How to Make Food at Home That Doesn’t Suck

Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat: I’m not against eating out. I’m 100% an advocate of experiences, and I find that food, when done well, is an art and sensation worth the expense.

That said, far too many folks almost exclusively eat out because either they think there’s no time, or they simply haven’t taken the initiative to learn how to cook. Over time, the resultant opportunity cost is hundreds of thousands of foregone dollars and the delayed effects of one-too-many chicken fingers. Today, let’s examine a handful of really simple tips to make food at home that doesn’t suck.

Step 1: Buy a Good Knife

“Wait, Mr. CC. I thought you are all about not spending money?”

You are indeed correct. In many instances we as a species are spending too much money on junk we don’t need. But when I buy something, I want it to be quality. If you are going to cook at home, you need tools. And there’s no sense putting $30 towards something that will be replaced in two years, when $100 can get you a tool that lasts a lifetime.

The Knife

I purchased a Messermeister chef’s knife in 2006 when I first began getting serious about my ill-fated “dream career” in professional cooking. It’s an absolute workhorse, and you’ll be amazed at how effortless cutting becomes. After all, it’s often the prep that consumes more time than the actual cooking.

If you are in need of a rock-solid knife and want to help support what we do over here (with no additional cost to you), please consider purchasing with this link. Fourteen years later, with occasional sharpening, this thing is as good as the day I bought it. I expect it to truly last a lifetime.

You’ll also want an inexpensive steel sharpening rod, which I use often to keep the blade in alignment. Messermeister sells the knife and rod as a pair if you want, but the rod linked above is about $15 cheaper. It’s just a piece of metal, so no need for any froufrou.

You can get fancy about buying various knives for various tasks, but here’s the honest truth: a chef’s knife will satisfy 99% of your cutting needs. Start there and only consider purchasing more stuff when you’re at an impasse with your cutting prowess.

Important side note: Never wash your nice knives in a dishwasher. Light soap and a quick rinse will keep your blade going strong. Also be mindful to quickly rinse the blade after cutting lemons or other acidic items.

Finally, take care of it! I recommend a wall-mounted magnet strip, or at least keep it in its sheath. Don’t just toss it in the drawer! The magnet strips are super cheap and get the job done. BONUS: imagine how cool you will look with a bunch of sharp-ass knives hanging on the wall! (Answer: pretty cool).

Step 2: Learn How to Cut with Your New Knife

Does your cutting sound like a rabid woodpecker frothing at the mouth on the side of your house? THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK….

Whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s add some finesse, baby! Put that dull and serrated Walmart steak knife down and let’s get that new, shiny chef’s knife. Take it easy Paul Bunyan! Don’t slam that thing on the cutting board!

Think of cutting as a gliding motion, and try and imagine your knife never leaving the cutting board as you slice, not massacre, your poor bruised and battered onions.

I’m a monkey-see-monkey-do kind of guy, so maybe a video would help:

Remember, tuck those fingers in and glide the knife against your knuckles, not your precious tips. You are going to need those for the crag bro!

Step 3: Start Simple with Online Recipes

Man, the world has changed when it comes to finding recipes! Every meal imaginable is probably documented online by some obnoxious food blogger. After you sift through 2000 words of irrelevant childhood stories and overly-doctored Pinterest photo links, you can, with time, find detailed descriptions for almost any meal. (Wait, does this post make me a food blogger now? Yikes!).

Don’t know what you want to eat? Google anything! “Italian food recipes” will get you going.

Once you are a little more familiar around the kitchen, a full-blown recipe may not be necessary. Sometimes I’ll just Google a few ingredients I have for inspiration.

Example: “Barley and lentils recipe.” You can imagine the situation. I had some barley and some lentils and I needed some ideas. I ended up coming up with my own game plan after quickly perusing a few online recipes.

Step 4: Have Patience with Food

In a world of instant gratification and shortened attention spans, I’m hardly surprised that the meat isn’t well-seared and the onions are crunchy.

If a five-minute meal is what you are after, unfortunately your diet is going to be relegated to hot pockets and microwaves. (True story, the guy across the hall from me at work—an adult, mind you—eats a Hot Pocket for lunch every day. GROSS!).

Or, enjoy your life with this fella:

Good food takes time, and as we’ve discussed before, here’s why you probably have more time than you think.

My simple suggestion is to err on the side of “too long.” When you are sautéing vegetables, let the onions become translucent and develop a light to dark brown hue. When roasting, a little black around the edges is a good thing, enhancing the natural flavor of the food and adding new elements to the flavor profiles.

When cooking meat, get the pan hot to the point that the oil is nearly smoking, THEN place the meat in the pan (bacon is an exception to the hot pan rule-of-thumb). Let the meat sit for five minutes or so at medium-high heat to develop a charred sear before turning, which will lock in juices and create something worth staying home for. Pay no mind to that smoke alarm.

