Coach Andrew Harrington

I found my love for cooking again. Through my four years of college, I rarely cooked anything that did not come out of a freezer. When I did, it wound up a disaster more times than not.

Perhaps the most infamous experience was cooking a pound of entirely frozen ground beef because I was too impatient and stubborn to thaw it. Let me tell you, taking granular pieces of ground beef out of the pan as it cooks periodically while there is still half a pound of Antarctic cattle in the pan was the last lesson needed to induce a change in philosophy.

I built up somewhat of a reputation as a disaster chef rather than a Master Chef, so I have recently worked to change the narrative.

Here is how I have done it:

Locate your weakness

As is true in many skills, playing to your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses is the key. For me, I get overwhelmed when I am making a multiple course meal with how much is going on at the same time, so I now strategize to avoid that happening.

Just the other week I was making brats, bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers and twice baked potatoes. It seemed like a tall task that I honestly did not believe I could accomplish.

If you spend the time before you actually start the cooking process to prepare the food to the point of heating it up, the task of cooking multiple courses at the same time becomes much less daunting.

Don’t play it safe

How many times does a team that plays it safe win the Super Bowl? I didn't think so. Take that risk and live that dream.

I guarantee you will remember the time you made the best meal you have ever cooked, even if it took 10 attempts where you came up short, long before you will remember the time you played it safe and cooked up a 7/10 meal. If you do fail, you will also remember that. It could be your version of the frozen beef story, which may sound like a bad thing, but it has put a smile on my face every time I have thought about it for about five years now.

Take a day

Like anything, to truly get good at cooking, you have to want to get better. In order to want to get better at cooking, you have to give yourself something to get excited about.

If you are looking to get excited, come up with a great meal you want to cook about 24 hours before you make it. Waiting any longer makes the idea lose its whimsy, but any shorter and your brain cannot get properly excited.

The number of times I have thought of a great addition to a meal because I gave myself a day to think on it has been countless.