The Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else

By Judson Carroll

In this book, I will explain and describe a way of cooking that is very much a way of life. As an herbalist, I enjoy cooking with many medicinal herbs that also have culinary value. As for the foods used, they will be a mix of what one may buy from a store, grow/raise on a homestead type farm, or source from the wild. I like beef, pork and chicken, but I do not like it to the exclusion of wild game... not at all! I eat a great deal of wild caught fish and even though I live in the mountains, I am only a morning’s drive to the coast and I enjoy fresh seafood... I am oyster fanatic! I love to garden both herbs and vegetables. I also forage for many wild edible plants and mushrooms.

My culinary philosophy is to eat as seasonally as possible and to include the widest diversity of foods possible. I believe that fresh and well-handled food has more than just vitamins, protein and carbs, fat and calories. I believe that real food has a life force to it that is lost when it is shipped long distances from where it is grown to where it is sold. My goal is, through careful cultivation and harvesting and the cooking and preserving techniques I use, to preserve and even enhance that illusive quality. I firmly believe that the reason my great grandparents mostly lived to be around 100 years of age was due to that very diet. As the American diet has become more reliant on processed foods and even what we call fresh foods are shipped over thousands of miles before they reach the store, Americans have become less healthy, far more prone to diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and live shorter, less healthy and vigorous lives. Diseases that were once rare have become common. Obesity has become the norm.

This is not a recipe book, primarily. In this book, I will emphasize ingredients and seasonal options. The recipes given will be very flexible to the tastes of those who may cook them. The recipes are merely suggestions and are given for inspiration. The emphasis will be on ingredients and technique. The integrity of the ingredient is paramount.

Food should never be wasted if possible. Good technique allows us to utilize humble cuts of meat and vegetables a bit past their prime. It is a sin to waste food. I have been told that I “eat like a king.” Whether that is true or not, I do eat very well... better than I could buy in most restaurants, and at perhaps a 10th of the price of the average American who lives on fast food, prepared meals and grocery store fare. I am also stronger and healthier as a well-fed omnivore in my 40s than I was as a vegetarian in my early 20s... I’m also a lot happier and enjoy my meals far more!

What is the style of this cookbook?

Well, it is basically anything I like that is seasonal. It is not overly fancy for fanciness sake. I love an honest meatloaf as much as I do a fine pate. I have a rural southerner’s love of fish roe, and appreciation for caviar. If I catch a trout loaded with roe, I will cook some with scrambled eggs and salt cure some to eat on crackers or bagels with cream cheese. Sometimes, my meal is fried chicken and coleslaw. Sometimes, it is a pork shoulder cooked low and slow, for 10 hours minimum, over hardwood coals of hickory and oak. Sometimes I do make a classic French sauce. Other times, it is simple pasta with garlic, parm and parsley. Fancy without flavor does not impress me. The stark elegance of raw oysters with lemon juice is something I crave. But, as comedian James Gregory said, “Where I come from gravy is considered a beverage.” I am gravy fanatic!

My goal is not to instruct you how to cook like me. My goal has been to encourage you to cook like you! Cook with creativity and eat with joy. From that will come gratitude. Gratitude and love are virtues cultivated by the art of cooking and the enjoyment of eating, especially with those we love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judson Carroll
• Release date: Sep 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005582005

Judson Carroll

Judson CarrollI am a certified Master Herbalist and Permaculturist from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, USA. I began learning about herbs and their uses from the old Appalachian folks, especially the Hicks family of Beech Creek, when I was around 15.I host the Southern Appalachian Herbal Podcast: Southern Appalachian Herbs https://www.spreaker.com/show/southern-appalachian-herbsI teach free, online herbal medicine classes: Herbal Medicine 101 https://rumble.com/c/c-618325I also write a weekly article on herbs and their properties: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/151My passion is being outside, enjoying the woods, the water and the garden. My mission is to revive the tradition of “folk medicine” in America, so families can care for their own ailments at home, using the herbs God gave us for that purpose. I am a moderator and contributor for The Grow Network and you can communicate with me there https://thegrownetwork.com/My email address is [e-mail]

Book preview

The Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else

By

Judson Carroll

Disclaimer:

The information in this book is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. I am not a health practitioner and am not offering advice. No content in this book has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Following any information in this book is at your own risk.

