I’ve never been much of a cook, but it’s something I’d love to try and get better at. I’ve got a growing family and as much as freezer food is serving them now, when they’re older I’d like to be able to cook them something genuinely nice.
I’ve never been much of a cook, but it’s something I’d love to try and get better at. I’ve got a growing family and as much as freezer food is serving them now, when they’re older I’d like to be able to cook them something genuinely nice.
My first suggestion is to learn to cook and use a whole chicken.
Take a whole, air-dried chicken, remove the gizzard package (if present) and season liberally with a poultry seasoning blend (or whatever—salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary).
Bake, starting at 450 for 10-15 minutes, then at 325 for an hour and a half.
Eat the legs and thighs, reserve the breasts to us as an ingredient for chicken-anything—pasta, salad, or chicken salad sandwiches.
Boil the carcass for several hours with some more seasoning, onion, carrots and celery, then strain, reserving solids and broth.
Over the broth pot, rinse the solids with cold water, cooling them and getting everything tasty into the broth.
Pick the meat off the bones, skim the fat off the broth and recombine (or not, for stock).
Boil excess water away, until it tastes like bland chicken, then salt until it tastes good. It’s ok to use some bullion to add flavor, too.
That gives you a base that you can use to make any chicken soup. Simplest is to throw in some fresh veggies and cook for 10-15 minutes.
My current favorite cooking channels are Alex’s and Ethan’s .
The classics that I learned from are all public TV shows:
Jacques Pépin (playlist)
Lidia Bastianich
Mario Batali (turned out he’s a creep, but the show was amazing)