Anyone can cook (Week 6)

"I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant."

If a food snob like Ratatouille's Anton Ego can accept the humble kitchen hacks into his fold, I figured even I might stand a chance. So, during the week of Valentine's Day, I set myself the daunting task of cooking–or baking–something every day that I had never cooked or baked before.

Now I'm not one of those guys who avoids the kitchen and leaves all the work to his spouse. It's just that, after 24 years of marriage, we've fallen into comfortable patterns. All things barbecuing are my domain. I'm generally the salad guy, occasionally a waffle-making dad, a frequent pizza topper and even an enthusiastic turkey carver. But most main courses are left to Val. And we rarely venture into the new or different. I imagine most families are like this; you get some safe favourites and repeat endlessly over the decades. Very likely nothing wrong with that.

I should mention that Val was out of town for several of the 7 days, so much of my culinary experimentation was done toute seule. Naturally, I set the bar low for starters.

It began with a google search: casserole for one. I chose that because I mostly don't like casseroles and I thought that would be a good challenge. I found a Mexican dish that involved ground beef, crushed taco shells, salsa and lots of cheese. So really, it was pretty safe. And it was a solid success.

Then came the disaster. It seemed innocent enough to start: chicken fried rice. I followed the recipe to the letter, only to produce a dish that was almost entirely without flavour. I figured I'd be making enough for 3 days' worth of lunches, but that wasn't going to happen because the entire potful ended up in the compost. Just couldn't do it, and the guilt was palpable.

The highlight of the week was easily the Valentine's surprise I prepared for Val's return on February 14. It was simple enough ingredient-wise: strawberries, milk chocolate, white chocolate (Callebaut, of course!). The tricky part is the prep, melting the chocolate to just the right consistency for dipping in the milk chocolate, and then figuring out a way to drizzle the white chocolate in an artful way on top. Well, the result was fantastic, no other way to describe it. And I apologize if this gets any other husbands into hot water, but I think I just won Valentine's.

One thing I have always loved is Val's homemade pizza. Getting that dough just right is a minor miracle, but the really exciting part is watching her toss the unbaked crust in the air, just like in an Italian pizzeria. So, with her guidance, I made that an item on my list. After much satisfying kneading and punching of the dough (take that, schoolyard bully!) I worked up the courage to throw the whole thing 2 feet over my head. I think I was as surprised as Val when it landed almost gracefully in my outstretched fingers. Oh, and the pizza–pesto, chicken and black olives–was excellent.

The week ended with a visit from our son Nic, and a recipe for Japanese Mum's Chicken that I found online. Since I am decidedly not a Japanese mum, I reckoned this would be another chance to spread my culinary wings. And it was. Boiling down a pot of skin-on-chicken to a sticky glaze was as much science experiment as cooking foray, and I was pretty blown away by the results. This will become a new "family dish" that we can cycle into the mix over the years to come. And this time, I'll be the one accepting the kudos from an appreciative clan.

Anyone can cook. It's simple, and it's true.

NEXT WEEK: Letter to a family member every day!