Basic Cooking Skills

I was reading one of my favorite cooking blogs, The Kitchn, when I came across a post about basic cooking skills that all beginners should know. I wanted to share this with you all and spend the next couple of days going through each technique so that you can slowly begin to add to your kitchen repertoire.

image via eoiguada.info

Bourdain’s basic argument, which has also been made elsewhere, is that every person should have the basic knowledge and skills to feed themselves a decent meal. This is knowledge that has been gradually lost with the demise of home ec classes in school and the convenience of pre-made grocery store meals.

Of course, no one really wants a return to the fussy, boring home ec classes of yore. (Yes, I’m old enough that I remember these!) So Bourdain’s idea is to make cooking cool. Or more to the point, to make not cooking decidedly un-cool. Wouldn’t it be great, he says, if in the future “it’s the kid who can’t roast a chicken who should be considered the ‘spaz.’”

But back to those basic skills. Here’s what Bourdain thinks everyone should know:

• Chopping an onion
• Making an omelet
• Roasting a chicken
• The correct way to grill and rest a steak
• Cooking vegetables to desired doneness
• Making a vinaigrette
• Shop for fresh produce
• Buying a fish, cleaning it, and making it
• Roasting meat
• Roasting and mashing potatoes
• Braising meats and vegetables
• What to do with bones (a.k.a. How to make stock)

How to Poach an Egg in a Microwave

I love topping a salad with a poached egg, flirting with normal conceptions of breakfast and lunch in the morning. As per the suggestions of this post, I need to experiment more with lentils, and the poached egg on top with be a nice and familiar touch. I've always cooked my eggs on the stove top, using salt and the vortex method, however they always inevitably get stuck to the bottom of the pan and I have to maneuver a bit to prevent the yolk from breaking and spilling out. So it was fortunate that I came across this simple how to post on poaching eggs in a microwave. 

My kitchen is quite small and the microwave takes up a significant amount of counter space, so I've been trying to use it more often. This includes quick-steaming vegetables, sweet potatoes, as well as swordfish (2 minutes on high with a bit of olive oil, lemon juice, slat and pepper, continue from there for 30 second bursts until it flakes). And now it's time to step up my game to poached eggs. 

This tip is also very useful to those still living in dorms as most common rooms are outfitted with microwaves. I'm su re there is a way to cook both the eggs and the lentils using a microwave and I'll explore those microwave-compatible-meals a little more in the future.

For now, enjoy this post, originally from The Kitchn, a great cooking and kitchen resource with many other affiliated blogs.

How To Poach an Egg in the Microwave

I don't usually use the microwave to poach my breakfast egg, but it can come in very handy for a lunch egg. Lentils, brown rice, or a salad can be elevated from a side dish to a main dish with a tender, gooey poached egg on top. Here's how to make a quick, freshly poached egg in the office microwave.

 

Huge caveat, before you try this: Remember that microwaves come in lots of different configurations. This is a basic set of instructions but you will probably need to tweak it a bit to adjust to your microwave.

What You Need

Ingredients
1 egg
1/3 cup water
Approximately 1/2 teaspoon vinegar (optional)

Equipment
Microwave
Microwave-safe mug or small bowl
Microwave-safe small plate
Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. Gather your ingredients. The vinegar is optional, but it will help the egg coalesce a little better.

2. Crack the egg into a microwave-safe bowl or mug.

3. Pour in about 1/3 cup water.

4. Add a bit of vinegar. (You can also add this directly to the water before pouring it in.)

5. Cover the bowl or mug with a microwave-safe plate. Place in the microwave and cook on 80% POWER for 60 seconds. Check the egg. If it is not done yet, return to microwave and cook on 80% POWER in 20 second bursts. (I usually cook mine for a total of 80 seconds.)

6. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon, and enjoy!

Additional Notes:
• This method will give a rather wobbly egg. If you like a more hardboiled-style egg, microwave on HIGH for 60 seconds.
• Do note that, unlike when poaching eggs on the stovetop, the microwave tends to cook the yolk even faster than the white. So if you like gooey yolks, it's best to take the egg out when the white is still a little wobbly.