Know Your Way Around a Kitchen
by Brett & Kate McKay
If there remains a lingering sense among older generations of men that cooking is “women’s work,” I would think it is probably fading greatly among the younger set. True, for much of human history men did the hunting/farming and women did the cooking, and this arrangement continued to work well into the 20th century. Young men made a quick transition from living with their flapjack-flipping mother, to settling down with a meatloaf-making wife. Or, he lodged at boarding houses that provided victuals along with a bed. But those days are long gone; accommodations that come with a cook are now virtually non-existent (although it lives on in fraternity houses), and men are remaining bachelors longer – well into their late 20s and early 30s. As all modern men still need to eat virtually every single day, the only choice that remains is either starving…or being completely dependent on restaurant meals and take-out food. Maturing into a grown man means becoming self-sufficient, so daily dependence isn’t an option. Further, not only does learning to cook help you become more independent, it offers other benefits as well: Keeps you healthy and strong. When you cook for yourself, you know and control exactly what you put in your mouth. Almost anything you make for yourself, even the same dish served at a restaurant, will have less salt, fat, calories, and additives than the commercially-made variety. Saves you money. Sure, it is possible to eat cheaply by ordering all your food off the dollar menu, but while fast food won’t clip your wallet, it will take a toll on your health, which will cost you big bucks down the line. When it comes to making real, wholesome food, cooking at home is generally cheaper than eating out. Impresses the ladies. As a young man, you’re going to be dating, and nothing impresses a gal like a man who can invite her back to his place for a home-cooked meal. Gives you enjoyment. No, I don’t always enjoy cooking. But when you have time and are in the right mood, it can be very satisfying to create something tasty for you and for your friends/family. Now, I’m not a home cooking zealot. Sometimes the way I feel about cooking can be summed up in this comic from The Oatmeal; it can seem like it is more hassle than it’s worth, and when you’re super busy and stressed, the convenience of take-out is a lifesaver. The key is striking a balance, and you can’t do that if you can’t cook anything beyond toast and ramen. The good news here is that while gourmet chef-ery takes a lot of training and practice, simple cooking can be learned by anyone who knows how to read. So in this post, we cover many of the basics a young man who’s never cooked for himself needs to know to get started. First we’ll talk about how to stock your kitchen with equipment and your pantry with staple items. Then we’ll talk about a few basic skills and bits of know-how you need to learn in order to cook edible, hopefully delicious, food. Finally, because you don’t need to amass the kitchen equipment listed below all at once, we’ll talk about some things you can cook when your options and tools are limited. Let’s get started.
Stocking Your Kitchen: Essential EquipmentFor this section, I had AoM’s food writer, Matt Moore, give us the lowdown on how to outfit your kitchen. Here’s what he had to say:
Hardware: Pots/Pans/Baking Dishes
Tools and Accessories: For the Utility Drawer
Serving/Storage Items: For the Cupboards
Thanks Matt! Now let’s take a look at stocking your pantry. Stocking Your Pantry: The Essentials
These are the things that will come in handy for a variety of recipes or a spontaneous meal idea, and are always good to have on hand.
How to Read a RecipeIt’s true (and is often said) that all you need to know in order to cook is how to read a recipe. But how do you read a recipe? These tips will up your chances of culinary success. 1. First things first, read through the recipe in its entirety. It’s easy to look only at a recipe’s ingredients before deciding to make something. But when it comes time to prepare the dish, you may find you don’t have a tool or ingredient that may only be mentioned in the directions, or that it’s a lot more complicated than you thought, and a little above your pay grade. If the recipe includes terms you don’t recognize, look them up.
2. Add up how much time it will take. Be sure to check out the “prep time” (slicing, stirring, can-opening) and “cook time” (baking, frying, grilling). Add them up to find the total time needed to complete the dish. If it’s your first time making a certain recipe, it will definitely take you longer than the given time; give yourself an ample cushion. 3. Make sure you have all the ingredients. If you think you might have something already, but aren’t sure, check to see. Also make sure it’s still fresh. Then write a list of all the ingredients you don’t have on hand. 4. Take note of what you need to do before the preparations begin. Before you start slicing, dicing, and mixing, you may need to do things like preheat the oven, soften butter, or defrost meat. 5. Set out all of your ingredients and tools. Line up everything you will need: bowls, pans, and utensils are on the counter, ingredients are measured and ready to go. This will not only make things smoother as you go along, saving you from dashing to and from the fridge and the cupboards, but it’s basically a chance to check off the recipe’s ingredient and supply list one more time; you don’t want to get halfway through your preparations, only to realize you’re ¼ cup short of the required 1 cup of flour. Measuring IngredientsDry Measurements Versus Wet Measurements When a recipe calls for a ½ cup of this, and 2 cups of that, the tool you reach for depends on whether the ingredient is dry or wet (if it’s pourable – oil, sauce, milk — it’s wet). There are two options: wet measuring cups and dry measuring cups. While they technically each hold the same volume, there are reasons why you should choose one or the other for respective ingredients.