Do your own thorough research before following any herbal advice. Be aware of interactions (drug or herbal), allergy, sensitivity or underlying conditions before proceeding with following any health information.

By continuing to read this book you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices and not to hold me responsible for your own actions.

Copyright 2022

All rights reserved. This book may not be shared or reproduced without written permission by the author.

Table of Contents

Introduction

What to expect in this book

Essential Equipment

Cooking Techniques

Ingredients and Recipes

Fats

Broth and Stock

Eggs

Dairy

Meat

Beef

Veal

Pork

Lamb, Mutton, Kid, Goat, and Deer

Chicken

Turkey

Duck and Goose

Coot/Gallinule/Marsh Hen

Guinea Fowl

Game Birds

Small Game

Fish and Seafood

Sunfish/Panfish

Bass

Catfish

Trout

Salmon

Perch

Carp and Buffalo

Bowfin

Shad and Herring

Other Freshwater Fish

Whitebait

Saltwater Fish

Fisherman’s Soup

Eel

Bluefish

Red Drum

Black Drum

Fluke

Speckled Trout

Black Sea Bass

Spanish Mackerel

King Mackerel

Spots and Croakers

Atlantic Perch

Pompano

Permit

Striped Bass

Cobia

Sheepshead

Red Snapper

Grouper

Saltwater or Gafftop Catfish

Sharks

Skates and Rays

Puffer

Other Tasty Water (and related terrestrial) Critters

Freshwater

Frogs

Crawfish

Turtle

Alligator

Snake

Snails

Saltwater

Shrimp

Crab

Lobster

Squid

Oysters

Clams

Mussels

Whelks, Conchs and Smaller Sea Snails

Vegetables

Artichokes

Cream of Anything Soup

Asparagus

Avocado

Beans

Beets

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Chard

Collards

Corn

Cucumbers

Eggplant

Endive

Fennel

Kale

Kohlrabi

Leek

Lentils

Lettuce

Mushrooms

Mustard

Okra

Onion

Parsnip

Peanuts

Peas

Peppers

Potatoes

Radish

Rutabega

Salsify

Spinach

Squash

Sweet Potatoes

Tomatoes

Turnips

Zucchini

Foraging

Ramps

Dandelion

Chicory

Poke

Nettles

Burdock

Docks and Sorrels

Nasturtiums

Lamb’s Quarters

Evening Primrose

Red Clover

Cattail

Mayapple

Sunflowers and Jerusalem Artichokes

Hostas

Daylily

Rose and Violet

Plantain

Wild Mushrooms

Yaupon Holly and Mormon Tea

Wintergreen

Sprouts and Microgreens

Grains, Bread and Pasta

Rice

Corn

Wheat

Other Grains - Oatmeal, Barley, Rye, etc.

Ferments and Pickles

Vinegar

Salt/Lacto Fermenting - Sauerkraut

A Cornucopia of (mostly) pickled vegetables

Pickled Fruits

Pickled Meat, Eggs and Fish

Fermented Beverages

Kombucha

Kefir

Dairy Ferments

Kvass

Wines, Country Wines and Ciders

Beer

Sauces, Condiments, Dressings and Dips

Stock Based Sauces

Roux Based Sauces

Egg Based Sauces

Vegetable Based Sauces (and one berry compote)

Condiments

Salad Dressings

Jams, Jellies and Preserves

Desserts

Afterward

Introduction

This is a book I have been putting off writing for a long time. Those familiar with my other books know me as a Herbalist. At this point, I have written seven books on Herbal Medicine. Herbal Medicine is something I have spent years learning. But, my first passion is Cooking. I actually came to learn Herbal Medicine through my love of food. Decades ago, it was a conversation about foraging wild edibles with a member of the Hicks family of Beech Creek, NC that started me on my journey as an apprentice herbalist.

I come from a long tradition of excellent cooking. My heritage is, essentially, an equal mix of Irish, French and English. My family began to settle in the Carolinas and Virginia at least by the early 1700s. Not surprisingly, my family’s cooking tradition is very Southern. The French side of my family though, includes traditional French influences, but also Cajun and Creole. The swamps and Low Country of the Carolinas were a refuge for not only Huguenots, but the French settlers who were forced out of Nova Scotia by the British (the Cajuns) and those who left the Caribbean islands during slave revolts, revolutions and invasions (strongly influenced by Creole culture). It was an area in which the majority populations were Scots-Irish, African American descendants of slaves and both the Lumbee and Waccamaw Native American Tribes. The English, French, Irish… and even a few German families were by far the minority. I believe that led to a certain sense of pride regarding my family’s food heritage.

