Chef Paulo

Stovetop Technique

Start here

Food sizzling in a pan on a stovetop burner, the visual and audible cues cooks read instead of following recipe timings
Stovetop Technique

Stovetop Technique: Reading Heat Instead of Following Timings

Recipes give you timings because they have to. They don’t know your stove, your pan, how cold your chicken was,…

All posts in this cluster

Rustic kitchen rack hung with several different pans and fresh ingredients, showing why a home cook needs nonstick, stainless and cast iron rather than one pan
Stovetop Technique

Nonstick, Stainless or Cast Iron: You Need Three Pans, Not One

A Tuesday in a Mediterranean kitchen might mean eggs in the morning, a piece of fish at midday, and a…
Onions and mushrooms coloring in an uncovered skillet, showing the browning that separates sauteing from sweating
Stovetop Technique

Sweating vs Sautéing: The Lid Decides, Not the Dial

A recipe tells you to sweat the onions until soft and translucent, and ten minutes later you have onions that…
Finely diced onion, carrot and celery softening together in olive oil in a pan, the base of a proper soffritto
Stovetop Technique

How to Build a Soffritto (and How to Tell When It’s Done)

Two cooks make the same braise from the same recipe. One tastes built — layered, round, like it had somewhere…
An uncovered stainless steel pot on a stovetop with the water moving hard and steam rising, the rolling boil that sits at the far end of the poach-simmer-boil scale
Stovetop Technique

Poaching, Simmering and Boiling: What the Water Should Look Like

Poaching, simmering and boiling are one ingredient at four speeds. Learn to read the surface of the water and you…
A stainless steel pan on a lit gas stove burner with a raw ground-meat patty just placed in it, before any sear has formed, next to a blue kettle and a lidded pot on the same stovetop.
Stovetop Technique

Why Food Sticks to Stainless Steel (It’s Not the Pores)

Picture two pans side by side on the same stove: one holds an egg that won’t budge no matter how…

Free 7-day Mediterranean meal plan

One week of meals, a shopping list, and prep notes — yours to download instantly.

You'll join our mailing list, and the download link is on the very next page. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.