So why should you learn how to cook? They say you are what you eat. So if your diet consists of take-out or "ding ding" (microwave) TV dinners, you should probably consider changing your dietary habits. Although it's possible to dine out and eat healthy, it's much easier to cook and control exactly what goes on your plate.
The culinary world also offers many career opportunities (if you have the talent). Experienced chefs and Sommeliers can find work in fine restaurants around the globe. Although anyone can obtain WSET certification for wine, not everyone can become a Master Sommelier -- there are only about 100 Master Sommelier's in North America.
Generally speaking, European Chef training programs are longer, taking up to 4 years. In America our culinary schools churn out students in as little as 1 year. If you're interested in the culinary profession, be warned that Chefs work long hours, and few make 6 figures. If you want a bigger pay check, try hotel management.
Sommeliers make even less than Chefs, but you don't have to stand in front of a hot stove all day. Here's an example of an international Sommelier job posting:
http://www.mastersommeliers.org/Pages.aspx/Job-Postings (note: job post may be gone at later date)
"Sommelier Manager, Rawai Beach, Thailand
Evason Phuket is located in Rawai Beach, Phuket, Thailand.
We are looking for an experienced Sommelier Manager who is responsible for maintaining wine inventory, keeping budget goals, weekly wine tasting with our guest including wine dinner."
But, this isn't a job recruiting post, so let's continue to cooking!
OK, let's start!
The first step for many bachelors (cough cough) is to clean out your kitchen and fridge. Check expiration dates and throw away anything that has expired. If you're not certain about the age, don't eat it. Dried spices have shelf life of 1-4 years and lose aroma as it ages, so it's a good idea to replace them every year. Here's some general guidelines on shelf life in your pantry:
Boxed cereal: 6 months
Flour: 6-12 months
Dried Herbs: 12 months
Pancake mix: 6 months
Dried pasta: 12-24 months
White rice: 24 months
Brown rice: 6 months
White sugar: 24 months
Brown sugar: 4 months
Coffee (vacuum pack): 9-12 months
Tea: 12-18 months
Nuts: 6-8 months
Peanut butter: 6 months
Sauces: 12 months
Canned food: 12 months (general). For longer shelf life canned food stored for emergencies, check Mountain House brand #10 cans with shelf life up to 30 years.
For more info on food storage & shelf-life, see here: (has nice search-able database)
http://www.fmi.org/consumer/foodkeeper/
Now scrub the kitchen, fridge, dishwasher, etc. clean. Take out your old pots and pans and give them a good scrubbing. I cheat by using an older Black and Decker cordless scrubber (the Scum Buster) for cleaning kitchen tiles. You can see their newer models here:
http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGu ... =1499.1737
Products like Orange clean are great for the kitchen tiles, and Barkeeper's Helper is great for stainless steel (note: product is mildly abrasive and may scratch). Throw away all your old kitchen sponges & towels and get new ones, bag of 60 cotton towels at Costco is $15. Mix bucket of water with a cup of bleach for sanitizing. As the last step of your cleaning process, soak a kitchen towel in bucket of bleach solution and wipe down the kitchen. Wash your kitchen towels in the washer with hot water after use. Replace kitchen sponges every month.
Hot water kills bacteria. Your dish washer is great for sanitizing dishes and forks. You can also train yourself by washing your hands in hot water to build up "chef's hands", but don't burn yourself. Wash your hands in the kitchen often. Any time when you touch raw meats, poultry, or fish, wash your hands afterwards.
Food has less bacteria activity when heated or cooled. Anything that boils will kill the bacteria. Cooked food should be consumed as soon as possible, or cooled to 41 F within 4 hours. If the cooked food is left out for 6 hours, you should throw it away. There's an exception if you use continued heating, i.e. slow simmer, slow cooker, buffet "hot table", etc. Here's some great info from USDA about food safety and what temperatures you need to cook meats to:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Is_It_Done_Yet/index.asp
Some of you may disagree and say "I've done xxx and never got sick". In the food service industry, you can't take such risks. If you're doing something that has 0.1% of getting someone sick, and you're serving 500 diners a day, it won't take long before you send someone to the hospital. As the cook, you're responsible for your patron's health and welfare.
I'm not an expert on wine, but here's a few small tips that I learned:
* Wine with cork should be stored horizontally in a cool place. The cork of the wine only works properly when "wet", a dry cork will not seal correctly and may result in spoiling the wine. This is why almost all wine racks store wine sideways.
* Wine tastes best on the day that you open it. Although you can get those nifty vacuum seals, they'll only preserve the wine a little longer. Once opened, red wine should be consumed within the week, and white wine within 2 days. Anything that's been opened and left sitting around for weeks or even months is not good for drinking, but can still be used for cooking.
* Basic wine and food pairing rules say pair red wine with red meat and white wine with fish and poultry. But you're the one who's going to drink it, so choose whatever that you like best. I drink Gewürztraminer with tamales. @_@
* Check your cabinets for wine glasses. Red wine is usually chilled slightly and opened 2 hours before serving, then poured into wide-mouth wine glasses. This is because red wine tastes better when it's slightly oxidized. White and Rose wine is served immediately after opening in smaller-mouth wine glasses. Champagne is served in flute wine glass with small top opening.
* When you go wine tasting at the winery, some let you keep the wine glass. That's one way to accumulate wine glass for your collection. Also, after New Year's, you may find champaign (flute) classes at IKEA for 25 cents each.
