The Lost Art of Cooking
Let me preface this by saying I am no master chef. Not even close. I have one favorite knife that I use for nearly everything and I’m quite certain my technique leaves something to be desired. I lack patience for tedious jobs (like baking cookies) and I rarely, if ever, use a measuring spoon or cup. To add the cherry on top, I am creative at times to a fault; I’ve made some really horrible creations in the kitchen. All of that being said, I think I am on the right track.
One of the big trends in the last five years or so has been meal kits delivered directly to your door, the selling points being you don’t need to spend time grocery shopping or planning meals; everything you need comes prepackaged and ready for you to assemble. I can name several of these meal assembly kit services off the top of my head and I’m sure you can too. We actually had one of these subscriptions when we lived in town, and I thought it was great! Not only was I cooking food, but I was cooking food that was out of my comfort zone because I could follow detailed, step by step instructions. No plain old boring cheeseburgers in this house, we’re having herb crusted basil turkey burgers with maple bacon artichoke spread because that’s what the meal kit told me to make. How creative of me.
I think the most pivotal moment came when we started to raise our own food. We started by raising laying hens. I was up to my eyeballs in eggs and needed to use them up! Scrambled eggs for breakfast, egg salad for lunch, and fried egg sandwiches for supper. The next day would be poached eggs for breakfast, hard boiled eggs for lunch, and hot dish with egg noodles for supper. Eggs, eggs, eggs. We had eggs so I used them up. Then we got meat chickens and the same thing happened. Scrambled eggs with chicken for breakfast, chicken salad for lunch, and roast chicken for supper. Hearty chicken broth for breakfast, leftover chicken for lunch, and chicken noodle soup for supper. Chicken, chicken, chicken. We had chickens so I used them up. Now, I’m not saying eating nothing but eggs for three meals a day is necessarily “creative” but it absolutely lays a solid foundation for creativity in the kitchen.
I believe that when you are presented with nothing but whole ingredients staring back at you as you stare into the fridge, you’re setting yourself up for success even if the meal falls flat. When we cook with our senses instead of cooking with what the meal kit told us to, we begin to actually cook with taste in mind. Let me explain. In my previous example of the herb crusted basil turkey burgers with maple bacon artichoke spread, this hypothetical dish would probably taste pretty dang good actually. I’d make it, eat it, and be satisfied, but I wouldn’t be developing any sort of skill.
There is more to cooking (actually, a lot more) than just if it tastes good or if it tastes bad. Hear me out; lack of variety or lack of choice actually fosters good cooking. I think this is why we are so passionate about cooking with real, whole foods. At any given moment, I have meat, eggs, honey, root vegetable staples, flour, cream/butter, salt, pepper, and a few favorite spices on hand. That’s it, go forth and create three nutritious meals a day. What do we eat in a typical week for supper? One night we might have roast chicken, the second night might be chicken alfredo pasta, and the third night would be chicken soup. One chicken and three meals using the ingredients listed above. Maybe the fourth night we will have pulled pork on fresh baked buns and the following night have pork tacos. It’s not hard to make noodles and we are still perfecting our tortillas, but the point is we are not only developing skills in the kitchen, but have you looked at the ingredient list in tortilla shells lately? They’re crazy! Admittedly, I actually had some in my hand a few weeks ago when I knew we’d be short on time and we had leftover chicken to use up. I peeped the ingredients and put them back as quickly as I picked them up. Nope, I’ll stick to my minimal ingredient tortillas that I can never get flat enough. One of my favorite meals was discovered when I was stumped on what to make for supper. I had leftover drippings and pork from a pork roast I had made the night before. I made some egg noodles, turned the drippings into a broth with spices to taste, added carrots, onions, and celery with the pork and it was the most flavorful, hearty, rib sticking soup I had ever made. I still think about that soup from time to time. Even Eric, who isn’t the world’s biggest soup fan, really enjoyed it.
All of this to say… you don’t need a meal subscription. You don’t need another cookbook. You don’t need another night of take out. In the wide words of Joel Salatin, “get in your kitchens, buy unprocessed foods, turn off the TV, and prepare your own foods. This is liberating.” And you know what? He’s not wrong.