Can a takeout enthusiast learn to cook? These six expert tips will help

No one has ever accused me of being gifted in the kitchen. While I’ve yet to have a mishap like putting beef in the trifle à la Rachel Green, I’ve always thought of cooking as work — and why would I put in overtime when I can check a new restaurant off my list, kick back with takeout or slap together a peanut butter sandwich and get on with it?

Then along came a pandemic winter, and a new boyfriend. I like to travel, eat out and embrace new experiences. He … likes to experiment in the kitchen. While I wasn’t as enthused about this trait as my mom and best friend (who both exclaimed “thank God, you need a man who can cook!”), I reluctantly agreed that cooking is a skill that can save money and keep you healthy.

Now that cooking has become a go-to date-night activity, I can personally attest that it can be — dare I say — fun, and that it’s never too late to learn. Those are also the two big lessons that Molly Baz, restaurant cook turned Bon Appétit editor/recipe developer turned freshly minted author, wants to deliver in her new bestseller, “Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach and Recipes to Repeat.”

It’s meant to be a foundational resource, with approachable how-tos for everything from “Cae Sal” (Baz is perhaps most famous for her Caesar salad) to pastrami roast chicken with schmaltzy onions and dill. Peppered in with the instructions, you’ll even find QR codes that pull up online videos for those who are visual learners. Here are just a few golden rules I picked up while trying my hand at her Saucy Eggs all’Amatriciana.

Read the entire recipe before you start. If you’ve never messed up a dish after failing to properly read the directions, you’re either a natural-born chef or liar. “Recipes are a lot,” as Baz wrote. “They’re packed with information, and they ask you to synthesize all of it while simultaneously cooking.” By reading through all the instructions before heating your skillet, you can guarantee you’ll have enough time for each step and have the right tools and ingredients on hand.

Invest in quality. There are many reasons to search out fresh ingredients. Not only is it a great way to buy local and support small businesses, but “spending a little extra can go a very long way when you’re cooking simple recipes,” explained Baz. To make her Saucy Eggs, we biked to Little Italy to pick up crusty bread, freshly sliced pancetta and hunks of Parmesan. Aside from the eggs, which we (slightly) overcooked, the dish tasted like something straight out of a restaurant — absolutely bursting with flavour.

Cook to the visual cue. Baz’s Saucy Eggs recipe involved tearing up bread, tossing it in olive oil and salt, and browning it in the oven. Her instructions said these croutons might take seven to nine minutes to reach “deeply golden brown” — but for us, they took closer to 11 or 12. “Since every burner on every stove and every oven differs in size and power, there is no possible way to prescribe perfect timing in a recipe,” Baz explained. It’s actually better to watch for the “visual indicator,” which might be a colour, texture or effect.

Don’t be skimpy with salt. I used to think salt was the last resort of an inept chef. I was wrong. “Inadequate seasoning is the number one culprit of lacklustre food,” Baz noted. “Salt makes food taste more like itself.” She recommends separately salting each element of your dish as you cook so your meal will taste seasoned, not salty. We applied this principle when cooking our eggs and it brought out the flavour of each individual ingredient.

Keep your workspace tidy. My memories of big family meals involve hours of washing and drying dishes after dinner — no wonder I’ve always seen cooking as a chore. But according to Baz, cleaning as you go is more palatable for most people (pun intended). By the time you’re ready to eat, you’ll have a clean kitchen and can end your meal on a high note.

Give each recipe a second shot. Baz says you can’t get to know the intricacies of a recipe the first time you try it. As a kitchen newbie, you’ll probably spend most of your time wondering if your croutons qualify as “deeply golden brown” and trying to find the line between too-runny and too-hard eggs. The second time you go through the steps, you’ll have a chance to correct mistakes and elevate the dish “from good to great to GD delish.”

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