Can you teach a man how to cook?

[Wake]

And not just any man. This man. God help you.

So, I'm living on my own and I no longer have Mom to make me a delicious meal. There's none of that magical ingredient of love thing going on here. One look at my modest cookware is enough to make my eyes glaze over in hungry despair.

I got some things. One of those nice, small silver saucepans from Wal-Mart (with a glass lid). You know, the kind with the nice handle that won't ever get loose. There's also a meat thermometer and a nice forged stainless steel knife from Chicago Cutlery. And that's it. Yeah, dicey.

People, I don't know how to cook.

I do have my roommate's trusty fry pan and some canola oil, which helps. By placing some chicken breasts in a fry pan with some canola oil, you can cook it just right. TECHNIQUE ALERT: You can also tip the pan a bit and with a spoon ladle some of the oil/juices over the chicken breasts to keep them from drying out. That stuff works nicely. I already feel like Bobby Flay.

EVOLUTION AT PLAY: I just created my own spice blend, too, and it's a nice contrast. Red pepper flakes, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, a teaspoon of 100% dark cocoa powder. As odd as it sounds, you should try it. It's a delicious balance and works perfectly with that ladling technique.

Some other ingredients I've got are dried black beans, pure canned pumpkin, pur brown rice, and amber-grade agave nectar.

Please guys, help this hungry newb. Or else he's gonna die, and that would, well, suck.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

And not just any man. This man. God help you.

So, I'm living on my own and I no longer have Mom to make me a delicious meal. There's none of that magical ingredient of love thing going on here. One look at my modest cookware is enough to make my eyes glaze over in hungry despair.

I got some things. One of those nice, small silver saucepans from Wal-Mart (with a glass lid). You know, the kind with the nice handle that won't ever get loose. There's also a meat thermometer and a nice forged stainless steel knife from Chicago Cutlery. And that's it. Yeah, dicey.

People, I don't know how to cook.

I do have my roommate's trusty fry pan and some canola oil, which helps. By placing some chicken breasts in a fry pan with some canola oil, you can cook it just right. TECHNIQUE ALERT: You can also tip the pan a bit and with a spoon ladle some of the oil/juices over the chicken breasts to keep them from drying out. That stuff works nicely. I already feel like Bobby Flay.

EVOLUTION AT PLAY: I just created my own spice blend, too, and it's a nice contrast. Red pepper flakes, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, a teaspoon of 100% dark cocoa powder. As odd as it sounds, you should try it. It's a delicious balance and works perfectly with that ladling technique.

Some other ingredients I've got are dried black beans, pure canned pumpkin, pur brown rice, and amber-grade agave nectar.

Please guys, help this hungry newb. Or else he's gonna die, and that would, well, suck.

Cooking is easy, anyone can learn. The first thing to understand is that, if you do the exact same thing every time you will always get the same result. This is the part people have the most trouble with, which is why they keep cooking the food until it burns.

 

[syrenn]

And not just any man. This man. God help you.

So, I'm living on my own and I no longer have Mom to make me a delicious meal. There's none of that magical ingredient of love thing going on here. One look at my modest cookware is enough to make my eyes glaze over in hungry despair.

I got some things. One of those nice, small silver saucepans from Wal-Mart (with a glass lid). You know, the kind with the nice handle that won't ever get loose. There's also a meat thermometer and a nice forged stainless steel knife from Chicago Cutlery. And that's it. Yeah, dicey.

People, I don't know how to cook.

I do have my roommate's trusty fry pan and some canola oil, which helps. By placing some chicken breasts in a fry pan with some canola oil, you can cook it just right. TECHNIQUE ALERT: You can also tip the pan a bit and with a spoon ladle some of the oil/juices over the chicken breasts to keep them from drying out. That stuff works nicely. I already feel like Bobby Flay.

EVOLUTION AT PLAY: I just created my own spice blend, too, and it's a nice contrast. Red pepper flakes, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, a teaspoon of 100% dark cocoa powder. As odd as it sounds, you should try it. It's a delicious balance and works perfectly with that ladling technique.

