Cooking meat can seem intimidating. We all want to feel as sexy as Salt Bae in the kitchen, but more often than not we feel like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets (with our hands just grabbing at random objects as we try desperately to make something edible). Marinades, temperatures, grills — if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can can easily mess up a nice cut of steak, and have to hang your head in shame forever. Once you’ve messed up once, your confidence falters. Your meat cooking flashbacks go into effect every time the scent of a good burger wafts your way.
Luckily, Chef Christian Winkler is here to save us from ourselves and teach us how to make delicious meat in all sorts of creative ways. Winkler’s videos at Cook With Me.at will walk you through different recipes step-by-step while tantalizing you with sexy music and close up shots of the good stuff. I was able to ask Winkler some questions about how he turned into a meat cooking God, and he was kind enough to provide some of his videos and photos for us all to drool over.
Check out some of his awesome recipe videos below and get ready to impress all you loved ones with your new meat prowess in the kitchen.
Why did you decide to start Cook With Me.at?
It’s been my dream to write a cookbook. But nobody would give me the chance to do so, because who is Christian Winkler? So I started to make videos. This soon became more fun than coming up with the recipes. I receive feedback just a few seconds after uploading a video, and I love the direct contact with people. Today making videos (with filming and editing) is as fun for me as the actual cooking!
And the best thing is that now I finally am fulfilling my dream to write a cook book, of course about meat, bbq, and grilling.
How did you become so adept at cooking meat? And what’s your background with cooking?
I love meat! And not only because of the taste. Because you can prepare it in so many different ways, and it gives you endless opportunities. I went to culinary school and worked a few years as a chef. After studying and now working for almost 10 years in advertising, COOK WITH ME.AT is just the perfect way to share my passion about cooking.
Your pictures of food are excellent! I know that photographing food and making it look as good as it tastes is challenging, how do you make the food look so delicious?
To be honest, I have no idea about photography and filming! I just try to make food look its best.
What are the challenges of using a grill vs other cooking methods?
For me using a grill is just like cooking in a kitchen. A grill, as soon as it has a lid, works just like a stove top combined with an oven. Everything you cook in your kitchen can be done on a BBQ, even cakes.
What’s your favorite style to cook in?
The combination of direct and indirect heat. Grill a steak over the hot coals and cook it until it has reached the desired done-ness in indirect heat with a little bit of smoke – just perfect.
Is there a recipe that is way easier than people think it would be? Where should beginning cooks start?
Making your own bread for example is very easy, healthy, and is so much fun! Also, big roasts are actually very simple to make. My tip for beginning cooks – just do it and start with the recipes you love! When you know how it should taste, it is easy to make.
What’s one of your favorite recipes that you’ve come up with?
Definitely Bacon Sushi! It was (and is still!) my biggest success and it tastes awesome.
What’s one of the more challenging dishes you’ve attempted?
Once I tried to make mozzarella – it was a complete disaster! Also, still trying to improve my Peking duck skills.
Who in your life benefits from your cooking?
Family, friends, and of course my girlfriend.
Do you think you could ever be a vegetarian?
I love vegetables, and when not filming I try to eat as little meat as possible. But to answer your question — no! Once in a while I just need a steak.
How do you come up with your recipes? And how often do you experiment in the kitchen?
That really depends. Sometimes I work for month on a recipe until I like it and sometimes I wake up in the morning and have an idea. I never experiment, as soon as I like the recipe created in my head, I just start filming.
What do you do when you’re not cooking and running the blog?
I work in an advertising agency in Fuschl am See, Austria. When not working or filming I love to travel, meet people and just enjoy life. Also, I’m working on my DIY skills. Another passion is to build stuff, like furniture or BBQ´s – but unfortunately I’m not very good in it.