Simply put, my grandmothers and great grandmothers were recognized as among the finest cooks in the community. I once owned and operated a state-wide magazine and took a particular interest in the family cooking traditions of each of North Carolina’s 100 counties. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that while my family included such things as celery and hot peppers in most every meal, most folks who lived between… say, Wilmington and Charlotte did not. Julia Child once made the statement that, Americans in the 1950s and 60s did not eat salads. My family did. Rarely, if ever, did a meal at my grandmother’s table not include a tossed salad, a cooked salad such as potato or bean salad or a platter of crudites…. which, is a fancy word for a bunch of raw vegetables that were in season on our farm. We didn’t use many fancy words to describe our food. French being spoken had fallen out of favor decades earlier. We enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and charcuterie, but they were never called such. My great grandfather cured sausages and hams, and kept bees. My grandfather loved cheeses, pickled pig’s feet and eggs, head cheese and liver pates/puddings. My grandmother was an artist in making all sorts of pickled vegetables, jams, preserves and baked goods. Life revolved around food, from pig pickens’ (barbecue) and chicken bogs at political events, to family reunions, weddings, funerals and supper on the ground when everyone brought a dish to church, to holiday family gatherings, and the everyday meals of the farmhouse table which were giant feasts by today’s standards.

It was an amazing privilege to learn my family’s cooking tradition. I was in my junior year at the University of Georgia (and a die hard fan of both the original, Japanese version of Iron Chef and Alton Brown’s Good Eats - Brown is also a UGA alum) when I got two phone calls. I was studying economics and playing guitar out at the bars every possible night, but I was very much a part of the food scene. Most of my friends were chefs, cooks, bartenders and farmers. I fully intended to start classes in UGA’s school of Food Science and culinary school in Atlanta once I got my bachelor’s degree in economics (which I thought was more practical). The first phone call was to inform me that my uncle, who ran the family farm, had a stroke. He died not long after. Then came the call that my grandmother had a heart attack and needed care. Soon, my mother and I were spending full time back in NC, on the farm. My mother cared for my grandmother and I tried to manage everything else.

It was through these unfortunate circumstances that I got the chance to learn to cook directly from my grandmother, who learned to cook from her French grandmother, etc. Now, my mom began to teach me how to cook from an early age. She had me scrambling eggs and even learning to butcher meat and baking from as far back as I can remember. She encouraged me to take my first cooking classes in elementary school. Back then, we had no cable TV and had to rely on 4 channels. One, of course, was PBS. I had very little interest in anything other than the cooking shows. There, I found Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, who would become huge influences on my cooking and real heroes. But also, I found Justin Wilson. Justin Wilson was a damn good cook in his own words, a story teller and comedian. He was like a member of my family. He talked like the old folks I grew up around and cooked like them!

When my grandmother found herself confined to a chair and unable to man the stove any longer… and so sick of hospital food, nutritional drinks and most anything other than her home cooking that she was near starvation, both my mother and I were able to help. My grandmother never liked letting other people cook in her kitchen or do much more than wash the dishes. But, my mother learned by watching her and asking questions. Of course, being a real, old fashioned cook, my grandmother’s answers were generally vague. When asked, How much of ____ do you add? or How long does it cook? Her answer was, Just taste of it and you will know, or Until it is done.

My mom handled most of the cooking, but I got to cook once a day/evening usually. I would ask, Mamma, are you hungry? She would reply, I’m not very hungry but I would like a taste of something. What would you like? I tell you, if I was cooking I’d sure know what I’d want. Well let me see what’s in the freezer and you tell me what you might want. On the farm, we had two chest freezers where meats, fish, game, seafood and blanched vegetables were stored. The two fridge/freezers inside were mainly used for fresh food and vegetables and as there were fewer people to be fed, we needed to work through much of what was in the freezers and the huge, walk-in pantry. Her kitchen was fully stocked with dried herbs and spices, home canned good, all manner of pickles and all the staples. The stove and oven were simple and electric, 1960’s era. She had a stand mixer, and every pot, pan, roaster, mixing bowl and knife you could imagine.

