Teaching yourself to cook. Just do it.

by Donna | September 2, 2010 1:00 am

People often say something to me like “Oh I wish I could cook like that,” or “Could you teach me to cook?”

Honestly, there’s no big secret to it. But I thought I’d share with you a little of how I came to where I am now.

If there was a secret to teaching yourself how to cook it would be this: Just do it!

I know that sounds very “Nike” but it’s the truth. You’ll never learn until you just get in there and get your proverbial hands dirty.

While I did spend time cooking with my mom growing up, I didn’t really learn to cook from my mom. I learned some things from her, but that only took me as far as grilled cheese and gravy. I primarily taught myself to really cook in my adult years.

It’s much like what I had to do to get in my daily quiet time / devotional / Bible study routine. I couldn’t rely on my past to get me where I needed to go in my relationship with the Lord. I came to a point when I just had to throw down the gauntlet and decide once and for all I was just going to do it.

So what does that mean practically in the kitchen? Here are some tips that I think mirror how I taught myself to cook

Simply start following recipes. Follow them exactly and to the letter at first.
Pay attention to flavor combinations that you and your family like whether eating at home or eating out.
I suggest that you make your kids try whatever you have cooked or try something specific to the restaurant where you are eating and don’t offer alternatives like making them a sandwich. (In our family, dinner is dinner and I’m not a short-order cook unless it’s leftover night. This may be a totally different post in and of itself.)
Periodically buy the little recipe publications at the check-out stand in the grocery store. These provide some inexpensive and easy recipes that allow you to try some different flavor combinations and types of food.
If you eat something out at a restaurant that you really enjoyed, do some investigating on the internet. It is likely that it’s not all that difficult to make the same thing or something really similar at home.
As you get more comfortable, push yourself to try some new techniques. I find that taking a cooking periodical such as “Cook’s Illustrated” is good for stretching and teaching. The articles that are written in Cook’s Illustrated in particular are excellent for seeing the differences between and results of different techniques and ingredients. The natural next step would be to actually put into practice some of those new techniques and more involved or difficult recipes.
You may even challenge yourself to cook your way through a particular cookbook. This is especially helpful if you have a particular genre of food (like Italian or Indian) or a specific area of cooking (like baking bread) that you want to learn.
Gradually, as you learn what flavor combinations you and your family like, and as you become more comfortable with a variety of recipes and techniques, stop looking so much at the recipes themselves. “Eyeball” some ingredients and play around with the recipes a little.
Begin to substitute different flavors and ingredients into a recipe to customize it to your own and your family’s preferences.
Take some old recipes and apply new techniques that you’ve learned and see if you can improve the old recipes and make them something new and better.

In general, you can get to where you may only use a recipe that you see as simply a guide or even as inspiration to make something completely different. It will take a while, just like it took a while before I felt like I was really fellowshipping with the Lord in my daily quiet time. It takes time and practice. But I do believe it can happen for anyone. You just have to resolve to make it so.

Just do it.

I’d love to hear if you have other tips to share about teaching yourself to cook.

Blessings,

Source URL: http://www.amarthaheart.com/2010/09/02/teaching-yourself-to-cook-just-do-it/