Steak & Potatoes; part 1

It’s not that hard to follow a recipe. Just about anyone can cook like that (and everyone, at a bare minimum should know that much).

But there’s so much more than that. It’s the “why” of cooking that fascinates me.

Why, for example, do we put salt in everything? Even things we don’t want to taste like salt? Have you ever thought about this as you toss a pinch into a cake batter, or a cup of coffee (yes, some people put salt in their coffee)? Why do some people (including me) put a pinch of sugar in red pasta sauce?

Why do cookbooks call for volumes of flour (cups and such) while professional bakers weigh it (metrically, no less)?

It’s knowing the answers to these questions that make a great cook.

For the purposes of illustration, I’m embarking on a series of essays about one of my favorite meals, an icon of the American table.

Steak and potatoes.

This is cowboy food, and cowboys didn’t have a lot of room to lug around all kinds of exotic ingredients.

My take on this dish is comprised of only six (6) ingredients. The steak, the potato, salt, pepper, oil and butter.

When really learning to cook beyond just following a recipe, I believe it’s best to start simple. Less components means less variables to account for, less new information to absorb. Once you have those basics, you can begin studying and incorporating more methods and flavors.

But simple isn’t always easy.

Within this simplicity, there are so many choices to make. After all, who among us has not eaten or even *cough* served shoe leather and library paste masquerading as the John Wayne Special.

I originally intended this to be one blog post, but I got one thousand words into it and hadn’t gotten to the potatoes yet, so I’ll be breaking it up into a series, each dealing with one element of the dish. This allows me to go more in depth (and indulge my penchant for overwriting).