So, I would dig something out of the freezer - maybe a chicken, some steaks, a beef or deer roast, spots (a regionally favorite fish), shrimp, quail or even a whole pork loin. Then, I’d grab some greens, beans, peas, corn, etc. The staple was really butterbeans and field peas grown on the farm. Rice was also a staple, the first rice grown in America having been grown in the Carolinas. But, I was free to cook anything I pleased beyond that. My grandmother loved Italian food, so I would make chicken parm or a pizza (with my sourdough starter) once a week or so for a treat. But, most often I would tell her what I had on hand and she would tell me how she wanted it cooked. This simple act was the main thing that pulled her out of her cardiac related dementia. She would sit in her wheelchair, in the kitchen and tell me step by step exactly how to cook whatever meat, fish and vegetables we had thawed that day (or that were fresh from the garden or store) exactly as she had for 80 years or so. She would put her hands on and in the food - a big part of her style of cooking. She would smell and taste it as we went along - a bigger part of her cooking. For an hour or two, she would totally lucid and interested. We would enjoy the meal, watch a show or two and by 8 pm… she was slipping away again. It was a hard, sad time, but one that I would not trade for all the money in the world.

In the same way, she taught me many things, including how to garden. The kitchen garden is usually much less than an acre, located closer to the house than the cultivated fields of a farm. This is where the vegetables and herbs for the family are grown. I moved it even closer, into the backyard, so my grandmother could access it by wheelchair or walker. There, she finally taught me to garden and save seed. It may seem surprising, but my grandmother adamantly opposed me becoming a farmer or a cook. She was the main reason I was discouraged from studying agriculture, horticulture or the culinary arts in college. She believed that to do so was to be doomed to a life of hard work and poverty. However, such things had always been my dream. Finally, I was able to learn the things I wanted and needed to know. She also taught me how to make headcheese and sausage, pickling, baking, advised me on caring for livestock, etc.

Unfortunately, after my grandmother died, the family farm was sold. The legacy of multiple generations was lost due to factors beyond our control such as industrial hog farming, contaminated groundwater and crime. So, obviously, I bought land, farmed it and opened a restaurant… right? No. No, I was deep in debt by that time and I had to employ my other talents. I worked for over a decade in politics and another publishing magazines. I always kept a toe in, so to speak. I did a little catering. I took several Permaculture Design and agriculture classes. I earned many certifications as an herbalist. But, it was only during the COVID lock downs that folks in The Grow Network forums encouraged me to write a book on Herbal Medicine that I even realized I knew anything worth sharing. Now, I make my living writing about all those things I took for granted for all those years.

Now, have you heard of the Bullcook?

Some years ago, I became more interested in recipes for wild food, especially fish and game. I did not want the kind of recipes I found in most modern cookbooks - recipes that seemed designed more to cover up the flavor or game meats or to make them similar to commercially raised meats. I wanted to learn as many ways as possible to cook these special delicacies in ways that would highlight the unique characteristics of each. In this search, I found many wonderful historical cookbooks, and several excellent fish and game cookbooks from the classic era of the American hunting lodges. I also found the great George Leonard Herter. I believe that Herter deserves that title… but most people have never heard of him.

George L. Herter was a true American character. After serving in World War II, he returned to take over his family's sporting goods store in Waseca, Minnesota. Under George's leadership, he turned the modest business into a nation-wide mail order sporting goods store, through catalogs that were a mixture of Sears and Roebuck, Barnum and Bailey promotion and Outdoor Life style stories. Herter was a truly brilliant man and a true eccentric, with a sharp, odd sense of humor and a cynical world view. His answer to society's ills and personal happiness was to return to nature and to enjoy good food.

He wrote at least two dozen books, many of them well over 400 pages long - all self published and sold through the Herter's catalogs. He mixed tall tales and outright lies with the knowledge of a woodsman and survivalist and the tastes of a gourmet. He wrote at least six cookbooks, primary among these being the Bullcook series. His cookbooks may be the most significant, least known and truly American cookbooks ever written. He also wrote the Professional Guide's Manual, How To Get Out Of The Rat Race And Live on $10 A Month, Touch The Earth, How To Live Not Exist and of course, How To Live With A Bitch! Obviously, such titles (other than the last one) would appeal to the back to the earth movement of the next generation. But, Herter was no hippie... he spent his time hunting with John Wayne and machine-gunning sharks with Earnest Hemingway! Herter's outdoor books included much on foraging, first aid and knowledge of the uses of wild plants. Obviously, George Leonard Herter is a major hero of mine.

