QVC’s David Venable Shares His ‘Unusual’ Cooking Hack – And His Go-To Lazy Meal
When you tune into QVC and see David Venable on the screen, you know there’s going to be some scrumptious food involved. We were lucky enough to chat with the cook and get some expert insights — including his favorite cooking hack, the simple meal he loves after a long day of work, and the one kitchen tool he says he can’t live without.
“This is going to sound a little unusual, but I think once I explain it, it may make more sense,” Venable tells us. “Rotisserie chicken is my favorite kitchen hack.”
That definitely does seem a little unorthodox, but he elaborates, “So many of the things I cook, so many of the dishes that I make, require chicken as an ingredient, either shredded or sliced or pieced. What I love about rotisserie chicken is that I could buy a couple of these a week, keep them in my fridge. They are already pre-cooked, pre-seasoned. They are ready to roll.”
Venable says he likes to shred rotisserie chicken up to quickly add to soups, fold them into a casserole, or make a chicken salad. ”It helps cut down on so much cooking time and also takes that one step of having to heat up the oven or heat up a pan on top of the stove to prepare fresh chicken,” he explains. “I call it either a cooking hack or a supermarket shortcut.”
And as someone who cooks for a living, Venable admits that it’s sometimes the last thing he wants to do after a long day of work. “But I love to eat and I’m always hungry so one thing that I really love to make on my lazy days would be frozen potstickers.” He likes stocking up on the Perfect Gourmet Classic Potstickers (Buy from QVC, $40.75).
“I love them because they are pre-cooked, they are frozen, and I throw them into a non-stick skillet. They’re called potstickers for a reason, so brown them up, put them in a little bit of water, some frozen peas and sliced scallions, and you’ve got a meal — but not before I also throw some microwave rice into the microwave that cooks in about 90 seconds,” Venable says. “Suddenly I have a meal on the table in probably about 20 minutes and something like this is easy.”
No matter what he’s cooking, Venable says the kitchen tool he reaches for most often is his trusty “spurtle” (Buy from QVC, $21.98 for four piece set). He says the delightfully named combination of a spoon and spatula is great for “scraping, smashing, sautéing — all the s’s.” He adds, “They are just perfect for sautéing vegetables for a stir-fry or stirring oatmeal for breakfast in the morning. This one tool does it all, so I just really love it. I keep it by my stove and use it probably every day.”
Sounds pretty handy to us! Be sure to pick up a copy of our latest print magazine (buy on newsstands now or on Amazon, $59.60 for a year’s subscription) for more amazing cooking tips and recipes from Venable.
