Secrets of a Top Chef

I've become quite a "foodie." I love food. I love to eat good food and I love to cook good food. I have a lot of eaters around here and so I cook a lot. I even cook for myself when no one else is eating but me. So, you'd think by now with all this practice that I could say that I am that much closer to being the chef I want to be. What I really am is a chef-wanna-be. It's all in my head, and this post is about to expose my secrets as Top Chef.

Secret number one: I have found you don't have to be an original chef to be a chef. I'm not even close. I'm really nothing more than a research analyst with a good variety of stainless steel pans and a healthy appetite for good food.

Chefs experiment with flavors and because of their skill and training, they can come up with original dishes that please their palates and those they are feeding. Me? I know what sounds good, so when I see a good recipe, I copy it and cook their dish. It's not illegal. There's a whole section in the book store with cook books.

I have found copying to be very successful and I have notebooks of tried and true recipes to prove it.

Exhibit A:
With the help of one my favorite internet chefs, The Pioneer Woman, a.k.a., Ree Drummond, you can make stuff like this. Exhibit A:



Here's the link to her recipe:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/09/cooking_with_my_punk-ass_little_sister_penne_a_la_betsy/

Secret number two: Accept the success in being a copycat. You still created the dish even though it originated in someone else's brain. It counts. I figure there are some people in this world who can't even copy. Thankfully, that person isn't me.

Secret number three: Enjoy your success. Start with this recipe of Ree's and try it on your family tonight for dinner. Trust me, in the end not only are you going to enjoy some delicious pasta but you're going to love the way your family gushes all over you. Of course, as a writer, I would never plagiarize nor do I plagiarize in my skills as a copy cat chef. The key is timing, which leads me to my most important and final secret.

Secret number four: Immediately after your family or your guests give you a compliment, this is the exact moment when you give credit where credit is due - "Hats off to Ree Drummond tonight for this delicious pasta."

Now, it has been my experience that no one cares about Ree Drummond when their bellies are full. Chances are, they don't even know who the heck Ree Drummond is. She's not there. You were the one they saw cooking in the kitchen. And who cares about Ree when they have You! The actual person who brought to life a picture in a book or on a stained piece of paper!

Think of yourself as a mall Santa, just going about doing good in the world. And as you smile and graciously accept the compliments of your family or your guests, remember me. Secretly, we're in this together! Bon Appetit!!