Stay at Home Cooking ~ Its Brainy Therapeutic!

Stay at home and cook...

How can cooking at home be therapeutic? Its comforting in a way that may not be so apparent. It calms the soul stirring the creative imagination that truly sings to the spirit. This is especially good for you when faced with the daily stresses of life and especially challenging crisis like pandemics.

When you cook at home you should always cook what you like; and, keep it simple by not getting all tied up in this or that recipe. Why? Following a recipe 'going by the book' can be very stressful and you can end up buying expensive 'exotic' ingredients (as well as spices/seasonings) that you will likely never use again.

The Brainy Gourmet has always advocated to keep a simple basic pantry stock and go from there. To start cooking at home and enjoying the benefits of doing so... start with a soup.

Keep in mind that soup is not stew. Soup is lighter having more liquid. Most often, it is treated as a starter but it can be the main meal if you serve with bread and meat (usually that which can be taken out of the soup stock).

Every soup begins with stock which is made by boiling a piece of meat or a few vegetables. You can use whatever meat or vegetable base you prefer straining out the meat/vegetables once the stock is finished. Now, you have the basic stock to make any soup you want.

Once you decide which soup you want to make, consider how far you want to stretch the liquid stock. It is better Not to add rice, pasta, potatoes or any other vegetables to the stock because down the road it will be difficult to change up the soup. For instance, if you have beef stock and want to make a beef vegetable soup use whole carrots, onion and or leek that can be strained out and served separate.

Don't add rice or pasta or even potatoes to the stock. Cook those items separately to be added to individual bowls of stock. This way, the stock (beef/chicken\turkey) you made can serve a different soup the next day or be used as a liquid to stir fry or to make a gravy or sauce for another evening's dinner.

When you cook frugally in this way, you discover that you are in charge of your kitchen/cooking and it's a very satisfying and rewarding experience.

~ Tutti a Tavola!