LESSON 3 : LEARN HOW TO COOK
Cooking Teacher: Papa Irv
Location: Irv’s kitchen
Dish : His famous Teriyaki Chicken
Papa Irv is my dear, sweet and funny step father who also happens to be one of my favorite chefs. He is a pro in the kitchen. He thinks about every detail and nothing is done haphazardly. Papa Irv is the kinda man who has a special knife for cutting tomatoes, a special pan to make eggs in, a special something for everything really. I knew going into this lesson I was going to have to take it up a notch, keep my game face on. Papa Irv is a great teacher; he didn’t just teach me how to make his famous Teriyaki Chicken but taught me the basics of the kitchen. The knives I should be using, how to sharpen them, how to cut excess fat from the chicken, what salt to use, what olive oil…the list goes on and on. But most importantly he taught me how to be a confident chef. So confident in fact that I cooked this meal all by myself a few night later for Brian, with no help (yes I handled raw chicken) and it was delicious!! I guess cooking is in the details.
The funniest part of the evening was when Irv finally allowed me tackle a task all by myself. He handed me a bag of rice and a measuring cup and instructed me to pour 1 cup, then he turned to my mother to talk. I took my big bag of rice and little measuring cup and did just what he asked but I did it without setting the cup on a surface. Here’s a tip everyone; when pouring rice out of a bag, hold the bag with two hands because the weight in the bag shifts very quickly. So quickly in fact that I poured rice all over the kitchen. To which they both turned around quickly and my mom said “Omg what happened?!” Irv just looked at me and said “I turned around for one second…”.
But in the end we made a delicious meal! My mom, Irv, my brother Nik and I sat by the pool and had a perfect summer meal. I was really starting to like this cooking thing.
Chicken Teriyaki Ingredients (serves 4) :
3 chicken breasts
Garlic cloves (to taste)
Shallots (to taste)
1 bottle of Soy Vay
1 bag of jasmine rice
Kosher salt
Chicken Teriyaki Directions :
– cut off all fatty parts of chicken breasts then cut into 1 inch cubes.
– Place chicken cubes in casserole dish.
– Mince garlic and shallots then sprinkle on chicken.
– Pour say vay marinade on chicken to liking.
-Cover with plastic and place in fridge for a 1/2 an hour.
– Use this time to make rice!
– 2/1 ratio water/rice
– In a large saucepan pour olive oil and place cubes of chicken in saucepan and pour some more Soy Vay on top.
– cook chicken till white
Salad Ingredients :
heirloom tomatoes
Avocados
Red Onion
Basil
Olive Oil
balsamic vinaigrette
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AW!!! lovely Kate….you are a good student…..love you papa irv