Culinary couple takes team approach
Everyone feels some pressure when they invite people over for dinner. Imagine how it feels for Ty Strickling and his fiancee Katy Graf, both graduates of the Illinois Institute of Arts culinary school.
“They always have high expectations,” laughs Ty. “We can't just pull something out of a jar and call it our own!”
Ty, a buyer for Whole Foods and Katy, a pastry chef for the new restaurant in the Chicago Art Institute, Parzo Piano, met at the culinary arts school. Despite the fact that they work with food everyday, this couple likes nothing better than the chance to fire up the stove and prepare meals together in their Arlington Heights home. For Katy, the advantage to cooking at home versus at work is in the freedom.
“At work I'm told what to cook and of course there are certain restraints. When we're home it's all about our creativity — what we can do with what we have on hand.”
“We'll pick a recipe and look in the pantry. OK, we've got this and this and this, what can we make? You start chopping; I'll start cooking,” said Ty. “I do most of the entree cooking, and she assists, but when we're baking, it's the other way around.”
Certainly having a culinary background gives these cooks some advantages. Ty believes everyone would benefit from the sort of training they received when it comes to picking out good produce. For Ty, buying organic isn't as important as being able to pick out the freshest produce in the store.
“Organic can be very expensive. A lot of times the cheap stuff is just as good or better; you just have to know how to recognize it.” When it comes to buying meat, Ty recommends looking for cuts with the bone left in.
“They have more flavor and buying a whole chicken and cutting it up yourself saves a lot of money. It's really very easy. It just takes practice.”
When it comes to baking, Katy has this advice. “Baking is not one where you can just throw things in. You have to follow the recipe to a T, especially the first time.”
“You really can't deviate too much” said. Ty. ”It needs to be exact, not necessarily for the flavor, but because often one ingredient needs to activate another.”
Even if we are not quite ready to cut up a whole chicken on our own, Ty and Katy offer three really simple ways to improve our cooking. First, always read the recipe completely through with attention to details like teaspoon vs. tablespoon (who hasn't made that mistake with baking powder?) Next, especially when cooking for guests, remember to taste your food at least three times through the cooking process. Finally, be adventurous!
“Don't just stick with what you know, just have fun. It's a hit or miss kind of thing that you can learn from,” said Katy.
The young couple plans to be married next spring and already the pressure is on. They are expected to have really good food at the reception, not to mention the cake.