Don't Make Bacon Naked

Even I didn't need cooking classes to figure that out. 

But, in my continued quest to live creatively in 2016, I'm finding that reminders definitely have a place among new-to-me concepts, and that humor helps with pretty much everything. 

A few recent takeaways from the Basics of Culinary - 

*  There are Five Mother Sauces from which hundreds of other sauces are made. (Now, for some odd reason, what I hear in my head is this - The Mother of All Sauces - spoken in a loud, booming announcer-like voice. I swear this happens without me having wine.)

*  Toasting whole spices then grinding them yourself gives a whole different depth to the flavor. I know, it sounds like a hassle, but I was surprised by how easy it was. Whole spices are just as cheap to buy, and the packets are smaller so they won't go to waste. (Raise your hand if you have spices sitting in your cabinet that might be older than you?) We made part of a marinade/rub for Marinated-Grilled Skirt Steak by toasting cumin, coriander, black pepper and cinnamon then grinding it in one of those little coffee grinders. The smell was heavenly!

*  You don't need a fancy squeezing thingy to juice lemons and limes. A contraption like that can be considered a "uni-tasker." Instead, put the cut lemon or lime up at the tightest part of a set of tongs and squeeze. This turns the tongs into a "multi-tasker." (I love tips like this because even though I am fortunate to have a nice kitchen with lots of storage, I have a thing about clutter and items used once every three years. This is why I don't own good china and silver.)

*  The juice from those lemons and limes? Went into my new favorite, go-to sauce - chimichurri! (I'm still working on a way to have it for breakfast....)  

Previous posts in this "series" - 

IWSG: The Year of Living Creatively

It Cuts Like a Knife . . .  

It Cuts Like A Knife . . .

A chef's knife, that is!

A few weeks back, I talked about 2016 being the year of living creatively, and how I planned on taking a cooking class. Well, the first one was the other day, and it was a blast!

My husband and I have taken Demonstration Classes - the chefs cook and talk while we sit and watch, drink wine and eat. This class - the Basics of Culinary - is Hands On and the wine doesn't appear until the food is cooked and the knives are put away.

A few things I learned:

- you really don't need most of the knives in the knife block. You can use a chef's knife for pretty much everything. 

- the point of the knife is the "toe" and the part closer to the handle is the "heel."

- when cutting up veggies, curl the fingers of your other hand under, making a claw. (I managed to leave class with all my fingers - yeh, me!)

- when seasoning, sprinkle the salt, pepper, parsley, etc from high above the food because that way it spreads more evenly. Too close and it can clump.

We made guacamole and salsa, pollo tacos al pastor (chicken tacos), red snapper escabeche (fish and veggies) and sopaipillas (fried dough with cinnamon sugar and honey - and, oh, honey, let me tell you, they were delicious!)

You know, cooking is a lot like writing - once you know the rules, you can go a little wild, expand and experiment.

And it's a pretty good bet that the next time one of my characters needs to do something dastardly with a knife, we'll all know what kind of knife they'll use....