One of the best things about cooking at home is the nearly endless possibilities. Cooking at home isn’t just a cost-effective way to eat, but it can also be a fun and engaging hobby. This September I am challenging myself to try new ingredients and make new dishes. Confidence in the kitchen starts long before you begin cooking. Trust me! A small amount of effort will yield mouth-watering results. Use this process to see where your culinary imagination can take you. Think of this as your own personal cooking challenge, just like you’ve seen on TV!
1 - Pick an ingredient: Selecting a key ingredient to get creative with is the most important step. Often, when facing a fridge full of food, it can be overwhelming to even know where to start! Narrowing down your options will lead you to the types of dishes or flavours you can explore. Take a look around and see what’s available, in season or will suit your tastes. For this article, I decided to use watermelon as my ingredient. Watermelon is often thought of as a summer fruit, but it is actually available year-round in Canada — making it the perfect fruit to choose for a creative challenge.
2- Do your homework: Once you are settled on what you want to use as the star of your dish, do some research. Some questions to research are: How to select the best version of your ingredient? What flavours work well with it? How does it need to be cooked? When it comes to watermelon, ensure it is free of dents, heavy and should have a yellow spot on its underside (from where it sat on the ground and ripened in the sunshine). I also learned, from the National Watermelon Board, that watermelons are fully edible – even the rind! Talk about inspiration.
3 – Play to your strengths: When challenging yourself to use a different ingredient or make a new dish, don’t go completely out of your wheelhouse. Think about what you can do well, and look at ways to merge your skills with the new dish or ingredient. One of my favourite weeknight meals is a stir-fry with fresh, delicious veggies and a simple sauce of ginger, soya sauce and lots of garlic. So I decided to merge the unfamiliar (watermelon rinds) with a tried and true dish in need of an upgrade (weeknight stir fry). I looked critically at my existing know-how and decided to swap out the ho-hum broccoli for watermelon rinds in my ginger and garlic stir-fry.
4 – Be a food writer and a critic: Have a note pad in the kitchen with you when you create. It helps to jot down what you did, loose measurements and tips to yourself so you can go back another day to recreate or improve the dish. When the dish is ready, snap a quick pic to store it in your phone as a reminder then sit down and enjoy!
Take note of the flavours and what you would do differently next time; what you enjoyed about this dish, what turned out well. For example, with my watermelon rind stir-fry, I found that I kept the dish on the heat a bit too long, resulting in the rinds being a tad too soft. The next time I made the dish, I remembered the note I made to myself and ensured I added with watermelon rinds closer to the end to ensure a yummy, crisp finish. Enjoy!
Following these simple tips will ensure you are approaching your creative dish with the confidence and knowledge needed to cook the best you can! Don’t second guess yourself, do the legwork upfront and you too can be a creative at-home cook!
Amanda Bibeau is a Winnipeg-based food blogger who is passionate about affordable food for all and ‘food without judgment.’ Amanda enjoys hiking, exploring Winnipeg's craft beer scene and working her 9 to 5 as a sr. recruiter with RBC.
