots and simple rustic dishes were so similar to my families and there was always a beautiful story behind them. Real cooking that left me with some wonderful memories of time spent with my Dad.
Who needs a cookbook
I used to have this random Betty Crocker cookbook that I would use when I started to learn to cook on my own. Some recipes were decent, and some were really awful. One of the first times I tried to get fancy and make a fettuccini Alfredo was a major bust. The recipe called for a whole block of cream cheese and after following the directions to a tee, it turned into a massive clump of mush and was totally disgusting. There had to be a better way because I’ve had fettuccini alfredo before and that was not it. So, to expand my possibilities, I started to watch people cook instead of just use a random cookbook.
I want my Food TV
When The Food Network first came out, it was only cooking shows on all the time (just like when MTV only use to play music videos). I watched every day religiously and each show had something different to offer. I would learn to cook from so many of the greats and it really expanded the horizons.
BAM…
Emeril Lagasse was super popular at the time and his cooking was pretty diverse with so many different flavors. It really opened me up to trying new things and to learn to cook with different seasonings. His famous tagline of “Bam…let’s kick it up a notch” or hearing him say “Gahlic” in his New England accent. I always wished I was sitting at the countertop in the audience so I could taste his food. His dishes always looked so amazing, so I started to look up his recipes and try them on my own.
Weird Science…
Alton Brown’s Good Eats was another great show. He wasn’t just a chef, but he was a teacher. You’d get the behind the scenes to the whole entire process of making good food based on History and Science. It would start with a mini history lesson on where the dish originated from, continued by a full breakdown of how things worked based on chemistry and scientific facts. Then onto a field trip to his local bed bath and beyond to explain what cooking tools were useful versus what were just gimmicks. It was a half hour journey into the who, what, where, why and how of making something it’s best. And he did it in a fun, quirky and entertaining way. Think of science/history class meets cooking show sitcom.
Master of all…
Another goodie goodie is Martha Stewart. One of my true favorites who was so influential to me. Love her or hate her you cannot deny that she is iconic. She has built an incredible empire that we can all be a little envious of. I found her in the early 90’s when she started her Martha Stewart Living tv show. It was basically a half hour variety show with a little bit of all the things I loved. Not only did this woman bake and cook, but she did it all. She grew it, farmed it, created it, and cooked it, all from scratch. Her beautiful table settings were made to go with her meticulous meals. I’ve learned so many tips and amazing ideas. Martha Stewart was (and still is) the modern-day Jack of all trades, and I still want to be her when I grow up.
These shows were more than entertainment. They taught me how to explore food, make different things, and step out of my comfort zone. From the intricate details, methods, tips, terms, styles, facts, and ideas, I also learned how to turn basic into delicious. Most of those shows are off the air now, but I still continue to learn new things by doing my own research all the time. If you like to cook, take the risk. Push yourself to make something you don’t think you can do. There are so many more resources out there now. YouTube and Pinterest can literally teach you anything!
Check out this basic tip how garlic can turn any dish amazing
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