Here We Go...

After a couple of years of using Face Book as a pseudo food blog, I finally had several people tell me to just go ahead and jump in for real. I was a wienie for a while, (not knowing how to start) but jumped in over my head this past weekend. I decided to teach people how to cook like I do.

I love food. I grew up with a Mama and Granny who could cook, and my Daddy just LOVED food. That combination meant I sat on the kitchen counters when I was three, sticking my hands into everything I could and asking questions, and simultaneously was introduced to some very fine food in restaurants across the country and in Europe. In a nutshell, I was lucky.

I don't know why I was bitten. But I was - early and hard. I remember trying to write recipes when I couldn't have been older than 7. I actually still make the first 'real' recipe I ever created - something the family calls Potato Pancakes, and which is a combination of hash browns and traditional potato cakes.

I never went to culinary school. For some reason, it simply never occurred to me to pursue a professional career as a chef. I have however, been a student of technique for years and years now - how many is none of your business. But for a while. I love all food and classic cuisines - and I often go through phases, working my way through a technique until I have it mastered. Southern, French, Japanese, Californian, Indian, Chinese - I adore it all.

The result is I began picking up the 'why' of food, instead of just a collection of recipes. A few years ago I realized I no longer had to open a book to cook something, that I could taste a new food and analyze ingredients and cooking methods pretty accurately, and that I had a wealth of information rattling around in my head. My background is Southern, so of course that's a specialty. But to limit myself! The horror of never having a to-die-for pot au feu, or pot stickers, or tikka masala?...

BUT.

I have a tight budget. I have four children of my own and four to six more that are huge presences in my life at any one moment. I have two dogs, including a baby ten week old puppy. I have brothers and a sister, their children, my parents, and an INCREDIBLE group of friends and neighbors. I'm extremely busy to say the least. And because the children might want to build a tepee (right Tara?), or a snow fort, or forget to put on pants before they go outside, I can't normally tackle anything that has to be babysat on the stove or watch an oven carefully. I have to do things that are relatively easy AND on top of that - with ingredients and tools available in a tiny town in upper East Tennessee. That means real-world ingredients and no gourmet markets or supply stores.

So - I'm starting with some basics that several people have asked about. You'll see me do a lot of double duty meals - getting leftovers on purpose - but they'll never appear leftover. I'll show a lot of my favorite tricks and techniques - and of course I'll provide the recipes. The first couple are going to be a perfect brine and roast chicken. Simple - but with the clues to why the simple things are often the more difficult ones.

It took me a while to come up with a one sentence summary of how I cook. It came from a nickname a friend and neighbor gave me one night when I had "Frenched" some Southern-style green beans. French-delicious and Hillbilly became the Thrillbilly Gourmet. Classic technique to everyday food - but that's what it is. Most people have a dog underfoot and kids in and out of the kitchen while they cook. Or their sibs, spouses or parents. Friends and neighbors - and you'll meet all mine. Life is about distractions - and I wouldn't trade mine for anything. I cook good food. And I hope to teach you a little of what I know.