Now I know how doctors feel. “Hi, what do you do?” “I’m a doctor.” “Oh great, I’ve got this pain in my right leg…” “Hi, what do you do?” “I’m a cook.” “Oh great, I tried to make this roast last week and it was so dry…”
People for some reason think I know how to cook (silly them) and often ask me cooking questions. I don’t mind at all (really!), I actually quite enjoy talking to anyone about anything food related, and am flattered when people think I know enough about something to elicit my thoughts. I am just hesitant because I'm afraid I will disappoint people with my answers. Let me explain...
On my last trip home, a friend asked me for some ideas for New Year’s Eve dinner and, as I dreaded, she inevitably ask how long to cook it. This is where it usually turns ugly as my standard response is, “I don’t know…til it’s done…” It’s akin to the above mentioned doctor saying “I don’t know…stop walking...”
I cringe whenever I give this answer as I know exactly how they are feeling… I can see the cartoon balloon thoughts over their head clearly. Confusion is usually followed by disgust as in “I thought you went to cooking school?!” followed by “You’re not telling me so I can’t make it as good as you do, you b*tch!” Actually no to both, well yes to the first, I really did go to cooking school and have the physical and emotional scars to prove it, and no to the second, as I really want you to make a delicious meal, but I honestly don’t know how long, exactly. Stay with me here…
In cooking school, whenever we asked our chefs how long to cook something, they always said "until it's done" which was absolutely no help (or so I thought), and elicited rolled eyes and huge groans however what it did do was goad me into being more aware, actually aware period, to realize that there are a myraid of variables that contribute to this and to start relying on my senses, rather than a cookbook or a timer. A year ago I worked at a restaurant in San Francisco and one of the sous-chefs asked the executive chef how long to cook something and his response was…yep, you guessed it, all together now…“until it’s done”! See, it’s not just me. So what does “until it’s done” actually mean…
It means…until it’s done! There are general rules of thumb such as 20 minutes per pound for a roast, or was it 40 (can’t remember), or to an internal temperature of 140ºF, etc... but as I mentioned above, try to use all your senses when cooking. Don’t ignore the cooking directions, use them as a guideline. Don’t be dead set on a certain amount of time just because Rachel Ray promised it would only take 30 minutes. Don’t refuse to take the chicken out of the oven because the timer hasn't gone off even though smoke is billowing out and when you finally open the oven there is a little glowing piece of charcoal and a pile of bones where a chicken used to be!
On New Year’s Eve our butcher instructed us to cook our lamb shoulders for 3 hours, or so my roommate thought (slight translation error), and I knew that was wrong so I checked it after an hour, not done, and then again 30 minutes later and voila, it was done. How did I know? It was a beautiful dark golden brown, slight charring around the edges, and when I inserted the thermometer, it read about 150 degrees. That was a bit too high, but you get the idea…
So start becoming aware of what’s happening on or in the stove by checking it often and using a little common sense. It’s not easy to do as I can attest to dozens of burned filets, a garden’s worth of painfully overcooked vegetables, etc. but it does get easier with practice and over time you begin to notice these things and trust your instincts. So ask yourself…
What does the meat look like? Is it turning black? If so, it's probably over cooked. Is it pink? It’s probably raw. Is it golden brown? Then maybe it’s close to being done… Insert a meat thermometer. What does it say? Is the oven set to the correct temperature? Does your internal oven thermometer have the same reading as the oven setting? What does it smell like? Is it those wonderful mouth watering smells or is there a charred scent in the air? Is smoke pouring from the oven? What are the sounds? Is it sizzling? How does it feel? Is it hard as a rock or still soft or does it spring back? Is it still cold or is it hot? Go ahead, touch the meat! It’s dead, it won’t bite and, unless there are flames shooting off it, it probably won’t burn you either.
In other words, become intimately aware of whatever it is you are cooking. That's where the love comes in...
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