As the title suggests, I have decided to learn how to cook. I still live with my parents, and my dad, who does most if not ALL the cooking in the house, will be gone for a few weeks. I thought this would be a perfect time to learn how to cook.
I will be [trying to] cook for me and my mom, so I was wondering if you guys could give me some ideas of what dishes to make that. Hopefully the ingredients for the dishes aren't expensive.
Also what type of ingredients can I buy that I can use for multiple dishes? Off the top of my head the only spices (are these considered spices?) we have in the house are salt, black pepper, oregano, and basil.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I become a practice-league cook to a 2000-elo-in-diamond chef in 3 weeks!
p.s. Any pictures of the suggested dish would be awesome as I like seeing pictures of food that look appetizing.
Its my first year living in an apartment in college and my roommates and I have been experimenting with cooking things. We've cooked spam and eggs, fried rice, steamed eggs, steamed cabbage, beef. Those things can be cooked fairly easily. Just need some oil, soy sauce, and salt.
Things that are easy to make and usually taste good are things like baked chicken (You can use a variety of pre made sauces or make your own if you're feeling a bit adventurous) with rice or noodles.
My friend makes baked chicken with pesto sauce on noodles.
You can use alfredo sauce, normal tomato sauce, or anything you find at the store.
You can pan fry the chicken as well. Tastes just as good. I pan fry it with italian salad dressing, and cut it up and put it on salad. Chicken cesar salad, or more italian.
You can bake chicken and microwave(or bake) potatoes and maybe something like boiled carrots on the side. Or corn, peas.
You could basically have the same thing for a week with different sauces and sides and it'll still be good. (: Chicken is super versatile and usually easy to cook.
Yeah i'm leaning toward chicken dishes currently because like you said, if I bought a pack of frozen chicken breasts I could make a multitude of dishes! I am going to try and cook chicken curry tonight hopefully it turns out really really good. because I love spicy dishes; sadly I might have to tone down on the spices because my mom doesn't like spicy food.
As long as you cook with passion and don't skimp on the spices you'll be fine. That is the best tip I can give you. Also, learn how everything feels when it is raw and when it is done. But really, passion is EVERYTHING in the kitchen.
On October 22 2010 05:27 StukA wrote: As the title suggests, I have decided to learn how to cook. I still live with my parents, and my dad, who does most if not ALL the cooking in the house, will be gone for a few weeks. I thought this would be a perfect time to learn how to cook.
I will be [trying to] cook for me and my mom, so I was wondering if you guys could give me some ideas of what dishes to make that. Hopefully the ingredients for the dishes aren't expensive.
Also what type of ingredients can I buy that I can use for multiple dishes? Off the top of my head the only spices (are these considered spices?) we have in the house are salt, black pepper, oregano, and basil.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I become a practice-league cook to a 2000-elo-in-diamond chef in 3 weeks!
p.s. Any pictures of the suggested dish would be awesome as I like seeing pictures of food that look appetizing.
Most important thing in good cookery is the seasoning of the dish.
Learn that and you are halfway there. My big brother, who is seriously the best cook I´ve ever known, used to make incredibly tasty stuff to us smaller kids even if there wasn´t that much ingredients around.
On October 22 2010 05:40 Ghostcom wrote: As long as you cook with passion and don't skimp on the spices you'll be fine. That is the best tip I can give you. Also, learn how everything feels when it is raw and when it is done. But really, passion is EVERYTHING in the kitchen.
Yeah, always taste what you make first so you can maybe fix it if something is wrong. If you can´t compeletely fix it then you know what to do in other way next time. In the end it´s always trial and error.
Meatballs with lingonberry jam and cream potatoes (Swedish recipe):
What do you need:
- 400 g of minced beef - 3 slices of white bread - 2 eggs - Flour - Olive oil or frying butter
- 500 g of potatoes - 500 ml of cream (preferably low-fat)
- 1 jar of lingonberry jam
Procedure:
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them to quarter pieces. Then, cut these pieces in half again.
