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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
THANK YOU! This is exactly what I was looking for I even have Salt Fat Acid Heat so I can start there. If you’re in the mood, what kind of stuff do you feel like you learned and did you become a much better cook?

[quote=Anonymous]Read technique books:

-- Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (Samin Nosrat)
--The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science (Kenji Lopez-Alt
--How to Cook Everything the Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food (Mark Bittman)
--Chez Panisse Vegetables (Alice Waters)

Start there, you will learn a lot.[/quote][/quote]

I did become a better cook.  I basically read these books, and picked some staple meals that I wanted to improve (like that chicken) and practiced.  The quality of the food you start with counts for something too, but technique is key.

SFAH really taught me how to use salt - it's an amazing tool in cooking.  When to use it and how, what kind depending on the food you are cooking, etc. Her buttermilk roast chicken recipe is fantastic.  I make it at least once and month and now from memory.  How to cook vegetables in salt water (blanching in salt water is amazing for veggies), etc.

Bittman is a bit of generalist, but his recipes are usually easy.  IE, how to use the broiler. Getting familiar with how to use all of the settings on your oven & which pans (cast iron, dutch ovens, etc).  What items you need in your pantry.  Stuff like that.

Food Lab is really interesting - really gets into the nitty gritty behind basic foods - like a boiled egg.  There is actually a lot of technique in boiling an egg, depending on the outcome you want.   Pages and pages about boiled eggs, lol.  But now I make a perfect poached egg, which is harder than it sounds.

One more resource: Cooks Illustrated.  Their recipes yield results.  Although - warning - they are fussy, complicated and not usually quick -- however, you learn a lot in the process for things like how to brown, saute, broil, etc.  They cover much more baking too, which is a whole different animal.

I still want to take a knife skills class, as that is the one thing I am still lacking in the kitchen.  I think that really needs to be done in person.

Good luck![/quote]

DP - thank you! So helpful.  Completely random question -- do you read cookbooks/theory books in paper or electronic?[/quote]

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