Good morning, blog. Well, I reached the end of what I can learn on my own. I have finally decided that I am going to learn how to cook from a professional. Believe me when I say that learning to cook — doing it on my own — after years of thinking I knew how to cook — has been a trial.
Buying and reading cookbooks, watching Guy and Giada, Ina and Bobby, Chopped and Iron Chef has been so worth it, but I am doing, not really learning. I am not one of those "worst cooks" that you see on Food Network with hosts Bobby and Anne. I do know some about cooking.
After a few decades cooking for the growing kids, I have a whole lot of experiences... but as I recently discovered... not much real knowledge or cooking skills. I am not sure what you call it when I thought flavor was the choice you make when ordering ice cream.
I Want to Learn How to Cook
It took years for me to realize it, but if I want to be a good cook... I really need to learn how to cook. I don't need to be able to make some of the recipes in the Jaime Oliver or Curtis Stone cookbooks, although I loved Curtis's TV show he used to have where he'd find someone in the market and cook dinner for them. That's pretty fancy cooking. I have Rachel's 30-Minute Cookbook, but it takes me a couple of hours, not minutes.
I'd really like to be able to cook a wider range of menu items than the handful I've made over and over for years and years. I'd like to learn actual cooking skills. That would probably cut down on the time it takes me. I am not sure what "technique" means, but if it would make me a better cook, I'd like to learn some cooking techniques. I can follow a recipe and that's what I've been doing with mixed results. Mostly... without the cook's understanding of the what, when, why and how... the what turns into what happened.
I really want to stop feeling disappointed when I put food on the plate.
How I'm Going to Learn How to Cook
I have decided to learn how to cook from a real cooking guy, and the fellow I chose is Chef David James Robinson.
A few days ago I purchased a "Learn How to Cook" DVD set from Chef David. I found it because he talks about "mistakes," and I make plenty. Not because I am a bad cook, but because no one ever taught me how to cook.
I am looking forward to finally learning how to cook from a chef who knows how to teach a beginner... that's me even after 30 plus years in the kitchen.
Follow My Progress
There are 10 DVDs in Chef David's cooking course, over 100 recipes and techniques in 14 episodes called "Bites." That's about 15+ hours of content for the beginning home cook (that's me). I plan to learn by doing, and then blog about what I learned and how I did with each cooking lesson.
There are 10 DVDs in Chef David's cooking course, over 100 recipes and techniques in 14 episodes called "Bites." That's about 15+ hours of content for the beginning home cook (that's me). I plan to learn by doing, and then blog about what I learned and how I did with each cooking lesson.
Follow me as I learn to cook.