Everyone wants to make delicious food, but the question is how. Not all of us went to culinary school, not all of us have the work experience and not all of us care to put in tons of time.
On my quest to discover how one makes delicious dishes, I sat down with Andrew Nyburg, a culinary graduate and local sous chief.
Q. How long have you been in the food industry?
A. About 10 years of working, plus my culinary training
Q. What was one “wow” moment you have had in the kitchen?
A. After attending culinary school and working at multiple restaurants, I found that when using fresh herbs, flavours seemed to jump out and accent the whole profile of the dish. Cooking became much more thrilling when experimenting using different herbs.
Q. What is one of your favorite dishes using fresh herbs?
A. Taking an ordinary pork with applesauce idea and turning it into stuffed pork using apples, cranberries, rosemary, thyme and breadcrumbs. The taste profile is outstandingly, it’s in a different league.
I took these words to heart and over the following week I implemented one rule – only use fresh herbs. My first dish was spaghetti with fresh rosemary, basil and oregano. The result, a transformative discovery; my food was delicious. In fact I would go as far to say that I didn’t know food could taste that good.
I began cooking with fresh herbs in all the dishes I regularly made. I found I didn’t have to spend any more time in the kitchen to transform a regular dish into a jaw-dropping, delicious dish. I just had to use fresh ingredients.
Want a great dish filled with herbs?
Mussels with white wine and garlic
3 pounds live mussels
1 bottle of white wine (dry is preferred)
5 cloves of garlic
6 large shallots
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter
2 cups fresh herbs – basil, parsley, chervil (go heavy on basil)
- Rinse and scrub mussels under cool water, scrub away all particles, set aside.
- In a large pot, over medium heat, begin sautéing shallots, salt and garlic. Add wine after 4 minutes and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the mussels, cover and cook on high until all the mussels have opened (about 6-8 minutes)
- Stir in butter and herbs, cover for 2 minutes, remove from heat and serve with fresh bread.
Enjoy the goodness.
