Thoughts on cooking

Quite often people say to me "you are such an amazing cook. I'm horrible, I can't make anything."
And to them I say (after I roll my eyes because I can't take a compliment) "I'm really not, but thanks. And you can cook, you just need to try!"
As my Mom always said "If you can read, you can cook". This is so true.
I mean, say you like steak. Go online, or get a cookbook, and READ! Find out about different cuts and how to cook them. Or talk to your local butcher.
Or, say you heard of something you never ate before. Do some research on that ingredient, and try it! I did this a few years ago with Leeks. Never had them, never cooked with them, but now I am in love and use them all the time!

Also, in my opinion, in order to cook good things you also need to know what you like, and what you don't. Then take it from there. And try to think outside the box (this is the hardest part!)

For example, in my last post, I made a chicken pie. Now, instead of making it the "traditional" way with pie crusts, I used leftover stuffing and mashed potatoes for the top and bottom. Still a chicken pie, just a little different. My thoughts- well, pie crust is a starch, and stuffing and potatoes are starches, and since I have leftovers of each of those, I'll just use them instead. And there you go.

Or, take last night, for example. I had nothing for dinner, and needed to get rid of a few things. Namely: 5 frozen ravioli I found in the back of the freezer, half of a butternut squash, one peeled apple, and 3 chicken tenders that I also found in the back of the freezer. Now, this may not seem like a normal combination for dinner, and maybe it wasn't, but I like all these things, they don't "disagree" with each other, and together they created a fairly well balanced meal (protein, vegetable, starch).
So, I started thinking- what can I do with these? And here's how my inner monologue went from there:
Well, I can boil the squash and apple, then puree them to make a nice base for the ravioli.
But what will I put on top of them as a sauce?
Well, I like butter on top of squash and I like butter on top of ravioli, so I will heat up some butter, make a brown butter sauce, and drizzle that over the ravioli's that will be on top of the squash puree.
Then I will sautee the chicken with a little garlic, because I love garlic, and that also goes will alongside of squash, ravioli and butter.
And there it was. Dinner. Garlic chicken with ravioli over apple-butternut squash puree with brown butter drizzle. Sounds fancy, but it isn't! Its Simple!

And that is what I am trying to tell you!
Cooking Is Simple!
Unlike baking, which is more of an exact science, cooking is just mixing things together that you like, and not under cooking or burning anything in the process. That's all.

Also, don't be afraid to try new flavors either. For example, if herbs intimidate you, or you don't know what something is going to taste like, just go smell it. The produce section of your local market should have plenty of herbs (do not use dried herbs, as they don't have much scent to them). All you need to do is pick off a leaf, rub it to release the oil, then smell. The smell will let your senses know what it will taste like.

So please, if there is anything you have ever wanted to make but you feel too intimidated to try, my suggestion is to just go for it!
Or, just let me know, and I'll cook it and post it on here for you. Step by step.
But really, have confidence in yourself, you are not a dummy! You can do this!

:)