10 Tips To Social Distance Your Way To Better Cooking
How you can use the extra time at home to tackle new cooking projects.
You’ve been promising yourself for years you’d get to that homemade dumplings recipe once you had more time. Well, now that you’re home, there’s no better time to start honing the skills you’ve been putting off.
Let’s face it. This was not how anyone imagined 2020 would be.
Instead of that food tour in Sicily, you’re stuck at home staring at a box of frozen pizza (sigh).
I know.
But, as you’re spending more time at home than ever before, why not create the dishes you’re craving? Luckily, leveling up your cooking skills is easier than you think.
Here are 10 things you can do to improve your cooking today.
1. Practice
Cooking is a highly sensory, hands-on activity. Reading all about how to chop onions to perfection is no substitute for active work.
Knowing by smell when the cookies are perfectly baked, or whether your bread dough is sticky enough can only come through experience.
The biggest takeaway is to practice. Cooking is one of the greatest skills you can have. Luckily, the more you cook, the more you’ll improve. Anyone can learn to cook, and more time at home means you can finally tackle those longer projects.
It’s truly a simple formula. Show up. Do the thing. Repeat.
You’ll see the improvement.
2. Learn essential techniques
Once you have some basics down, your confidence will soar. You’ll get a better feel for how ingredients work together.
Good skills to start with are sautéing, roasting, and cutting techniques. Then, remember the first lesson. Practice.
By building fluency, you’ll grow more confident and comfortable in the kitchen. Before you know it, you’ll be a master at chicken provençal without peeking at the instructions!
3. Mise en place
This one’s a not-so-secret anymore chef tip. Mise en place is French for “everything in its place.” Before you start cooking, have everything you need prepped and ready.
Going back and forth from your stovetop to your fridge will throw you off guard and create unnecessary anxiety. Don’t do that to yourself.
If following a recipe, look at the ingredients list. Pull everything together before turning on the oven. Measure everything out and have it ready to hit the pan.
Having everything you need on hand elevates your experience from daunting to delightful.
4. Start with quality ingredients
For produce, this means buying what’s in season. For other products, a good place to look is the source. Where was it produced?
Say you’re topping your pasta with parmesan — it’s Parmigiano-Reggiano you want. True Parmigiano-Reggiano must meet strict criteria to ensure a high-quality product¹.
It must only be made up of 3 ingredients — milk, salt, and calf rennet. It can only be produced within a small geographic region in northern Italy — specifically, Parma, Reggio-Emilia, Modena, part of Mantua, and part of Bologna. And 100% of wheels are checked by the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Consortium.
You can tell real parmesan cheese by the marking “Parmigiano-Reggiano” all over the rind. And the quality difference is incredible.
5. Clean as you go
This tip does double duty by keeping your kitchen clean and helping you work efficiently. Clear your sink before starting to cook so you don’t end up with towering piles of dishes.
Likewise, use any downtime in your recipes to tidy up — when you’re waiting for water to boil, while food is roasting in the oven. Whenever there’s a 5 minute or more wait time is a great opportunity to get to those dirty dishes.
If you have a dishwasher, check that it’s empty so you’ll have plenty of space to fill as you go.
You’ll be thanking yourself after devouring that tagliatelle al ragù and the second glass of wine.
6. Trust your senses, not the time
Each oven is different. Unfortunately, this means that the recipe you’re following may not turn out exactly as expected. This can especially be a challenge in baking, where precision is key.
If you’re not completely sure how hot your oven runs, you’ll need to rely on look and smell.
Pay attention to any descriptions a recipe provides — a “golden-brown crust”, “deepened color”, “soft and translucent.” These are key indicators to look out for.
7. Gadgets for precision
Another way to check for doneness is to use a meat thermometer.
I don’t know how I got by cooking chicken before getting a meat thermometer.
Chicken — one of the most popular meats — is surprisingly difficult to work with. Undercooked chicken is a slimy nightmare and overcooked chicken is dull and dry. And it’s easy to go from undercooked to overcooked fast.
A meat thermometer saves the day by reading the internal temperature of your protein. Here’s a handy internal temperature chart.
8. Don’t shy from spices or aromatics
Spices add flavor.
Flavor is good.
Don’t be afraid to use those spices!
Here’s where deviating from a recipe is fine, even as a beginner. A key part of this is tasting your food as you go. If a dish calls for two teaspoons of basil, but you like bright and herby flavors, add three teaspoons. Or four, or five!
There’s no need to strictly follow flavorings in a recipe if you know that adding more salt or pepper will improve the dish.
For me — the more garlic the better.
What are the flavors you want to enhance? From there you can craft your dish to your tastes.
9. Find a recipe with a video
The internet is a saturated place. It makes the great recipe search a daunting endeavor.
One thing that helps me choose a new recipe is whether I can find a video of someone else making it.
Getting someone to model the steps for you is a great way to familiarize yourself with a new recipe. You’ll get a feel for how long it will take, what ingredients to start gathering, and what utensils you’ll need.
10. (Virtually) cook with friends!
Okay, this tip is more about staying sane and social at home. While not necessary to become a better cook, a cooking buddy will help keep you accountable.
I recently set an appointment to Skype-bake cookies with my sister and it (1) made me bake, (2) allowed us to compare dishes, and (3) was tons of fun. Try it out!
It can be intimidating to learn new skills, but with a little practice, cooking at home becomes an incredibly rewarding craft.
So, what’s for dinner tonight? Let me know what you’ve been dreaming of making in the comments!
Sources:
1. https://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/consortium-specifications-and-legislation/
