The more you cook, the more comfortable and intuitive it becomes, and you can learn to make almost anything without fancy machines or strict measurements. Gadgets are nice, but you can cook a lot without them so for the most part, recipes here can be made with very basic kitchen equipment. My ‘fancy’ gadgets include a hand-me-down stand mixer from my Grandma, a Vitamix, one good knife, and a few nice pots and pans. That’s about it. That said, if you don’t have one good knife, one good pan, and a decent cutting board, it’s worth the investment.
All ingredients here strive to be easily accessible and economical. If there is an unfamiliar term and you want a lengthier explanation or a visual example, well, you’re already online…it’s called Let Me Google That For You. You can also contact me and I’ll get back to you.
Regarding measurements, nothing is too strict. When cooking for myself, I typically don't measure anything (but in baking, always measure!). Be comfortable ‘messing up’, this is the learning process. I only assume that anyone exploring these pages has some core pantry items on hand. If the tenets below reflect your pantry philosophy, we'll get along just fine.
Good quality olive oil for eating, and decent quality olive oil for cooking.*
Salt and fresh ground pepper for cooking and a nice coarse flaky sea salt for eating.
Nut butters that are just nuts. No added oil/sugar.
Good quality vanilla extract or homemade.
Fragrant, well-stored dried herbs and spices.
*A brief olive oil rant. My everyday cooking and eating olive oil is a large 3L Terra Creta can that is not only great quality, but the convenience and price really can’t be beat for a good oil like this. This lasts me ~3 months. If I’m cooking something that requires a large quantity of cooking oil, I’ll sometimes sub Trader Joe’s Kalamata Greek olive oil. Fancy one-off oil purchases (although rare because I’m devoted to my 3L can), are typically used for finishing. Moral of the story, buy the 3L can and thank me later.
PS What does 'Records in the Den' mean anyway?
I was listening to a podcast one day and the interviewee referred to ‘…just sitting and listening to records in the den…’. I love music and film, and this sentiment spoke out to me because the way I feel when I listen to music or watch an exceptional film is akin to the relaxing or expressive feelings I have when cooking. When I started recording my recipes, I would title them like a song or after lyrics I admire.
I see cooking and sharing food as experiences and opportunities, with the most beautiful meals, records, films, concerts, and cooking triumphs all recalling a certain sense of kinship with each other. Enter, ‘Records in the Den’.
