Gourmet Goals and Cooking Confessions

Too often, chefs and even homecooking food bloggers portray an image of being perfect gourmets who can improvise with ease, conquer any recipe and are experts in all cuisines. I don't want to do that here. I intend to show you that no one is without fault and everyone has big goals, even in the kitchen!

So I have a few personal cooking confessions, palate prejudice and gourmet goals to share with you.

Cooking Confessions

• I struggle with multitasking. Too often, I get too ambitious and get overwhelmed cooking. This is one of the reasons I love make-ahead entrees or Crock Pot dishes that take care of themselves so that I can focus on other elements. 
• I can be really shortsighted with cooking. I'm not really creative when left to my own devices but I do feel really confident in my ability to follow a recipe - probably too confident. I think that everything will be much more simple than it is. 
• I can be recipe gullible. I know what makes for good flavor combinations but I often assume that all recipes that get air time must be good. This is dangerous and is the impetus for J's "one Pinterest recipe per meal" rule...
• I'm forgetful with ingredients. This is probably why my skills of improvisation are improving - because I think we have 2 cups of mozzarella but we actually only have 1, so I have to add Parmesan, cheddar and feta to meet my needs. 
• I make assumptions about local grocery stores. I assume that most ingredients are readily available and hopefully in appropriate packaging and price points or I don't fully understand my ingredients - that's what caused the Canned Salmon meltdown of 2012 (who knew it had skin and bones in it?!?!). Another moment to be a better improvisational cook!

For some common cooking mistakes, look here at Real Simple's suggestions to fix food flubs. 

Palate Prejudice 

Here are a few of the ingredients/flavors I despise and try to avoid as often as possible when cooking or eating:

• Fennel/ star anise/ licorice - just why?
• Cilantro - in large quantities, I think it tastes just like soapy dishwater
• Strong liquor flavors - I'm not far enough away from my college drinking (read: vomiting) days to be able to appreciate strong booze again
• Raw, seed-filled tomatoes - I love tomato products and tomatoes without "guts" but I can't stand that slimy stuff!

Gourmet Goals

I've been cooking since I was a kid and have tried a number of types of cuisine and methods of preparation but I still have some goals for dishes and techniques that I want to master. 

• The Art of French Cooking - I've made her Bouef Bourguignon, but I want to try more of Julia Child's French recipes (minus the aspics)
• Savory and sweet souffles - I made one in a rush on Valentine's Day and it was so-so. This dramatic dish needs to be perfect
• Southern staples - most notably fried chicken, biscuits and cornbread
• Perfect knife cuts - if you asked J, he'd probably say my knife skills are irregular at best, insanely dangerous at their worst
• Homemade pie crust and pasta - two of my most favorite carbs!
• A signature cocktail - I know I said I don't like strong liquor flavors earlier, but I do think having a good knowledge of what to order at a dinner or what to shake up at a party is an important grown up skill. And rumor has it, some drinks don't taste just like nail polish remover - if you make the right, you might just enjoy them! 
• Knowledge of meat cuts - I get the poultry ones and some basic red meat cuts but I have no idea what the difference is between various roasts in terms of texture, flavor and cooking needs but also where they are located.
• Food photography for this blog - I know that's petty and probably has a lot to do with both the lighting in our house and my sub-par phone camera but to convey the best food to you, I need to work on my pictures and art direction. J's the artistic one and takes better food photos but I'm trying! 

I shared these tidbits with you as encouragement. Everyone - chef or not -is a work in progress in and out of the kitchen and we have to keep that in perspective. We all have things we like and don't like, no matter how flexible a palate we have; things we want to accomplish and faults to work on. I hope our blog gives you encouragement and shows you that the thing that drives good meals is a passion for food and sharing with folks you love.