When I first picked up an SLR about fifteen years ago, I wasn’t very intimidated by the buttons or the functionality of the camera, and when I started reading books and teaching myself how to make a manual exposure, I wasn’t at all overwhelmed by the terminology or the math/science aspect of photography. When I was practicing, I could usually figure out why an image went wrong, make adjustments, and get it right the next time.
But for some reason with cooking, I just feel so darn completely lost! I have been spending some time reading recipes, watching the Food Network, and practicing recipes in the kitchen. But I don’t GET it like I get photography. What do certain spices do? Why are some combinations of food good together and others aren’t? Why am I bringing this dish to a boil, and then a simmer? (What does that do to the food, exactly?) And tonight, why did I follow this recipe exactly but it turned out completely liquidy?! Okay, I didn’t follow it completely exactly – I didn’t rinse the canned beans. I did drain them though. Um, okay and I also only had a 10 oz. can of chicken broth instead of 14 oz. so I fudged the other 4 ounces with just plain water. Oh. And I didn’t put the bread in a food processor to make the bread crumbs because I don’t have one, so I just cut the bread into the smallest dice I could without slicing off my fingers. But still! I followed the other parts. And it looked pretty, but underneath the golden brown bread “crumbs” it was all soup. Sigh!
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