Getting Started at The Kitchen Counter

Pull up a chair and start here...

Hi friends,

We are one week away from the very first issue of The Kitchen Counter.

I am excited, nervous, hungry…so many things all at once. It seems like yesterday I was impulsively posting my launch date to the world. That’s just how I roll, procrastinate until you are out of excuses and then post on Facebook at 11pm. It’s just who I will always be my friends.

BUT..

Before we jump into the recipes, I want to first convey my sincerest gratitude towards my subscribers. If I haven’t already expressed it enough, I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the incredible love and encouragement I have received since announcing the launch of this (long awaited) newsletter. Without your support and your belief in me, there is no way I could be doing this. It is because of all of you, my dear subscribers, that I am able to make this happen and do all the things that I love - cook, write, teach and connect with people. Thank you for trusting me to lead you in the kitchen with these recipes. It is the greatest honor you could give me.

And in case you forgot everything you receive as a paid subscriber to The Kitchen Counter, here’s the low down:

A new recipe from me every single Wednesday

A cookbook spotlight of the month

A kitchen tip of the month

Equipment review of the month (and a gift guide here and there)

Monthly food news recap

A Monthly Give Away

That is a full plate if I ever saw one.

Now for some housekeeping….

To get you started:

I have a post here which goes over my list of essential kitchen equipment, and a post here on my list of staple ingredients I like to have on hand.

And Lastly…….

Here is a list of concepts and basic 411 that will be helpful to you as you cook with me via The Kitchen Counter:

Let’s dive in together:

1.) Read through your recipe before starting

The number one rule I have with myself, and really encourage people to do, is to read through any new recipe in it’s entirety before starting. This does a few things. It allows you to take in what the recipe is saying, re-read and clarify steps if need be, all without the distraction of cooking or the pressure of a boiling pot. It helps you avoid missing important steps (sometimes a recipe calls for 4 tablespoons butter, but 2 tablespoons is for one step, and the other 2 tablespoon is for a different step) and make mental notes ahead of time. It avoids missing steps and gives you time to get a game plane before you start. It’s the first and easiest way to set yourself up for recipe success.

2.) Mis En Place

Only second to reading a new recipe through, is to have your mis en place ready before you begin cooking. What is mis en place? It’s “everything in it’s place”, in French that is. I am a mis en place fanatic. Not because my brain enjoys the way it looks (it does), but because my brain requires it. I am prone to getting distracted, getting pulled away, and being a little, shall I say it, disorganized. Mis en place is a sure fire way to set yourself up for success. Nothing is worse than having to run to the store in the middle of a recipe, or forgetting an important ingredient entirely. You don’t need them, but these prep bowls are my favorite way to keep everything organized. Do whatever works for you in terms of organizing your ingredients for a recipe - for some people, they consider mis en place wasted extra steps and dishes. But for me, I want everything in it’s place and I have never regretted taking the time to do it.

An example of mis en place

3.) Serving sizes are suggestive

Everyone’s appetites are different and it also depends on if you are serving other dishes with the meal. Make your best judgment on how many servings you will get from each recipe knowing all this. If it says it serves 4-6 and you know you are serving heavy eaters, go with the more conservative serving size. On the other hand, if you know you are serving many other dishes, you could probably say it will feed 8. You get the idea.

4.) Substitutions in recipes

I want to help guide you on how to know when to trust your own judgment and make ingredient substitutions with confidence. Sometimes (this is especially true with baking), you will need to be careful with substitutions, as certain ingredients can greatly alter a recipe for better or for worse. An example of this is leaveners. Baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and yeast all leaven foods in different ways and cannot be substituted haphazardly for one another. On the other hand, there are many ingredients that you can substitute without much thought. These are things like fruits, vegetables, a lot of dairy and spices. When you go to make a substitution, consider these things about the ingredient the recipe is calling for, and the ingredient you would like to use in it’s place:

What is the: Taste, texture, viscosity, volume, fat content, salt or sugar content, moisture or water content, acidity, etc of these two when compared with one another? So for example, almond milk is a fine sub for cows milk, but almond milk in place of heavy cream may not work with certain recipes, where as honey and maple syrup can always be swapped for one another with no issue. White cheddar is a fine substitution for yellow cheddar, but substituting with goat cheese may change your recipe significantly. Take into account the above considerations and you will be able to make good judgment calls on substitutions while cooking.

5.) Cooking Times

You will notice I do not put hard and fast “cooking times” (meaning how long it will take you to prepare the recipe from start to finish) in any of my recipes. I have never been able to get behind doing them, and unless some amazing publishing house who wants to publish my cookbook (are you out there?) forces me to do it, I probably never will. First, they are almost never right. Everyone does things at different paces. Furthermore, we get distracted, pulled away, and sometimes things just don’t goes as planned no matter what we do. It puts unnecessary pressure and expectation on the person cooking, and the recipe. It is true that it can give you an idea of how long a recipe may take, but a quick scan of the ingredient list and steps (paying attention to cooking/resting/marinating times) can easily do that too.

6.) Learn to trust yourself in the kitchen

And last but certainly not least, learn to trust your own taste and your cooking intuition. If the recipe says “simmer 5 minutes until the liquid has evaporated from the pot,” but it’s only been 3 minutes, trust your judgement and know it was just done a bit before the recipe said. If you taste a dish and feel like the recipe still needs something, ask yourself, what might it need? Salt? A little acid? Some richness or fat (a drizzle of olive oil awakens things like you would not believe) Spiciness? Brightness from a fresh herb? Part of cooking is being an active participant in the unfolding of a recipe. You are only limited by your creativity. And on that note, know your own tastes. I like salt, and my recipes tend to reflect that. So, if you know you prefer your food less salty, always start with half the amount I call for, knowing you can always add more, but you can’t take it out. Same goes for all other ingredients whether it’s lemon juice, garlic, chilis or the like, know your tastes and preferences and adjust accordingly. It might start out as my recipe, but it’s your dish in the end.

Well, I think that’s it! See you next week, for your first official issue of The Kitchen Counter. Let’s get cooking!

Whisky whisky mixy mixy,

Chef V xx