2. Put the potatoes into a pot, add the cream (potatoes should be entirely covered) and cook it very carefully during 40 minutes. Note that the cream must not entirely boil.
3. Get a bowl with warm water and put the slices of bread in it, until they're completely soaked.
4. Put the minced meat into another bowl and add the eggs. After that, "wring out" the slices of bread, pick them apart and throw the parts into the bowl with the minced meat and eggs.
5. Proceed to mix the meat, eggs and soaked parts of bread and try to "pack" it all together.
6. Form small meat balls out of the mass. "Bread" them with a thin layer of flour and put them into a frying pan (along with some olive oil or frying butter). Proceed to fry them on medium heat level during 15 minutes. Remember to flip them every 3 minutes.
7. Put the potatoes, meat and lingonberry jam on a plate and enjoy!
Meatballs with lingonberry jam and cream potatoes (Swedish recipe):
What do you need:
- 400 g of minced beef - 3 slices of white bread - 2 eggs - Flour - Olive oil or frying butter
- 500 g of potatoes - 500 ml of cream (preferably low-fat)
- 1 jar of lingonberry jam
Procedure:
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them to quarter pieces. Then, cut these pieces in half again.
2. Put the potatoes into a pot, add the cream (potatoes should be entirely covered) and cook it very carefully during 40 minutes. Note that the cream must not entirely boil.
3. Get a bowl with warm water and put the slices of bread in it, until they're completely soaked.
4. Put the minced meat into another bowl and add the eggs. After that, "wring out" the slices of bread, pick them apart and throw the parts into the bowl with the minced meat and eggs.
5. Proceed to mix the meat, eggs and soaked parts of bread and try to "pack" it all together.
6. Form small meat balls out of the mass. "Bread" them with a thin layer of flour and put them into a frying pan (along with some olive oil or frying butter). Proceed to fry them on medium heat level during 15 minutes. Remember to flip them every 3 minutes.
7. Put the potatoes, meat and lingonberry jam on a plate and enjoy!
Meatballs with lingonberry jam and cream potatoes (Swedish recipe):
What do you need:
- 400 g of minced beef - 3 slices of white bread - 2 eggs - Flour - Olive oil or frying butter
- 500 g of potatoes - 500 ml of cream (preferably low-fat)
- 1 jar of lingonberry jam
Procedure:
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them to quarter pieces. Then, cut these pieces in half again.
2. Put the potatoes into a pot, add the cream (potatoes should be entirely covered) and cook it very carefully during 40 minutes. Note that the cream must not entirely boil.
3. Get a bowl with warm water and put the slices of bread in it, until they're completely soaked.
4. Put the minced meat into another bowl and add the eggs. After that, "wring out" the slices of bread, pick them apart and throw the parts into the bowl with the minced meat and eggs.
5. Proceed to mix the meat, eggs and soaked parts of bread and try to "pack" it all together.
6. Form small meat balls out of the mass. "Bread" them with a thin layer of flour and put them into a frying pan (along with some olive oil or frying butter). Proceed to fry them on medium heat level during 15 minutes. Remember to flip them every 3 minutes.
7. Put the potatoes, meat and lingonberry jam on a plate and enjoy!
On October 22 2010 05:42 d1v wrote: Meatballs with lingonberry jam and cream potatoes (Swedish recipe):
What do you need:
- 400 g of minced beef - 3 slices of white bread - 2 eggs - Flour - Olive oil or frying butter
- 500 g of potatoes - 500 ml of cream (preferably low-fat)
- 1 jar of lingonberry jam
Procedure:
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them to quarter pieces. Then, cut these pieces in half again.
2. Put the potatoes into a pot, add the cream (potatoes should be entirely covered) and cook it very carefully during 40 minutes. Note that the cream must not entirely boil.
3. Get a bowl with warm water and put the slices of bread in it, until they're completely soaked.
4. Put the minced meat into another bowl and add the eggs. After that, "wring out" the slices of bread, pick them apart and throw the parts into the bowl with the minced meat and eggs.
