I've been living on my own for a few years now and I haven't really learned to cook. I'm not bad enough where I subsist on Ramen Noodles and peanut butter sandwiches, but I don't know much.
Following a recipe is easy enough, so's watching the oven. But when something goes wrong I don't have the first clue how to fix it. In fact, I have no idea how I even got to where I was in the first place. Baking soda goes in cookies because the recipe says so, and if you're looking for another explanation then you're asking the wrong person. The terms "braise," "blanch," and "sweat,"mean nothing to me. I couldn't tell you the difference between parsley and basil if my life depended on it, and I didn't even know what a shallot was until last week.
I'm sick of all that. I'm sick of following recipes not know why I'm doing something. I'm tired of having to go the grocery store every time I want to cook because I'm missing one item on the all important list of ingredients. I'm fed up with only having a handful of dishes in my repertoire unless I peruse Google for hours searching for that one recipe that's different, but not too weird. From now on, I say screw the recipe.
My goal is to be able to walk into my pantry and say, "Oh look, I have this, this, and this. I'll make THIS." And then stun and amaze everyone around me. Fireworks will explode in our mouths, and the sun and moon will align into place and bring world peace and harmony. "Be excellent to one another..." No, seriously, I want to learn how to cook well (not passable) and I want to do it without a recipe.
In order to do this I've bought a couple of books that are along those lines. One is Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef and the other is Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg's The Flavor Bible. Other books are coming in from Amazon (I get carried away on that site), but I'm going to start on these two books. Think Like a Chef breaks down techniques required to fly solo and book free, ordered from easiest to most difficult. It does have a few recipes in it, but they're for instructional purposes as they highlight the new technique. The Flavor Bible is a giant index full of all those fancy ingredients I've never heard of. In addition to explaining the ingredients basic taste and giving quick tips on preparation, it also lists the best ingredients with which to pair.
I'm going to post at least a cooking excursion once a week consisting of a new technique from Think Like a Chef, and an attempt of my own. Practically I won't be able to cook more than one meal a week. These recipes have a tendency to get expensive, and cooking for one means leftovers (and I don't waste food). I'll be posting blogs full of pictures of my dishes during and after completion. You'll get to watch me stumble around, fail, and (hopefully) grow as a cook, and if all goes to plan I may see George Carlin show up in a time traveling phone booth. Party on dudes.
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