Keys to the Kitchen by A. Mollenkamp - Chronicle

Not to get too analytical, but I showed you that formula because it’s the basis for

QUALITY INGREDIENTS

+ + + = good food kitchen skills technique

cooking method

part 1 The Set-Up

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this book. Specifically, it’s broken down as follows:

: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R

If cooking were a math formula, it would look something like this:

This section is about what to do at the store, before you ever enter your kitchen; the focus is on qual-

ity ingredients. You’ll learn where to shop, how to shop, and what to shop for, for both ingredients and equipment.

Just like it sounds, this section is all about honing your technique. But it extends beyond knife han-

part 2 The how-to

dling to cover everything from prepping through cooking. It covers the best tips and methods for storing food and equipment, the must-know cooking skills, and a review of the various cooking methods out there.

Here they are. The recipes—130 of them to be precise—reflecting a variety of ingredients, cuisines,

part 3 The recipes

and techniques. They’re various levels of difficulty but are all rooted in my West Coast style wherein fresh, seasonal ingredients are mashed up in a modern way.

This is where you go from following recipes to cooking from the hip. There are techniques to help you think outside the box when it comes to

part 4 The riff

cooking and coming up with menus. To get your creativity cranking, there are over 100 additional cooking ideas including how to reinvent last night’s leftovers.

With the help of this book, whether you’re a curious beginner or intermediate cook, you’ll finish with a sense of confidence that you have conquered your kitchen. And then your cooking can become adventurous, creative, and fun.

Whether you realize it or not, the minute you

Waste Not (Use It All) Most of the food we

start buying food, you’re voting with your

eat—especially the produce—can be used in

food dollars. So, use that vote wisely and

its entirety, so there are a lot of tips in this

responsibly. Here are the lessons I’ve adopted

book (see The Riff, page 000) about how to

over the past few years in an effort to become

make the most of what you have.

a more conscientious cook.

K now What t o Bu y

Know What to Buy Buy good food and it’ll reward you in good flavor—even when you’re still working on becoming a good cook yourself. Aside from the leisurely sunny afternoon where I get to personally choose every item, I absolutely hate shopping. But, after years of going to stores of all shapes and sizes multiple times a week, I’ve got a few tips for how you can make shopping more efficient and less painful.

Know Where Your Food Comes From This may seem obvious: I mean, steak comes from cows, right? But do you know its backstory?

this (see Tips for Storing Leftovers, page 000) and your food will have a longer shelf life, with less wasted food.

Unplug, As Possible Energy gets used whenever unused appliances remain plugged in, so after you grind your coffee or finish mixing those cookies, unplug.

Eating grass-fed beef isn’t important just

Clean With Green Not only for the environ-

because it tastes better but also that it’s better

ment, but also for your own health, opt for

for the animal. Remember, that when eating

eco-friendly cleaning products. There are

an animal you’re essentially eating whatever

a lot of brands out there these days that do

it ate during its lifetime, so, ask questions and

as good a job if not a better job than the

find out that information. And, remember, if

traditional house cleaners. Check out ideas

it ate junk, well, that’s essentially what you’re

on all-natural cleaning solutions later in the

ingesting.

book (see The Aftermath, page 000).

Eat Lower on the Food Chain The higher

Compost and Recycle If your neighborhood

on the food chain you eat, the more calories

doesn’t have a community compost and

required to make that food (i.e. it has a bigger

recycling program, make yourself heard

carbon footprint), so by eating lower on the

and ask for one. Or, if you have the time and

food chain, you’re leaving less of a dent in

space, set up your own compost; it takes

things.

getting used to, but the payoff is black gold

Make It a Meatless Monday It’s your choice

dirt that makes the most amazing fertilizer.

to eat meat or not, but, if you do eat it, con-

Know Your Indulgences Everyone has a

sider eating it less often. To get you started,

guilty pleasure, so acknowledge it instead

I’ve put together a whole chapter of recipes

of trying to repress it. Extreme locavorism

on meatless options—see Meatless Mains,

is beneficial for the environment but it

page 000.

can make you nutty if you’re hankering

Shop Responsibly You’ve heard the terms thrown around: local, seasonal, and sustain-

for foods from far away such as coffee or chocolate.

able. What they translate to is better-quality

Be Grateful Not to get too spiritual, but be

food for you, more support for your local

present when you’re cooking and eating and

economy, and less strain on the environment.

you’ll be more satisfied. Too often people are

Store It Right There’s no point in buying

: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R

crappy storage habits at home. Read up on

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Becoming a Responsible Cook

just satiating hunger instead of really eating— don’t be one of those people.

good food if you end up ruining it through

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the SET-Up

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than what you’re shopping for. Anytime

beliefs but they have their hearts in the right place so they’re worth checking out.

