Simple Techniques to Elevate Your Home Cooking

Elevate your cooking with a few simple tricks that will distinguish your meals from boring dishes to complex masterpieces!

Fifteen years ago, I came into my marriage pretty much not knowing how to cook at all. As a kid, I had zero interest in being in the kitchen, so I didn’t grow up with any kind of basic cooking skills. I was soo embarrassed when Charlie and I were dating, and we met up with his cousins for a taco night. One of them asked me to dice a tomato and I had no clue what that meant. I started slashing away at it with a paring knife, and, realizing what he was working with, the cousin came over and talked to me like a two year old. And I needed to be spoken to like that! I had no clue what it meant to simply dice a tomato. Maybe that’s why most lessons in school start with vocabulary? Surely I had diced before, I just didn’t know that’s what it was called.

I have learned a lot since then—Charlie has taught me so many easy cooking tips. Knife skills were at the top of his list for my lessons! Mamas, teach those boys simple cooking techniques…they might find themselves a diamond in the rough like me who will take off in the kitchen once they gain some culinary knowledge.

I’m not coming to you as any kind of professional, but as a home cook who has learned how to tweak any recipe I come across into something that will take boring food to new heights!

1) Always take time to sauté vegetables and various herbs before using them in a base.

We’re not necessarily going for caramelization every time, but taking the time to let them sweat out a bit with some heat and olive oil will turn them deliciously sweet and give them more complex flavor profiles.

2) Double or triple the spices and fresh herbs.

Garlic:

I pretty much always use 6 cloves, unless it’s going to be raw. When I see “add 2 cloves…” … who are these people?! Do they not want to taste the garlic? Go for it. Add at least 6. But if it’s going to be raw, that’s a different story. Keep this salsa tasting like salsa by only adding the two it calls for!

Vanilla:

I usually add a tablespoon for baking. It makes a world of difference in the flavor! Vanilla made with glycerin is delicious in raw goods. If you have any on hand, load up regardless of whether or not you’re cooking the food! .

Cinnamon:

I NEVER use less than a tablespoon. If I’m using cinnamon… I’m using cinnamon. It is the perfect ingredient! I never feel like it overpowers a dish— we’re just able to taste it! Even my kids are astonished when they see a recipe calling for the usual meager 1/2 teaspoon.

3) Brown your butter.

Apparently this is a Mennonite trick, but I am here for it! Brown butter popcorn, brown butter rice crispy treats, brown butter brownies… you bet! When I’m taking the time to melt butter for treats (as opposed to my usual shortcut of grating fridge-solid butter) I will take the extra time to brown it. It’s a great way to add a nutty caramel flavor that elevates even the simplest treat to an elegant delight without adding any extra sugar.

4) Finish it off with a little alcohol.

The first time I ever tried this was with my very favorite French Onion Soup recipe. This recipe is loaded with umami-rich ingredients. So when she called for adding a little brandy right at the end, I couldn’t believe how it elevated the soup, creating such harmonious flavor combinations!! I love keeping a bottle of white wine in the fridge to finish off my mirepoix before adding vegetable stocks. The cooking process removes the all the alcohol. I add it before adding the milk to my cream sauces, before tomatoes go in for spaghetti sauces, before the broth for soup… endless places where that little bit of alcohol just takes the flavor you’ve developed to the next level. Be sure to cook it down well— bring it back to the moisture level it was before you added it. For the wine, I use between a half cup and a cup. I use one ounce of brandy or vodka.

5) Season Meat Before Cooking

Make up a spice mix, like you would for homemade sausage. One example is for Bratwurst flavored sausage. We use it with poultry, but it’s great with beef too. As a kosher household, we are pretty much excluded from all the delicious ground sausage options out there. But even if you’re not kosher, finding quality organic pasture raised pork is hard to come by and is quite expensive. Start with using this recipe to make your own, then experiment and see what you like! Even if you have basic pre-filled spice racks, you’ll be able to make your own sausage flavored meats. I love using anise or fennel with maple syrup and fenugreek for breakfast sausage! Turn boring old spaghetti, hamburgers, and soups into the most flavorful dishes with this step! We usually make 3-6 pounds at a time, then freeze them in one pound bags for later use.

Bonus tip:

Don’t forget to add salt! I’m perplexed that there are recipes floating around out there with no salt. When I’m just following recipes instead of tuning in and doing what I know I need to do to make my food taste good, I’m so annoyed with myself (and the recipe creator) for forgetting about the crucial role that a simple pinch of salt plays! Even in sweet foods, salt is key to the taste of your dishes being their best.

Take ownership of your meals.

If something sounds off to you in a recipe—heed your perception on that! We are home cooks! Our culinary skills are growing every day, and we are honing our taste buds. I encourage you to stretch yourself beyond comfort zone and break away from being glued to recipes. Regardless of how esteemed some cookbook or professional chefs might be, trust your instincts! Allow yourself to experiment with new culinary creations that come directly from YOU! It will be a far more enjoyable cooking experience when you break away from the bossy dictator: the recipe!

Blogs I follow for quality recipes:

Anything Sourdough (except cinnamon rolls and English muffins): Farmhouse On Boone
(Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls: Clever Carrot, Sourdough English Muffins: Little Spoon Farm)

Meals and Desserts: Smitten Kitchen I learned so much from her when I was first learning to cook! She will encourage the most novice of cooks in her tiny New York home kitchen!

For solid, sure-to-be delicious recipes, you can’t go wrong with a huge company like NY Times. I was subscribed to their membership for a few years. There is something comforting in seeing a recipe that has 8,000 5 star reviews, right!? (But don’t judge my recipes that don’t have any stars! Ha ha) When I wanted to make something specific, I would search their vast database of great courses first to see if they had any with thousands of reviews, and then I’d go from there. Without being a member, they do have some recipes that show up in a google search!

Share your favorite tips with us!