As the pandemic continues, it is all the more important to engage in self-care. Many of my patients want to eat healthier, but simply never learned to cook. They’ve looked at available cookbooks, but aren’t ready to dive into cooking because they don’t understand the basic concepts, such as braising or poaching. Even with the cookbooks that include pictures of each step, they’re still unsure. Cooking classes aren’t offered on a continuous basis in Denton. So, what to do? I’ve got you covered (actually, the Culinary Institute of America does). They offer several cooking video lecture series. I would start with The Everyday Gourmet: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking, which is available for purchase through from Amazon or The Great Courses. You can also rent it from various libraries. Your library doesn’t have it? No problem. The Austin Public Library offers an eCard to non-residents, which allows access to their virtual library, for $22.00 per year.
The series consists of twenty-four videos that are each thirty minutes in length. They’re well presented and not overly complicated. In this series, Chef Bill Briwa walks you through the basics including:
Cooking—ingredients, technique, and flavor
Your most essential tool—knives
More essential tools—from pots to shears
Sauté—dry-heat cooking with fat
Roasting—dry-heat cooking without fat
Frying—dry-heat cooking with fat
From poach to steam—moist-heat cooking
Braising and stewing—combination cooking
Grilling and broiling—dry-heat cooking without fat
Stocks and broths—the foundation
The stir-fry dance—dry-heat cooking with fat
Herbs and spices—flavor on demand
Sauces—from beurre blanc to béchamel
Grains and legumes—cooking for great flavor
Salads from the cold kitchen
Eggs—from the classic to the contemporary
Soups from around the world
From fettuccine to orecchiette—fresh and dry pastas
Meat—from spatchcocked chicken to brined pork chops
Seafood—from market to plate
Vegetables in glorious variety
A few great desserts for grown-ups
Thirst—the new frontier of flavor
Crafting a meal, engaging the senses
It can’t get much more comprehensive than this!