At a retreat I was working in Sedona recently, someone asked me how and when I learned to cook.  It’s a sweet saga that ranges from a divorce many years ago (where I realized that my broke self could no longer afford to eat out at nice restaurants), to stumbling into a job as a hut host at high-end hut in the San Juans a few years ago (hi, Thelma Hut!), to realizing that not everyone thinks about food from sun up to sun down (bless my partner who listened to my half asleep musings earlier today on whether the handpicked cherries I froze last summer would be too tart in a homemade “nice” cream).

I am fairly food obsessed.  I often receive the feedback that when I’m in the kitchen cooking, I seem like I’m in my element.  (I am.)  I LOVE being a private chef.  I love physically connecting to that which nourishes.  I love reading cookbooks cover to cover.  I love playing around with ingredients and techniques.  I love that I spent six hours cooking today… and that that’s my JOB.  I feel so fortunate to be a long-term Durango resident and to be supported in what I’m doing by this community.

As I reflect on the twists and turns that have led me to being a full-time private chef, I realize how much I’ve learned along the way.  Much of this comes from the great chefs of our time; some comes from trial and error.  1) Taste as you go, taste as you go, taste as you go.  I cannot say this enough.  (I taste so often as I’m cooking that 90% of the time, I’m not even hungry by the time the food is done.)  2) Reach for the acid before you reach for the salt.  If you can’t figure out what’s wrong with the dish, try a few drops of lemon (or lime or ACV or vinegar, depending on the specifics of the dish itself).  3) Trust your instinct!  If you feel like cumin will complement the carrots, try it!  (Pull a carrot or two, sprinkle a bit of cumin over said carrots, see how it tastes.  You don’t have to cumin the whole dish.)  4) Don’t overcrowd the pan.  A lesson I’ve learned the hard way.  Unless you’re wanting your seared broccoli to be steamed broccoli, sear in batches.  5) Have fun!  Play with your food.  Touch it.  Pay attention to what the sizzle tells you; listen to what wants to come through instead of forcing what you think is supposed to happen.  6) Buy a meat thermometer.  Meat should never be overcooked.  7) Eat with the seasons.  It’s what your body wants.  (Long before we shipped food worldwide, we ate what was available to us locally.  Long before there was a USDA Organic label, there was a world where all foods were grown with organic practices.)

More reflections to come.  In the meantime, happy eating… from this Durango private chef 🙂