The Impossible Happened, I Learned How to Cook (And You Can Too)

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Looking back on my life so far, it seems to me that I was never very concerned with food. While others take great delight from various culinary creations and obsess about taste, it was never really that important to me.

I suppose a lot of that stems from the fact that I had to subsist on ramen noodles and hotdogs for much of my college experience. When I was young, the food at home was certainly good, but I never grew into somebody that was preoccupied with the food on  my plate.

Fast forward to my life one year ago. I first learned about the paleo diet, and everything I thought I knew about food and nutrition was turned upside down. All of the sudden, I realized that I had been eating crap for most of my adult life.

The immediate solution was to start cooking more and to buy real food instead of the processed junk I had grown use to. The problem was, I wasn’t a very good cook.

When you eat processed food all the time you don’t really need to know how to cook.

If it comes in a box, chances are all you have to do is add water and heat up the food-like substance for the amount of time indicated on the back of the box. Presto, instant meal! Who knows what is really inside that stuff, but hey, you’re ready to eat in less than three minutes!

Cooking with raw ingredients, consisting of whole foods, takes care and skill. But, in doing so you are rewarded with better health and more enjoyable meals.

So, how do you go from boiling ramen to preparing chicken marsala that puts a smile on your face? Well, like the protagonist of that charming animated movie Ratatouille about a French rat who has a gift for the culinary arts, I like to think that anyone can cook.

To get started, one just needs a little inspiration, and some good instruction.

For me, the inspiration came with a change in careers. Once I started working at home, I had more time to cook for myself. This coinciding with the beginning stages of a body recomposition experiment meant that I had a a great opportunity to see what I could manage to whip up in the kitchen.

So where did the instruction come from? I never took any cooking classes, and anything I learned how to make through the years was basically from experimentation or random recipes I found online. However, my cooking really didn’t start to take off until recently, when I had a lot of time to really tinker, and when I got my hands on an excellent paleo cooking guide.

You see, a lot of the cookbooks out there have some useful tips, but they are usually geared towards making things I have no desire to eat. Sugar, flour, vegetable and seed oils – no thanks. There are more and more paleo cookbooks and cooking websites becoming available, but picking a recipe can be intimidating if you are unfamiliar with the techniques or steps that are required.

Chicken Marsala

Quite fortuitously, I was contacted by Sébastien Noël of the fantastic paleo cooking website paleodietlifestyle.com, and was given an opportunity to check out his new product, The Paleo Recipe Book. In short, it is fantastic, though I don’t think calling it a recipe book really does it justice.

You see, he provides instructive information on the nature and use of the ingredients you’re going to be using. You won’t just read the steps to grilling a great steak, he tells you how to pick the right cut of meat, and why each step in the process is important.

Along with the recipe list (which comes out to a mind-boggling 370+ recipes) the Paleo Recipe Book also comes with an herb and spice guide, and a paleo diet meal plan.

Buttered Cinnamon Apples

I was extremely impressed and took advantage of this resource right away. I eat steaks almost every other day, and manage to make it affordable (yet still appetizing) by finding the appropriate cuts of meat, and cooking them properly.

Most recently, I cooked a special dinner for my fiancee on Valentines Day. The other great thing about learning how to cook well, is that you can make something tasty (and healthy) for those you care about. I like to think the extra time it takes to prepare a home cooked meal helps to show how you feel about others.

So, what was on the menu? Chicken marsala for the main course, and buttered cinnamon apples for dessert. Both dishes, of course, were recipes lifted from the Paleo Recipe Book. How did they turn out? You can see for yourself from the included photos.

Besides the really great dinner, I think the most remarkable thing was the whole process was very relaxing and effortless. I guess now I really do know how to cook. Imagine that!

I promote Sébastien’s guide here because I think it is an excellent resource, and because I use it myself. If you would like to learn more about his book, I’ve got a free downloadable preview (PDF) that you can check out.

Are you a great cook? Did changing your diet and lifestyle force you to become more adept in the kitchen?