What are the basic skills that aspiring cooks should learn?

Also, learn to do the skillet toss when sautéing, just because it makes you look like a kitchen boss. :wink:

I laugh my butt off every time I'm at a particular niece's house, and she tries to do that. She's completely inept. She bangs the front edge of the pan into the stovetop, she spills whatever she's cooking all over...it's ugly. :laugh:
 
TastyReuben said:
Also, learn to do the skillet toss when sautéing, just because it makes you look like a kitchen boss. :wink:

I laugh my butt off every time I'm at a particular niece's house, and she tries to do that. She's completely inept. She bangs the front edge of the pan into the stovetop, she spills whatever she's cooking all over...it's ugly. :laugh:
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Frankly -- I don't even TRY to do that. Especially not if there are any witnesses higher up on the evolutionary scale than my cats.
 
Mountain Cat said:
Frankly -- I don't even TRY to do that. Especially not if there are any witnesses higher up on the evolutionary scale than my cats.
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I don't find it that hard, and it's usually my preferred way to sauté something, because it's fast.

A few years ago, that same niece was at our house for the day, and I was trying to teach her, but she just couldn't do it.

I also had my big cast iron skillet going, and being a bit of a smart-ass, she said she wanted me to do it with that one.

"Too heavy," I said, "can't be done."

Later, I called her attention to a Jacques Pepin episode I found on YT, about something else entirely, and I pointed out the pan he was using, a big enameled cast iron fry pan.

"See, Lizard, you need a pan like that. It's heavy cast iron, but it's enameled, so it looks nice, too."

(I call her Lizard because her name is Elizabeth :))

Right at that moment, 80-something-year-old Pepin grabbed the skillet with both hands, hefted it up, and started tossing the ingredients.

All I got from my niece was, "Hmmm...he can do that. Does that coating make the pan lighter somehow?"
 
TastyReuben said:
My dad used to shoot fish, using a bow and arrow, with a line attached to the arrow. Nothing ocean-related, though. Just freshwater fish in my grandad's pond or a nearby stream.
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Hmmm. I could see that keeping you from losing the fish attached to your line. I still wonder if Craig is using a gun, and what type?
 
TastyReuben said:
learn to do the skillet toss when sautéing,
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The reason people get it wrong is because its called 'tossing' which implies moving the pan upwards so that the contents jump up. The correct way to do it is by quickly moving the pan away from you and back again, more or less on a level. Difficult to explain in writing but easy to learn. I'm sure there are videos somewhere to demonstrate.
 
morning glory said:
The reason people get it wrong is because its called 'tossing' which implies moving the pan upwards so that the contents jump up. The correct way to do it is by quickly moving the pan away from you and back again, more or less on a level. Difficult to explain in writing but easy to learn. I'm sure there are videos somewhere to demonstrate.
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I've seen some of the videos. I'll wait until I'm in the mood to clean up the kitchen again before practicing...
:D
 
Two things I got taught early on which stick with me:
1) taste, taste, taste, and not just at the end
2) clean up after yourself as you go

In addition to all the great points already raised, and a few (*cough* many) years later I'd say don't be afraid of salt, read the recipe twice, and don't be afraid to give something a go
 
HairyHeaven said:
Two things I got taught early on which stick with me:
1) taste, taste, taste, and not just at the end
2) clean up after yourself as you go

In addition to all the great points already raised, and a few (*cough* many) years later I'd say don't be afraid of salt, read the recipe twice, and don't be afraid to give something a go
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Agree with all of those points, particularly the first one.
 
HairyHeaven said:
Two things I got taught early on which stick with me:
1) taste, taste, taste, and not just at the end
2) clean up after yourself as you go

In addition to all the great points already raised, and a few (*cough* many) years later I'd say don't be afraid of salt, read the recipe twice, and don't be afraid to give something a go
Click to expand...
Agreed. Recipes lie. There is no substitute for tasting.
 
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