In addition to learning more myself, I’d like to help other people learn how to cook. To me, that means not just sharing recipes, but giving the tools that help with the basics. At the beginning learning to cook can be overwhelming. Where do you start? There are so many tools, techniques, and vocabulary. So, I wanted to provide some tools to help beginner cooks.

To me a beginner recipe is a combination of three things:

1. Has familiar and inexpensive ingredients
2. Doesn’t require complex techniques or tools
3. Doesn’t take all day to make

A beginner recipe may not have all three of those thing, but some elements of those makes a great starter meal. Now in addition to recipes, you have to have the right tools and seasonings. You can go wild in a kitchen store (and believe me I love to do that), but you can do a lot with just a few basics. Here’s what I think you need to get your kitchen started. Below are 10 kitchen essentials for beginners. Five are recommendations for tools and five are recommendations for herbs. Enjoy!

1. A medium sauce pan – The one in the photo is a 2.5 quart Calphalon non-stick Sauce Pan. This size is a good one because you can use it to make pasta, sauces, or heat up a can of soup. Bump up to a 5 quart if you want to make lots of pasta or chili. There are lots of types of pots: non-stick, cast-iron, stainless steel, and beyond. I think non-stick is a good low maintenance, easy to use pot – but go to the store and see what feel right to you. Lastly, you don’t have to spend a ton of money, but don’t buy the cheapest thinnest pan either. If you do that your food will burn before really being cooked through. And finally, having a lid is important too!

2. A medium frying pan – This is a Calphalon Nonstick 10-Inch pan. I think between 10 and 12 inches is perfect for doing just about everything you need – for stir fries to pancake you can do everything. The same advice above applies here. Go to the store, price compare, see what material you like best, but don’t by the cheapest thing.

3. A cutting board – You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a nice one. I like this plastic one because you can throw it in the dishwasher. Also it has grippy feet at the bottom, so it won’t slide around and you won’t cut your finger off. Again, you can get board from all kinds of materials but plastic is an inexpensive starter option. Just make sure you don’t get one that bends or slides too much.

4. A wooden spoon – Perfect for stirring and won’t scratch you pans. You really only need one, but I like these two. The regular spoon is good for serving and the flat one can be used in place of a spatula is you need it.

5. A large knife – Mine is a Zwilling J.A. Henckels 10-Inch Chef’s Knife. This is something you should spend a bit of money on because you’ll only need one and if you take care of it, it will last a long time. A big knife is important because you can use it to do tough jobs like cut butternut squash or tiny jobs like mince garlic. There are lots of types of knives, go to the store, ask questions, hold them, see what you like. Just make sure the metal goes all the way into the handle – it will make it much sturdier. Ryan and I used to cut everything with a steak knife whose blade bent backwards if you cut something too firm. It’s dangerous – so get a good knife.

It’s easy to stock you cabinet full of spices, and some of them you might only use a few times. I do think there’s something to be said for diversifying your spice rack, but why by turmeric or ginger if you don’t know if you like them? You can do a lot with a few spices, and then expand you collection as your confidence and ability grows.

6&7. Salt and Pepper – You will use these for practically everything. When in doubt, season with salt and pepper and you will make your food more tasty. You need salt for pasta water, for eggs, for chicken, for everything. Pepper is just as important too. I recommend buying a pepper grinder with a whole pepper corns because it makes for a better flavor and texture. You can buy this kind of pepper mill already stocked with pepper in your spice aisle.

8. Garlic powder – For a little flair, add garlic powder. Once you have salt and pepper, garlic will take you to the next level. Add it to a roasted chicken or to fish and you’ve got a better depth of flavor.

9. Chili flakes – I think a little heat can add a lot to a dish. Sprinkle it on plain pasta with butter, or in tomato sauce, or on your pizza and you’ve got some more complex and exciting flavor.

10. Wild card – The wild card seasoning is one seasoning that you really like. For me, it’s Old Bay. It’s the seasoning that I put on everything (potatoes, pop corn, broccoli) and I think it makes everything better. So what do you like? Curry? Cajun spices? Taco seasoning? Think about your favorite foods. What flavor do they have? That’s the seasoning you should buy for your personal wild card, and you can make it your signature.

Ok, so I hope that helps you stock you kitchen. Later this week I’ll post a simple and delicious beginner salmon recipe using many of the tools and seasonings from this post. Stay tuned!

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And then, I was on my way to work listening to the America’s Test Kitchen podcast and it got me to curious about how to cook the best tasting pasta.  They were talking about salting pasta and they asserted that salting pasta makes a huge difference in taste. Could it really be that serious? They said that it especially made a difference when you put sauce on your pasta. They said if you tested it at home, you’d definitely be able to tell the difference.

Could I really tell the difference? I had to know. Ryan didn’t think salt vs no-salt would make much of a difference. I thought we could tell the difference without sauce, but once the sauce was on I didn’t think we’d know the difference. And so, with our hypotheses set we were ready to test.

The Experiment:

1. In two large pots I boiled 10 cups of water (2 and a half quarts).

2. I measured out 10 ounces of pasta and split that in half (the amount is a bit random but it’s about what we had in the house).

3. When the first pot came to a rolling boil I added 5 ounces of pasta.

4. When the second pot of pasta came to a boil I added 1 tbsp of salt and then I added the pasta. If your eyes are popping out of your head at 1 tbsp of salt, don’t worry it doesn’t all get absorbed into the pasta. As well, after doing a lot of research experts say pasta water should taste “like the sea” and that a good ratio is 1 tbsp to every 2 quarts of water. Once you drop in that salt, taste the water. I definitely tastes like the sea.

5. I cooked the pasta for 9 minutes until it was al dente.

6. I drained the non-salt pasta first, then drained the salted pasta.

7. I tasted the non-salt pasta plain, then salt pasta plain, then non-salt with sauce, then salt pasta with sauce.

8. After I tasted I made a sample for Ryan, who did not know which pasta was which before tasting. The first one he tried was salted pasta, and he knew it immediately. He then sort of sampled back and forth and tried all four combinations of pasta.

Conclusions: 

We could definitely taste the different between salted and un-salted pasta when it was plain. Although plain pasta tastes fine ordinarily, when compared right next to the salted pasta, it tasted bland.

Ryan and I were most surprised about the difference the pastas took on when we tasted them with sauce. Ryan simply said that the salted pasta “made the sauce taste better.” I agreed. I found that with salted pasta, the sauce tasted more complex and interesting. So, America’s Test Kitchen was completely right!  They said that adding salt to the water is the only chance you have to season pasta. I never thought of it like that, but it does make sense, and as I tasted it does make a difference. I’ll be sure to salt my pasta water from now on!

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