Cooking and Gadgets

Basic Dishes a Couple Can Build On

From the LA Times

cookingfortwo Meghan and Carter are getting married. Like so many friends of my daughter, they are bright, funny and, sometimes, almost preternaturally serious. A couple of weeks ago, they asked my wife if we would talk to them about how to stay married — and about how to cook.

The first, I'll leave to Kathy; after almost 34 years, it's still a mystery to me. But the cooking part is right up my alley, and, even better, I figured it would give me a chance to try out some of the ideas I've been on a soapbox about for the last couple of years.

A basic knowledge of cooking — not the intricacies of fancy restaurant dishes or the parsing of various ethnic cuisines — seems to me to be fundamental to a happy life, whatever your relationship status. A good meal gives such great joy, why would you want to leave it to the hands of a stranger?

So Sunday night, Meghan and Carter came to the house for a cooking class. But instead of doing the usual thing and walking them through a couple of recipes, I wanted to try something different. I love recipes as much as the next guy, but it does seem to me that they are an imperfect way to learn to cook. Sure, a well-written recipe can teach you how to re-create a specific dish, but that's a different thing from actually knowing how to cook, isn't it?

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Smoke Gets in Your Food

They, asked me how I knew,
My true love was true,
I of course replied, something here inside,
Can not be denied.

They, said some day you'll find,
All who love are blind,
When you heart's on fire, you must realize,
Smoke gets in your eyes.

Written by Jerome Kern (music) and Otto Harbach (lyrics) for the musical "Roberta" in 1933

"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is supposed to be romantic, but it just makes me hungry. It's completely primal. With all due respect to raw food adherents, smoke has been appealing every since we discovered that the combination of fire plus food equals delicious. The smell of smoky bacon or barbecue has been known on occasion to make even committed vegetarians weak.

Sadly, I have nowhere to put a grill let alone a smoker. I use my cast iron grill pan, and make-shift smokers in the oven and stove top and char my eggplants and peppers under the broiler. But it's not the same. Smoky flavors are elusive. So far my favorite smoke-enhancers are chipotle pepper, cumin and smoked paprika. But now I have a new weapon in my arsenal.

Kitchen Wisdom, Volume 1

All my knowledge of cooking comes from a lifetime in the kitchen with family. My grandmother, my mother, my father, my chef friends, my farmer friends, you name it – if I can glean something from them I will.

Many lessons have been learned through trial and error which I suppose is a good way to learn. I’ve made many mistakes and continue to make many mistakes (you should have seen my Korean song pyeon I tried to make the other day, I don’t even wanna talk about it). I thought I’d begin a series of things I’ve learned along the way and subject you to some bad illustrations I painted. Sometimes you just have to step away from the camera and change things up a bit. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Matt's Kitchen Wisdom Volume 1.

Kitchen Thermometers Are Your Friends.

There was a time when I tried to wing everything. The result? Soggy fried foods, destroyed melted sugar gloop, burnt butter (which isn’t a bad thing exactly but you know what I’m saying). And since deep frying plays a big part of On a Stick!, it’s important to know your temperatures and know when you’re where you want to be.

Spicy Chicken Thighs with Apricots and Olives

I'm going to have twist your arm and insist you make this...it's so unbelievably full of flavor, it left me speechless. That's pretty hard to do. This also does not have to be spicy. For the record, mine was not. I only used 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. The suggested amount is one teaspoon for spicy, but I knew that would leave the kids out, so I went easy.

The trick to this dish is a 24 hour marinade. It infuses the chicken, making it unbelievably flavorful, tender and juicy. It's nothing less than incredible. Honestly, when I tasted it, I wanted to use it as salad dressing.

This is a great weeknight dish but it is by far company worthy. It's sweet and spicy (if you choose it to be) and looks so beautiful. Makes sure to serve it over rice or couscous so you can drizzle the sauce from the pan and catch all the wonderful flavors.

Perfecting the Burger

bestburger Summer isn’t summer without grilling all of our favorite things; kabobs, thick rib eyes, pizza, fish, corn, all kinds of veggies and of course – burgers. Burgers are always just okay when made at home. Yet, after eating at Umami burger, I had to up my game. I loved my burger at Umami burger. The burger fit perfectly on the bun, the tomatoes were juicy and the other stuff was just right.

I had to recreate their great taste at home. After, finally figuring out the right combination of meat and seasonings my kids and their friends agree that my burgers now taste like a restaurant-style burger. Finally, got the taste that I have been searching for. Nothing added to the meat, nothing fancy like cheese or butter shoved inside the meat, just meat, a little salt, pepper, + garlic powder. That’s it.

Eli likes grilled onions, lettuce and ketchup. Isaac likes lettuce, ketchup + pickles (after all, a burger isn’t a burger without the pickles), and Levi likes cheese and ketchup. In my opinion, the grilled onions make this burger taste not like your ordinary burger. Don’t leave these out…they truly change the taste of the burger (also delicious on a hot dog!). Use a potato bun and it makes all the difference in the world. I am even entertaining the idea of making my own buns! We will see if I am up for the challenge.

Cooking Techniques and Kitchen Gadgets