The Bullcook series was a major inspiration. While several modern food writers, especially those with leftist politics, are quick to condemn Herter as a lunatic, a crank and to say his recipes don’t work. Anyone who would make such a claim is a humorless idiot and a bad cook. As Herter was quick to point out, many recipes in popular magazines are very flawed - as anyone who has tried cooking many of them knows all too well. Every cookbook contains type-os, mistaken measurements and flawed memories. Much more importantly, the most important element is the taste and skill of the cook. No one should approach historic cookbooks, or even Escoffier, expecting exact recipes with each ingredient weighed out accurately. An experienced cook looks at ingredients as mere suggestions and proportions as approximations. That, is why cooking is an art, as opposed to baking, which is a science that requires exact measurements and specific ingredients. I have no doubt that George Herter wrote from memory, not recording a recipe as he cooked it.

I have long wanted to do something to honor the mostly forgotten legacy of George L. Herter, and his wife Bertha, who co-wrote his cookbooks. George Herter, like Justin Wilson and many of the colorful cooks of the era when American men were masculine and not politically correct are the type of men who desperately need to be recognized so that their example may inspire future generations. Without a doubt, sine dubio, I believe that George L. Herter should be included in the pantheon of classic American cookbook writers that would include Erma Rombauer, James Beard and Sylvia Bashline.

Sylvia Bashline is another author you may not have heard of, but like the very famous James Beard, she wrote classic fish and game cookbooks based on European traditions and a high level of cooking sophistication. As for Mrs. Rombauer, she and her daughter were friends of my mother, summering in the small resort town where I was born. My family owned a small grocery store that catered both to locals, restaurant chefs and the personal chefs of the extremely wealthy movie stars and industrialists who summered with us. They had fresh, local produce, a real butcher shop offering custom meats and fish, imported cheeses and wines and all sorts of specialty ingredients. My mother described Mrs. Rombauer as a tough little lady who hated my father but loved sharing recipes with here. She taught my mother to bake whole or filleted salmon and to make hollandaise to top fresh asparagus. My inherited copy of The Joy of Cooking gives instructions on skinning and dressing rabbits and squirrels (left out of later volumes) and an inscription stating that she had given my mother every recipe and technique she would need but not instructions to cook his goose in reference to my father!

What to expect in this book.

In this book, I will explain and describe a way of cooking that is very much a way of life. As an herbalist, I enjoy cooking with many medicinal herbs that also have culinary value. As for the foods used, they will be a mix of what one may buy from a store, grow/raise on a homestead type farm, or source from the wild. I like beef, pork and chicken, but I do not like it to the exclusion of wild game… not at all! I eat a great deal of wild caught fish and even though I live in the mountains, I am only a morning’s drive to the coast and I enjoy fresh seafood… I am oyster fanatic! I love to garden both herbs and vegetables. I also forage for many wild edible plants and mushrooms.

My culinary philosophy is to eat as seasonally as possible and to include the widest diversity of foods possible. I believe that fresh and well handled food has more than just vitamins, protein and carbs, fat and calories. I believe that real food has a life force to it that is lost when it is shipped long distances from where it is grown to where it is sold. My goal is, through careful cultivation and harvesting and the cooking and preserving techniques I use, to preserve and even enhance that illusive quality. That is about as woohoo or far out as I will get. I am a very conservative, practical man and a devout Christian. But, I firmly believe that the reason my great grandparents mostly lived to be around 100 years of age was due to that very diet. As the American diet has become more reliant on processed foods and even what we call fresh foods are shipped over thousands of miles before they reach the store, Americans have become less healthy, far more prone to diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and live shorter, less healthy and vigorous lives. Diseases that were once rare have become common. Obesity has become the norm.

