Helpful Resources You Need to Know to Level Up Your Cooking
April 14, 2016 by 4P Foods
You have the beautiful fruits and veggies and delicious meats at your doorstep, but now what?
Time to get into the kitchen and whip up some great meals!
Whether you’re just starting out to cook or are a veteran to the field, the internet can seem overwhelming and oversaturated with recipes, tips and tricks.
Have you ever wondered how to chop an onion in under 2 minutes, or de-stem greens? Bon Appetit did a great series of videos for every kitchen technique you’ll ever need.
Even if you’re an experienced cook, it can be helpful to see how to perfectly poach an egg, quarter a chicken, or sear a steak.
For more in-depth knowledge, The Kitchn’s Cooking School covers 20 essential topics such as knife skills, how to cook eggs, poultry, vegetables, and use techniques such as steaming, braising and roasting.
Easy to follow with videos, recipes and photos, it’s a great refresher or introductory guide to improving your cooking skills. Devote a Saturday or Sunday to perfecting your skills, and whip up amazing dinners such as this one.
Here are the best resources for getting started:
A series on how to master everything from knife skills to eggs, seafood and meat. A cooking crash course!
Bon Appetit’s Every Kitchen Technique You’ll Ever Need—In Under Two Minutes
An amazing series of videos that clearly shows how to master every kitchen technique in under 2 minutes. Need we say more?
The New York Times Cooking Learn to Cook Series
The New York Times award winning cooks and food writers walk novices through techniques that can be practiced on easy to follow recipes. Learn how to roll out pie dough correctly, shuck oysters, clean mushrooms or slice potatoes to make oyster chowder, chocolate pecan pie, and wild mushroom quesadillas. The helpful videos and no nonsense approach will get you cooking apple tarte tatin in no time.
DC Cooking Classes
If you're interested in taking some cooking classes here in D.C., L'academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD. offers singles, couples and even families to come explore and creatively expand their kitchen and cooking skills in a friendly, relaxed environment, where you can meet, mingle, sample and experiment.
The YMCA also offers a wide range of classes, from $5 classes led by the American Heart Association to learning to cook the recipes of the Israeli inspired Zahav cookbook to Sri Lankan and Korean cuisine.
Culinaeri, located in the heart of downtown Washington DC, offers cooking instruction to enthusiasts of all skill levels, whether you wish to learn basic techniques or more intensive culinary skills. Their beautiful state-of-the-art kitchens are equipped for the optimal experience in cooking and learning, with sleek commercial equipment and flat-screen televisions for ease of viewing. Try your hand at Mexican Vegetarian, a knife skills class, or a Louisiana themed date night class.
Recipe Inspiration
For recipes, check out our Pinterest page which has a separate section for every item that you get in your 4PFoods bag. We also have a Guest Blogger Spotlight, where our members share the recipes they make with their 4PFoods items. For more recipe inspiration, don't forget to check the recipe section of the newsletter every week which is tailored to that week's bag.
Our favorite sites for finding recipes:
A food blog run by a former vegetarian, Smitten Kitchen is Annabel's go to resource for recipes. Using easy methods and time saving tricks, Smitten Kitchen creates amazing dishes that any home cook can whip up. Her funny writing and honest advice make Smitten Kitchen one of the most successful food blogs out there, and for good reason. Annabel swears that nothing has ever turned out short of spectacular.
Bon Appetit doesn't need much of an introduction, being one of the best and most-read food magazines out there. Their arsenal of recipes and recipe collections is huge, and you're definitely going to find something that you want to cook.
The other big food magazine out there, Food and Wine, is a little bit classier than Bon Appetit and also has wine pairings for each of its recipes. With just as big of an arsenal, there's definitely something for every item you don't know what to do with.