5. Proceed to mix the meat, eggs and soaked parts of bread and try to "pack" it all together.
6. Form small meat balls out of the mass. "Bread" them with a thin layer of flour and put them into a frying pan (along with some olive oil or frying butter). Proceed to fry them on medium heat level during 15 minutes. Remember to flip them every 3 minutes.
7. Put the potatoes, meat and lingonberry jam on a plate and enjoy!
Smaklig måltid! (Bon appétit in Swedish)
Can we eat that with rice? haha sorry for asking but being Asian I like eating my dishes with rice XD. If not I will still try that. I have to get a conversion table for those measurements though haha
good tips so far from you guys! In the last time I cooked I made spaghetti sauce on a whim with a little can of tomato paste, sugar, basil, and some diced tomatoes. After tasting it, I thought it was decent and enjoyed my lunch for that day. That moment was when I decided I wanted to be an awesome cook. Hopefully at the end of these 3 weeks i'll be able to answer questions about cooking in threads like you guys!
Garlic is an excellent spice to have, whether it be powdered or fresh.
I also recommend starting by making pasta... it's easy and you can heat sauce for it very easily, or use oil, or butter, or whatever. Rice is good too.. personally I find boil in a bag is the quickest/easiest.
Hamburger helper is a reasonably easy beef dish to make... you just need the buy a pound of chopped meat and have a saucepan that is easy to drain excess fat from. Similar story for sloppy joe... you can just buy a can of the sauce and a pound of beef and use hamburger buns.
Personally I like taking thin sliced chicken breasts and frying them in oil. If you want the recipe let me know, it's amazing, but it's a bit more advanced than what you should start with.
Another beef dish: meatloaf, if you know how to make it is VERY good. MSG me for details.
Meatballs, same story as meatloaf I guess.
Fish is pretty easy... you can buy it fresh if you can afford it lol and then just bake it in the oven... don't overcook it though or it sucks.
Cans of soup are a great way to start meals also... healthy, filling, and not too expensive on sale.
On October 22 2010 05:52 StukA wrote: Can we eat that with rice? haha sorry for asking but being Asian I like eating my dishes with rice XD. If not I will still try that. I have to get a conversion table for those measurements though haha
good tips so far from you guys! In the last time I cooked I made spaghetti sauce on a whim with a little can of tomato paste, sugar, basil, and some diced tomatoes. After tasting it, I thought it was decent and enjoyed my lunch for that day. That moment was when I decided I wanted to be an awesome cook. Hopefully at the end of these 3 weeks i'll be able to answer questions about cooking in threads like you guys!
Oh, I didn't realise you were Asian. Of course you can cook rice instead, meat balls taste great with everything. Also, I suggest you try out some lingonberry jam beforehand, since some people don't like the taste of it at all.
On October 22 2010 05:39 StukA wrote: Yeah i'm leaning toward chicken dishes currently because like you said, if I bought a pack of frozen chicken breasts I could make a multitude of dishes! I am going to try and cook chicken curry tonight hopefully it turns out really really good. because I love spicy dishes; sadly I might have to tone down on the spices because my mom doesn't like spicy food.
If need be, make a simple, not too spicy curry chicken, and when you're doing yours, just add a bit more. ;3
If you want more ideas, feel free to message me. I'll post a few recipes when I get home and can take a look at my recipe book.
I'd definitely start with pasta. Noodles are easy to cook, cheap and healthy. The taste comes with the sauce, and you can put just about anything onto pasta and have it taste good. Try out various pasta sauces to get a feeling of spices and which ingredients work well together.
A short list of universal multi-purpose ingredients: - The spices you mentioned plus something hot like chili powder, tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper - Noodles, rice, potatoes - Your favorite kind of meat - A bag of frozen mixed vegetables - Sausage/salami, cheese - Tomatoes, onions, garlic - Eggs - Flour
One piece of advice from me would be not to adhere too much to recipes but to learn basic rules and strategies. E.g. if you make a pasta sauce with multiple vegetables, you should add the veggies one by one, from the hardest (longest boiling time) to the most soft (shortest). This is just an example - might not apply in all cases, but you know what I mean.