This is not a recipe book, primarily. In this book, I will emphasize ingredients and seasonal options. The recipes given will be very flexible to the tastes of those who may cook them. The recipes are merely suggestions and are given for inspiration. The emphasis will be on ingredients and technique. The integrity of the ingredient is paramount. If I suggest wild greens that are out of season where you live, I encourage you to buy fresh spinach, lettuce or bitter greens if you can. Never be without cabbage, by the way. Such vegetables as cabbage, onions, garlic, potatoes and celery are indispensable and no kitchen should ever lack them. Let your taste tell you the right ingredient. By no means is this a semi-homemade cookbook. I cook from scratch in what many would consider to be an extreme version of that concept. But, I am not a fanatic. While I rarely mill my own flour, I do have a grain mill and use it occasionally. I don’t mind a few shortcuts, so long as the quality is not affected. For instance, homemade, naturally fermented sauerkraut is easy to make, taste far better than store bought and is much healthier - I don’t buy kraut and hope you won’t either.

This book will emphasize technique. Good technique is the mark of a good cook and what makes every aspect of cooking enjoyable. How you hold and use a knife, and the knife you use, makes a huge difference in how quickly you can prepare ingredients and the amount of effort expended. Good technique makes cooking faster, easier and more enjoyable… even safer. When you see a chef chopping through mushrooms at blazing speed, he is probably not showing off his knife skills. He is well trained and has chopped so many veggies with that knife that it becomes almost effortless and fast. He will likely be talking or thinking about something else as his hands work with the efficiency that comes from skill and muscle memory.

Good technique often makes food taste better. How often have I been disappointed in a meal I was served, because the meat was not properly browned or the onions not sliced and cooked properly? Such simple, seemingly nit-picky little things can make the difference between okay flavor and excellent flavor, or vegetables that are either enjoyable both in flavor and texture or that may cause indigestion. With good technique, it is easier to cook things properly than not. Learning those techniques does take a little effort in the beginning, but it is just a few extra seconds or minutes. Those who avoid using a cutting board because it is just one more thing to wash when cleaning up, or who use a dull or improper knife, may save a minute washing up but will pay for it in cut fingers…eventually. In butchering meat, the cutting board or block, the knife used, its sharpness and the skill of the butcher is even more stark, You must either learn to cut meat or pay someone else to do so if you want meat that is cut so it is tender and trimmed of silver skin, gristle, bones and excess fat.

Technique also saves money. I practice the French culinary philosophy of frugality. The best kitchens are those that waste the least amount of food. For instance, all vegetable scraps, bones and meat trimmings are saved for stocks.. Unless they are beginning to rot, which should never be allowed to happen. Food should never be wasted if possible. Good technique also allows us to utilize humble cuts of meat and vegetables a bit past their prime. It is a sin to waste food. I have been told that I eat like a king. Whether that is true or not, I do eat very well… better than I could buy in most restaurants, and at perhaps a 10th of the price of the average American who lives on fast food, prepared meals and grocery store fare. I am also stronger and healthier as a well fed omnivore in my 40s than I was as a vegetarian in my early 20s… I’m also a lot happier and enjoy my meals far more!

What is the style of this cookbook?

Well, it is basically anything I like that is seasonal. It is not overly fancy for fanciness sake. I love an honest meatloaf as much as I do a fine pate. I have a rural southerner’s love of fish roe, and appreciation for caviar. If I catch a trout loaded with roe, I will cook some with scrambled eggs and salt cure some to eat on crackers or bagels with cream cheese. Sometimes, my meal is fried chicken and coleslaw. Sometimes, it is a pork shoulder cooked low and slow, for 10 hours minimum, over hardwood coals of hickory and oak. Sometimes I do make a classic French sauce. Other times, it is simple pasta with garlic, parm and parsley. Fancy without flavor does not impress me. The stark elegance of raw oysters with lemon juice is something I crave. But, as comedian James Gregory said, Where I come from gravy is considered a beverage. I am gravy fanatic!

You will find me opinionated and perhaps even, occasionally offensive. I am not politically correct. But if I do offend, it is not intentional; it is just my honest opinion. In the immortal words of Justin Wilson, I realize that I may have used some words and said some things that may have offended some of you good folks tonight. If I did, I did not mean to offend you. The words I use and the things I say are the way we talk where I come from. I did not mean to offend you, no. But if I did… I do not give a damn!

Essential Equipment

The necessary tools to be a good cook need not be many or expensive. The only reason to equip your kitchen with modern gadgets and fancy cookware is if they make you happy. Granted, some of the finest cookware that is heavy, well made and built to last for generations is well worth even the very high prices it sells for. I love Le Creuset enameled cast iron and a few nice pieces of copper cookware are as useful as they are pretty. That said, they will not make you a better cook. Moreover, who says you have to buy new? As I mentioned, quality items are built to last generations. I shop for such professional quality and luxury items at estate sales, yard sales, flea markets and junky antique stores.

