From David Lebovitz: 10 Ways To Improve Your Cooking

You can read recipes and watch Food Network until you're blue in the face, but improving your actual cooking skills and quality of your food is something that is best done one one step at a time, little bit-by little bit. Here to help is David Lebovitz who has made a top 10 list of things you can do to up your game in the kitchen.

Some of the suggestions from David are:

• Use fresh herbs.
• Upgrade your oil.
• Use shallots. Lots and lots of shallots.
• Keep a good amount of decent bittersweet or semisweet chocolate on hand.
• Re-think your vinegar

You can find the rest of the list, including a great explanation as to why he stands firmly planted behind each upgrade or idea over at his blog post:

• 10 Easy Ways To Improve Your Cooking at David Lebovitz

Oh, and just in case you missed it, don't forget to check out our tour of his Paris kitchen!

Are there one or two things that really make a difference in your kitchen and cooking? Whether it's on the above list or not, let us know in the comments below. The little things really do make all the difference!

(Image: David Lebovitz)

Comments (21)

This whole post can be boiled down to: Use high quality ingredients, and well made tools.

I think there is some benefit in breaking that out to more specifics, though. For instance, I know that my cooking really took a step up when I started to consistently use fresh herbs. Really simple dishes can be so elevated by a handful of fresh parsley, chives, or thyme!

ok the article totally bashed 2-Buck-Chuck!!

...

wth

People always say "use good oil and vinegar" but never say what kind! At the places I shop, there are at least 10 different kinds of balsmic vinegar, 10 more of other kinds of vinegar, and at least 15 kinds of olive oil.

Which one do I get?! They're too expensive to buy them all to try, and we don't go through oil and vinegar fast enough to eventually try them all.

*balsamic

I agree with every point in his article.
Mrs.Mack - There are some tips (for example, good olive oil should be used within a year, therefore should actually have the date harvested on the bottle) but really the best is to taste it or get a recommendation. We order our oil and vinegar from Round Pound in Napa.

Oops - Round *Pond

I already follow every one of these "ways." Yay me!

I don't agree with his comment about purchasing sets of cookware. They are rarely a good idea. You usually get pots you won't use or ones that are inferior (like an aluminum dutch oven, rather than an enameled cast iron one).

I agree with pretty much everything he said.

*hides case of Two Buck Chuck*

Tang, I bought a smaller set of All-Clad and find that I use every piece. I think it was five pieces, plus lids.

@Tang, did you look at the set he linked? It was an 8" non-stick skillet, a saucepan, a stockpot and a saute pan with two lids. That's basically my kitchen right there.

He wasn't recommending starter sets in general, but saying that they were an economical way of getting your hands on the All-Clad pots and pans you wanted.

@Tiamat_the_Red, of course everyone's needs are different, but if it were me, I would want a 10" skillet rather than an 8" and I wouldn't want a non-stick one. For eggs, etc. I would get one of the non-stick T-Fal's he also recommends that are inexpensive and can be easily replaced when they wear out.

But, if you do find a set where you like all the pieces and it's at a good price, then by all means get it.

Sadly, I find this one impossible:

Keep a good amount of decent bittersweet or semisweet chocolate on hand.

:) yum.

Rule number one of cooking is missing: TASTE & THINK!

Many of my friends cook but maybe one or two of them actually taste their food and then think: this could use some more seasoning, sweetness, sharpness, heat, etc.

One friend of mine is continually p****d off with me because she thinks I don't give her the full set of ingredients when I share a recipe! LOL she's now gone so far as to get the exact same brands I use but even then, because she doesn't taste it never turns out the same. I keep tellingher you need to taste before you serve, but she never does...

I was hoping for more of an explanation about the shallots. I'm not fond of onions and hate to smell like them so I almost never cook with them. It would be nice to know exactly why shallots are so darn magical

akay - Shallots might be perfect for you, then, as they are not as, um, onion-y as onions. Basically, they're milder than onions and can enhance many dishes. You should probably just buy one and cook with it to see if it suits your tastes.

Keep chocolate on hand!! He is obviously a strong strong man ;)

@akay I love shallots because they're just so damn cute. Um, also because they don't make me cry in the same way as Spanish onions do, and they taste...better. I guess that's not very helpful.

I'd love to use fresh herbs. My cooking has been limited mainly to dried, because that's all I've been able to afford, but I hope to start a small indoor herb garden when I move to a new place in January. He makes a lot of very good points.

Consistently having fresh herbs available is very expensive and can be burdensome and wasteful. Aside from parsley they just aren't as available (at any price) as you'd think. They are also often sold such quantities that if cooking for one or two you are bound to end up throwing out wilted, spoiled mush. You might as well ask people to consistently lobster tail or truffles. I wish it were otherwise.

I too hate Two Buck Chuck...I'm sorry but for even just a couple dollars more, you can get much better tasting wines at Trader Joe's. blech.