Cook the chicken breasts how ever you want it. Get a circle tortilla wrap, lay flat on a frying pan on very low heat. Add a layer of tomato sauce right on top. Add the chicken. Add whatever cheese you prefer. Add whatever vegetables you want. just wait till cheese is a bit melted or the bottom of the tortilla is lightly brown. Wrap it up, put it on a dish and eat however way you want to eat it.
I learned that most of my cooking all depends on how I want my food to appear like. I use w.e ingredients I find and most of the time, they turn out amazing :D
On October 22 2010 07:44 Impervious wrote: Micronesia, do you seriously think powdered garlic is anywhere close to as good as fresh garlic? IMO, the difference is appauling....
Powdered garlic isn't as good obviously but not that much worse... and it's much more practical. Of course if you want to spring for fresh garlic then sure.
For "practical" purposes, I've been keeping a jar of minced garlic in my fridge. I still use fresh wherever possible (it's not that difficult or time consuming to work with).
And I'd recommend everyone use fresh. So much better.
learn the basics. i.e. how you spice smth., how you sweat smth and so on (I don't know if that's the right term in english tho) After you know all the basics just use recipes. You will eventually learn how to differ the recipes to make them even better (at least for you) or even create your own stuff. But first I definitely would start with recipes and basic stuff.
Another tip: Usually fresh is always the best, except for canned tomatoes. As long as you don't use your own tomatoes or live really near to some tomatoe plantation the canned ones are better.
ah and oninos are always good to have in the kitchen.
simplest and most effective solo-cooking is just a well made pasta, just grab a bag of pasta, learn to boil and experiment with various meats and vegetables! thatll serve you well 60% of the time
His videos are full of little tips and tricks as well as the broader strokes, plus theres hundreds of them and they're really entertaining.
Also, getting good at some basic salads is a good idea.
Juice of 1 lemon 1/4 cup ev olive oil teaspoon mustard medium bunch of basil
blend it up and mix with some greens, tomatoes and seeds/crutons (or meats if you like that kind of thing) and you've got a high calorie meal thats really good for you (minus the crutons of course :p), cheapish and quick and easy to make.
Oh, here's another advice: When you're cooking poultry dishes in general, make sure you clean everything which made contact with the meat very very well (with soap of course). Also, always make sure that the meat is properly fried on the inside. You must not eat raw poultry meat.
If you don't clean everything properly/cook the meat well, you might get a salmonella infection, which isn't fun at all.
I have to say my cooking sucked. I think I put too much ginger in it and the "curry" flavor was almost non-existent. I also think the curry paste I used sucked or I just didn't put enough; the ginger taste kind of overpowered it. The dish looked nice though. And another positive is that I got to add more spices to the pantry. I now have mustard seed, ground coriander seed, cumin, curry powder, and curry paste and 2 lb left of frozen, skinless chicken breasts. I feel I can make various dishes using these ingredients.
But that's how my first meal went; there are still some left overs which I will eat for breakfast tomorrow; at least it's edible right? haha
Well I learned how to mince garlic and ginger root at least! haha thanks youtube!
Quick question: After I did the "lightly browning the chicken" part, it said to remove the chicken and I did. When I put in the onion, garlic, and ginger, after a minute a lot of the ingredients stuck to the pan. Should I have put more olive oil or is this due to a crappy pan?
How do you mess up curry all you need is meat, curry paste, coconut milk, oil, bay leaf, corriander. nam pla and any old random veg you wanna stuff in . That said I only really make Thai curries (massaman / green etc) which seems far more simple that that insane recipe you were trying, generally if something is that complicated you shouldnt be attempting it so early in your cooking life.
