Learning To Cook?

[Futurama]

First off, i'm not interested in taking any classes or anything :)

 

 

 

One of my resolutions this year is to learn how to cook, so I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of things to learn to cook? I'm not talking about out of the ordinary stuff like Chicken in Red Wine with New Zealand Potatoes or anything, just basics: Curry, Chilli Con Carn̮̩̉̉, etc. :)

 

 

 

I basically just want to learn how to cook enough different things so I can cook and eat when I get hungry.

 

 

 

& no "make a sandwich" comments please :P

 

 

 

So what should I cook? :)

[My_Eggs]

Take a look into the personal recipes thread, lots of recipes and how to make them there. :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: You should try making Bubsa's Chicken and Skittles

[Errdoth]

soups are always good

[Giordano]

Open, put in microwave, eat. Simple as that :

[SuziAngel]

Make pasta bolognese...one of the easiest meals ever....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will need a fairly large saucepan.

 

 

 

Peel and chop 1 onion, fry in a little oil until golden brown.

 

 

 

Add minced beef (go for the lean stuff, fat = ych a fi) and fry until brown.

 

 

 

Drain off any excess fat.

 

 

 

Chuck the following ingredients into the pan:

 

 

 

*A tin of tomatoes (have another on standby incase you need more)

 

 

 

*Some sliced mushrooms.

 

 

 

*About 2 teaspoons of tomato puree

 

 

 

*A crushed clove of garlic (optional)

 

 

 

*An oxo cube (or 2 teaspoons of gravy granuals)

 

 

 

*A pinch of Italian herbs

 

 

 

*Seasoning to taste

 

 

 

Cook it for about half an hour.

 

 

 

Serve with pasta of your choice and maybe some garlic bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any leftovers can be either frozen, or turned into chilli by adding another tin of tomatoes, a tin of red kidney beans, a little chilli powder (cayenne pepper) and some chopped chillis (optional).

[nightshade53]

Take a look into the personal recipes thread, lots of recipes and how to make them there. :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: You should try making Bubsa's Chicken and Skittles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My thread is famous :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just have a bash in your kitchen. Find whatever ingredients you can, throw em into a blender and bake whatever comes out... You can eat it if you dare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alternatively you could just buy a cookbook, and start out with easy stuff - flapjacks, scones etc. Then work your way up to Jamie Oliver standard :P

[weezcake]

Well I had a bunch of time over the weekend so I decided to make dinner with a friend. Makes it easier if you have some help and plus it can be a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made mac and cheese, mozarella mushroom chicken, and lasagna. Tasted pretty good :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start with chicken or pasta because they're easy and cheap. Look through recipes at allrecipes.com and find one that you like -- and that's within your skill level -- and make it. Then practice!

[jemathonical]

Just read a cookbook, they pretty much tell you everything you need to do.

 

 

 

Start by making something easy like muffins or cakes

[unknownmasterofnothing]

you could buy cooking mama for ds lol.

[Garrgoyle]

I personally recommend learning to make my own "????? and omlette".

[____]

Just read a cookbook, they pretty much tell you everything you need to do.

 

 

 

Start by making something easy like muffins or cakes

Then you start tweaking the ingredients :)

[insane]

go for the lean stuff, fat = ych a fi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure about that. If you're draining the fat, then why not just buy the regular fat beef as the fat will be drained anyways and save yourself some money?

[knives669]

I would suggest learning how to cook breakfast foods. They can be quite easy and filling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learn to cook pancakes, which is really simple if you just buy some pancake mix and pay attention to the directions on the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, you can experiment with eggs cooked in different styles. Like, scrambled, sunny side up, over easy, or cooked in toast. ^.^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really, all you need to cook eggs sunny side up, or over easy, is cooking oil (butter works too) and however many eggs you want to cook.

 

 

 

Get a pan, pour a small amount of cooking oil (a more generous amount of butter should you decide to use that) in and heat it up.

 

 

 

Crack an egg open and let it fall into the pan. Then, just let it cook for sunny side up eggs. This will cook the yolk from the bottom and you'll still be able to see it all yellowy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For over easy eggs, you simply flip the egg over in the pan. This is good if you don't want your yolk to be all runny. But, it can often be tricky cooking the yolk all the way through.

