How to Develop Your Kitchen Confidence

How to Develop Your Kitchen Confidence. Hey everyone,  I hope you are well. In today’s post, I am excited to share a guest post from Nick Orme, confessed cooking nerd and co-founder of the food-tech company Njori. Nick will be sharing top ideas to up your game in the kitchen. We all like to think we could be on Masterchef, but sometimes our ambitions are more significant than our abilities.

How to Develop Your Kitchen Confidence

We all like to picture ourselves as a Masterchef finalist, rustling up elaborate dishes with flair and panache, wowing all who try our culinary creations and perhaps even receiving a compliment from presenter Gregg Wallace: “Aw, mate, it’s like a great big hug on a plate!” However, the reality is that the kitchen can be a daunting place – all that pressure, heat and sharp knives – and many of us lack the confidence to achieve our gastronomic aspirations.

During my many years as a designer of kitchen products, here are some of the things I’ve picked up along the way…

Essential Utensils

Many kitchen gadgets and gizmos claim to work miracles, but in my experience, many clutter up cupboards and are too much of a faff to use regularly. I firmly believe that everything you own should be functional and practical – and ideally, beautiful too.

Every kitchen should have a few hard-working pans: a wok, a heavy-bottomed frying pan, a cast-iron casserole dish, such as Le Creuset, a milk pan with a pouring lip and a couple of saucepans with lids. I use my trusty Circulon sauté pan for most things. It has a reinforced base and non-stick coating, so I never worry about omelettes sticking or having to prise off salmon skin from the pan.

Sharp knives are another kitchen staple. There’s nothing more frustrating or dangerous than a blunt knife that needs extra force to cut through produce. I treasure my hand-crafted Blok Knives Chef’s Knife. It’s a sizeable multi-purpose knife, and although it was pricey (mine was a Christmas present), I use it daily, and it has replaced two or three cheaper knives in my drawer. A knife should be a pleasure to use and treated with respect, and if you equip yourself with a good sharpener, there’s no reason a knife can’t last a lifetime.

Temperature Probe

One gadget I can’t live without is a temperature probe. It’s a game-changer when cooking meat. If you treat yourself to a good-quality ribeye steak or free-range chicken, you want to be sure you are cooking them to perfection and not obliterating the meat, which is so easy. A probe is a must for a barbeque and can help you gain confidence when cooking slow-cooked dishes like pulled pork. I use a Thermopro, a great all-rounder – it’s even useful for shallow-frying vegetables, making jam and tempering chocolate.

Weighing scales are another essential. Though it’s tempting to be all Jamie Oliver and chuck in a pinch of this or a handful of that, his confidence comes from years of experience. For many recipes, the difference between a few grammes added or omitted could be catastrophic. Kitchen scales give you that peace of mind when following a recipe; I use Joseph Joseph’s TriScale digital scales, which fold away and store easily in a cutlery drawer.

Keep Stock of Pantry Staples

There are some key ingredients your cupboard should never be without to elevate your cooking and ensure you’re always ready to rustle up a good meal should an unexpected guest turn up.

Good-quality extra-virgin olive oil is top of the list. It will give your dressings and sauces a depth of flavour you can’t achieve with cheaper oil. However, don’t be tempted to use extra-virgin oil for frying – it has a low smoke point so that it can give a bitter, burnt flavour to your cooking. Instead, choose sunflower, rapeseed or standard olive oil, which have higher smoke points.

Next up is vinegar, a versatile ingredient: a good-quality balsamic for its thick sweetness that pairs perfectly with tomatoes and mozzarella; sherry vinegar for its spicy, nutty flavour that works well in marinades for meat and fish; cider vinegar for salad dressings and coleslaw; and good old Sarson’s malt vinegar for cooking poached eggs and for Friday night fish and chips!

Seasoning Food

Something I’ve become more confident about is seasoning food. Herbs and spices are kings of the kitchen, taking my cooking from bland to tasty and intricate. I think people shy away from seasoning, perhaps put off by health warnings about too much salt, but my advice is to be brave! Maldon sea salt flakes stand proudly on my kitchen counter, as does a mill of fresh black peppercorns (ready-ground pepper loses flavour quickly) – there is very little that can’t be improved with a good three-finger pinch of these two ingredients. Cumin seeds, fennel seeds and cloves are handy spices to have and keep longer than the powdered varieties. They can be dry-toasted and ground with a pestle and mortar to release their full flavours.

I’ve also taken to growing herbs on the windowsill. Fresh, homegrown basil, thyme and mint taste are much better than anything you’ll find in packets and are great for sauces, dressings and garnishes. Chilli plants are easy to grow and have the added benefit of looking pretty.

Other cupboard staples I advocate are tins of Italian tomatoes (Mutti is my favourite), anchovies, tuna, black beans, butter beans, chickpeas, olives and rice and pasta of all shapes and sizes! Even with nothing in the fridge, you could cook something spectacular with just a few of these pantry staples.

Be Prepared

Something I’ve learned the hard way is to take time to prep before you start cooking. I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve begun before getting to the bit where it says, ‘now leave in the fridge overnight when I was hoping to serve it to friends that evening. Reading a recipe to the end prepares you for what’s coming next and the equipment and ingredients you’ll need.

To make life easier, prep all your ingredients, too. All that fiddly peeling and chopping can swing the balance if you leave it to the last minute and have something already frying away in the pan. Trying to chop and stir is more complicated than patting your head and rubbing your stomach – I’ve tried it! I’m a cooking nerd, but I’ve got into the habit of filling old takeaway tubs with each of my prepped ingredients: cooking is made more straightforward, making you feel like a pro.

Lastly, ensure your kitchen is clean, tidy and clutter-free before starting. There’s nothing worse than having a hot pan in your hand and no clear surface to put it down on. Practising good mise en place (setting up) will help you feel in control in the kitchen and make cooking more enjoyable.

Practice Makes Perfect

Confidence comes from repetition and practice. Get cooking as much as possible and keep recreating your favourite recipes. Even the best chefs have a handful of recipes they cook on repeat. I have a list of ‘weekday suppers’ on rotation. The more you learn to cook a dish, the less you’ll need to rely on the recipe, and soon you’ll be adding your touches.

Although following a recipe to the letter is a good skill (and essential for baking), don’t feel too restricted. If you don’t have one of the ingredients required in a recipe, leave it out or swap another one in. It’s a great way to experiment! I love using multiple recipes for inspiration. I pick and choose bits from each that I want to use – sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t – but I learn something new each time.

Another thing that helped my confidence as a home cook was to start with simple recipes before moving on to more complex ones. Some of the best dishes come down to just a few good-quality ingredients cooked well. Who doesn’t love steak and salad or spaghetti carbonara?

Take Note

Taking notes is something I’ve learned to do since we’ve been developing our Njori recipes. Keeping a record of adjustments to timings, measurements and ingredients has helped me perfect dishes and gain confidence when cooking them. I find noting temperature crucially important, especially when it comes to trickier cooking methods, such as sous vide or deep frying.

My last advice is to try recipes you love and tweak them to your taste. Experiment and taste, flavour, taste as you go! Play with flavour and follow your senses: if you don’t like spice, tone it down or add a new ingredient. Keep notes of what you have done so that if the dish is a stroke of success, you’ll have references and be able to create it again. And you never know when someone you’ve cooked for might asks for your recipe!

I hope you enjoyed that.

Talk soon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Orme, co-founder of Njori. Njori designs smart, innovative kitchen tech for foodies who want professional, restaurant-quality results at home. The Njori Tempo is the first pack-away smart induction cooker that enables you to measure, monitor and regulate temperature to compose perfect meals every time. www.njori.com