5 Essential Cooking Skills

Today I am writing about one of my greatest passions in life - food! Well, cooking to be more precise, but food is equally as exciting and fun! In college I originally planned to attend culinary school after getting my AA degree, but life circumstances changed and I ended up going to makeup school instead! All in all I would still love to attend culinary school someday, preferably in France (insert all the heart eyes here). I love talking about all things culinary, and wanted to post some of my most shared tips for cooking. Cooking as a whole is a skill, but it's mostly made up of hundreds of little tricks and techniques to master. I'm no where near a professional chef, but with lots of reading, food network, YouTube, and practice (read: trial and error), cooking for my family and loved ones has become easier and easier as well as more enjoyable by the day. I have gotten some questions from friends on where to start if they want to step up their kitchen game, so I came up with a list of five skills I use all the time, and that are essentials to master, in my opinion. 

I have gone over this post so many times making sure nothing was left out and really this post could have been a lot longer. I am interested to hear what your "must know" things are, so feel free to comment below! 

1. Breaking down a whole chicken and/or carving a roasted chicken. 

Somewhere along the line it has become a scary thing to roast a whole chicken. In my opinion roasting a bird whole gives you access to many complex flavors, textures and tastes. You can marinate the outside, stuff the inside - the possibilities really are endless! At the end of it you have all you need to make bone broth - one of the most nourishing beverages available! A side note - I wouldn't recommend making bone broth with anything but an organic chicken. Bone broth is so nutritious because it pulls all the minerals and vitamins from the bones of the bird, but with a non organic chicken you will also be pulling things like antibiotics and growth hormones. 

Yes, breaking down a chicken does involve things like removing the gizzards and touching raw chicken skin, but it's really not that gross, and the product is so worth it! To save space here I'm not going to list out all the steps, but Mario Batali has a tutorial on his website, or you could easily google this as well. Once you do this a few times it will become second nature, I promise! 

2. Eggs

Eggs? You might ask. Yes, eggs. Making one or a few good egg dishes is a wonderful and necessary addition to any cooks kitchen. Scrambled eggs are one of the most common dishes, but oh so abused. Turn the heat up too high and you have burnt hard eggs.  The golden rule for scrambled eggs is "low and slow". They do take slightly longer to cook, but the product is a creamy, flavorful start to your morning. In Paris we had scrambled eggs with fresh herbs and it was to die for. 

Take time to perfect a quiche recipe (quiche Lorraine is my favorite), or something simple like "eggs en cotte". Your breakfast guests, family and tummy will thank you!  

Also if you're wanting to poach eggs, make sure you start with very fresh eggs, as it helps them hold together much better. 

3. Even knife cuts

My third point is to perfect the art of cutting your ingredients well. Dicing an onion where it is supposed to be minced will actually make a difference in the recipe. Having even cuts makes your dishes easier to eat (no huge chunks to gnaw through) and allows everything to cook evenly. This helps you avoid any weird flavors because some of the smaller pieces have cooked through and burned, while others still need to soften. 

4. Baking something

Everyone loves a yummy homemade dessert, am I right? Having a staple you can bake, and bake well is essential to a well rounded dinner party. It's nice to be able to be able to bring a dessert to a friends house or serve it to your family on a cold evening! Baking is precise so follow the directions exactly and you will not have trouble. Also, if your oven seems off you can have it calibrated by the gas company for free.

5. Timing

This has been the skill it's taken me longer to refine, but timing is everything. Work on timing prep and execution of your dishes so everything comes together well at once. It takes away a lot from a meal to sit down and have a warm chicken but cold veggies or room temp salad. When hosting a dinner I strategically plan out each dish to try to have it all ready at once so nothing is being spoiled by time. I love my crockpot for this because it can keep items warm but still ready to serve when dinner time comes. 

What are your favorite tips and tricks? What would you have added to this list?

Bon appétit