One of the most important skills a man on his own needs is the ability to cook for himself and others. I spent many years living with women who were excellent cooks, starting with my mom and ending with my last ex. Now I'm learning how to cook, and thought I'd share some tips and tricks that I've picked up along the way.

Recommended Cookware:

  • You can spend $2,000 on a single chef's knife. You do not need to. I bought a set of Cold Steel kitchen knives for under $200 bucks. Comes with every knife you'll ever need, plus a set of steak knives, and all in an attractive wooden block. Like all good kitchen knives, they'll rust if you put them in the dishwasher. Hand wash and they will treat you right. They're super sharp. I have a friend with an $800 chef's knife, and it was only marginally better than the chef's knife in this set.
  • Anova Sous Vide. A sous vide uses hot water to cook foods, and does an amazing job with meat. You put your meat in a Ziploc bag, set it at the right temp, and cook the meat with the water. Then you take the meat out and finish on a grill or a hot pan for searing. I've made flank steak, NY steak, tri-tip, brisket, and chicken in this thing. They turn out 100% of the time, and the meat is stupid-tender. Around $200 bucks. I use it almost every day as I tend to eat some sort of meat dish every night for dinner.
  • Philips Indoor Smokeless Grill. In my last place I didn't have an outdoor grill. I bought one of these for around $200, and it works very well. It's no replacement for a nice outdoor grill, but this thing will sear a steak, and it is pretty much smokeless. I cooked many a burger or steak on this in my kitchen with no windows open and never had any issues with smoke.
  • June Oven. This baby isn't cheap at $700, but it is nothing short of amazing. It has a camera inside of it and can recognize what you're cooking. It uses a food thermometer to track the cooking, and does all of the work for you. I bought a pork loin roast, seasoned it, and stuck it in the June. Camera knew it was pork, I hit "start" and it sent me a picture when the roast was done. It was perfectly done, and I'd never cooked a pork roast before. Check the website out for more info on it. A friend of mine who is short on counter space and money was so impressed with mine that he sold a couple of things to buy this and he uses it several times a week now.

Food shopping tips:

  • Costco has some of the best meat around, and at reasonable prices. Their rotisserie chicken is so good and so cheap that there's no point in trying to roast your own or buying one anywhere else.
  • Kerrygold butter is delicious and comes from (mostly) grass-fed cows, which makes it as healthy as butter can be. If you're going to use butter, consider this one.
  • If you're trying to curb a junk food habit, don't bring any into your home. Sugar-free Jello cups will curb a craving for something sweet.

Keys to cooking success:

  • If there's something you hate about cooking, try and work around it. My knife skills suck, so I bought a vegetable chopper for $20 bucks that perfectly dices every time. I don't like doing dishes, so when it makes sense, I just use paper plates or even just a paper towel. (You can eat a sandwich on a paper plate, but it's not fun to cut a steak on one.)
  • Be kind to yourself. Everything you cook may not turn out. Don't beat yourself up or just say that you "can't cook." Getting good at anything requires repetition. The more you cook, the better you will get at it.
  • Be realistic with your meal planning. If you know Thursday is gonna be a really hard day at work, you're probably not going to want to come home and cook for three hours just to eat. Plan complicated meals on days when you're going to feel up to it.
  • Simple is delicious. You do NOT have to use 30 ingredients, 12 spices, and 6 pans to make a good dinner. The best chefs in the best restaurants know the key to delicious food is simple recipes with fresh ingredients. Cooking doesn't have to be complicated, and in fact, if it's complicated it probably isn't that great.
  • Clean as you go. That's the only way to consistently keep a clean kitchen.

At this point, I would not describe myself as a good cook. However, I'm a much better cook than I was 6 months ago, and in 6 months, I bet I'll be even better than I am now. If anyone has any other advice/tips/tricks, I'd welcome them and I'm sure some others would, too.