Tomatoes today, tomorrow and the next day...

Roasting tomatoes is a great way to use all those fresh tomatoes that may be starting to go bad on you.  Smells great when they're roasting and it is super easy.  Use them on pizza, bruschetta, in pasta, just use your imagination.  Keep this in mind when you've got all of those beautiful, local, vine-ripened tomatoes later this summer...

Preheat oven to 425.  Place whole tomatoes and unpeeled and smashed garlic cloves on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast about 25 minutes until the skins pop.  Baste with the remaining oil and you're ready to go!
They will keep in the fridge for a week or so.  Put them in storage containers with enough olive oil just to cover.

~This was a post from June, 2010.  It seemed appropriate for almost late summer with an update here and there.  I also love that picture!~

And as always...
 If you liked this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it!

Come join the fun and take a class with us!  Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

And, if you haven't already...don't forget to read my July 4th post and answer The Girl's Super Simple Survey!

It's not about the nail (applied to the kitchen)

Have you seen the viral video, "It's not about the nail."?

If you haven't, you really should.  I won't spoil it for you but it is the ubiquitous couple's "conversation" where he is trying to be practical and she just wants him to listen to her and stop trying to fix everything.  I was watching this video again last night for, oh, I don't know, the fifteenth time and it hit me (again)...it's not about the food, cooking or recipe, it's about listening to yourself.

You know how I hate it when people are slaves to recipes.  It happens in my classes all the time.  It is the bane of my existence and I feel it is my mission in life to lead you down "freedom's path" to the place without recipes.
The inevitable (and constant) question is: "How much of that did you put in?"  And, my inevitable response is:  "Um, I don't know, maybe a (fill in the blank with a form of measurement)."  It's not that I mean to be oppositional; it's just that as I stand in my mother's shoes, I really don't know for sure, exactly how much I put in.  So, I often have some frustrated people in my classes, especially the accountants and engineers.  At least in the beginning.  Then, they learn to relax, have another glass of wine and just go with it or I guess, they find another kind of cooking class.
Because it's not about the measuring!  It's about tasting the food and thinking or feeling something about it.  Does it taste salty, sweet, bitter, tart, bland or whatever.  If you don't think about or feel something about those taste experiences, I'm afraid you will be trapped in Recipeland, forever.  EEK!!

Here's the thing, recipes are created by people who like things a certain way.  That's why sometimes when you follow a recipe exactly, you think it tastes like crap because it doesn't suit your taste.  The person who made up that recipe does not have your taste buds or flavor memories so how in the world can he/she tell you about making something?  It may taste perfectly fine to them but not to you.  And, you know what, that's okay!  You are entitled to your opinion, so disagree!
Day in and day out, you follow the recipes of other people because you think they know more than you do.  Well, maybe they do but only you know what you like and how you like it.  Would you let someone pick out your clothes and tell you what to wear?  Of course not!  Unless you're five.  So why do you allow other people to dictate how you are going to have your food?  It's one thing to go to a restaurant or someone's home to enjoy their food.  It's something else to be making your own food by following someone else's rules, don't you think?
So here's another little recipe exercise to help you find your way out of Recipeland and back to freedom!  This is one I made up from different foods and flavors that I really like.  We'll start simple with a salad  because I'm only going to give you the ingredient list and no measurements! But I will give you a picture.

• red onion
• cucumber
• grape tomatoes
• feta cheese
• romaine lettuce
• white balsamic vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and ground black pepper

Here's what you do.  Gather YOUR ingredients.  Add, subtract, and/or modify to your heart's content.  You don't like red onion?  Fine, leave it out.  You love red bell pepper?  Great, add some.  See what I mean?  This stops being my Chopped Greek Salad and becomes your salad, isn't that cool!  So take ownership and do what you like to it.  Make it taste the way you like things to taste.  Then let me know how it turned out!  Because it's not about the nail!
And as always...
 If you liked this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it!

Come join the fun and take a class with us!  Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

And, if you haven't already...don't forget to read my July 4th post and answer The Girl's Super Simple Survey!

To Cook or Not To Cook...or maybe the question is...

Here I go again...starting off with a weird title.
So I guess I need to explain...but first...thanks so much to everyone for their responses to my Super Simple Survey.  It gave me lots of food for thought, so to speak.

And, here's one of those thoughts - maybe it's not about the cooking or even the food, maybe what it's really about is how you go about the cooking and thinking about the food and the process.

Consider this...you get home from work and you are dead tired.  The last thing you want to think about is making something to eat.  Cooking sounds like a death sentence and certainly the last thing you would do for fun.  Dragging yourself into the kitchen to stare into the refrigerator or the pantry with those sunken eyes that just seem to spin in your head as you come up with, well, nothing.  Finally, you grab a cracker and a glass of water and go to bed.  If you have kids, you give them a cracker, too.  Well...I think I may have to go jump out the window myself...This kind of mindset leads to books like this!  YIKES!!!

