What's a talent anyone can learn that is helpful to your everyday life?

(a) Practice makes a huge difference. Pick something interesting and keep experimenting.

(b) SAVORY cooking is one thing, it's fun and you don't have to be a perfectionist: Find a couple of things that are foolproof for you. I often start out with frozen chicken breasts from the deep freeze. I put them in warm water for about 45 minutes before I need to cook them. If someone goes nuts and tells you this is deadly, tell them it's sous vide cooking. Then I slice them thin and saute them in a large saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a variety of sauces I experiment with. I started with General Tso;s Chicken, a spicy "chinese" style recipe. 'Velveting' means pat the chicken as dry as possible with paper towels and coat it with a thin layer of corn starch before cooking, it comes out super tender.

(c) There are an enormous number of cookbooks in your local library, and it probably has an interlibrary loan service. "The Flavor Bible" is another handy took that allows you to experiment with flavors to see what you like.

(d) BAKING is another thing. Choose what you want to make and follow the recipe E.X.A.C.T.L.Y.

(e) You may get dares from people who say they can eat any hot peppers you throw at them. Don't mess with dandelion greens unless someone dares you to serve something to scary to eat; they are to bitter what habaneros are to hot.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent