I agree 99% of the time. But there’s this 1% of the time that I actually crave canned string beans. Even worse: I get cravings for canned string beans, canned mushroom soup, spread over noodles, and topped with those fried onion bits (optional: mix in a can of tunafish). Must be some kind of weird nostalgic comfort food thing. Okay, as a foodie, I’m embarrassed I even just wrote that.
This is very important I found for good cuts of meat. Letting a top sirloin or t-bone come up to room temperature was the missing piece for acceptable pan-fried steaks for me. Also if you’re going to use a hotter pan (recommended), you’ve got to flip the meat quite often.
Oh, and also, don’t overcrowd your pan with meat, otherwise it will boil in its juices instead of brown.
When I was a kid, for some reason I watched cooking shows. The French Chef, Yan Can Cook, and a few others. I never actually cooked much until I got married, but I knew all the terminologies and basic techniques, which although they took a bit of practice, were never intimidating thanks to my earlier education.
Or the right tool – years ago I somehow acquired a Williams-Sonoma all nylon spatula which is hands down one of my favorite and essential tools (along with my professional quality kitchen tongs). It’s perfectly curved to gently slip under an egg and then flip it. I tried finding a replacement just to have two of them, but they no longer make them.
By the same token and I think this mostly pertains to large quantities of stir-fried veggies: don’t add salt (or briny or acidic liquids: soy sauce, fish sauce, lemon juice, vinegar etc.) until the end of cooking, otherwise you’ll end up with lots of water in the pan, and the veggies will boil and then overcook (you can remedy this by draining off the water, but that’s an extra step and you won’t get the right texture.
Well there went my theory.
