In the kitchen with Elise

Is it like mushy like mashed potatoes (overcooked) or watery like rock soup (undercooked)? Rice is not supposed to be either way. I find the Brazilian style to making rice is the best so far and it is really delicious. You can use any type of white rice, Usually when I buy rice  I look for 'Basmati' or 'Jasmine' style rice it is an indian type  of rice. It is a bit more expensive than the other rice but I like it because to me it tastes a bit better and it is fluffier; but any rice will come out just the same.   How to prepare your rice to get it perfect every time For every  1 cup of rice you put 1 cup of water, ( 1 cup of rice serves about 2 people) so if you are making rice for 4 people you need 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of water, get it?  Here is how to do it step by step (try it) You need Garlic, rice, salt,  water Get a pot and put a tiny bit of oil at the bottom  about 2 tablespoons to be exact (olive oil to be he...

You need to add as many colors as possible to your plate. Notice here in a dish I made a few weeks ago. I made white rice with broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and topside rump roast (beef) with potatoes. And it was absolutely delicious... But my point is I had to think color. Here in this meal I have a total of 5 bright and different colors and that makes the meal look more appetizing and scrumptious. When you add color to your meal it makes you eat it with your eyes. By just looking at the picture. Most of you are getting hungry and are thinking of how delicious the meal is. But you don't know if it is good or not. Before you taste a meal. You eat it with your eyes first. So make it bright, vibrant, fun and exciting. A good thing to add to your meals that will give it this color is vegetables. They are healthy of course and have so many different colors, shapes and sizes. Adding it to your plate causes a clean, healthy conscious and brightness to your dish. However if you...

In order to cook great food you have to enjoy it. You have to enjoy what you do in life period if you want it to turn out well. People who do something they hate doing always end up miserable doing it and always end up doing it to the worst of their ability because they just want to get out of there and get out quickly. If you go to the kitchen with that attitude it will show through your food. Enjoy what you do. Enjoy cooking, even if you hate cooking find something about it that you like. I once had someone tell me that they hate cooking and that they hate being in the kitchen period because they feel it is monotonous (repetitive work). This person hated washing dishes and cooking because she said in her words " you stand over the stove to cook, then you have to wash those dishes, you stand over the stove again to cook something else then you wash those dishes, then you eat and you have to stand near  the sink again and wash those dishes" she hated it. If you fin...

Hi everyone, my name is Elise Jackson. I am 25yrs old. I don't claim to be the worlds best chef, nor do I claim to have all the chef skills of the world. But I did study Culinary Arts in school and graduated with chef skills at the top of my class in 2004, from Greater New Bedford Regional and Vocational High School. I am married for 6yrs now and have cooked everyday since then, that should be skills enough right? Well...  I had the inspiration to create this blog through speaking to  a  few women who to my surprise don't know how to cook, they don't even know where to start. That is surprising to me because cooking is something simple and when enjoyed can be a great work of art. In this blog I intend on sharing the various cooking skills, tips and ideas that I learned in school and through experience. I will post daily blogs of different things such as  cooking tips, recipes, kitchen decor, kitchen utensils, napkin folding ideas, decorating the plate, co...