I am not a formally trained anything, except maybe as a video producer and administrator. But, I love to cook and I have been at it for a long time. Brought up on the ol’ school food network stars and embracing the new ones on the rise. As I post more and more, I will introduce some cooking techniques I could not live without, first one is called “Unilateral Cooking”. It is the method by which you begin cooking on the stove top/grill, then transferring your dish to an oven. I particularly love this for meats, it allows you to develop a wonderful pan-seared golden brown crust on the stove and finishes in the oven for even cooking throughout. It also works as a first-step for developing flavors from meat for a stew (boeuf bourguignon), or a braise (veal shanks). If one were to leave their steak cooking in a pan on the stove you would burn that delicious crust by the time you got any sort of doneness on a thick-cut. Beginning, on the stove also allows you to start with a screaming hot pan, this instantly sears the meat and allows the juices to be sealed inside. A tip; make sure whatever meat you are about to pan-sear is at or close to room temperature. Otherwise, you will end up black and blue – charred on the outside and raw in the middle, or with all the juices running out and your meat begins to unintentionally steam/braise. You know what I am taking about, how many times have you seen a steak bubbling away in it’s own juices. This is not a good thing! Instead no nicely seared brown crust, where so much flavor and desired texture develops under the right cooking conditions. I like my steak medium or medium rare, if you like it well done, God bless you.

• I will be posting a video soon, utilizing this technique.

Remember, everything in moderation; I promote a diverse vegetable based diet and the Meatless Monday movement.