Cooking

Recipes

Quick / Stress-Free / Simple

• Broiled Eggplant with Pesto

Notes

• Select smaller onions when cooking for two

• Select smaller potatoes

  • Taste better (more moisture and flavor, creamier texture)

  • Better when cooking for two

• Chop your own garlic

  • Tastes better than pre-made garlic

  • Keeps for weeks

• Use a microplane for zesting

• Serve meals on warmed plates

  • Keeps food hot while eating

  • 90 seconds in microwave

• Before you start cooking

  • Read the recipe — understand the high level steps

  • Get out all ingredients

  • Read through steps, and plan the prep

  • More relaxed and accurate cooking this way

• Invest in a sharp knife, and sharpening steel

• Slice food thinly for faster cooking

  • In order for fresh vegetables and meats to cook quickly, it’s necessary to cut them into thin slices so that the heat can penetrate

  • Make cuts according to recipe directions

• Oils

  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) for salad dressings and uncooked foods

  • Regular Olive Oil for cooking

  • These are the healthiest with flavor (a little more expensive)

  • EVOO has low smoke point, so can only be used up to ~medium on stovetop

  • Regular olive oil can be used up to medium high

  • Anything else, and you’ll need something like vegetable, canola, avocado oil for their lower smoke points

• Buy a box of kosher salt and put it in a ramekin near the stove for easy use

• Freshly ground black pepper is more robust than packaged ground peppers

  • Buy a pepper mill and fill with whole black peppercorns

  • Adds flavor to everything — add as much as you want

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