Here is how I learned how to cook. First of all if you are new to cooking DO NOT START by trying to bake a cake. Baking is something best left to those who actually want to take their time and follow the recipe. I hate following recipes exactly because I'm usually missing an ingredient or two. Step 1 - watch food network. Pick some shows you like and just watch them. I probably picked up more from that channel than anybody or anything. Do not try to memorize recipes, but instead look for some common things and little tips on how to cook. For example, if you add too much lemon juice (sour) you might want to add sweetness (sugar) so that you don't cringe while eating. Usually there are plenty of these in every show. Step 2 - try to make something simple. Stir fries, chilli, curry, etc. are very easy to make and very hard to mess up. Do not tackle anything you don't feel comfortable with. Step 3 - the act of cooking. The main ingredient that will make or break you is salt. If there isn't enough it will seem like there is no taste, but the other extreme is simply impossible to eat. Take your time with adding it at first and taste continuosly to monitor how much you need.
Some tips on making simple stuff: 350F is safe for just about anything in the oven; make sure chicken is well done and if you have to cut through a piece to make sure it's cooked all the way through then do it; don't forget oil when frying and don't turn your temp too high otherwise the oil will reach smoking point - not fun; use spices in moderation at first and see how much flavor you can handle; some things take less time to cook then others - add them in order from longest cooking time to shortest; google is your friend
I agree with all the people who say to start simple. Don't try to get too fancy. Scorch posted a pretty good list of starting ingredients, which I want to add a couple notes to as well.
On October 22 2010 07:09 Scorch wrote: I'd definitely start with pasta. Noodles are easy to cook, cheap and healthy. The taste comes with the sauce, and you can put just about anything onto pasta and have it taste good. Try out various pasta sauces to get a feeling of spices and which ingredients work well together.
A short list of universal multi-purpose ingredients: - The spices you mentioned plus something hot like chili powder, tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper - Noodles, rice, potatoes - Your favorite kind of meat - A bag of frozen mixed vegetables - Sausage/salami, cheese - Tomatoes, onions, garlic - Eggs - Flour
My Additions
Fats/Oils - You should get a basic vegetable oil like corn oil or canola oil at least. I also like olive oil for a lot of things (healthier too), and sesame oil for asian cooking.
Basic Tools 1) a non-stick pan - I'm talking like 10+ inches. If you get one with higher walls, it can sort of double as a wok for stir frying as well. 2) a medium sized pot - something that you could boil some pasta or make some soup in 3) Knife, spatula, big spoon, etc.
I think with this basic setup, you can really get started on a large variety of dishes.
I think a nice compromise between using garlic powder and fresh garlic would be minced garlic sold in jars; I like using it since I feel it's still better than garlic powder and is already pre-cut up... it's also available in pretty much any major grocery store/supermarket
@OP: not sure how open you are to different dishes and the availability of certain cooking vessels, but here's one you might like; I think it's good because it is fairly cheap, simple and is also quite filling and goes well with rice which is a staple food for me (the only thing it lacks is vegetables):
-roughly 2 pounds of ground meat (turkey, pork, or beef - whichever is on sale/you prefer) - 3 eggs (some versions like to use only the egg whites, but I think that's wasteful) - soy sauce, and salt (sorry I don't have exact measurements) - water in a steamer
1) start boiling water in steamer 2) beat 3 eggs in a bowl 3) mold meat into a porcelain bowl/dish (or any bowl that can be put in steamer) 4) add soy sauce and some salt(you can maybe even skip the salt part) to the meat 5) add the beaten eggs 6) once the water is boiling, put the dish in the steamer and cover 7) turn heat down to medium, and cook for 45 minutes 8) eat with rice
note: I have heard of people using pickled(salty) eggs and thus less soy sauce, also I have heard of some people using a pickled salty Asian (Chinese I think) vegetable in this dish, but I only know it by what I call it "stinky vegetables" (worthless I know... tried "googling" it but to no avail... if anyone knows the name of it please let me know)
good luck, and I hope to hear (success) stories of your cooking quest
Learn to make the perfect scrambled eggs/omelet. That is the measuring stick of a cook.
Cooking is all about technique. anybody can read an ingredient list and then taste their food intermittently to get the flavor right but the technique takes a lifetime to master.
EPT
. That said I only really make Thai curries (massaman / green etc) which seems far more simple that that insane recipe you were trying, generally if something is that complicated you shouldnt be attempting it so early in your cooking life.
