Comments on: A Word To The Non-Cooks In The Crowd

By: Heather

Heather — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:30:37 +0000

Fluffer,
For many, many years I thought I hated stew. I finally gave in and ate some to be polite when my in-laws brought a batch over while I was on bedrest with my first child. That night I discovered I didn’t hate STEW, I hate Dinty Moore Stew. (That was what my mother made.)
That’s when a light bulb went on and I began tasting foods in many different forms, not just the manner in which I had first been introduced. The only thing I still truly despise is mayo and I still haven’t gotten around to the homemade version.
Best of luck with your home surgery efforts, take pics!

By: fluffernutter

fluffernutter — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:21:22 +0000

I think your advice is just right. I learned to cook after eating my way across Europe and realizing that the food we ate at home was not very good.
So I never had a problem with cooking, but photography was always really difficult for me. So I took that approach: tried something to see whether it worked, and if it did, I kept doing it. If it didn’t, I learned from it. Next, I plan to try home surgery. Wish me luck!

By: Jane

Jane — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:03:06 +0000

Great comments! I had to start cooking very young, as my mother was the world’s worst cook, so by the time I was an adult, I became a chef. Two tips for you: write on the page of the cook book you are using for a particular recipe, because you may not remember what was right or wrong the next time you cook something. My cookbooks have things scrawled on the pages like: Use only 1/2 t. salt, not 3/4; cut sugar by 1/3; try apricot jam wash on pie shell, pre bake 10 minutes; cake not done, try 15 minutes longer.

Next: have something in the freezer that can be made in 10 minutes if a dinner has to be trashed. Mine is frozen tortellini, chunks of frozen ham, frozen heavy cream, frozen peas. Always have Italian parsley and Parmesan on hand. Presto! Tortellini alla Panna. Many times when I was cooking for a new beau, and nervous as can be, dinner would end up in the trash can. Out came my old favorite, and life was good.

Lots of cooking is attitude: I go into a Zen space, where there is calm and focus. Even when I worked on the line in a New York restaurant, where cooking is like ballet with knives and fire, I was always calm.

And, Yes! Food Network rocks, especially my favorite mad scientist, Alton Brown.

By: Keter

Keter — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 04:03:29 +0000

I learned to cook and bake as a young child due to illness in the family – I was often the only one who was well enough to stand at the stove. And I often didn’t have anyone around to direct me. So I learned by imitating what I remembered from watching other cooks – including Julia Child other chefs on PBS.

The things that served me well were these:

- Learn the basic techniques of cooking: you at least need to learn how to saute, braise, broil, etc.

- Learn how to cook a few basic recipes. Mine are smothered (chicken, steak, pork chops – just vary the spicing, the technique is the same), cream soup (potato, broccoli, cauliflower, leek, clam, corn), stir-fry (everything from Mexican fajitas to faux Tandoori chicken to shrimp with peas and water chestnuts), omelets (eggs+almost anything else), layered one-dish casseroles (often my C.O.R.N. strategy).

- Learn how to make stuff to go over other stuff: a meal can be made quickly in the skillet and poured over something else: rice, pasta, garlic bread, biscuits, polenta, etc.

- Learn how to manage liquid balance: this is the difference between crispy and soggy, stir fried and parboiled. Learn how and when to correct liquid balance by pouring off excess or soaking up (with rice, noodles, cornstarch, or flour).

- Learn which flavors go with which other flavors. Develop favorite combos.

- Learn spicing. Develop spicing combos to complement your flavor combos.

- Learn what substitutes for what – and what doesn’t. For example, rice and pasta often can switch places. Some veggies can stand in for others – cauliflower and broccoli can fill the same role in most recipes. Ketchup can pinch-hit for tomato paste in some dishes, but not others (ketchup is sweeter). If you can make it with chicken, you can usually make it with white-meat pork, too.

- Learn how to time dishes to finish in the proper order (this takes a lot of practice)

- Learn how to cascade meals so that the leavings from one become the beginning for another. For example, as I type, tonight’s roast chicken carcass is rendering down for chicken stock to be used the next time I need stock, while the last batch of stock – from pork chop bones in this case – is simmering in the crock pot to make a stew for tomorrow (I’ll bake an oatmeal bread to go with it), and tonight’s mashed potatoes will appear again in Tuesday’s broccoli-potato soup.

- Learn how to put together a filling al fresco meal or salad that can stand in for a meal.

- For inspiration, watch other cooks – on TV or in a restaurant with a view to the kitchen. When dining out, try to figure out what ingredients are in a dish you like and what steps were required to prepare and cook it.

When you’ve learned the things listed above, you should be able to walk into your kitchen, glance at what’s in your refrigerator and pantry, and put together any one of at least three potential meals on the spot without a recipe.

Good luck and happy cooking! )

Oh…and I’m not without my challenges in the kitchen: I used to be a really great baker, only now a wheat allergy means that I’m having to reinvent recipes and techniques to use other flours…*sigh*

By: Meghan

Meghan — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:29:08 +0000

Never compromise the quality if your cookware, ever. Sharp knives cut better and injure less. Heavy pots hold and distribute heat better and are less likely to burn things on the bottom than lightweight pots and the same can be said for bakeware. Even things like glass and ceramic bakeware should be important, since if they aren’t tempered properly they could break at the most improper time.

