Anderson Ed - Home : recipes to cook with family and friends

Thoughts on using your kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home. People linger in kitchens if they feel welcome. Even those who dont love to cook have to eat, and therefore everyone ends up spending time in the kitchen. Its where people gather, its where conversations take place, and its where things happen. As a chef, I want everyone to feel welcome in my kitchen and I want to encourage you to use your kitchen as much as possible.

People love the idea of a big, spacious kitchen. In fact, smaller kitchens are easier to cook in. When youre working, you want everything to be within a few steps. You dont want to have to run all over the place to rinse parsley, grate some cheese, and then turn down a burner. Islands are great because you can have one side of the kitchen where people hang out and one side where you work. Its inclusive and efficient at the same time. My kids arent all big enough to help with every task in the kitchen, but they can always climb up on a stool and keep me company while I cook. Weve had many of our best conversations in that room while creating something delicious for the whole family to enjoy.

Im not going to tell you that you need a fancy stove or sous vide equipment to cook well. I am going to tell you to buy a couple of inexpensive thermometers so you can keep track of your oven, refrigerator, and freezer temperatures. A few degrees here and there can make a big difference, and equipment that works perfectly when you bring it home from the store has a way of deteriorating over time. Its not the end of the world if your oven is off by 10 degrees, as long as you know it and can set your temperatures accordingly.

While were on the subject of thermometers, having one or two digital probe thermometers around your kitchen can be a very useful thing. The basic model costs under $10, and there are even fancy probe thermometers that will send alerts to your smartphone letting you know when the roast is done. All of the cooks in my restaurant kitchens are required to carry digital thermometers, because they are a quick and foolproof way to know when your food is perfectly cooked.

Timers are almost as important as thermometers. In this age of smartphones, we all have timers in our pockets, so theres no excuse for letting things overcook. At home, if I dont want to carry my phone, old-fashioned kitchen timers work just as well. My oven may cook faster or slower than your oven, but if you have a timer and probe thermometer we should always be able to achieve the same results.

In my restaurants, we label everything, and I do a fair amount of this at home too. Get a roll of painters tape and a Sharpie and keep them near the refrigerator. Label and date everything you put in there. That way, at the end of the week you wont wonder what something is and whether its edible; youll be able to read the answer on the container. Trust me, this takes a few seconds and will make life for you and anyone else foraging in your refrigerator much easier. While youre at it, label dry goods with the date of purchase, especially things you use infrequently, and keep your shelves organized. You are more likely to cook if you can find the ingredients you are looking for.

Keep your knives sharp. It doesnt matter if you use a whetstone or one of those sharpening tools they sell in the stores. A dull knife is a dangerous knife. It doesnt cut properly, so its more likely to slide off fruits and vegetables rather than into them. Dull knives also require you to use more pressure when youre cutting, which leads to accidents. A good knife slices through ingredients easily and your hands direct the motion without getting in the way. You dont need superexpensive fancy knives, though I confess that I own several. You just need knives that feel good in your hands. Pick them up and hold them before you buy them. Knives have different weights, shapes, and sizes. In order to use one well, you have to find one that fits your hand. A chefs knife, a paring knife, a serrated knife, and a peeler will do almost everything you need in the kitchen.

If you bake or cook often, you should own a digital scale. You can buy a good one at any home-goods store for less than $30. Once you start using one, youll wonder how you lived without it. Youll notice that we included weight equivalents, in grams and kilograms, for all the recipes in this book. Thats because they are universal and allow you to see the ratio of ingredients in any recipe, which gives you the ability to make substitutions or scale them up or down. Furthermore, weights are easy to work with. Every digital scale has a tare function that zeros out the weight. What this means is that you can measure flour into a bowl and zero it out and then add cocoa powder and zero it out and then add sugar or whatever else you need. Youll have exactly the right amount of every ingredient and youll end up with fewer dishes. Whats not to love about that?

Pressure cookers are a chefs best friend, and they can be game changers for home cooks too. These are slightly more expensive than scales and thermometersa good one costs around $100but if you like to cook they can be invaluable. Pressure cookers exponentially reduce the amount of time spent cooking, so you can make traditional long-simmered braises in about 30 minutes. Electric pressure cookers, like the one from Cuisinart, allow you to load the ingredients, set the timer, and walk away. They dont take up any burner space and are quieter than stovetop models. You can set it and forget it, and the results will be uniformly cooked every time. Theyre great for slow-cooked items like grits or sturdy root vegetables like beets. Pressure cookers braise beautifully and are my favorite piece of equipment for making stocks. Todays models are not your mothers pressure cookers. They are safe, quiet, and make any kitchen more efficient.

Finally, your kitchen needs a few good cookbooks to act as guides and help get things rolling in the kitchen. I wrote this book for my family. I spend more time in my restaurants than I do in my home kitchen. When this cookbook is on our kitchen shelf, it will be like a little part of me is always there with my wife, Jennifer, and the kids.

For me, cooking at home feels like an occasion, and often it is for some sort of a holiday or special meal. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Super Bowl Sunday are days when I make it a point to be home. Sunday suppers are important to me too. I like to cook with my kids, and I love when were all gathered around the table. Any chef will tell you that breakfast is the one meal every day that they can share with their family. It doesnt matter if I get only a few hours of sleepIm up in the morning for breakfast with Jennifer and the kids. Its a priority for me.