 

 

 

You don't want to leave the stove on high all the time, otherwise the cooking oil could pop out when you move the egg around and it could really burn you. So, heat it up on high for a little while, and start to cook your eggs on medium. :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For an egg cooked inside a piece of toast, add a good amount of butter to the bottom of your pan and let it heat up on medium. Take a normal piece of bread, and cut a hole in it. You can use a knife, but I prefer to just take a small cup and press it down in the center of the bread to cut the hole. Then, put the bread into the pan and crack an egg into the hole in the center and let it cook with a lid on top.

 

 

 

After awhile, check the underside of the bread to see if it has toasted. If so, carefully flip it over and let it cook on the other side. Once it's done, you can eat it by itself, with syrup or jam, or whatever. ^_^ It's very good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also make bacon or sausage. It's simple warming them up in a microwave, but you can cook them the same way you would cook eggs, and they taste a lot better (in my opinion) than just putting them in the microwave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a lunch or dinner meal, you can cook tacos! They're really easy to make as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buy some chopped up beef and taco seasoning from the store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warm up a pan and put the beef in it. You might want to add some water.

 

 

 

Chop up some onions and put them into the beef as well.

 

 

 

Take a spatula and stir the beef around, making sure not to let it clump.

 

 

 

After the beef and onions have browned, put the taco seasoning in and stir around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can eat this with hard or soft tortillas that can be bought at the store. They taste especially good if you toast them in the oven for a few minutes. Then, you can add whatever else you like on tacos, such as sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, whatever. ^_^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also make cheese dip with Velveeta cheese. Just buy some Velveeta cheese, and salsa.

 

 

 

Cut the cheese up into squares, and throw them into a bowl, then pour a can or 2 salsa in. Then, warm it up in the microwave, until you can easily stir it. You can also add some beef (like the taco beef I mentioned above) to the mixture. Makes it taste yummy. ^_^

[rushrock]

Make pasta bolognese...one of the easiest meals ever....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will need a fairly large saucepan.

 

 

 

Peel and chop 1 onion, fry in a little oil until golden brown.

 

 

 

Add minced beef (go for the lean stuff, fat = ych a fi) and fry until brown.

 

 

 

Drain off any excess fat.

 

 

 

Chuck the following ingredients into the pan:

 

 

 

*A tin of tomatoes (have another on standby incase you need more)

 

 

 

*Some sliced mushrooms.

 

 

 

*About 2 teaspoons of tomato puree

 

 

 

*A crushed clove of garlic (optional)

 

 

 

*An oxo cube (or 2 teaspoons of gravy granuals)

 

 

 

*A pinch of Italian herbs

 

 

 

*Seasoning to taste

 

 

 

Cook it for about half an hour.

 

 

 

Serve with pasta of your choice and maybe some garlic bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any leftovers can be either frozen, or turned into chilli by adding another tin of tomatoes, a tin of red kidney beans, a little chilli powder (cayenne pepper) and some chopped chillis (optional).

 

 

 

HOMG! My dad makes that...I love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to learn to cook! I've cooked recipes before, and I want to expand my knowledge. I don't think I want to turn it into a profession, though...

[Fadfdfd]

Kayla has very good taste : I love dipping toast in an over easy egg. :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I prefer scrambled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a look into the personal recipes thread, lots of recipes and how to make them there. :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: You should try making Bubsa's Chicken and Skittles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made your peanut butter and banana sandwich today! It was Pwnage! :D

[My_Eggs]

Kayla has very good taste : I love dipping toast in an over easy egg. :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I prefer scrambled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a look into the personal recipes thread, lots of recipes and how to make them there. :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: You should try making Bubsa's Chicken and Skittles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made your peanut butter and banana sandwich today! It was Pwnage! :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glad you liked it. :

[Necromagus]

