Hey,

I can cook alright, this way or another, but improvements would be rather good. More change, many vegetables, more spicey maybe... any advice? How did you learn to cook at all? Just trying, did you really try cooking many receipes, did you take a course or something?

Something I feel a bit taken aback, some receipes seem rather 'advanced', like in a restaurant, sometimes they turn out not so difficult after all, and rather delicious, then sometimes I find I have to buy some special spice simply for one recipe and can't reuse it anywhere else, which I find impractical.

Any help? Some change would be very welcome, but I feel somewhat uncertain whatever I appear to do, hmm...

Thanks!
Pete

[ort888]

Try a little more basil.

[andi*pandi]

I learned from my folks, but then supplemented with lots of cooking magazines and shows. Experimentation!

[Waragainstsleep]

The trickiest thing about cooking is timing. If you have many elements to a dish, its making sure they are ready at the same time without anything being over or undercooked.

The rest of it is trial and error and experimentation.

If you just want to cook for yourself and your family, probably the best thing is to pick a dish you like the sound of and have a go at it. Then have a few more goes at it, refining it each time. Then repeat the process with another dish. Eventually you'll build a repertoire of techniques and components that you can mix and match so you can go nuts trying out different combos.

You might find that investing some time sourcing better ingredients is worthwhile. Try farmers markets and farm shops, fresher is better. Try shops that specialise in ethnic cuisine if you are looking for something more exotic. You can usually find people who import certain things for expats if you look.


If you want to go all out and maybe become a pro, then I would think a course would be a good idea. You can specialise in aspects of cooking as you can with many other things. Some people spend years just learning to cook pastries. There is so much you could potentially learn. Maybe start with learning about seasonal produce local to you and then look into other places.

[subego]

Outdoor grilling is good (and fun) to experiment with.

The key to experimentation is eliminating variables. A burger on the grill is perfect for that. It has one ingredient (a grade of ground beef) and one, easy to be consistent step of preparation (form a patty). The only thing which will change between each burger is your cooking.

There's one important point I feel needs to be made with regards to grilling burgers. It's about smushing them down on the grill with your spatula.

We're hardwired to want to do this. I don't know why. Do it a few times and just get it out of your system.

[Waragainstsleep]

I put stilton in my burgers. It makes them many times more awesome.

[OAW]

If you can read .... you can cook. If nothing else find some recipes that look good to you and just follow the instructions. Here's a couple of Youtube videos showing you how to use a chef's knife.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm2bmSBR4uE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMzeko-cu5E&feature=related

Learn the differences between basic cooking techniques like sauteing, searing, grilling, baking, braising, and roasting.

Gaining a solid understanding of these basic skills is essential. As was mentioned earlier, the key to bringing a meal together is timing. This you will pick up with practice. Watch plenty of cooking shows. Not the ones that are more contest oriented ... but the ones that are more instruction oriented. Finally ... practice, practice, practice!

OAW

[reader50]

This thread is an invitation to interesting pictures. What immediately came to mind was one of our own photo critique thread contributors.

Originally Posted by cszar2001 

And the Ninja is back too:


Did a whole series with her in the kitchen as the "Ninja Chef". Great fun cutting vegetables in the air. Big mess also.

[Jawbone54]

Hawaiian burger recipe:

1. Marinate some ground beef chuck in this soy sauce and brown sugar overnight
2. Slap it on a grill.
3. Amaze your friends.

Seriously the best burger I've ever eaten. No one at the party used anything other than meat and a bun. It's that good.

[andi*pandi]

What not to do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq7G-Q9ZwC0&feature=plcp

[moonmonkey]

Cooking is easy!

Basically you need to take your base ingredient either ground turkey or tatter tots.
Then mix in 1 can of Campbells chicken soup, equal amounts of thick cream.
Place everythig in a baking tray and cover with crunched Graeme crackers and cheddar cheese.

Put this in the oven for 25 minutes.

Call the family downstairs and high five them and eat with your knive and fork in the same hand.

This is obviously very basic and you can play with this, sometimes we like to crush Pringles on top instead of Graeme crackers, but you get the idea!

[andi*pandi]

I've been to a potluck that featured that very dish. Except it was ground beef AND tater tots. Bonus!

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by PeterParker 

Something I feel a bit taken aback, some receipes seem rather 'advanced', like in a restaurant, sometimes they turn out not so difficult after all, and rather delicious, then sometimes I find I have to buy some special spice simply for one recipe and can't reuse it anywhere else, which I find impractical.

What were you trying to cook?

Some unusual spices can be substituted with more common ones without much change in the flavor. This can often be predicted by looking for more variations on the recipe. There's often hundreds of different recipes for the same dish to be found out there.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I've been to a potluck that featured that very dish. Except it was ground beef AND tater tots. Bonus!

I was thinking of doing this version, but it seems a bit complex.
I will stick with the basic version which I believe was inspired by the Guinée volaille et pommes de terre terrine from the first print of Les dons de comus.

