As promised, here is the rest of my interview that was conducted by a local high school student for her English class, along with a couple of questions from my readers. I’d love to hear more from you about what you’d like to know about cooking (and my favorite part, eating) so feel free to leave a comment or question!
Q: What is your favorite type of food to cook? When cooking, what would you say is easy, healthy and works on a budget?
Chef Cynthia: I like to cook most everything. I read cookbooks like some people read novels, using these books and the Internet to explore creative new dishes all the time. I’ll share some of them in my blogs. Probably the easiest things to cook are one-pot meals, like soups, stews and casseroles. To make them even easier, try buying frozen vegetables rather than fresh; they’re already cut to size and retain their nutritional value.
The healthiest things to cook, in my opinion, are combinations of vegetables and beans with grains like brown rice, quinoa or barley. The flavor can be boosted with fresh herbs, spices, cheese or chopped nuts. This is where creativity and daring comes in! For a tight budget, the best foods to buy are vegetables, especially in-season. For example, in winter corn on the cob might cost $1.50 each. In the summer, when we can grow corn here in Texas, the price usually drops to 33 cents or less, and it will be easy to find locally grown, maybe even organically grown, corn. Whole grains are also good, healthy, filling and inexpensive, especially if they are bought from the bulk food section of the grocery store.
Q: Chefs, more than us regular amateurs, know the value of the right kitchen tools, so what is the one kitchen tool or utensil you would never be without?
Chef Cynthia: I know that a lot of cooks and chefs will respond with a clever comeback and say “hands” in response to this question. I think, though, that it’s not so much our hands but what we’re able to do with them – especially when we have the right tools to use! While I completely agree that not a lot can be done without some hands-on involvement (you may groan at the pun), a good, sharp 8" knife is a close second.
Q: What is your favorite type of food to cook? When cooking, what would you say is easy, healthy and works on a budget?
Chef Cynthia: I like to cook most everything. I read cookbooks like some people read novels, using these books and the Internet to explore creative new dishes all the time. I’ll share some of them in my blogs. Probably the easiest things to cook are one-pot meals, like soups, stews and casseroles. To make them even easier, try buying frozen vegetables rather than fresh; they’re already cut to size and retain their nutritional value.
The healthiest things to cook, in my opinion, are combinations of vegetables and beans with grains like brown rice, quinoa or barley. The flavor can be boosted with fresh herbs, spices, cheese or chopped nuts. This is where creativity and daring comes in! For a tight budget, the best foods to buy are vegetables, especially in-season. For example, in winter corn on the cob might cost $1.50 each. In the summer, when we can grow corn here in Texas, the price usually drops to 33 cents or less, and it will be easy to find locally grown, maybe even organically grown, corn. Whole grains are also good, healthy, filling and inexpensive, especially if they are bought from the bulk food section of the grocery store.
Q: Chefs, more than us regular amateurs, know the value of the right kitchen tools, so what is the one kitchen tool or utensil you would never be without?
Chef Cynthia: I know that a lot of cooks and chefs will respond with a clever comeback and say “hands” in response to this question. I think, though, that it’s not so much our hands but what we’re able to do with them – especially when we have the right tools to use! While I completely agree that not a lot can be done without some hands-on involvement (you may groan at the pun), a good, sharp 8" knife is a close second.
When I get in the kitchen to cook, the first four things I do are wash my hands, put on an apron (because I've gotten tired of washing grease spots out of my clothes), grab my favorite knife and get out my cutting board. A few of my other favorite tools are my cutting boards, zester, and temperature probe (food safety is, after all, an extremely important part of cooking).
Q: I noticed you have grown some of your own things in your garden and also shopped at farmer's markets. What is the one ingredient where it makes the most difference (in taste) to get fresh?
Q: I noticed you have grown some of your own things in your garden and also shopped at farmer's markets. What is the one ingredient where it makes the most difference (in taste) to get fresh?
Chef Cynthia: My mouth waters just thinking about answering this question, but the answer is a three-way tie: peaches, tomatoes and cantaloupe. Commercially grown grocery store peaches and tomatoes are usually flavorless and have a mealy texture — and with the prices they command in the produce section, I won't waste my money on them.
If I can't get fresh, local peaches (and I've also run out of the fresh summer peaches that I put in the freezer), I will purchase frozen peaches from the store. As for tomatoes, I will happily use canned, preferably without salt. During the winter and spring, we just go without fresh tomatoes in our salad at home. I'll add dried cherries or cranberries instead.
Grocery store cantaloupe tastes OK until you eat a garden fresh melon! I'm not a huge fan of cantaloupe, but I grow them in my garden. The taste of the garden-grown melon is sweeter while the distinctive cantaloupe flavor is mellower, which makes a big difference to me.
Grocery store cantaloupe tastes OK until you eat a garden fresh melon! I'm not a huge fan of cantaloupe, but I grow them in my garden. The taste of the garden-grown melon is sweeter while the distinctive cantaloupe flavor is mellower, which makes a big difference to me.
So there you have it, straight from this happy cook’s mouth. Thanks for the great questions, and feel free to send along more. Next month, I’ll be talking about pesticides and food – two things that really do not go together!
Until next time, eat well!
Chef Cynthia
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