It turns out, making the same kinds of things over and over again is not only okay, but a useful way to take the drudgery out of cooking and build up your kitchen confidence. Learn how to identify recipes that resonate with you, master them and make them your own.
Hey, I'm Christina Quinn.
Welcome back to try this from the Washington Post.
This is the second of four classes in our course about how to enjoy cooking more.
In our first class, we tapped into who we are outside of the kitchen to figure out who we are in the kitchen, also known as our kitchen personality.
In the second class, we're going to sharpen our focus a bit more on taking what you like to do and turning it into a repertoire of meals or a number of dishes you can make reliably.
But before you build a repertoire, you need to identify your starting point.
The Washington Post's food and dining editor, Joe Yonan, suggests embracing the search.
I think you can make the hunt for those repertoire dishes part of the fun.
Like you can whoever you're cooking with or for, like it can be okay.
I'm trying out some things, you know, see if anything sticks or it can be based on something that you had when you were a kid or something that you had at a friend's house or something that you read about.
But just the process of, you know, what is it going to be?
What is it going to be that I end up wanting to make all the time can be part of the fun.
If you're just starting to flex.
Your kitchen muscle and looking for inspiration.
Joe says to look for a food.
Writer or cook who resonates with you.
Look out for those food people that you can relate to that you think either represent a similar outlook or you like their voice or something about them.
There is something exciting about finding a cookbook or recipe blogger who you feel youve been waiting to find your entire life.
I remember when I stumbled upon a food blog called pickled Plum.
The cook, Caroline, has a japanese background similar to mine, and I felt like I had found a kitchen kindred spirit.