"LAYERS"

Growing up a latch key kid in a quiet suburb of Detroit, MI as an only child of two full-time working parents, I had plans for my life that have now turned out to be SO far from what God intended that I have to chuckle with Him sometimes - actually A LOT! For generations the strong German women in my maternal family have worked as seamstresses in many a field (caskets, draperies, clothing, autos - you name it - they have sewn in it , on it, around it - you get the picture). I naturally learned to love sewing and received my first REAL sewing machine at the age of 7.  For years as a teen I remember raiding my mother's layers and layers of 70's leftover fabric stash to create "unique" - hmm, yes, that's what we'll call them - articles of clothing to put proof to the fact that I was going to one day be a FAMOUS clothing designer.  I had ample time to perfect my craft as there was not much to do after school in a house by yourself (and, fortunately for my parents, I was MOSTLY a pretty good kid).  Embarking on a college education as a clothing and textiles major and ending up as a Registered Dietitian some years later is a long and twisted route that I shall refrain from boring you with.  BUT that original passion to create with fabric still burns within me - some day I WILL finish the many projects that lay incomplete and missing me terribly. My desire to create easily  translates to food and I'm good with that!  We gotta eat and I have to cook anyway so why not throw down in the kitchen while I'm at it, eh?  In spite of her busy work schedule, my mother also liked to cook and always made what I considered great food. I still use many of her basic recipes that she dutifully handed to me after I married my prince charming (lovingly referred to as "Prince" for blog purposes) and her recipes are faves of everyone (except David but that's that other story for another, humiliating day...). Over the years as my experience working in foodservice and my cooking repertoire matured I came to realize that really good and full bodied food creations, like Ogres, have LAYERS.  Catch that, Shrek fans?  Anyway - by following the steps of some great chefs I have worked with over the years in even my simplest of dishes....I came to realize that food can be so very much tastier, satisfying and EVEN popular with slightly finicky children - I know, right?!

So I thought I would share a few of my "layering" tips for some of our family's staple dishes that may be something similar that you prepare in your own home. I hope a tip or two can translate to foods you prepare and may help you enhance your meal enjoyment with little fuss! Let's start with SALT.  Many people avoid salt for a number of reasons, which I respect, and some of us could enjoy better tasting food by just using a little bit in our cooking preparations.   In baking, the substance salt (NaCl) is required for it's chemical influence on the equation, or recipe, and it's quality outcome so you really can't avoid using it. Did you also know that salt BIOCHEMICALLY helps your taste receptors to work better? Now, I am not advising to go overboard with your little shaker BUT don't avoid it either as it plays a natural role in helping your body taste the OTHER flavors in a  given food. So, when making dishes that require multiple aspects of cooking, take spaghetti sauce for example, go ahead and lightly salt (and pepper) the ground meat that you are cooking even though you will be adding sauce to it. AND, speaking to spaghetti sauce - if you use prepared sauce for ease of preparation like I do - you can make it taste richer and deeper by adding  2 - 3 tsps (or cubes) of beef base (per jar or can of sauce) as it is cooking.  This tip is BY FAR MY BEST AND FAVORITE TRICK IN MY "BOOK."  I do spend good money on beef, chicken and vegetable bases as I feel there is a huge flavor difference and they tend to have less non-natural ingredients than less expensive bases/cubes.  When making home made guacamole and salsa, which I pretty much do on a  weekly basis as quesadillas are a regular and easy menu option for kids on the go, I food process fresh cilantro (split the bunch between the two recipes) in with the ingredients as it adds an authentic and fresh ingredient that often is NOT used in guac and salsa (why I will never know - I think it is pretty much a food sin!).  My last tip - if you can make a bechamel (basic white) sauce you can also easily translate that into quick, easy and lo-cal version of alfredo sauce by first using skim milk (be sure to stir constantly so it does not burn as it is thickening) and adding 1/4-1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese (per 4-5 cups of prepared bechamel) to it as it is is cooking out. Fresh parm always tastes better but the regular old pre-grated works great too! Yumm-O!!! Hope you try it!

In the interest of keeping this shorter (than yesterday, which I'm not sure I did), I will stop with the tips...maybe I will share a tip of the week or day or something down the road. Feel free to leave a comment on any of the tips if you use them, like them, hate them or think I should not share anymore! LOL!  I must now leave, friends, to address the LAYERS (more like mountains) of clean (woohoo) laundry that is incessantly calling out to me! Have a JOY filled day and thanks for reading!