Do your research on countertop electronics to make sure you’re not over-paying but that you’re not buying something that won’t work either.

One other thing to note: I love silicone spatulas for just about anything, but make sure you’re getting 100% silicone and not a cheap blend, as the less expensive version absorb colors and odors, which makes them less versatile. If you can, bend the silicone. If it turns white/lighter in color, it’s a blend, if it stays the same color it’s silicone.

Yes, really great cooks don’t need fancy tool, but they do need good tools that work properly.

By: Emma

Emma — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:59:38 +0000

Ivy, allow me to disagree – MY inability to cook is legendary. Not only can’t I cook, I also can’t bake and my husband used to do all the cooking. Well, at least until I had to start feeding my baby solids, and then – my journey began. My cheat-shit was a book by Anabel Karmel, the baby-toddler-meal-planner, and those recipes are so easy, that even such a disaster-in-the-kitchen as myself could make something that was safe for a baby to eat .

By: Jackie Leeper

Jackie Leeper — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 06:44:14 +0000

All the advice given was wonderful. When I was first married I received a cookbook/pamphlet from Metropolitan Insurance. It was a big help to a newlywed. Short, simple and to the point.
If you have a grandmother that likes to cook AND teach, Pick her brains. She won’t be around forever, and then you’e lost a precious loved one and a great resource.
Last but not least ALTON BROWN GOOD EATS. HE IS THE BEST THING ON FOOD TV! I am 65 years old and did not learn to bake biscuits from scratch till I saw him. Now mine are as good as MY grandmother’s, who I should have asked when I still could.
My husband, God bless his heart, was not generous with compliments said mine were the best.

By: Emily C

Emily C — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 03:42:55 +0000

Taste. Taste. And keep tasting! Then you’ll know if it’s tasty.

That’s my advice as a creative cook. Who loves to bake.

And don’t be afraid of screwing up. Because even the best cooks mess up really bad sometimes.

By: Mom of three

Mom of three — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:40:20 +0000

I’m an okay cook, but my family hates to eat. They want the same things over and over and over. Hubby is the most pickiest person you will ever meet. He wants every thing plain. So I don’t cook new stuff all that often because no one will eat it.

The thing I have learned and taught my kids is when trying a new dish for the first time, even if it’s a main meal, cook it with your normal dinner, just half the recipe. Then everyone can try it, and yet still have comfort foods to eat if they don’t like it. If they do, then you can add that to the list of dishes to cook alone the next time.

I also always have canned fruits and peas around. My kids will make a meal of those, so if we are eating something they don’t necessarily like, the can fill up on the fruits and veggies they do like.

When they were littler, we had fruit of the week club. Each week we had a new fruit each week. They HAD to try it. They did not have to like it. The ones they did like we could buy again. The ones they don’t like I don’t buy any more. I found they don’t like fresh peaches, but they love the canned ones. (Yes, you can get them without sugar syrup). They loved fresh and canned pineapple and we have that a lot. We always have fresh apples, oranges and bananas to fill up on if mom burns dinner or if you just really don’t like it and everyone else does.

By: HM

HM — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:41:56 +0000

Mac-n-cheese is actually one of the first places I started experimenting, lol! Add some frozen veggies to the water and bring to a boil then add the pasta and continue as usual. Some good veggies for this are broccoli, peas, mixed veggies, corn. Really just about any veggie will do, but those are some of my faves to add. Also, when it’s all cooked and mixed up- add a can of tuna or chicken for protien and viola- a meal of pasta, veggies and meat. Still do this in a pinch if I am pressed for time, energy or ingredients.

Another great easy peasy (and cheap!) meal? Black beans and yellow rice. Buy a 70 cent package of yellow rice and follow the directions on the package. Buy a 50 cent can of black beans and add some taco seasoning (or if you’re me cumin, oregano, chili powder and garlic powder) and let it simmer on low while the rice cooks. When it’s done top a scoop of rice with a scoop of beans, add cheese if you want and enjoy.

Hmm, another one that I started with was creamy chicken and broccoli over rice. I would dice some chicken breast and sautee till it was cooked thru, then pour in a can of cream of whatever soup and some broccoli and simmer till the broccoli was cooked. I’d ladle it over rice and there was dinner.

Oh, and soups. You can never go wrong making a soup if you start with a broth. Add any veggies, meat, starch and spices you like and there it is. Pretty much fool proof. Example- chicken broth, diced cooked chicken, a can of tomatoes, mixed veggies and rice. Easy peasy.

Some of my favorite staples to keep on hand are frozen veggies, onions, garlic, any kind of pasta, canned tuna, canned tomatoes, cous cous, chicken broth, beef broth, rice and canned beans. With those I can make dozens of meals, and with the addition of some chicken breast, or steak or whatever I can make dozens more.