As I would watch my mom cook in the kitchen growing up, she would mention food tips for me to take note of. And these tips guaranteed that the food would consistently come out tasting delicious. One tip that comes to mind is, add a few cloves to the savory food that I’m cooking, no matter what it is. It totally works for Haitian food, but I can’t necessarily say that it’s an applicable hack across the board for other cuisine—so take that one with a grain of salt. Pun intended. = ) She also taught me that when I’m cooking something sweet, to always add a pinch of salt to enhance all the flavors of the ingredients in the dish. My momma is brilliant—more than she may even know. But really, I am super proud of my mom because no one taught her how to cook. Her mom passed away when she was a little girl, so she pretty much figured out the world of food on her own when she got married to my dad. She had to figure out how she was going to feed her husband and two daughters with no experience in cooking—and she did! Today? She’s trying all types of cuisines, some of which are inspirations from international travel she has done, or the good ole Food Network. I love talking with mum about food!
Well I held onto those invaluable tips she gave me when I was coming up, and they serve me well when I step into the kitchen—whether my own kitchen or at the hotel. And throughout the years of culinary explorations, I picked up some of my own tips and hacks too! Here are a handful that will help you rock out your workweek dishes and having your loved ones be like, “did she order this from a restaurant then plate it on the low?” Let’s get started!
1. Use Fresh Ingredients
Fresh ingredients (meaning, not old) have so much of its natural flavors in it, so always use fresh ingredients. You would think this goes without saying but, sometimes old ingredients is all that’s left in the fridge. And in this case, what do we end up doing? Using whatever we have at our disposal. The thing is, the freshness of our ingredients could make or flop a dish. If you think you won’t have enough time to cook the veggies that you’re buying that week, or you don’t have a set day of when you’ll be making those said veggies, don’t buy them just yet. Figure out when you’ll be cooking that week, perhaps a food prep day, and purchase your produce a day or two prior. You can also buy frozen produce, fish, or whatever the item is, so the fresh factor doesn’t become a factor. Your fresh ingredients will be sitting there in the freezer on preserve-mode waiting for you to fire up the stove.
2. Keep Cultural Profiles Consistent
Every cultural food has a set of spices that are often used in its cuisine type. For instance, Italian foods usually have herbs and spices like oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage, garlic, onion, etc. So when you’re cooking say a veggie lasagna, your understanding of the common Italian spices will help you nail the flavor profile you’re shooting for every time. For my culture, Haitian foods often have paprika, thyme, cloves, garlic, onions, and green bell peppers. When you’re about to cook a meal, identify the cultural profile and go from there. If it’s American food, it’s a catch all so don’t strain your brain too much on that one.
3. Use Herbs At the Right Time
Who knew there’s actually a right time to use herbs? Well if you didn’t, this is for you. There are two forms of which herbs can be sold at the market—fresh and dried. Because fresh herbs are so fragrant and still have an abundant amount of flavor in them, it’s best to put your fresh herbs into your dish closer to the end of the cooking process. It will be aromatic and not overbearing, as I’m sure you don’t want that. On the flipside, when you’re working with dried herbs, add them earlier on in the cooking process. Reason being is, when they’re dry, it takes a little more effort for its natural flavors to blossom throughout your dish. Give them more time than you would your fresh herbs.
4. Mix Your Spices Ahead of Time
I know some of us cook spontaneously when it comes to spices, like me—adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that throughout the cooking process. However, if you’re looking for more consistent delicious meals, having a little bit of a plan will pay off in the final product of your dish. Identify the spices that you want to use for your meal, take a small bowl, and begin to add your spices to the bowl—the amount you intend to use from each spice. Once you’re done, mix it with a fork or spoon and smell it, then taste it. If it tastes scrumptious, that’s your spice blend to use as is. If it’s a little wonky because one spice might outshine another, and that wasn’t your intention, now you know how to adjust it to the perfect taste according to your liking. A cook I used to work with did this all the time when she made herself some lunch, and I thought it was clever.
5. Marinate Overnight
If you’re cooking something specific tomorrow and there’s an item that can be marinated ahead of time, totally do that. Let’s say you have a few nice pieces of salmon and you know what spices you’re going to be using, like an Asian style flavor profile. Then you would put all those ingredients together with the fish like, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, rice wine vinegar, cloves, basil, and coriander. Wrap it up in plastic wrap or put it in Tupperware, and refrigerate it. When tomorrow night’s cooking session arrives, you’ll have well-seasoned super flavorful salmon, penetrated throughout each piece. At that point, you’re ready to fire up the stove, oven or grill for a delicious dinner!
6. Use Recipes to Spark Inspiration
I’m all for recipes as you know. I pretty much share a new recipe in every post, even if I’m talking about sometime totally different from food. However, if you want to up your cooking skills, use recipes as a guide, not a strict instruction manual. When you use recipes as a guide, you use it to inspire you. It helps you pick out similar ingredients that you may like. Also, you may not have the exact ingredients that a recipe calls for which can sometimes be discouraging, but it doesn’t have to be. That’s your opportunity to select an ingredient that you do have, and use it as a substitute ingredient. And your dish can still come out fabulous. When someone shares a recipe, it’s based on what they prefer, what pleases them flavor-wise. But it’s your food, so why not once and a while customize it in a way that will make your taste buds sing the way you like.
There’s nothing wrong with getting some inspiration from other places. I do it all the time and sure enough did it for this recipe right here. My head chef gave me a large tray of white rice to make a salad and in swift passing, he mentioned something about raisins. That’s when the brain started to storm. I thought, hmm, raisins, nuts, cumin, salt, maple syrup and honey. Then I took a look at a recipe for future inspiration and saw something about curry. That was the missing and perfect element I was looking for! I didn’t use measurements or anything. I just mixed things in and tasted as I went along and it came out uber delicious. I’m going to challenge you to take that approach when making this meal for some fun and to get you more comfy with creating your own refined cooking style.
Below is a list of ingredients that I used, with an overview of the instructions. I want you to just go for it! Set aside tip number 4 for this one and put your caution to the wind, and get to cooking—your style of cooking!
NUTTY & SWEET CURRY RICE SALAD
INGREDIENTS
-Produce-
Basmati Rice
Baby Arugula
Fresh Scallions, chopped
-Spices-
Curry Powder
Cumin, ground
Ginger, ground
-Treats-
Golden Raisins
Regular Raisins
Roasted & Salted Peanuts
Shredded Coconut
-Liquids-
Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Lemon, juice
Maple Syrup
Honey
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Staples-
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Make your rice. Feel free to use an easy rice cooker which I talk about in here. This is the rice cooker I use.
Let your rice cool and place the rice in a bowl
In that bowl, mix the spices and add them to the bowl, then mix all together
Then add the treats followed by the liquids, and mix all together
Add your staples to taste
Take a spoon and taste your dish before plating it in case you want to add anything else
Once you’re satisfied with the flavor of the dish, you’re ready to plate it!
Enjoy every bite!
To powerful workweeks and inspiring eats!
Love,
Yardley
