I love to cook. I don't think it's so much because I'm good at it (which I am) or because I love to eat (which I do), but because I love the CREATION of the whole thing. I love that combining a dash of this and pinch of that can yield something entirely new. Think about it: what started as a chicken breast, raw pasta, tomatoes and a few spices will, in twenty or thirty minutes, be a single dish of food that has never existed before (and, in about five minutes, will exist no longer). So what is the wash-rinse-and-repeat of making delicious, healthful, "gourmet" dishes?
As always, it's very simple:
- Choose fresh, simple ingredients -- no more than five (say: chicken breast, garlic, canned San Marzano tomatoes, basil, onion)
- Cook the protein first (chicken) with a little salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Cook the other ingredients second -- starting with the stuff that takes the longest to cook (in order: onion, garlic, tomatoes). Add salt and pepper.
- Combine them.
- Add herbs (basil).
- Serve.
In my quest to make things even simpler:
- Buy fresh food.
- Add heat.
- Serve.
You have to be an amazing chef to make frozen food good, or to make dishes with dozens of ingredients. That's hard. Every now and then, I give it a shot, but it seems like the payoff is rarely worth the effort.
This was all driven home in last season's Top Chef. I'm a huge fan, but the people who make overly-complicated dishes that used super-fancy techniques almost never win. They obviously are trained chefs with mad skills, but the judges' favorites are invariably the simple, clean dishes that use follow my simple rules.
Delicious.
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