Any GOOD cooks here?

I remember my first beer!

Here's a list of the top 100 culinary schools in MA

http://chef2chef.net/culinary-institute/state/massachusetts-culinary-schools.htm

The kind of knowledge you're looking to acquire won't take 4 years, more like 4 months, and I'm sure there are evening programs offered. IMO the best way to become a good cook is to do it every day, even if it's just for yourself and your family. Once you've mastered the basics, it's all practice. The only thing that really requires specialised training is pastry chef IMO

 

I cant cook to save myself. Neither can my g/f. We always eat out.

 

Well crap, I just typed a long post about kitchen work, then re-read your post and realized you don't wanna get into working in kitchens.

To achieve what your wanting to achieve, you might be best to take some chef classes. Working in a restaurant to learn these techniques will take years. I was a pro cook for 6 years, and only in the last couple of years did my skills really take off. You can learn recipes all day long, but it won't teach you thinks like knife techniques, plate presentation, etc. It's really a lot to learn.

I don't think you'll be able to acquire the skill set of pro chefs in fine dining restaurants without years of hard work in kitchens, and intense research/practice. It's not something you can just pick up at night school.

On that note, get a killer knife set, and take some night classes at a top shelf cooking school. It's a good way to learn your way around a kitchen professionally. Then, if you wish, see about taking up a part time job in some restaurants you like to pick up some more skills. Explain what your objective is and see if they'll work with you. They might, they might not. But working in a busy restaurant is the only way you're ever really going to learn a lot of the stuff you want to learn.

Also keep up with some of the trade publications and food magazines. It's a good way to keep up on trends. Also try to eat out at a 4-5 star restaurant at least every 6 months. Once you get into it you'll start to learn the foods, just like with any career really.

I think everyone who eats out should be required to work in a restaurant for at least 6 months. Maybe then would they respect the industry a little more.

 

Mike, I'm no pro (though way too many people try to encourage me to move in that direction) - but I DO know what I'm doing.

My wife and I rarely eat out due to the fact that between the 2 of us, we can prepare almost any dish/cuisine better than what we would find around Chicago. Note - I did say almost because there are ingredients that we can't easily obtain ourselves & some preperations that are just flat out a WHOLE lot of work.

Here are a few observations that you might consider:

Some of the best chefs aren't the greatest cooks.

Some of the greatest cooks aren't the best chefs.

Being a "chef" is being a manager more than anything - you either manage your support staff (sous chef, etc) or you manage your time.

Being a "cook" (at least on an amateur basis) is being a craftsman or an artist - you might not have a broad range, or maybe you aren't perfectly consistent, but you really shine when you put your heart into it.

Try reading Alton Brown's "I'm just here for the food" - If that suggestion offends you as being too basic, you probably shouldn't follow your chef idea any further unless you value pretentiousness. If you've read it and scoffed at it, I apologize humbly. If you've read it and thought it was great but wanted to go further, then drop me a PM & I'll try to give you some other insight

Any way you slice it, expanding your cooking horizons is a great idea!

P.S.: I made some KILLER "Thanksgiving taquitos" last night by simply putting turkey breast meat, stuffing, & mashed potatoes in a food processor, then rolling the paste into lightly fried corn tortillas & baking in a convection oven until crispy. Was trying to think up a nice cranberry honey mustard reduction as a dipping sauce, but got too hungry & settled for blue cheese dressing

 

I was a sous chef for 3 years let me know what you want to cook and i'll tell you what sauces,wines, and proper cooking methods are.

 

Web site of interest

www.reluctantgourmet.com

Books on experience of culinary school at Hyde Park.

Michael Ruhlman
"The Making of a Chef" (full season professional course)

Martha Shulman
Culinary Boot camp (5 days non-professional course)

 

Here is a place for you to start:

http://forums.egullet.org/

This is a forum filled with people exactly like you. Into "gourmet" food/preparation/presentation, aspiring amateur chefs that like to do it part-time at home, basically.

I've read some advice on some other forums, and a good starting cookbook that is recommended is La Varenne Pratique by Anne Willan. It isn't just a cookbook with recipes, but is rather an instructional kind of book that you read and practice the techniques so that you know the sort of "why and how" rather than just what combinations of ingredients to throw together.

You might want to start researching also on good cookware/knives. That will probably be one of the first steps you make in getting good/expensive knives/pots/pans.