[FireWire]

I started by helping my parents when I was younger (slicing the vegetables, doing a few basic tasks, and mostly watching them) so I learned a bit this way. In college I mostly ate sidekicks and frozen chicken burgers I really started cooking a few years ago, starting with a few recipes found on the web. I have a good nose and a good instinct so that helps. Nowadays I rarely follow a recipe from A to Z. I often merge 2 or 3 recipes (of the same dish) together and add my personnal touch. I tend to limit myself to recipes that don't requie too many ingredients. I keep things simple. My friends and my dates are very impressed by my cooking but as somebody said, it's only a matter of reading. 95% of the job is written there. The rest is your instinct.

Timing is important but don't bother with that yet. Start with something that doesn't require complicated timing. I like marinated things that go in the oven. They're always delicious and the timing is easy to predict. Then add rice and a few vegetables. It's basically a matter of trust in yourself. It looks complicated but it's really simple. What you need is experience. The first time, unless you really screw things up, it should at least be "good". Then you'll learn what to do differently the next times and it won't take long before you are good at guessing what goes with what.

Hello,

alright, I started this thread and as the discussion is still ongoing internally, I thought I'd try and explain a bit my situation.

I can't really cook at all, in a way. I can do this and that (a soup, some spaghetti, I would manage a simple lasagne, I cooked a few recipies, I have a few favorite combinations of vegetables/chicken etc.). I don't know, I feel like there being the great wide world of cooking out there and here I am, I don't know anything at all. My mum can cook okay, sometimes great, but I didn't really ever learn so much, she would rather do it on her own - and then I moved out. And sometimes I think I'm rather seeking a bit of my own way of doing it - I'd also love just to start getting to know some new meals.

So, some of you who you think you can do it really well: Do you ever still use recipies or never, or just for new ideas and then go on your own? And is it possible to get the whole timing problem done extremely well, so it doesn't mess up sometimes? And what do you do when you don't have much time, do you think you can cook and eat well (and healthily), though?


Where to start? I could just go cooking recipies for a month, pick things that look great I thought and get going, but I don't always know, it feels so artificial, I always thought cooking was rather 'free', that you would rather go into a supermarket, buy this and that, go home, make something up - and get going by a combination of experience, taste, time etc.

What to do? Help!
Pete

[andi*pandi]

There's nothing wrong with using a recipe. I don't usually go to the grocery and buy things then get home and figure out what to make though. I find a recipe and make the shopping list from that.

Improv comes when you don't feel like going shopping, and all you have in the house is canned peaches, frozen chicken, cream of mushroom soup, and celery.

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

Improv comes when you don't feel like going shopping, and all you have in the house is canned peaches, frozen chicken, cream of mushroom soup, and celery.

Haha...! But yes, probably a get idea just to try around every once in a while and see what happens... Hmm

[subego]

Was it my imagination, or did some hamburger talk just get vaped?

[reader50]

Must be imagination this time - the thread edit log is blank. No moves, deletes, or edits. Not even any deleted spam for food products.

[andi*pandi]

hamburgers are pretty easy. hardly any recipe at all. Mmm.

[subego]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Must be imagination this time - the thread edit log is blank. No moves, deletes, or edits. Not even any deleted spam for food products.

I must have not hit submit. Thanks for checking!

[Gankdawg]

Originally Posted by OAW 

If you can read and follow directions .... you can cook.

This is the correct answer.

If you want to create, that's a different story.

[shifuimam]

Torrent and watch Good Eats.

I'd tell you to buy the DVDs, but they're out of print and upwards of $100 a season now.

At any rate, Alton Brown is a science geek who went to culinary school in order to do a cooking show, all because he hated all the popular cooking shows. Good Eats is really, really easy to follow and includes all kinds of extremely helpful information about the science behind cooking - not the hipster micronutrition bullshit, either. I'm talking stuff like "how to properly emulsify something and why you do it this way" and "what order to add ingredients to a batter".

We started watching Good Eats regularly maybe a month ago, and we've started cooking like crazy. It's awesome, cheaper and healthier than eating out, and fun. Just watch out for the cleanup - it'll get you every time.

[andi*pandi]

Loved his show! I always wanted to premeasure my ingredients in beakers, it just is so organized.

[shifuimam]

We totally do that now... the "mise en place", it's called. We use little glass bowls from IKEA for everything. It makes things much more organized when you actually start making stuff.

Plus, all this cooking gave me an excuse to FINALLY buy a Kitchenaid artisan stand mixer. It's freakin' awesome!

[andi*pandi]

Oooh! Lucky! I have always wanted one, only deterred by a) expense, b) place to store it, and c) knowledge that I wouldn't use it as much as it deserves.

Yesterday I made pie crust by hand and thought longingly of the dough attachment I've seen used on tv. (Although frankly mixing the dough isn't as much of a PITA as rolling it out!)

[shifuimam]

30% off Kohl's coupons FTW. We also go the ice cream maker attachment, also at 30% off. The total for a mixer in persimmon, the ice cream kit, shipping, and tax was under $330. It was definitely a win. We love it!!

Also, to OP - sorry for the thread hijacking.