Debug

[0 - 0] - I'm Frank Proto. [energetic music]

[0 - 2] I'm a professional chef and culinary instructor.

[2 - 3] And today I'm gonna show you

[3 - 5] my best cooking tips for beginners.

[5 - 7] We'll be going over things to keep in mind

[7 - 9] before, during, and after you turn on that stove.

[9 - 12] This is "Cooking Tips 101".

[12 - 16] While we talk about my tips, I'm gonna prepare a carbonara.

[16 - 20] Let's get started with the tips. [gentle music]

[20 - 24] The most important tip I have is before you do anything,

[24 - 26] read the recipe.

[26 - 27] With this simple tip

[27 - 30] a lot of mistakes can be prevented and avoided.

[30 - 32] So many times in my life

[32 - 34] people have "read the recipe," quote, unquote,

[34 - 36] they start cooking and they miss something.

[36 - 38] "Save your pasta water."

[38 - 40] They've thrown their pasta water out.

[40 - 41] All right, give me a few minutes

[41 - 46] so I can read my recipe, excuse me. [chiming music]

[46 - 48] Most recipes are written the same, exact way.

[48 - 50] A title with the amount of servings,

[50 - 51] a list of ingredients,

[51 - 53] and then a list of instructions.

[53 - 54] Usually in a recipe the first ingredient

[54 - 58] is the first thing you'll use in the instructions.

[58 - 59] The second ingredient

[59 - 61] is the second thing you'll use in the instructions.

[61 - 62] If a recipe's written well

[62 - 64] the ingredients go along with the instructions,

[64 - 67] Read through it all, and then start your recipe.

[67 - 68] So after you read your recipe

[68 - 70] the next thing you want to do

[70 - 72] is do your mise en place.

[72 - 74] Chef Frank, what is mise en place?

[74 - 76] Mise en place means everything in its place.

[76 - 77] It's a French term.

[77 - 78] Gather your ingredients,

[78 - 80] get them together before you start cooking.

[80 - 83] That doesn't just mean your food, that means your equipment

[83 - 86] and everything you need to execute this recipe.

[86 - 88] So on the tray next to me, I have my mise en place.

[88 - 91] You can see that I have my equipment around me as well.

[91 - 93] Everything's within arms reach

[93 - 95] so I don't have to run around the kitchen

[95 - 96] like my hair's on fire.

[96 - 99] [Frank chuckling] [crew laughing]

[99 - 101] First thing I'm gonna do is grate my cheese.

[101 - 102] I'm gonna put all this on the side.

[102 - 104] And if there is an instruction

[104 - 105] that you need to grate your cheese,

[105 - 107] make sure that's part of your mise en place.

[107 - 110] I'm gonna grate a fair amount of cheese for my carbonara.

[110 - 114] Carbonara is basically bacon, eggs, and cheese,

[114 - 116] so we grate a bunch.

[116 - 118] Right, there's my Pecorino Romano.

[118 - 120] I'm gonna do my Parmigiano.

[120 - 122] I like to use a box grater on it's side like this,

[122 - 123] I'm not doing it granny style.

[123 - 127] I like to use my body weight 'cause it's considerable.

[128 - 130] I always crack on a flat surface.

[130 - 132] Ooh, look at how beautiful that egg is.

[132 - 133] Eggs are cracked,

[133 - 134] I'm just gonna give 'em a quick whisk.

[136 - 138] Next thing I wanna do is cut our guanciale.

[138 - 140] Guanciale is a cured pork jowl.

[140 - 142] And that brings me to my next tip

[142 - 144] is have sharp knives.

[144 - 145] So it's a common misconception

[145 - 147] that sharp knives are dangerous

[147 - 148] when the fact is

[148 - 151] that dull knives are even more dangerous than sharp knives.

[151 - 153] You have to put more pressure on the knife

[153 - 156] and you have a bigger tendency to slip and cut yourself.

[156 - 157] If your knife isn't sharp

[157 - 158] you can learn about sharpening your knives.

[158 - 159] We did a video on this channel.

[159 - 162] Try and find a knife that is comfortable in your hand.

[162 - 163] It should be super sharp

[163 - 165] so you don't really have to put a lot of pressure.

[165 - 167] You see if I do a little sawing here

[167 - 169] it's a nice smooth cut.

[169 - 172] I am not having to struggle with this,

[172 - 175] just whispers through.

[175 - 177] If it isn't sharp, sometimes you'll do a lot of sawing.

[177 - 179] You can ruin your ingredients

[179 - 181] 'cause you're crushing them or tearing them.

[181 - 183] So having a sharp knife saves you time,

[183 - 185] saves you ingredients,

[185 - 187] and saves your fingers from getting cut.

[187 - 190] Now that I have all my mise en place ready to go,

[190 - 194] we can cook. [gentle music]

[194 - 196] So my next tip is keep an open mind.

[196 - 199] We're using guanciale, it sounds weird,

[199 - 202] maybe it looks a little weird and it's strange to you,

[202 - 202] but at the end of the day

[202 - 204] it's really just a type of bacon.

[204 - 206] Push yourself, stretch yourself, try new things.

[206 - 207] You'd be surprised

[207 - 209] at how many times they're actually really delicious.

[209 - 211] So I got a little oil in my pan.

[211 - 213] Guanciale goes in.

[213 - 214] And what we're gonna do with this is

[214 - 217] we're gonna cook it lightly brown, but not crisp.

[218 - 220] One of the other tips I give people is

[220 - 222] be present, be in the moment,

[222 - 224] and use all of your senses.

[224 - 226] A lot of times you're gonna smell things that are burning

[226 - 228] before they actually burn

[228 - 230] and you might be able to catch it and save it.