Chew on this: you’re shopping in order to buy what you need to use what you have.

you get shoes and produce under the same

Show Your Community Support If you’re

roof, you’re sacrificing a lot more than just

ready for a challenge, consider joining a

you shop, but thinking this way will allow

quality. Compared to the rest of the world,

CSA (community supported agriculture)

you to get the most out of the food you

we spend an extremely small amount on

program. Through websites like Local

already have lying around.

our food and the price we pay is relatively

Harvest (www.localharvest.org/csa)you can

mediocre quality. So, if you can, support

opt to buy a share of a farm’s bounty, which

shops where there’s a true meat and fish (if

is delivered to you on a regular basis, and

Check Your Fridge Do a scan of what’s in

not also, cheese) counter. In addition to the

really push yourself to go seasonal. Produce

your fridge so you have a mental note of

environmental and political advantages, it

CSAs have taken off but there are also meat

what’s on hand. Tons of mustard? Maybe

will allow you to leverage the employees’

CSAs popping up where you can readily get

it’s time to make a honey-mustard roast

knowledge to fill your basket with the top in

locally raised meat. The boon and bane of a

chicken. No condiments at all? Well your

quality and taste.

CSA is that you’re at the will of the farm and

cooking may be missing out on a fun punch

what they’ve reaped that week. So, you can

of flavor that a dash of soy or spoonful of

either look at it as a glass half empty or half

mustard could add.

full of cooking opportunity.

Make a Shopping List Shopping lists are

Seek Out Specialty Stores Make a concerted effort to stop by the specialty stores in your K now What t o Bu y

foods. They can be adamant about their

How to Shop

area. Not only are you supporting a local business, but you get the chance to discover new products. In recent years, there has been resurgence of artisan producers and a slew of small-scale bakeries, pastry shops, cheese shops, butcher shops, and the like.

Check them out when you can, as you’re likely to be rewarded with some high-quality food options and more personal service.

Explore Ethnic Options Ethnic and international markets sell specialty items from all over the world and are an ideal place to find ingredients you may not have seen before.

Frequent Your Farmers’ Markets Fortunately, farmers’ markets have multiplied like rabbits in the past few years and almost every nook and cranny has one. Try to go often for super-fresh (just-picked!) produce and you can also pat yourself on the back for supporting your local economy.

Consider a Co-Op The usual focus of coops (aka cooperative)—collectively owned

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Now, I know that’s not the case every time

and environmental reasons why eating

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Where you shop is even more important

grocery stores— is selling natural, local

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Where to Shop

seasonal and local is a good choice. But

there’s also a big cooking advantage: in-

season produce menas you’re buying it at its prime so it’ll taste better and likely be more affordable.

the stuff of Type A shoppers—or are they?

Most stores stock the perishable foods on the outer perimeter and the packaged foods in the center, so, if you organize your list by how you walk around the store, it’ll make things go way faster.

But Be Flexible Not everything you want or need will always be available, so be flexible, think outside the box, and check out Common Subsitutions, page 000 for ideas on how to make what you have work. Would that dish you’re shopping for be tastier with tomatillos instead of tomatoes? There’s only one way to find out.

And Be Adventurous My goal is to get you to buy at least one new and different product or ingredient each time you shop.

Sure, there’s a chance you won’t like it, but the majority of the time you’ll come across something you wouldn’t otherwise have tried or even known about.

Go for What’s In Season (And, If Possible, Local) There’s a litany of political, ethical, the SET-Up

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with success:

what? It was over ten times more expensive than a whole head of garlic.

