re: What's the best way to become a good cook?

quote:

---

What's the best way to get good?

---

Cook for others.. your family, your friends.. get feedback.. and practice.

Read menu's at restaurants and remember combinations used there. Try to replicate what you like.

to piggy back off the great ideas of others on this board...

test yourself.

Look at what you have in the fridge, freezer, and dry storage and see what you can make with the ingredients you have on hand.

This helps tremendously with cooking at other peoples homes. It also stretches your imagination and forces you to create your own dish.

Learn that you can combine butter, margarine, olive oil, etc to create different flavors and stretch your ingredients farther.

quote:

---

:deadfrickinsilence:

---

But seriously:

Still laughing.

THe answer is the same as to the old joke, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" Practice, practice, practice.

KC, you need to come down to LA. We could teach you how to talk and how to make a roux and how to catch a fish and it seems like you'd fit in pretty well around here.

One more thing...

When it comes to equipment, buy fewer pieces but high quality. An 8" chef's knife will perform almost any task you will need. Don't buy a set with 10 knives. Buy one nice one and add others over time. Really, all I ever need is a 7-8" chef's knife, a small pairing knife, and a bread knife (serrated) but I can do almost everything with the chef's knife.

If fewer is better with knives it is certainly true of pots and pans. We have a family of six and have guests quite often but if pressed, I could live with one 12" cast iron skillet, one large pot for cooking pasta and rice, one small sauce pan, and one large dutch oven. With those four pieces, I can cook almost anything.

As mentioned by others, go to a restaurant supply company to buy your stuff. Cast iron skillets are relatively cheap and will last a lifetime if cared for properly. NEVER submerge cast iron in water to clean it and never use soap on it. Heat it, deglaze with plain water, and scrub. Works every time. In over twenty years, I have never cleaned mine with soap. Google "seasoning cast iron cookware" for care instructions. Stainless or aluminum pots and sauce pans with metal riveted handles will do fine. I recommend an enamel coated cast iron dutch oven but they are expensive. If you only have aluminum, you'll be OK for most any situation (except acidic foods like tomato sauce which pits aluminum badly). Again, just buy the best you can afford and remember that fewer is better.

Watch Good Eats and America's Test Kitchen

quote:

---

All in good humor,friend

---

Totally knew that and took it that way.



so what do you think about the blue cheese crumbles in the broc/cauli?

Can anyone suggest a restaurant supply wholesale store in BR?

I worked in bars and restaurants all through college so luckily I picked up some cooking tips there. When I need a quick answer I'll look up stuff on YouTube. That's where I learned how to properly clean a beef tenderloin. Just a suggestion.

The one thing that I can't do is sharpen a knife properly. Any tips or direction on where to look to learn how?

Cayards, Scardinnas, Ducotes.