It is not hard for me to admit that I am not a good chef. Although I make a mean bowl of cereal, there are not too many hot dishes I can honestly say I can make taste desirable. One person who has always tried to inspire me and teach me how to cook the easiest of meals has been my mom. Whenever I am hanging out in the kitchen while she is cooking she ask me if I would want to help out, and generally I agreed. Over the years, she has taught me to make a variety of things: Philly cheese steaks with sautéed onions, mushrooms, and peppers, homemade spaghetti sauce, chocolate chip cookies, Belgian waffles. She also taught me that an easy way to make delicious pasta is to sautee some garlic and onion in olive oil or butter, and add some chicken or canned clams. This meal is particularly easy to make, but tastes very fancy, which is good for any bachelor who wants to trick people in to thinking he is a great chef.
My dad really can’t cook any better than me, but he has shown me the way of the grille. Steaks, shish ka bobs, chicken, ribs, fish, and burgers are now in my grilling arsenal because of the many summer nights we spent outside on the patio, firing up the grille and talking about whatever came to mind. If I had to say I was good at one specific grilling item, it would be the big slabs of London broil. Simply marinade the meat for a couple hours in half soy sauce, half olive oil with some steak seasoning on top, and then throw it on the grille. At first the grille must be set on high for a minute, to sear the outside of the meat, locking the juices inside. After that minute you then turn that level down to medium low and cook on each side for about ten to twelve minutes. When it is finished it has a nice, almost burnt outside, but the inside is pink and juicy. I would not recommend this technique for people who like their meat well done, or “ruined” as my dad always says, because it is dripping with steak juice.
My grandma on my mother’s side taught all of us grandkids how to make pancakes from scratch as I have mentioned in an earlier post, but my grandpa on my dad’s side of the family taught me, and only me, how to make delicious beef jerky. His recipe consists of soy sauce, hot sauce, worcestershire, curry, liquid smoke, lots of ground pepper, chopped garlic, and chopped ginger root. It is a favorite and a delicacy in my family. I taught my oldest brother how to make it, but other than him, only my grandpa and I know how to make it. That means if all of us suddenly died in some freak and coincidental accident, the recipe would be lost forever because it was never written down. Hopefully that does not happen so I can continue to hand down the recipe of grandpa’s beef jerky, and also live life.
Cooking is not a necessary skill to have, but it does make life a lot easier. Cooking your own food can be healthier, cheaper, and more rewarding because you appreciate the food more. I am glad to of learned so much about food from my parents and grandparents, and am even happier to know how to cook and grille a decent meal. Hopefully I can learn more things about food from more teachers in the future.
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