What’s up my Eaters!  I hope you are well. School is out, the kids are home, vacation season is upon us, and the beaches are calling. Whatever you’re doing, please be safe, love someone, and always remember to eat good!  This week I’ve been thinking about cooking a lot. I want to help those of you who love food and eating but for whatever reason cooking overwhelms you or the dishes just don’t ever work out favorably. This week I want to begin to empower you in your cooking abilities by first teaching you that cooking does not change. This single realization changed my perspective on cooking years ago. My hope is that it does the same for you.

As a pitmaster, a lot of time is spent waiting around and meticulously tending to and watching the fire. Often, in the middle of the night, all by myself. Over the years I have grown to really enjoy and look forward to this time. It’s always a moment when everything slows down, the world quiets, and I get to think as I craft my barbecue and enjoy the cook. It’s amazing what thoughts come as I stare into and listen to the dance and commotion of the fire. I call these my thoughts or musings from the fire.

This week, my thoughts from the fire reflected on how much I take my ability to cook for granted. So many people experience such anxiety and stress and defeat at the thought of cooking.  Others spend exorbitant amounts of money eating out or buying processed food simply to avoid facing that kitchen monster that stands so silent yet so tall and present in the kitchens of their lives. My Eaters, it doesn’t have to be this way. I am here to encourage you that you can cook, and I want to help you enter a new season of culinary freedom.  

Cooking for yourself is most affordable, convenient, healthy, and often tastes better. As you become more fluent in the skillset your confidence will come. This is when cooking becomes more satisfying and fun. Your creativity will begin to grow. You will find a few recipes that will become your rotation. These recipes will familiarize you with ingredients and preparation time. They’ll also teach you temperature and time management. This is when cooking becomes the most gratifying. This is the point where you will begin to use all that your recipes have shown you to envision and create your own dishes.  

However, learning different ingredients and time and temperature management are not the things that enable this new culinary greatness. That comes from understanding that ingredients change but cooking does not. Cooking does not change. Once you learn how to cook, the other details will fall into place. The fun, efficiency, and creativity will come. So will the accolades. The anxiety and stress that was once induced by the thought of cooking will become a thing of the past.

To launch you on this new journey, the first thing you must grasp is an understanding of the cooking methods. No matter the ingredient, all cooking starts with 3 primary cooking methods:

• Dry Heat Cooking – uses air or fat to transfer heat (baking, frying, grilling, roasting) This method often results in brown and crispy end product.
• Moist Heat Cooking – uses water or steam (boiling, steaming, simmering, poaching) This method tenderizes tough cuts of meat, makes soups and sauces, offers a delicate cooking option when needed, and can cook or reheat quickly too.
• Combination Cooking – uses both dry and moist heat cooking (braising and stewing) This method seals in flavor and gives color to your food product first.  Adding some hot liquid will then tenderize the food product while also creating a wonderful sauce or liquid base. Typically used on tougher cuts of meat but can be utilized on vegetables. 

Truly grasping and understanding these three cooking methods and what ingredients are best suited for each of them is the foundation of truly becoming the cook you want to be. This is the foundation on which we are going to build. To gain some more insights, look at my video. These methods will never change. That is why cooking doesn’t change. It is the fluent understanding of these facts that is going to remove all the stress and anxiety around cooking that you have experienced in the past. 

 In future columns I will begin elaborating on each of these. Until then, challenge yourself to begin understanding these methods. Start believing within yourself that all it takes is a solid understanding of these three things and your cooking life can change forever. I can’t wait until we are together again. As always, you can always come visit me or my team at the Peachtree City Farmer’s Market every Saturday.