Knives

There is an old French saying that cooking began with the first cracking of an egg. But, other than in cooking eggs, cooking often doesn’t begin with a pot or a pan, it begins with a knife. As with most all kitchen tools, quality knives can be extremely expensive. From European brands like Henkle and Wustoff, to the impeccable craftsmanship of high end Japanese knives, if you are one to enjoy spending on luxury items, you can probably drop as much on a few of these as I did on my old pickup truck. Again though, that will not make you a better cook than someone with a lesser expensive, quality knife if it is well suited and he knows how to use it.

What I would consider to be essential knives rarely come in a matched set. I like a good, French type chef’s knife, a paring knife, a boning knife, a filet knife, a cleaver, a carving knife and a bread knife. Of course, all manner of steak knives and utility knives find their uses. You would be surprised how many chefs use only one or two knives for most jobs though. A European chef may use a chef’s knife to chop and dice, butcher meat, hold the spine of the knife as opposed to the handle and use the tip as a pairing knife, use the heel of the blade as a cleaver and even filet a fish with it. Many Asian chefs use a cleaver style knife for almost every job. Speed and skill are tantamount in a professional kitchen and many of the world’s best chefs have learned to adapt the knife that fits their hand to most any purpose as a matter of convenience.

I will get into the qualities to look for in selecting a knife soon, but I want to stress the importance that the knife must fit your hand. Most all but custom made knives are designed to fit the average person’s hand. If you have small hands, these will be too big for you to hold them comfortably. If, like me, you have very large hands, these knives feel very awkward and they tire my hands, wrists and forearms quickly. My favorite knife is a chef’s knife that belonged to my uncle. He was a man who enjoyed collecting luxury items, and he owned several extremely expensive knife sets. When he passed away though, I did not ask my aunt for any of those. There was one old Sabatier that he favored because it fit his hand. He was also a tall man, and that knife fit my hand perfectly. Sabatier is an old French brand that has gone through several changes in ownership. Some of their knives are finely crafted for professional use. Others are cheaply made of inferior materials. Mine is made of high quality steel, holds a sharp edge and fits my hand. It is not one of their finest, nor it is one of their inferior products. It is just a good, dependable, comfortable knife. With proper care, it rarely needs sharpening and has never let me down.

The qualities that make for a good knife are quality, hard but not brittle steel. Soft steel sharpens more quickly, but dulls just as quickly. The blade will attach to the handle in one of three ways. In both many of the most expensive knives and the cheapest knives, the tang (the part that goes into the handle) runs all the way through. In the expensive knives, this is made of hand forged steel and makes them solid, strong, properly balanced and built to last for generations. The cheaper knives are made from stamped steel. Essentially, the knife is cut from a sheet of metal - one end is shaped and sharpened into the blade of the knife, while the other end is sandwiched in the handle material and riveted together. Such knives are light and lack balance, but can occasionally be very good. The classic American and Canadian knives of early - mid 1900, such as Old Hickory and Dexter (even Herter’s) were made in this way, but with heavy carbon steel and finely grained hardwood. Although much less expensive than the fancy imports, never pass one up if you get a chance to buy such knives. They have to be oiled after washing to prevent rust, but the butcher knives, especially, are excellent. The compromise is a smaller tang, sometimes called a rat tail that goes into a hollow handle, often filled with fine sand for balance. Again, many knives in this category will not be the finest but my Sabatier is made in this style, and I have no complaints. In truth, it will wear out sooner than a full tang knife, but that will not be in my lifetime.

There are two ways to hold a knife properly. The way I prefer is to pinch the blade between my thumb and forefinger and grasp the handle with the rest of my hand. This is very comfortable to me and gives me the best knife control. However, many of the world’s best chefs (Jacques Pepin for instance) prefer to lay the forefinger along the spine of the knife so that the knife almost becomes and extension of this finger. Years ago, Alton Brown warned against this grip, as a slippery wet finger could slide off of the spine and be cut by the blade. That made sense to me… and as I don’t like to cut myself, I adopted the grip I use. The wrong way to hold a knife is with all five fingers wrapped around the handle. Unfortunately, that is the most common grip. It annoys me greatly to watch a cooking show in which the star is chopping away with a ridiculously expensive Japanese sushi chef’s knife held in this manner! This grip causes the knife to be unbalanced in the hand. It requires more muscle exertion from the hand, wrist and forearm. It is awkward, sloppy, will cause the cook to tire more quickly and will lead to cuts.