Anytime you see something prepped and packaged know that you’re paying a pre-

Your Fridge is an Ice Cream Cone My high

lowing have occurred: it’s been adulterated

school French teacher always told us we

with preservatives, you’re paying for the

needed to build our language skills off a

labor that went into it when you could do it

solid base (the cone) or it would leak and

yourself, or the produce isn’t fresh because

we’d end up with a mess. Shopping for your

it’s been pressed up against plastic wrap.

kitchen follows the same principle. By no means do you have to eat only Greek food

Buy Larger Cuts Continuing with the

for the rest of your life, but it makes way

principle of “undone,” meat, poultry, or fish

more sense to buy olives if you already have

that has been skinned, boned, or whatever is

feta than to reach for a jar of hoisin sauce.

going to cost more than if you buy it whole

Don’t Shop Hungry One simple reason: The

K now What t o Bu y

mium. And often one, if not all, of the fol-

and un-prepped. Sometimes you don’t have the time or patience, so go ahead and pay

hungrier you get, the more likely you are to

the premium. But, generally, save your pen-

grab the cheese puffs and make a run for it.

nies and step up to the challenge of learning

Fine, if that’s your thing, but it may be a bit

how to skin, bone, or trim the meat yourself.

Label Lingo

hormones, and other unsustainable commercial farming practices.

Consider this section a cipher to the grocery store that will help you understand labels so you can make smarter, more informed purchases.

As much as labels reveal, they also highlight how much is still unclear, so also be sure to ask where your food comes from.

Dry-Aged An aging process where meat is stored in a controlled cold and dry room for up to a month in order to intensify flavor and tenderness. It is an expensive process so it’s usually reserved for the more prized cuts of meat.

All-Natural The USDA allows livestock to be labeled natural when it has been raised without antibiotics and without having been fed animal by-products. Keep in mind this does not take into account the environment in which the animal was raised or if it was fed additives. All other foods labeled “natural” must have been minimally processed and cannot have artificial colors, flavors, or ingredients, or synthetic preservatives.

food is really not okay but that doesn’t mean

grain from the back of some random shelf.

Artisanal A product or service is considered artisanal when traditional techniques are used in its preparation or execution. It is also often implicit, but not mandated, that artisanal products be made by hand and in small batches.

food has to be pretty either. There has been

If you bring your own container to fill, give

a bias toward perfect-looking food and it

Biodynamic This holistic agri-

yourself a hug, as you’re also being green!

cultural method advocates farming that is respectful of the environment’s natural harmony via sustainable practices like crop rotation and composting. There is an independent, third-party certification required to earn a biodynamic label.

challenging to make it the main ingredient for dinner.

Ugly Isn’t Gross Rotting, moldy, mushy

has made all the less-than-perfect food a little self-conscious. Truth be told, food that’s heirloom or organic may have a very particular look or a few odd patchy bits on its surface—take a note from the romance ballad and love it just the way it is.

Make Friends Even if you shop at a humungous supermarket, get chatty with the produce guy. He’d much rather talk to you than that melon he just set on the shelf, and, well, that’s his job. Also, if you don’t see something in the market or you don’t like what you see, ask.

Buy “Undone” Recently, I came across a head of garlic that had the top lopped off so the cloves were exposed, wrapped in plastic,

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Buy In Bulk You pay less when you buy from the bulk bins and they generally have a higher turnover than some dusty package of

Cage-Free As the name implies, this indicates that poultry has been raised outside of cages. However, it doesn’t specify if the animal was raised in contained quarters or with access to the outdoors. The better label to look for is “pastured” or “pasture-raised.”

Conventional The least regulated, most widespread agricultural practice in the industry, conventional farming allows the use of pesticides, GMOs (genetically modified organisms), fertilizers, antibiotics,

Free-Range A bird labeled “freerange” has been allowed access to the outdoors for some time everyday.

It is currently unregulated by the USDA and can mean various levels of outdoor access. Additionally, the term applies only to birds raised for consumption and not to egg-laying hens.

GMOs One of the biggest debates in the food world centers on GMOs (genetically modified organisms) as people vehemently support or oppose the practice. Food is genetically modified when the genetic makeup is somehow altered so that the inherit traits are altered. Currently, the most common GMO crops are corn, soy, and canola. GMOs are allowed in conventional farming but not in organic farming.

Grain-Fed Most animals that are factory farmed or in CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding organizations) are grain-fed, which is very hard on the digestive system for ruminants such as cows.

Grass-Fed Animals (cattle, bison, sheep, and goats) are grass-fed when raised on a diet of pasture and stored grasses. An animal can be grass-fed if it is pasture-raised for its whole life, or up until the last few months of its life after which it is moved to a feedlot. Even better are animals that are grass-finished or pasture-finished, as it means they spent their whole life at pasture.

Heirloom These are crops that come from traditional varieties developed and preserved by farmers through the process of seed saving.