This advice also applies to the time after cooking. If you grill or roast a piece of meat, resist immediately sticking a knife or fork into that divine flesh. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about ten minutes after cooking (fish is an exception). The juices will concentrate in the center, and….

I just can’t take the excitement. Next tip.

Butter and Olive Oil Are Still the Undisputed Kings of the Kitchen

Can’t believe it’s not butter? I can.

Anthony Bourdain

Who has undeniably influenced food and cooking the world over? It’s the French.

I don’t care if you go to India, South America, New York, or Vietnam, top chefs almost always are trained in French cooking styles, which they then morph into their native cuisine. And when you train French, you use lots and lots of butter.

Bu-bu-bu-butter!

As I’ve noted in my quest to lose nearly 100 pounds, butter is not something to fear, unless you combine it with lots of carbs and especially with sugar (a typical dessert).

I don’t often cook directly with butter (eggs are an exception), but I often finish with butter. A C- sautéed vegetable medley can become A+ with a squeeze of lemon and chunk of butter in the final minutes.

And quit worrying about getting fat! Butter⏤or more specifically saturated fat⏤is satiating, so you are more likely to feel full for a longer period of time, thereby eating less. How do you think the French Paradox exists? The French eat lots of saturated fat, but maintain low obesity and heart disease rates. I’m not saying you should deep-throat a stick of butter to get you through your mid-afternoon lull, but a little goes a long way.

As the late and great Anthony Bourdain recalls in his hilarious must-read novel Kitchen Confidential, “Can’t believe it’s not butter? I can.”

It’s true, there are no substitutes for the real thing.

I’m Extending an Olive Branch with Olive Oil

And olive oil, my dear, dear olive oil. I know there are all these trends of cooking with various oils and blah, blah, blah. Olive oil is still number one and should be a staple of every home. My recommendation is to get a good, but not fantastic olive oil for cooking. Heat destroys a lot of the healthy antioxidant benefits of the oil, so you need not pay top dollar for something you are about to scorch.

On the other hand, I keep a bottle of top-shelf olive oil for salad dressings, dips, or anything else that doesn’t require cooking. The flavor profiles are phenomenal, as are the health benefits.

Come on, who wants to fight on this?

*Side note: My cooking style (and previous training) is obviously a bit more Euro-centric, so I could hear an argument for something different from our Asian friends.

Enjoy the Process of Cooking and Eating Your Food

Perhaps this discussion belongs up there with having patience, but I believe a good cook has a certain mindset about food. Just like in climbing, if we have bad sleep and are freezing in a cold wind, and generally not psyched on the day…we’ll probably climb like the timid and frail creatures we are. The same goes for cooking: the best meals are cooked when you are excited about the process.

But obviously that’s not possible all the time. Despite what I’ve said about having more time than we think, we still don’t have that much time. That’s why we prefer to cook in batch when we have more time and can focus more fully on the task. During busier times of the week, we whip out something from the fridge cooked in better times, tasting the love of a foregone weekend day. You truly can taste the difference.

Look at any country known for their food: France, Italy, Thailand, etc. If you pay attention to the interviews with the chefs and even street cooks, they all say the same thing. Great cooks embody cooking and eating as a love-based task.

It’s something very few people entertain in America, and frankly, it shows. It shows in the flavors and it certainly shows in our waistlines. We think of cooking and eating as something that must be done, not something to cherish. It’s hard to put into writing the importance of taking on a mindset of love when preparing food for yourself and certainly for the people with whom you share the experience. Follow through on that love, all the way to the fork.

Food for Thought

• Step 1: Purchase quality equipment. If you can only afford one item, purchase a good knife. Cookware is more expensive, but I suggest you then acquire quality items here as well.
• Step 2: Learn to properly use and maintain this equipment. Take some time to master the craft of cutting and handling food. Instead of frivolously dishwashing and throwing your knives in a kitchen drawer, hand-wash and store them in a way that will extend the product lifespan.
• Step 3: Start simple with online recipes. You don’t have to be taught by your mother and your mother’s mother how to cook anymore. Everything is online. Start with guided recipes and then move on with your own experimentation as your skills improve.
• Step 4: Be patient. A good meal often takes time. If you are often in a hurry to get a meal on the table, consider cooking in batch during slower times of the week.
• Step 5: Don’t be afraid of saturated fat. In moderation, you won’t go wrong for either flavor or your waistline.
• Step 6: Enjoy the process and assume a love-based mentality around food. You are seeking a lifestyle, not a “diet.” The guilt Americans carry about food acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy. We’re worried about getting fat, so we do.
• Step 7: Stack up your savings. In this post I explain how eating at home can eventually put hundreds of thousands of dollars back in your pocket. Don’t believe me? Check it out.

So that’s it. Go run to the grocery store, grab some protein and produce, and get to slicing with finesse. Pour a glass of wine, call in your loved ones, and enjoy the ride. Bon Appétit!

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