Dorian Burns-Coyne, Founder and Owner of Blade & Skillet, breaks down the keys to killing it in the kitchen.
Gentleman, start your kitchens.
Whether you’re a boyfriend, fiancé, husband, or just an everyday Casanova, I think we can all use a little help in the kitchen. ‘Cause if you don’t know by now, the true path to a woman’s heart is through cooking – and with the right moves you can go from the dog house to penthouse in less time than it takes to cook minute rice. (Kidding, don’t use minute rice.)
There are a few simple keys to success, so follow these and you’ll immediately put yourself in a favourable position with your favourite partner.
First Thing’s First: Know Her Likes And Dislikes
This is critical. If you pick up some ingredients haphazardly with the hopes that she’ll be impressed solely because a meal came from your stovetop, think again. If you’re on a first date, strike up a conversation about favourite meals and make some notes for later. If you’re way past that, just offer to make dinner in the near future. Surprises are exciting, and offers are endearing, but not having a starting point is just plain sloppy.
Next, Source Your Ingredients
And, if you can, try to grab them from a market or specialty shop. Like most situations, if you surround yourself with quality it’ll make it that much easier to produce quality. In other words, drop the extra $10 on the key ingredients, and it’ll make your life easier. Also, a dish with a story is significantly sexier than something you found in the bargain bin. It gives you something to talk about while prepping, and it usually comes in more unique packaging. Little details like this make a huge impact.
Lastly, Try To Nail Down All Of A Recipe’s Steps Before It’s Go Time
With Blade & Skillet, I set out to make cooking simple yet delicious, with all of our recipes in short 3-minute videos. They’re a failsafe for even the most novice of cooks. Nothing’s worse than going through all of a recipe’s steps and building the hype to your dining companion only to have her cut into something and realize it’s over/undercooked. Save yourself the embarrassment, and get it right the first time with a tried and tested recipe.
As a bonus, if you take a few seconds to plate the dish properly, you’ll not only have something that’s status worthy, but Instagrammable to boot.
If you think you’re ready, you can find 3 of Dorian’s simple, yet delicious recipes with video instructions here:
– Portebello Burger
– Seared Strip Loin
– White Wine Chicken
At the end of the day, it’s about limiting the amount of guess-work and turning a seemingly tedious task into a pleasant, memorable experience.
Images courtesy of besfoodsmart.com, realityofyou.com and sait.ca
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Blade & Skillet Photography courtesy Sebastien Dubois-Didcock
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