5 Simple Ingredients You Already Have to Make You a Better Cook

TLW #3 - Mini-Class: Taste Your Food (Video and E-book)

Being a chef has its drawbacks. I mean there are some pretty cool perks, like being asked to judge a paella contest in wine country, having chefs bring out their newest ideas to try or restaurant owners pouring an extra glass of wine for you while they sit down to chat. The downside is no one wants to cook for you. I’ve only cooked for private clients, and I’m definitely not a famous restaurant chef, even still no one wants to cook for us collectively, as I’ve heard this from other chefs, too.

The reason? Lack of confidence. And this is what’s spurred Real Food Sanity.

I absolutely loved cooking for my clients, whether making family meals or creating perfectly paired wine dinners with wines from their unbelievable cellars. However, something was missing. When I taught cooking classes I would leave these classes so excited seeing my students’ “A-ha” moments as they tasted the food they were now equipped to create. I realized my true passion wasn’t cooking FOR people. It is teaching everyday home cooks my secrets for super flavorful healthy meals so they could confidently cook for their mother-in-law, a first date or even their new chef friend, AKA me! (wink-wink)

MINI LESSON: TASTE YOUR FOOD

The very first lesson I teach my students - or anyone who asks while standing in my kitchen - is TASTE YOUR FOOD. Whether you’ve made a dish on the fly or followed a recipe exactly, it may not taste right at first. I’ve tried many recipes that are just meh. But then I work my magic on it.

Magic being a short list of single ingredients (or really categories of single ingredients) that transform “meh” to “mmmmm” and I’m now sharing them with you.

If something tastes flat (AKA “meh”) you’re probably missing one of these five ingredients, most notably salt or acid (citrus or vinegar.) Good news…you likely have one or all of them in your kitchen already, especially if you have shopped my 25 Essential Ingredients post. Check out the video for more.

1. Citrus - Bright fruity finish to anything…even fried eggs. I use lemon and lime the most.

2. Vinegar - While I’m super happy trying all the vinegars and oils at those cute boutique shops, I don’t keep a cabinet full of either. I have some basics - Sherry Vinegar available at World Market and Amazon, Rice Wine Vinegar - AKA rice vinegar typically in Asian foods aisle and Balsamic Vinegar which I reduce to a syrup. (See video for why and Flavor Bombs PDF book below for how-to.) Pssstt…want a super simple Spring dessert? Try Balsamic Strawberries and Ice Cream.

   

3. Healthy Fats - Having really good olive oil, sesame or nut oils and good butter around is definitely necessary for really good food. Bonus - butter made into brown butter or ghee -brown butter with milk solids strained off - has an even more complex flavor than just butter alone. (Also in the PDF below.)

4. Salt - Skip table salt or any salt that has more than a single ingredient in it. I love either pink Himalayan salt or sea salt which have health benefits and better flavor without any chemical additives.

5. Spices - Pepper is the king of spices, but there’s a whole world out there. My 25 Essential Ingredients post has the list I keep stocked and this post has a PDF with my 10 favorite spice blends all made from that list.

For food nerds, me there’s a great book called Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat. It’s totally worth your time to deep dive into this subject.

PDF and Video