[230 - 231] A lot of times when you're listening

[231 - 233] you can hear something is way too high

[233 - 236] 'cause it's really too loud and it shouldn't be that loud.

[236 - 238] But listen to what's going on,

[238 - 241] taste what's going on, smell what's going on.

[241 - 244] So not only can I hear the guanciale sizzling away,

[244 - 246] I can see that it's browning.

[246 - 248] I'm gonna shut it off here

[248 - 250] and wait until we're ready to use it.

[250 - 254] Another tip for beginner cooks is comfort, right?

[254 - 256] We wanna be comfortable when we're cooking.

[256 - 257] That's one thing

[257 - 259] we really don't talk about a lot is comfort.

[259 - 263] I like to stand straight up.

[263 - 264] I like for my shoulders to be loose.

[264 - 267] I try not to tighten up too much.

[267 - 269] If you've been hunching over the stove for hours,

[269 - 272] and your feet hurt 'cause your shoes are uncomfortable,

[272 - 275] or you're wearing that tight turtleneck in the kitchen,

[275 - 275] at the end of the day

[275 - 278] we want cooking to be enjoyable and fun.

[278 - 279] And if you're not comfortable

[279 - 282] it's just gonna make it a less enjoyable experience.

[282 - 284] One of the other tips I like to talk about is

[284 - 286] buy the best ingredients you can afford.

[286 - 288] Buy the best cheese you can afford,

[288 - 290] the best pork, the best pasta, the best eggs,

[290 - 292] and the end product is always gonna be better.

[292 - 295] Good ingredients equals good food.

[295 - 297] So for the carbonara, I have my eggs beaten.

[297 - 299] I'm gonna beat in some cheese.

[299 - 302] Good quality eggs always have really bright orange yolks

[302 - 304] and these eggs are wonderful.

[304 - 305] And basically what I'm gonna do with this

[305 - 308] is make kind of a paste out of my cheese and eggs.

[308 - 312] I'm going to hit it with some salt and lots of black pepper.

[312 - 314] Again, good quality black pepper

[314 - 316] is always ground to order, right?

[316 - 318] So grind your own pepper.

[319 - 321] There is a point in almost every recipe

[321 - 324] where everything collides at once.

[324 - 326] It's the time when action is required.

[326 - 328] If you're prepared, you have your mise en place,

[328 - 330] you've read your recipe.

[330 - 333] When this point comes, you're not gonna freak out.

[333 - 334] You're gonna be chill.

[334 - 335] Everything's gonna come together beautifully.

[335 - 339] Okay, let's use our senses and see where our pasta is at.

[339 - 342] I can see that my pasta is a little floppy, right?

[342 - 344] And now I can taste.

[344 - 346] My pasta is perfect, al dente.

[346 - 350] Shut my water off and I am going to use my tongs.

[350 - 351] And if I've read my recipe right,

[351 - 354] I need to save some of that pasta water, right?

[354 - 356] So instead of putting it down the drain with our colander

[356 - 358] we're gonna gonna save that pasta water.

[358 - 359] It's got salt and starch

[359 - 362] that's gonna help our finished dish be delish.

[362 - 364] Rhyming again, look at that.

[364 - 365] I'm not too worried about

[365 - 368] draining this pasta off too well, all right?

[368 - 371] And then here is where everything comes together.

[371 - 374] It's the moment of truth, the moment that you need

[374 - 376] the most confidence you've had all day.

[376 - 378] Adding the eggs.

[378 - 380] This could be the time where everything goes wrong

[380 - 382] or everything goes right.

[382 - 384] Which leads me to my next tip,

[384 - 385] cook with confidence.

[385 - 388] You've prepared for this moment, you're ready.

[388 - 389] So what I'm gonna do now is

[389 - 391] I'm actually gonna shut my heat off.

[391 - 394] I'm going to add my egg and cheese mixture.

[394 - 398] I'm going to add a nice ladle of my pasta water.

[398 - 401] And I'm gonna toss.

[401 - 403] So we talk about cooking with confidence.

[403 - 404] Give it a flip if you can,

[404 - 407] make sure it goes all over, it splashes the dog. [dog barks]

[407 - 412] But we wanna stir with confidence.

[412 - 413] So the worst thing that can happen is

[413 - 415] that you don't eat this tonight.

[415 - 418] You order a pizza, you order some Chinese food,

[418 - 422] that's the worst that can happen. [gentle music]

[422 - 424] Carbonara's ready to go.

[424 - 426] And that leads me to my next tip,

[426 - 427] master the recipe,

[427 - 430] or at least be confident with your skills enough

[430 - 431] that you can start modifying.

[431 - 433] If you haven't mastered the recipe,

[433 - 435] take your time, get it down,

[435 - 438] and then you can start to modify things to your preference.

[438 - 440] If you start modifying things too early

[440 - 443] and don't master the recipe or the technique,

[443 - 444] things aren't gonna come out good.

[444 - 446] Take your time, be patient with yourself.

[446 - 448] Know your skill level.

[449 - 452] Once you have that down, you're gonna be a better cook.

[452 - 454] And you can make carbonara too.

[454 - 457] The last tip I have, keep cooking.

[457 - 458] You're not gonna get better at this

[458 - 459] unless you cook all the time.

[459 - 462] Cook with friends, cook with family.

[462 - 464] Enjoy the meal you cook with the people you love.

[464 - 466] The more you cook, the better you'll get.

[466 - 469] Don't get discouraged from failure. Have fun.

[469 - 470] Enjoy what you're doing.

[470 - 474] Food and cooking should be an enjoyable endeavor.

[474 - 477] And those are my 10 cooking tips for beginners.

[477 - 478] I hope this helps.

[478 - 484] Good luck on your cooking journey. Enjoy. [mellow music] Buon appetito.