Mr. Finicky's cooking philosophy

I don’t use recipes. Well, I don’t use recipes line for line, measurement for measurement. Instead I like to peruse several recipes of the same dish and get a feel for it. Then I like to look at pictures and get a feel for how the dish looks. The I make up my own version. Why do I do this? Because I’m cooking from the gut.

Yes, I know it’s cliche, I don’t care. To be a great cook requires feeling. A hunch. A short leap into the future to bring those tastes to the present. It requires intuition. No two kitchens are alike as so no two recipes should be alike. And it requires mistakes. To be a great cook you need to be willing to make and learn from your mistakes. None of these thing are achievable with being a slave to a recipe. Neither is cooking prowess achievable with ego and undue bravado.

I am no great cook. At least not yet, for I intend to keep on practicing. And that practicing is what you’re seeing in this blog. I’m learning. I understand more about flavors and textures now than ever before. I am learning restraint and consistency. But most of all I’m tasting. Tasting all sorts of combinations of good food. Tasting the ingredients to the meal. Tasting the sauces and cheeses and everything that goes into a dish. By doing this I’m giving my brain memories of different cooking situations. I’m giving my body muscle/sense memory.

So with that said I want you to understand that my recipes that I’m going to post are formated more like a general discussion. They don’t contain exact measurements or cooking time. They have ball park temperatures instead of hard and fast degree settings. The recipes are jumping off points for your own culinary explorations. And I would love for you to comment and add your kno

wledge to the pot.

Cooking is a great source of peace for me and I am utterly grateful to be able to eat as well as I do. So maybe we can share those feelings. Let’s cook....