How about an alternative scenario....you get home from work and yes, you are dead tired once more.  This time, you turn on some music, pour a glass of wine and head to the bedroom.  Now wait a minute...we are going back to the kitchen!  Change out of your work clothes into something more conducive to a relaxed and comfortable experience.  I know...yoga pants and flip flops!  Now, you return to the kitchen.  Slightly refreshed and certainly in a better frame of mind.  Instead of staring into the refrigerator for inspiration...because believe me, it does not exist inside that box, you consider what would make you feel good about this whole situation.  Sometimes it might be ordering pizza or Chinese takeout but let's stay with this vision of actually cooking something.  You remember some things that you have learned recently like...start with a meat or fish or even vegetable that you really like to eat, then you think about how to fix it so it tastes even better.  Maybe you do a quick saute in a little olive oil with garlic and onion and then make an even quicker pan sauce with one of your favorite herbs,a little wine (that you're drinking, of course) and finish it with a little butter or cream or cheese.  Then you stop to consider how great the music sounds, the wine tastes and how much better you're feeling.  Wow!  I already feel much better than that jumping out of the window thing.  Woohoo...we're having some fun, now!

No, I do not know who this person is but she sure is happy!

See...it's really not about cooking or food...it's about the attitude.  You can cook anything and make it a pain or you can make it a pleasure.  Let me give you another example...
When you watch cooking shows or just watch people cook...it's boring, right?  The actual cooking is super boring.  In my classes, when we have to wait for things to finish cooking....Lordy!  Takes for evah!  That's because nothing is happening except cooking.  So the reason we watch cooking shows or take cooking classes is to be entertained (not just to learn something although I like to think that you learn a little bit in my classes).  If you watch the online cooking courses, pick one, it doesn't matter which one, they're boring!  I want to poke my eyes out!  It isn't about the cooking or the food...it's about the person doing it.  Again, a fer instance...I would watch Michael Symon make mud...he could just mix dirt and water all day as far as I'm concerned because he's so cool and attitude...for days!  Not to mention, he's cute AND bald which is a huge bonus for me.  Now, when I watch him cook real food, do I learn anything?  Sometimes.  But he mostly cooks stuff I already know about so why do I watch?  Because of the "feel" of his show or the "feel" of how he cooks.  And, yes, he is cute and would probably be very fun to party with but I also watch Alex Guarnaschelli because of the " C" factor...not because she's cute.  Although, I think she would be fun to party with, too.

See what I mean?
Now, here's the rub.  In order to create the coolness factor, you've got to do A LOT of WORK and spend A LOT of TIME not to mention MONEY on cookbooks and cooking references and utensils and heavy equipment and food magazines and watching food shows with lots of trial and error involved.  Notice I didn't say anything about going to culinary school?  No, because you don't need to go to school to create this.  But you do need all this other stuff because you need to have your own library (for lack of a better word) to pull from.
What if someone did all that work FOR you?  What if all that information was in one spot for you to refer to without you doing much of anything?
I know...sounds crazy doesn't it?  And, since I am just a little crazy, I'm going to have an answer to those "what ifs" in the very near future. So keep the faith, baby.  Help is on its way...
And as always...
 If you liked this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it!

Come join the fun and take a class with us!  Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

And, if you haven't already...don't forget to read my July 4th post and answer The Girl's Super Simple Survey!

Is it eggplant or is it aubergine?

No matter your preference...I apparently can grow it.  It's a good thing because not much of anything else is knocking my socks off!
But!  I am going to have a lot of eggplant.  I guess the bunnies don't care for it and maybe the birds can't find them because they are up under those giant leaves.  I bet you'd like to see a picture of these guys, wouldn't you? 
They really are pretty and I am impressed with them and the quantity.  The flowerbuds are even nice...a kind of white and lavender.  Imagine that, a purple veggie with a lavender flower!  OK, here goes.  This is one side of the plant but let's get a different view...

Here's the other side...

What would you like to know...?

I know, weird title, right?
But I really do want to know!
I've been thinking a lot about questions people ask me in my cooking classes and how people respond to my posts, blog, Facebook, Twitter, what and wherever.

• Why I use kosher salt, 
• How do I keep from crying when I cut up an onion (easy answer, I don't!), 
• How do I know when something's done, 
• Why don't I measure...and on and on.

I have "Just the Basics" where I teach a lot of how-tos, especially knife skills, but what else do you want to know?

Remember, I have no secrets...at least, with regard to cooking!  I want you to be better at cooking and really enjoy it.  I don't teach anything in my classes that you couldn't do at home and I don't use crazy ingredients that you can't find in the local stores. And, I don't dazzle you with my fancy footwork around the stove top.  Why?  Because YOU are the important element in my teaching!  I want YOU to learn so that you don't need me.  I know, that sounds weird, too but seriously, I don't want you to NEED me.  I want you to come to cooking classes for the fun and camaraderie...to meet new people, to have a glass of wine and learn a little something to add to your repertoire and entertain guests in your home in an easy, casual way.  You know, all the best parties end up in the kitchen!!

So here's your chance!  I have a super simple survey for you and I mean it!  It is about as simple as you can get.  One question only.  It can take as long as you like (or as short as you like).

Tell me what I can do to help you, well, cook like ME (if that's what you want to know).

I look forward to hearing from everyone and feel free to share the link with your friends who may not know about me and my classes...I'd like to help them, too!

And, as always....

If you liked this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it!  I want to hear from you and your friends!

Come join the fun and take a class with us!  Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

Now....on to the survey!    The Girl's Super Simple Survey