Be 7 tips closer to not sucking at cooking!

1. Stop Making Dumb Excuses You Can’t Cook

Listen, if you can assemble an IKEA table you can follow a recipe. Also, If you can’t assemble an IKEA table you can follow a recipe. Cooking is about following basic instructions and being willing to fail, be willing to burn the roast.

2. Finish Everything With Fresh Herbs

Photo: Central Market

A combination of chopped chives, parsley (or chervil, tarragon, basil) will waken up the flavor of any dish. Basically butter + salt + herbs and you can dress up everything from a chicken breast to a bland old turnip.

3. Grill Lettuce

It’s simple, it’s a crowd pleaser and all you have to do is cut some romaine in half, oil it up and toss it on the grill. Make a 15 second vinaigrette with 3 parts EVOO to 1 part vinegar and a handful of parmesan and you’re the next Bobby Flay.

Oh yeah, a tip about dressing from a really awesome cook…

Marc Forgione, American Cut, New York City

“Don’t dress the salad when having a big party. Leave it on the side and let the people do it themselves. I’ve had too many soggy salads because of this.”

4. Embrace The Open Kitchen

Go to restaurants with open kitchens, sit as close to the kitchen as possible (preferable right up at the bar) and observe. If the cooks aren’t in the shit busy, ask questions. Watch how they season, sauce, let meat rest ect….

5. The Table-Top Fryer

Frying everything from croquets to scotch eggs to coconut shrimp is easy and safe if you have the right tool. Get a relatively cheap table top fryer and go nuts. Listen, no baked yam fry will ever compare to a delicious crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside, duck fat roasted french fry (or even frozen fries dumped into hot oil).

6. Big Ice Cubes = Big Happiness

People love big ice cubes, we don’t know why but they make any cocktail more impressive. Even if you can’t tell the difference between a Manhattanand a Rob Roy dump some booze into a glass with a big, square ice cube and people will love it for some reason.

7. Skim These 4 Posts…

Be all you can salt bae…

5 Totally Underrated Kitchen Tools

5 Secrets To Cook Like A Pro And Make Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home

5 Secrets To Cook Like A Pro And Make Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home // Part 2

5 Secrets To Cook Like A Pro And Make Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home // Part 3

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