The Secret to Brainy Gourmet Cooking... continues!

Too many home cooks and even some restaurant chefs (cooks) will put everything together like a stew (i.e. a creamy pasta dish cooked with popcorn shrimp and broccoli until a mush undefinable) or they serve everything you order but as if they were islands - cold (uninviting) and isolated.

Knowing food and how it should be cooked and served is what it takes to be brainy in the kitchen. You have to know what needs to be fresh, what can be used a day after, what has to be tender, firm, crispy and crusty. You have to know what needs to be creamy, steamy, rich, thick or 'liquidy' as in fluid.

For instance, a simple beef stroganoff with a side of roasted asparagus simply demonstrates this.  The beef has to be quality, a good cut that is lean so that the blood runs as it sears and the mushrooms fresh sliced not too thin. The sauce has to be creamy and richly enhanced by the blending of heavy cream and sour cream which is added on the end to prevent curdling.

The pasta, best is wide egg noodles either infused with spinach, mushrooms or plain; cooked until just tender and never mushy. The asparagus must be roasted in a black iron skillet with olive oil on high heat to sear/singe it black and keep it firm.

And, here is what it looks like when you serve it...