10 things #2: heat

"now we're cooking with gas" a phrase my dad used to say to me which for most of my life i simply processed as 'i finally got it' or 'things are going in the right direction.'

but i really only started cooking with gas when tamara and i moved into our house at the beginning of the year. i had lived with a gas stove a few times (and i cursed and cried the many times i ended up moving into a new apartment that ran an electric stove), but we had made it a priority to get a stove with a couple of high powered burners i could really let rip under a saute pan. and boy did it change things!

for starter, the dials practically go all the way around! i can turn the heat all the way to high, and then i have another option to turn on the high powered boil. and then of course, there's the flexibility and the quick reaction time and so on - i will never go back.

but it was a few other maneuvers that really helped me to 'start cooking with gas' while cooking with gas:

• put the pan on the flame and just walk away for a few minutes. i've learned this helps seal up the microscopic cracks in the pan and create a smooth, uniform heat surface.

• add oil, and let it warm up (of course, this doesn't take very long)

• add whatever you plan to saute and don't crowd the pan - once you've got it hot, keep it hot, always maintain control of the heat and make sure that if you are adding something to the pan and it might cool it down, that it is your intention to do so.

so it is the power of heat, but also how i control that power and that has made all the difference in improving cooking technique.