Beyond that, the blade of a knife should be sharp. I sharpen my own knives with a variety of whet stones - my grandfather taught me how. If you do not know how to properly sharpen a knife, there are many online tutorials and videos that will show how. If you own expensive knives and are hesitant to sharpen them yourself, there is likely a professional blade sharpener in your area that will keep your knives in top shape for a minimal fee. A steel is a metal rod with a handle that goes with most knife sets. This is used between sharpenings simply to realign the microscopic teeth of the blade’s edge. Beyond this, you can keep your knife sharp and prevent damaging the blade by always cutting on a wooden or plastic cutting board - never a stone counter, never a plate, etc. Dull knives cause more cuts than sharp knives. Keep your knives sharp.

Conversely, make sure that any part of the knife that comes into contact with your skin is smooth and comfortable to hold during long use. I learned that lesson using one of the cheaply made, lower quality Sabatier chef knifes I found in block set in a vacation rental. My enjoyable vacation of fishing and cooking with a magnificent view of the sea was much impacted by the sharp edges of this blade’s spine and its uncomfortable bolster (where the blade meets the handle). As I was absent mindedly (lack of mindfulness is always a mistake) chopping onions, suddenly the onion and board were covered in blood! No, I had not cut myself. The poorly designed knife caused a blister that was bleeding a surprising amount. Like anyone who has cooked professionally would do, I washed the wound, slapped on a paper towel and some duct tape and got back to work. But then, it was work. No longer was I able to enjoy what I was doing. Had I the foresight, I could have prevented that injury by smoothing the edge with some fine sandpaper or by wrapping my hand in duct tape beforehand. Obviously, it is better to simply use a better knife.

The other aspect of knife safety and efficiency is in knife skill. That is very hard to put into words alone. Again, there are many excellent videos by Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Alton Brown and others online that teach proper knife technique. I will also post videos on my Rumble channel. But essential, in terms of chopping, slicing and dicing is to use the non-knife holding hand to control the knife. That is a bit counter intuitive. The knife hand moves the knife up and down and back and forth. The belly of the blade stays in contact with the knuckles of the opposite hand, fingers curled in. In this way, the non-knife hand controls the cutting as it guides the knife, with the fingers safely away from the blade. And, now you know why I recommend seeing this done - even I would be confused by what I just wrote!

The Towel

Far too often overlooked is a simple kitchen towel. The reason chefs who places their forefinger along the spine of their knife’s blade can do so is because their hand and the knife is dry. But, in the kitchen, we are constantly exposing our hands to water and fats… how is this done? A simple kitchen towel tucked in the waste band. This towel not only keeps our hands and knife dry, but it allows us to grab a hot pan handle or casserole, to wipe up a small spill on the counter, to dust off flour, to stabilize a wobbly bowel, to protect a counter or table form a hot pan, to cover a cooling loaf of bread, to better grip something slippery like a fish or a raw chicken leg, protects our hands when shucking oysters, etc. The humble towel has a million uses in the kitchen and is essential.

The Bowl

Next, in terms of priority, I would rank a mixing bowl - a large bowl with steep sides made of any non-reactive material you choose. I prefer heavy depression glass type bowls. I believe that two companies made these, Anchor Hocking and Pyrex. They were called nesting bowls. The largest holds about a gallon and is canary yellow. Each smaller size is a different color. They are called nesting bowls, because they fit inside each other like a traditional Russian doll. I like these because they are tough, don’t crack or chip easily, are heat proof and heavy enough not to wobble on the counter. I use them all the time. I may mix dough in the big one, make potato salad in the next size down, chop some fruit into one and marinate some cucumbers and onion in the smallest. I uses them to cook with, serve in and to store leftovers in the fridge. You can usually find a whole set at a yard sale or flea market for just a few bucks, and I think they are invaluable. But, all I said, most any bowl will do. A lot of folks like stainless steel bowls, which you can buy new most anywhere. But, I find them to be too light. A wooden bowl is traditional for salads, by the way, because it