Ok... *busts out notebook*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marinades for steak:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) Asian: Garlic, onion or shallot, ginger, soy sauce, oyster flavoured sauce, crushed red or green chillies, pepper, a tblespoon full of honey, olive oil for binding. Put everything in a zip-top bag with the steak, get as much air out of the bag as you can, and zip it up and leave in the fridge overnight, flipping once if possible. Grill to medium rare and slice against the grain. Serve with a nice asian salad with a lime vinagrette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) Mexican: Garlic, onion or shallot, adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles), lime juice and zest, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, olive oil. Same zip top method overnight, grill medium rare, cut on a bias into strips. Wrap strips in flour tortilla with pico de gallo, shredded monteray jack, guacamole, fresh or grilled peppers and onions etc...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those are my two favorites, but experimentation is a beautiful thing. You really just need three flavour profiles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) Salt

 

 

 

2) Acid

 

 

 

3) Bite or fragrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Spicy chicken:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces,

 

 

 

a cup of breadcrumbs

 

 

 

a tablespoon of crushed red pepper

 

 

 

a tablespoon of thyme

 

 

 

a heaped teaspoon of chopped garlic

 

 

 

2 chopped habanero peppers

 

 

 

a medium sized onion peeled and chopped

 

 

 

1/6 cup oil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the oil heats on medium high in a skillet, stir together everything except the chicken, when the oil is hot enough, put the chicken in and put everything else on top and cook until the meat is done, stirring/turning over often.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pasta for dummies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boil some pasta. While it's cooking, take 125ml of milk, 25g of grated strong cheese of your choice, and about 10g of plain flour. Stir like buggery until it boils and thickens. Add a tablespoon of tomato puree. Mix in the pasta and serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lentil Soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're poor, you can't get much more nutritious and tasty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fry up two onions over low heat in some olive oil, until golden. Add a few garlic cloves if you like. Throw in about 1 cup of red lentils, and stir through the oil, and add 0.5 to 1 tsp of cumin (and whatever other spice you might want). Stir for a minute until fragrant, and then add a quart (a litre, but I'm working with you Yankees) of chicken stock, add salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, covered, for about 2 minutes. The lentils should cook and the soup will thicken up nicely. Add a good handful of chopped parsley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, the clincher. Add lemon juice to taste, a good half a lemon per bowl of soup. Now, sprinkle with sumac (leave out if you can't find it - it's a red spice essential in Lebanese food with a sour/salty flavour that's great). Serve up. This soup tastes good (make sure to season it well), is no work, and is very cheap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Chicken in honey:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 boneless chicken thighs

 

 

 

half a cup of honey

 

 

 

a chicken bulion cube

 

 

 

tabasco

 

 

 

and various herbs (rosemary, oregano, parsley, etc)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put the chicken on a skillet for about 10 minutes a side. While that is happening, Put the honey and the bulion cube in about 2 cups of water and put it on the stove. Once that has heated up enough to dissolve most of the bulion, take it off and mix in the herbs and a bit of tabasco.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the chicken has been done 5 minutes on each side, pour the liquid over all of it, and let it simmer at about 200-250 cel. for another 20 minutes.

[rocketman089]

I'll cook anything Rachael Ray teaches me to cook.

[Faux]

Giada de Laurentiis > Rachael Ray :shock:

[rocketman089]

She does make some fabulous italian food I must say. But her delivery, it just isn't like Rae Ray. Alton Brown has the most interesting cooking show ever imo, Good Eats. Watch that if you get it. (Food Network )

[assassin_696]

Experiment with all sorts of different things. Look in a cookbook or something for an idea or inspiration, but tweak it to what you like.

[ctp080188]

Best advice in cooking I ever got, well not strictly advice but still, was just from watching my parents cook. Man I love my dads cooking, I just copy what he does, my recipes are from him!!

[Bubsa]

Seriously Rob, go for my Chicken and skittle thing. It's really nice and cooking chicken is easy and helpful for other meals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're going to get a cook book, I'd get Nigella Lawson's. It's yummy, plentiful, and she actually looks like she's enjoying her food, unlike loudmouth Ramsay or children Crusader Jamie Oliver.

[Bloodredsword]

MAKE ITALIAN FOOD :o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOW