Everyone wants to be able to cook. It's fun and it is rewarding for your guests...most of the time. Here are the top 5 mistakes that could be avoided. They are simple, yet often the reason that your dish may suck.
- It should be about your guests, not you!- Everyone has been to a dinner party where the host is constantly gauging the crowd on how the evening is going. Trying to catch, out of the corner of their eye, if a guest doesn't finish their pilaf, or puts salt on an "already" salted vegetable dish (more on this later). It is okay to want your guests to enjoy the meal, but in most dinner party ventures, the only person that matters to the home cook... is themselves. If you are in it for the ego-stroke, get out of it! Pay attention to what your guests would actually want to eat. Sometimes a simple London Broil is better than your cedar-plank salmon. Most people have simple tastes and may be pumped to walk in and see a creative taco-salad bar...as opposed to your new "experiment".
- Have people help you out- Studies have shown that when people feel that they are involved in a meals creation, they will enjoy the meal 40% more (go figure). This is mainly psychological, but eating itself is psychological, so why not ensure success by letting someone throw the meat on the grill. It's way more fun, and again, it ain't about you.
- Dont be afraid of salt- Your favorite restaurants salt and butter the heck out of most of their dishes. You have an advantage in that you can make the meal a little healthier by how much butter you use (or olive oil) but it's hard to make a meal taste the way it should if the home cook is afraid of salt. Most home cooks are surprised in how much salt is needed to create a great mac and cheese, or spaghetti sauce, or omelette, or casserole, or pretty much everything. Bland food is not worth the cook's fear of over salting. Many times, over salting can be fixed with a little acid or pepper. This leads to the next and crucial point.
- Obviously, taste your food!- Everyone knows this but nobody does it? why? There is an answer: A) Even beginner chefs like to think they have the "touch" and don't need to taste the food as it cooks. B) Or, like many a high school student who only hits spellcheck as a means to edit their term paper and doesn't re-read, most cooks are simply afraid of what they'll taste. The same as the student's real fear that what he just wrote may not be very good, sometimes a new cook may not want to taste their potato leek soup, it may be gummy...but you should know before you serve it. right?
- Let it rest!- Please, don't overcook your meat. Most people know the wisdom, and fact, that food cooks after it has been removed from the heat. This is true! You have to believe it or you will have overdone meat and fish. A piece of meat that is cooking at 350degrees, let's say, holds a great deal of that heat for at least 3 minutes after it has been removed from the direct heat. That is a looooong time! Letting your meat rest also causes the juices to settle and not run out upon the first knife cut. Also, please don't press your burgers. I know it makes a nice sizzle but it also makes a nice hockey puck.