Kitchen Methods
Learn the method. Cook anything with it.
A recipe says sear, roast, braise. Those are not steps. They are methods, and each one is a skill you can learn once and use on anything.
Pick one. Read it, do the drill, then cook a recipe that uses it. Next week, pick another. Every lesson here is free.
Hot and dry
Hot metal, hot air, open flame. This is where browning and crust come from.
- Pan-searPut a real crust on meat and fish, on your own stove.Start here
- Sauté and stir-fryCook small pieces fast, and keep them crisp instead of soggy.Start here
- RoastLet the oven do the work, and get brown edges every time.Start here
- Reverse searCook a thick steak pink from edge to edge, with a hard crust.Easy with a thermometer. A guess without one.
- GrillRun a fire with a hot side and a cool side, and stop burning dinner.A step up. The fire is the lesson.
- BroilUse the grill you already own: the one in the top of your oven.Easy, if you stay in the room
- SmokeTurn a cheap, tough cut into the best thing you have ever made.Advanced. Not hard, but long.
- Air fryGet crisp food fast from a small box, without a pot of oil.Start here
Wet and slow
Water, stock, fat and time. This is how tough turns tender.
- PoachCook chicken, fish and eggs so gently they can’t dry out.Start here
- BraiseMake the cheap, tough cuts the best thing on the table.Easy. It only asks for time.
- Slow cookerPut dinner on in the morning and come home to it done.Start here
- Sous videSet the exact doneness you want, and hit it every time.Easy to do. You need the tool.
- ConfitCook slowly in fat, and get meat that is rich, tender and keeps for weeks.Advanced. Simple steps, long clock.