About Cooking
Sun., September 24, 02:51 PM
Some time ago, when I still had eaters in my house, I considered writing a cookbook for my kids. They loved certain recipes that I had developed, and I thought it would be nice if they could make them too. Since I had that great idea, the kids have really grown up. That is, M.D. is a wonderful cook who can usually make my dishes without a recipe. Son cooks his own kind of thing -- better potatoes than I make -- but then he doesn't have to deal with an old man who gets fussier with each day. U.D., as I've mentioned, is a militant vegetarian, for whom all these recipes would have to be altered, both for ingredients and for amounts. So much for sharing recipes. But here is the introduction. I called it
I don't consider myself a gourmet cook; I prefer to think of myself just as a food preparer. Although I read recipes and watch cooking shows on TV, I often consider it too much trouble for too little reward. The other day I saw a recipe for using left-over doughnuts. What exactly is a left-over doughnut? It's either still good -- maybe a little dry -- and you eat it, or it isn't good any more and you throw it away.
I like the Julia Child books and I depend heavily on The Joy of Cooking (1964 edition), but every now and then I read a cookbook that makes me think, "I can do better than this." There are recipes that aren't recipes -- they're variations on the previous recipe, or maybe they're just household hints. If I stretched my food knowledge out that way and added enough illustrations, I'd have enough for a book too.
I like to eat, which was the main reason I learned to cook at all. When I was growing up, certain rules prevailed. For one thing, my mother kept a kosher kitchen. For another, there were seasonal constraints and price constraints, and there just wasn't as much variety available as there is now. There's a certain sense of amusement in trying to overcome obstacles.
Gramma -- my mother -- always said she cooked without measuring. That isn't strictly true. She didn't own many standard measuring utensils, but her proportions were generally consistent. If the book calls for a cup of this and a cup of that, it doesn't matter whether you use a fancy measuring cup or a water glass. (As a newlywed, cooking for only two people, I occasionally used a four-ounce medications cup. Later on, I found a marked baby bottle useful.)
Besides, cooking is not quite like a chemistry lab. In most instances, these are mixtures, not compounds. Slightly more or less of some ingredients doesn't make a whole lot of difference. Fresh produce doesn't come in exact sizes or concentrations. And you have to be practical; if the onion you chop yields a little more than the book says, what are you supposed to do with the last spoonful?
When I write out a recipe, I give some measurements as a guide, but they're extremely flexible. Something as simple as an apple is available not only in different sizes, but in multiple varieties as well. In addition, its sweetness is altered by the weather. Measurements for spices are always on the conservative side; I've found that I end up increasing them for our taste.
So you start with a cookbook. You learn to check the taste and to recognize the right "look." It may not always be perfect, but as Gramma used to say, "if you put in good things, how can it be bad?" There's no substitute for experience, but you won't starve while you learn.
A sense of chemistry is helpful, not only for cooking but for cleanup. If you know why it works, you?re in control. Vinegar, an acid, plus baking soda releases carbon dioxide, the gas that makes cakes rise. Baking powder is composed of baking soda plus acid in powder form; it doesn't need added acid. The acid in vinegar or lemon juice will also sour milk, giving you better control over the acidity than if you use natural buttermilk.
Chemistry is one of the ways my cooking is different from Gramma's. I also make use of every new device that makes less work for Mother. And finally, if I find a packaged product that fills my needs, I'm not too proud to use it.
Most of my cooking these days centers around the microwave oven, the food processor and the toaster oven. Not "real" cooking, you say? Then by all means go back to the open hearth (not a fancy gas grill), smoke up your house and burn your food. In my house, people learn to change with the times!
Microwaving is excellent for reheating and thawing, but it also reduces cooking time on lots of things that require moist heat. (For dry heat, I?ll use the toaster oven.) Because microwaves heat the food, not the container, there's less likelihood of burning and sticking to the pot.
A food processor (or even a small blender) doesn't have to reduce everything to liquid. On and off pulses give you controlled chopping or grating. Chopped onions and celery for turkey stuffing are done in record time. Making crumbs from stale bread? The food processor does that too.
The ease of electrified chopping can make you daring. Potatoes need to be grated for Chanukah latkes; how about grating a sweet potato too? Maybe you are accustomed to adding chopped celery and onion to tuna salad; try some grated carrots. (Put the carrots in first; they're so hard they take longer.)
Electric frypans have a temperature control, like an oven. (I don't test my oven by putting my hand inside, and I don't check my skillet temperature by spitting on it!) They also gave me more cooking surface than the stovetop. The best one I ever used also had an extra leg so that it could be tilted; I cooked at the high side and all the fat drained off.
We all try to cut back on the salt. (Rule of thumb: when you double a recipe, use only 1-1/2 times the salt. I don't know why, but it's true.) Packaged condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise already contain salt, as do cheeses. I'd rather err on the side of too little salt, savoring the natural flavor of meats and vegetables, and add the salt later if needed.
Cutting back on fat is more difficult. All too often it's the fat that makes things taste good. Julia Child adds the butter she likes for flavor and suggests just eating less of the final product. Graham Kerr cuts almost all the fat out of his recipes, but the ingredients he adds to make up for the lost flavor are full of sugar. I guess you have to choose your poison.
Though my kitchen isn't kosher, I'm still reluctant to put meat and dairy in the same recipe. You can make a luxurious creamy gravy for chicken using nondairy creamer. I still don't use pork; some people substitute veal, turkey or chicken in recipes calling for pork. If you want the taste of bacon, use Bacos® or similar soy chips; for a sausage flavor, you can duplicate the spices, as in my meat sauce for spaghetti.
I can make a very good meat sauce for spaghetti, but if I?m making a small amount, I?m very happy with Rag® chunky garden style. I use lots of spices in the meat, which improves even ground turkey.
Home-made mayonnaise can be flavored to complement specific dishes and is rich and tasty. Unfortunately, mayonnaise requires raw eggs, which may or may not be safe. Lots of people swear by Hellman's, which I find too salty. Most of the time, I'd just as soon use Miracle Whip®. There are celebrity cookbooks that mention commercial products so often you'd think they were getting a kickback.
That was then. I'm nowhere as enthusiastic now. Here we are at Rosh Hashana, and I really don't feel like cooking. So I made some "fake chicken soup," a quick and easy thing I figured out a long time ago, along with some brown rice. I also bought a jar of gefilte fish, another food that says "holiday."
I am very glad that I didn't go to greater trouble. Husband didn't like the rice (and it was good); he said it made him cough. That's the same guy who;s been saying, "I haven't had rice for a long time. Why don't you make it any more?" At least he will stop asking for a while. (He probably saw it on television.) He didn't mind the fish, but he'd rather have something from Chef Boyardi. U.D. can only eat a little rice without getting sick and, of course, the soup has chicken broth in it.
It's hard enough learning to cut back, to cook in smaller amounts. It's more than I can manage to cook for one, in two different styles. If I eat what he wants, I will get sick. And he absolutely refuses to eat what I eat, except for a couple of things.
Remember, I said "don't get married!"
