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Welcome to the Cook's Notebook on Just Maika Cooking—your one-stop shop for everything you need to elevate your culinary skills!

This category is packed with educational articles that focus on essential how-tos, from mastering kitchen techniques to understanding ingredients and maintaining your favorite kitchen tools.

Want to know how spicy your peppers are? Check out our guide on the Scoville Scale to take the guesswork out of heat levels. Ready to get more hands-on?

Learn the best methods for Prepping Chicken like a pro. And don’t miss our detailed tips on Cast Iron Care, ensuring your pans last for generations. Search the Cook’s Notebook section and confidently refine your cooking expertise!

  • Cast Iron Skillet Care: How to Clean, Season, and Maintain Your Pan
  • half way through chopping the onion.
    How to Chop Onions Without Crying (Quick Method)
  • thermometer inserted in steak to check the internal temperature.
    Internal Meat Temperature Chart (Printable Guide)
  • split image of a slice of bread. left untoasted. right toasted.
    How the Maillard Reaction Makes Food Taste Better
  • pan-grilled flank steak being thinly sliced.
    Steak Grilling Times Chart: Perfect Temp & Cook Times
  • the shell of the shrimp being peel with two hands.
    Guide to Shrimp: How to Clean, Cook, and Choose the Best
  • Blender blending cilantro, jalapeños, and lime for sauce.
    What Is Emulsification? A Simple Guide to Creamier Sauces and Dressings
  • garam masala in a stainless steel condiment cup being poured into the chicken vegetable curry in the dutch oven.
    Indian Cooking Techniques That Changed How I Think About Food
  • close up of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji López-Alt.
    Best Food Audiobooks for Chefs & Home Cooks
  • The Best Cooking Shows on Prime Video for Curious Home Cooks
  • chef maika holding a bunch of collard greens with long beans in a basket.
    2026 Fall Seasonal Produce Guide: Fruits and Vegetables to Enjoy This Season
  • stacked collard green leaves.
    Best Collard Greens Substitutes: 7 Leafy Greens
  • hands holding the greens with the bowl tilted to pour out the water.
    How to Clean Collard Greens | Step-by-Step
  • chopped collard greens on a cutting board.
    How to Trim and Slice Collard Greens (Step-by-Step Guide)
  • collard greens in a glass container.
    How to Store Collard Greens | Fridge & Freezer Guide
  • top view of the Curry spatchcocked chicken with vegetables plated in a large wide round bowl
    Caribbean Thanksgiving Meal Prep Plan Ideas | 2026
  • close up of frozen pureed fresh banana popped up in an anytime freezer tray.
    Homemade Baby Food: How to Prep, Freeze & Build Easy Meals
  • freshly picked tomatoes and peppers in a basket.
    Seasonal Produce Guide: What Fruits and Vegetables Are in Season?
  • whole golden brown Roasted spatchcock chicken with backbone seperated and roasted as well on a sheet pan with a wire rack.
    How to Roast Food: The Fundamental Principles of Roasting
  • halved acorn squash with one seeded out facing up on a cutting board next to a two-sided melon baller
    Winter Seasonal Produce Guide: What’s In Season
  • Spring produce of sliced radishes, baby spinach and onions in a glass bowl.
    Spring Seasonal Produce Guide: What to Cook Fresh This Season
  • Fresh tomatoes, basil leaves, and a jalapeño pepper in a basket.
    Summer Seasonal Produce: A Guide to Fruits and Vegetables in Season
  • hands picking the leaf away from the stem.
    How to Prep Collard Greens: Complete Beginner’s Guide
  • close up of poblano peppers.
    Prepping Chili Peppers
  • Culinary Glossary
  • slitting chicken breast on a color coded cutting board with a knife.
    How to Cut Chicken: Several Methods for Prepping Tutorials
  • slitted salt and pepper seasoned red snapper filets on a color coded plastic cutting board for raw fish .
    Prepping Fish: How to Prepare Fish Before Cooking
  • ingredients for the lemon oregano vinaigrette in spread out and labeled.
    Prepping Herbs
  • front view of the double boned lamb chop.
    Prepping Lamb
  • mixed mushrooms on a round tray
    How to Prepare and Cook Mushrooms: A Beginner’s Guide
  • halved mangos on a plastic hard cutting board with a knife
    How to Cut a Mango: The Easiest Way to Peel, Prep, and Cut a Mango into Cubes
  • two halved acorn squash skin side up. one in whole while the other has been cut into sliced rings half way through laying on a cutting board next to a knife
    Prepping Gourds
  • How to Prep Sweet Peppers (Wash, Cut, Seed & Store Them)
  • Close-up of garlic chopping on a vibrant green cutting board with a sharp knife.
    How to Use Garlic in Cooking: Easy Tips for Beginners
  • half thawed frozen chicken sliced on a cutting board for perfect slices.
    How to Slice Chicken Perfectly Every Time
  • Diamond slit chicken breasts in a plastic container.
    Diamond Slit Chicken Breast (Video & Pictures)
  • butterflied chicken breast on a cutting board.
    How to Butterfly Chicken Breasts | Step-by-Step Guide
  • a butterflied chicken that has been divided into two with one half cut into thirds for small chicken cutlets
    How to Prep Chicken Cutlets for Quick, Delicious Meals
  • whole chicken on the cutting board being cut with kitchen shears from the bottom up on the left side of the chicken's backbone.
    How to Spatchcock a Chicken: Easy Step-by-Step Guide for Juicy, Even Cooking
  • cutting chicken breast into large chunks on a cutting mat for raw poultry.
    How to Cut Chicken: Large Chunks vs Small Dice
  • showcasing all of the chicken parts on the cutting board.
    How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken | Step-by-Step Guide
  • showing a fat line on the side of chicken thigh.
    How to Trim Chicken: The Best Way to Prep Chicken Before Cooking

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Welcome!

Chef Maika's profile photo in a chef coat and hand band with arms crossed smiling.

I’m Maika, a professionally trained chef, recipe developer, and culinary educator. For over a decade, I worked at major hotels, including the PGA National Resort, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Conrad Hilton, and W Hotel. As a lifelong passionate cook, my blog explores a world of flavors and experiments with recipes to create restaurant-quality dinners that will excite the food enthusiast's taste buds. Learn More →

Dietary Needs

Sliced Peach Piri Piri Chicken with Fonio Kale Salad on a plate.

Pollotarian

Caesar Salad with soft-boiled Egg, roasted campari Tomatoes and Chili-Infused Croutons garnished with freshly grated parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper in a wide rim bowl.

Vegetarian

Gluten-Free

Dairy-Free

Grilled Zhug Ras el Hanout Lamb Chops and Tomato, cucumber, onion Salad served with a lemon-oregano dressing served with a grilled lemon.

Grain-Free

grilled marinated tofu on top of a warm roasted vegetable couscous salad on spicy basil romesco sauce in a wide rim bowl topped with micro greens.

Egg-Free

top view of the the Easy Spicy Crispy Chicken Tacos with Cholula Sour Cream sprinkled with fresh chopped cilantr on a flat white round plate with shallow straight sides.

Nut-Free

top view and close up the Lemon Calabrian Chili Chicken Orzo Soup in a wide rim bowl .

Mediterranean

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