Heritage A term that refers to livestock and crops from historic and often endangered breeds as a means to save animals from extinction and preserve genetic diversity. There is no regulation on heritage production standards though the majority of heritage farmers engage in sustainable farming practices.

: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R

Here are pointers for how to take on the store

and put on the shelf for sale. And you know

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Plan of Attack

Hormone-Free Only defined by the USDA for pork and poultry, this designation means that the animal must not have received any growth hormones during the course of its lifetime.

Humanely Treated This implies that the animals were treated with compassion and allowed to live according to their natural behavior.

Irradiation Irradiated food (usually meat and eggs) is treated with high levels of radiation in order to kill off bacteria. It is used to make food safer yet most irradiation does not combat agricultural diseases and is largely used as a safeguard against any unsanitary production or slaughter conditions.

Local Commonly used to refer to food grown within 100-mile radius of where it’s being sold. This is beneficial to you as a consumer because the food will be assumedly fresher and better for the environment because it didn’t have to travel as far to get to you.

Organic The opposite of food produced by conventional farming, food labeled organic has been grown or raised without synthetic fertilizers, chemicals, pesticides, or sewage sludge and cannot be genetically modified or irradiated. Any food product (except fish) labeled organic must be certified as such by an official USDA accredited certifier.

Sustainable This implies that the manner in which produce is grown or animal reared is done in a way that can be repeated and replicated without consequences to the the SET-Up environment.

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Jarred Minced Garlic Who knows how long

Boneless, Skinless Chicken A lot of people

ago that stuff was cut up? And, once it’s

buy this cut so I’ve included a few recipes

chopped, it starts to lose flavor and build up off

in the book for it. But you’ll notice that each

gasses, which alone should be enough to turn

recipe has something in it that adds a lot

you off.

of flavor (prosciutto and goat cheese, for

Pre-Grated Cheese The minute cheese is grated or shredded, it starts to lose its flavor. If

M a st e r i n g t h e S t o r e : S e c t i o n b y S e c t i o n

you have a lot of cheese to grate or shred, the

Mastering the Store: Section by Section This is the lowdown on what to buy, what not to buy in each section of your typical grocery story. Read this through before your next trip to the market to increase your food knowledge and buying power.

but I believe fresh is better.

: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R

and a high concentration of essential flavor,

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What Not to Buy

example) because this cut can dry out very quickly. Make an effort to cook with skin-on cuts and you’ll have better flavor.

disc attachment on your food processor will

Fake Maple Syrup It’s fake. It’s not real.

make quick work of it.

Don’t buy it.

Prepped Vegetables Same story as with garlic:

Or Anything Fake, for That Matter Actually,

When veggies are cut ahead of time, all that

avoid anything that’s a fake substitute for

happens is they lose flavor and quality. It takes

the real thing (like margarine, imitation

a few minutes more to prep them yourself, but

vanilla, mayonnaise), as it is worse for your

it makes for better food.

health than the real thing.

Jarred Tomato Sauce This stuff has a ton of

And Things with Ingredients You Can’t

sugar so is best avoided—especially seeing as

Pronounce How would you know what

you can make your own (Basic Tomato Sauce,

you’re putting in your body if you can’t even

page 000) in just a few minutes time.

pronounce the ingredients it’s made from?

Iodized Table Salt Kosher salt is preferable as it’s easier to measure and has a cleaner flavor than iodized salt. The recipes in this book call for kosher salt, but, if you can’t find it, use these equivalents: 1 tablespoon kosher salt = 1 teaspoon table salt 1 tablespoon kosher salt = 1½ teaspoons sea salt Ground Black Pepper The oils in pepper (which lend the flavor) are very volatile and dissapate very quickly so it is best to always grind it fresh. That said pre-ground pepper is pretty much flavorless, so, instead, buy whole peppercorns and grind them as needed.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name The single most important tip for becoming a stellar grocery store shopper is to work the Cheers! effect (shop so everybody knows your name). By losing your anonymity, you’ll establish valuable relationships with store employees who will clue you in on what’s fresh, turn you on to a new ingredient, or even get you cooking something you never thought you’d like. Armed with this info, your next meal will already be that much better because now you’ve got the good goods. Nice moves!

Dried Herbs Aside from bay leaf, which is almost impossible to find fresh, I cannot think of one place where dried herbs would be better in a dish than fresh herbs. Yes, they’re dehydrated and therefore have more intense flavors

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