3 Tips to Help Make You a Better Home Cook
Is there anything worse than bland food? You go through all the trouble of prepping and cooking with visions of deliciousness and instead you end up with blah. Do you know why the food in a restaurant tastes so good? Aside from the fat, sugar and butter, chefs season and they season-aggressively. Chefs are not afraid to use salt to enhance their dishes, they know that salt is the king of seasonings. Honestly most home cooks don’t salt their food nearly enough or they just add salt at the end and then all you taste is salt. Or even worse they panic and start using processed seasoning packets to “up the flavor” of their dishes. And guess what those packets are mostly made up of? Yep, salt.
Most common fear of the home cook: their food being too salty. But practice is key. The more time you spend in the kitchen the more confident you will become at seasoning food, it becomes instinctual. I have found that there are 3 things that will help get you on the road to delicious food as a home cook.
First: You have to season aggressively and season from up high. Especially when working with protein. The height is important because this insures that a more even coating of the seasoning falls on your food. To season from high up you simply grab some of seasoning with your fingers, extend your arm fully, bend your wrist downward and let the seasoning fall over the meat.
Second: Season as you go so you build flavor. Acidity plays a big role, adding wine,lemon or lime juice to a dish will make the flavor pop. Also using a savory seasoning such as parmesan or bacon will also up the umami factor big time. This will keep your food from tasting one dimensional.
Third: Learn what flavors work together. Think garlic and basil, apples and cinnamon, chocolate and peanut butter. Then add those flavors to your meal the next time you’re in the kitchen. I find that chicken is a great protein to use when trying out new flavor combinations.
So have fun, experiment, get in that kitchen and season some meat! Make some bold seasoning choices and use your family and friends as tasters. They will tell you right away what they think. Also, if you like a certain dish at a restaurant read the menu description for clues to the flavors that are used in the dish. And if it isn’t clear on the menu, ask your server. They will gladly ask the kitchen for you and let you know.
Finally, check out my basic seasoning recipe, it’s the blend that I use to build on whenever I’m seasoning chicken, shrimp or red meat. With these tips and the basic seasoning blend you are well on your way to great meals! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @dashofkmc. And remember that everything is better with a Dash of KMC.
Lots of Love!
Karla