Rediscovering how to cook

When I was young, we cooked a lot in my family. My mother was a home economics major in college, so cooking is a hobby for her. I remember her trying out a new recipes frequently when I was growing up, and my brother and I both learned to cook from her.

We always ate meals that were well balanced, had at least two sides, and went together well as a menu. Of course, my mother loves to do this, and since this was her major in college, for her, doing this is a matter of keeping up in her field. However, I have another field, and I don't have the patience to do this. Additionally, we only have two people to feed, so making a 3 course meal seems over-the-top for us (though I suspect my mom always cooked like this, even when living by herself). So, when faced with make-a-big-meal-with-an-hour-of-prep or cook-pasta-and-dump-in-sauce, Saul and I always go for the later.

When I decided we should start eating only local produce and meat at home, I was really concerned about the cooking. I mean, then we'd have to prepare big meals, and that kind scared me. Somehow in my head, the only options were gourmet meal or packaged meal. Kind of ridiculous, but looking back, that's what we ate at my house. (Unless my dad cooked, then it was always "Dave's Surprise"). I really need to get over the fact that I'm not my mother. I think I've made progress, at least in the cooking realm.

I started trying to find seasonal recipes, but they all looked rather frightening. I think the problem is that if the recipe is simple, people don't write it down because it seems obvious. Except that, if you're one of us who don't cook gourmet meals, it isn't obvious. :)

Here's what I've rediscovered about cooking:

1. My mom and my grandmother and aunts don't fret about measurements because unless you're baking or canning, it doesn't matter. No one will notice. 2 carrots, 3 carrots, 1o carrots. Depends on the size of the carrot anyway, so who cares? No one will notice between 1 t. of oregano and 1 T. of oregano, so dump it in already.
   
2. Fresh herbs are everything. Seriously. If I only had a small amount of space, I'd just grow a few herbs. They last spring through fall, they taste better when fresh picked, and then you feel like you've "contributed" to the meal. Even if you're just using canned pasta sauce, add some fresh oregano and parsley. More on herbs later.
   
3. It is impossible to mess up cooked veggies. If you can't think of anything else, saute and add some herbs. If the veggies are in season, they'll taste good. The only bad thing you can do is burn them. This is the key to eating local produce only. You can't mess up something that's already yummy.
   
4. Everything tastes better with cheese. If it wasn't that yummy, pile on some fresh parm or mozz. I mean pile. You'd be surprised how much cheese Saul and I can eat. (Hey, the rest of the meal is vegetables.) Unless it is burned, it can be resurrected with cheese.
5. Garlic must always be on hand. Garlic garlic garlic.
   
6. If you can't figure out anything else, amend pre-packaged food. Add herbs and fresh veggies to marinara sauce. Make tomato soup, but add fresh tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and oregano.

I think the most important thing was that I actually attempted, on several occasions, to make something based upon a pile of veggies in my fridge and some herbs in the garden. The first few attempts were just steamed veggies. Then saute veggies. Then saute veggies with sauce. Finally, roasted veggies. If they are fresh and local, there really is no need to do anything fancy with them. They'll just taste good on their own.

I think it still takes a few recipes to get going (I sure needed them). So I'm going to post my recipes, even the simple ones, as I make them at home when veggies come in season. I'm going to back-date a few posts to spring to fill in for next year. Since what I can make changes every month, I tend to forget myself what recipes are good, even the simple ones.