A liquid measuring cup has small measurement gradients printed up the side, and the top fill line sits well below the spout, so you don’t spill any liquid when you pick up the cup. When you fill a wet measuring cup, don’t hold it in your hand – put it on a level surface and squat down to make sure the liquid is sitting right at the desired mark. Dry measuring cups are meant to be filled up to the very top, and then leveled off with a knife. If you filled a dry measuring cup to the very brim with a liquid, you’d be bound to spill some. And if you used a wet measuring cup for a dry ingredient, you wouldn’t be able to level it off. Here’s how you fill a dry measuring cup with a few common ingredients:
Tablespoons Versus Teaspoons
A common mistake beginner cooks make is to confuse the tablespoon with the teaspoon, as they are often abbreviated in recipes in different ways, and these abbreviations are very similar. You may see any of the following:
A tablespoon is larger than a teaspoon. In the US, one tablespoon equals three teaspoons. You can use tablespoons and teaspoons for both wet and dry ingredients. A recipe may call for a level or rounded amount; rounded roughly sits above the rim of the spoon, level is done by scraping off the top with a knife. Butter A stick of butter will have the measurements printed on the wrapper of each stick. Just mark off what you need and cut through the butter, wrapper and all. Basic Cooking Skills Every Young Man Should MasterThere are tons of cooking techniques out there, and down the road you may want to learn to make a soufflé or smoke some ribs. But it really only takes a few basic how-tos to keep yourself well-fed and happy. First we’ll cover one of the most basic of the basics – how to make pasta – and then I invite you to click on the images below to learn more simple, but handy, skills. How to Make Pasta
Pasta is an especially good option for young men; it’s cheap, versatile, and relatively good for you (depending on what you add to it). It’s also really simple to make. At least, it should be. But I didn’t realize I was making it wrong until after I got married; Kate was aghast to see me put the pasta in right after filling up the pot with water, instead of waiting for the water to boil. A recipe for mushy pasta. Here’s how to do it right: 1. Use about 5 quarts of water for a pound of pasta. That sounds like a lot, but a common mistake is to use too little water, which leads to the pasta sticking and clumping together. When planning your mealtime, keep in mind that that much water takes a while to boil, especially because you want to start with cold water (as it absorbs the least amount of impurities from your pipes).
2. Choose a pot that will leave you some room on top, so the water doesn’t boil over. 5 quarts of water in an 8-quart pot works well. If all you’ve got is a 6-quart-er, just keep a close eye on it. 3. Bring water to a rolling boil. This means it’s boiling across the whole surface of the water and you can’t stop the boil by stirring it. Putting a cover on the pot will help it reach this point faster. 4. Once boiling, add two tablespoons of salt. The salt boosts the boiling temperature slightly and adds a little flavor to the pasta. But fear not – it only raises the pasta’s sodium content a tiny bit. 5. Add the pasta, and stir it around immediately to keep it from sticking together, as the strands release their starch as they hit the heat. Stir the pot again every few minutes until pasta is done. 6. Consult the pasta package for relatively accurate cooking time. A minute before the minimum given cooking time on the package is up, fish out a strand with tongs and bite into it. The consistency you’re looking for is “al dente” (Italian for “to the tooth”) – tender, but with a little bite. Keep in mind that the pasta will continue to cook a bit even after you remove it from the heat. 7. As soon as the pasta reaches desired doneness, dump it into a colander. Pick up the colander and give it a few shakes to get the water out. But don’t overstrain it – a little wetness works well with sauce. Don’t rinse the pasta either (unless you’re making a cold pasta salad), as it rinses away the starch that coats each strand, and this starch will help the sauce stick to the pasta. 8. Toss pasta with sauce immediately, if you can. If you can’t, toss the pasta with a little olive oil to keep the strands from sticking to each other.
August 23, 2012 Copyright © 2012 The Art of Manliness
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