Some other ingredients I've got are dried black beans, pure canned pumpkin, pur brown rice, and amber-grade agave nectar.

Please guys, help this hungry newb. Or else he's gonna die, and that would, well, suck.

Cooking is easy, anyone can learn. The first thing to understand is that, if you do the exact same thing every time you will always get the same result. This is the part people have the most trouble with, which is why they keep cooking the food until it burns.

I see the fire trucks rolling right now.....

 

[syrenn]

And not just any man. This man. God help you.

So, I'm living on my own and I no longer have Mom to make me a delicious meal. There's none of that magical ingredient of love thing going on here. One look at my modest cookware is enough to make my eyes glaze over in hungry despair.

I got some things. One of those nice, small silver saucepans from Wal-Mart (with a glass lid). You know, the kind with the nice handle that won't ever get loose. There's also a meat thermometer and a nice forged stainless steel knife from Chicago Cutlery. And that's it. Yeah, dicey.

People, I don't know how to cook.

I do have my roommate's trusty fry pan and some canola oil, which helps. By placing some chicken breasts in a fry pan with some canola oil, you can cook it just right. TECHNIQUE ALERT: You can also tip the pan a bit and with a spoon ladle some of the oil/juices over the chicken breasts to keep them from drying out. That stuff works nicely. I already feel like Bobby Flay.

EVOLUTION AT PLAY: I just created my own spice blend, too, and it's a nice contrast. Red pepper flakes, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, a teaspoon of 100% dark cocoa powder. As odd as it sounds, you should try it. It's a delicious balance and works perfectly with that ladling technique.

Some other ingredients I've got are dried black beans, pure canned pumpkin, pur brown rice, and amber-grade agave nectar.

Please guys, help this hungry newb. Or else he's gonna die, and that would, well, suck.

so what do you want to learn to cook? And yes, you do need to learn how to cook.

 

[JohnL.Burke]

I love cooking. You can always find recipes on the internet. Just type in "chicken" "easy recipes" "one skillet dinners". I've found a lot of great recipes this way.

 

[barry1960]

And not just any man. This man. God help you.

So, I'm living on my own and I no longer have Mom to make me a delicious meal. There's none of that magical ingredient of love thing going on here. One look at my modest cookware is enough to make my eyes glaze over in hungry despair.

I got some things. One of those nice, small silver saucepans from Wal-Mart (with a glass lid). You know, the kind with the nice handle that won't ever get loose. There's also a meat thermometer and a nice forged stainless steel knife from Chicago Cutlery. And that's it. Yeah, dicey.

People, I don't know how to cook.

I do have my roommate's trusty fry pan and some canola oil, which helps. By placing some chicken breasts in a fry pan with some canola oil, you can cook it just right. TECHNIQUE ALERT: You can also tip the pan a bit and with a spoon ladle some of the oil/juices over the chicken breasts to keep them from drying out. That stuff works nicely. I already feel like Bobby Flay.

EVOLUTION AT PLAY: I just created my own spice blend, too, and it's a nice contrast. Red pepper flakes, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, a teaspoon of 100% dark cocoa powder. As odd as it sounds, you should try it. It's a delicious balance and works perfectly with that ladling technique.

Some other ingredients I've got are dried black beans, pure canned pumpkin, pur brown rice, and amber-grade agave nectar.

Please guys, help this hungry newb. Or else he's gonna die, and that would, well, suck.

As a man you do not need to learn such mundane chores as cooking. God designed people and put them on earth for different purposes. Women have smaller hands that are well suited to cooking and washing dishes. Women also have smaller brains that allow them to do these rather mundane tasks day after day and not growed tired of such repetitive activity. So unless you wish to be a creative award winning chef in a five star restaurant, leave such a task to one who is suited doing it.

Next you are going to tell me that you want to learn how to leave the toilet seat down. God made women shorter so they have a shorter distance to reach down and raise the seat. All in God's design......

You need to cease the talk about cooking ingredients. Order a pizza. Is your phone broken?

 

[Gracie]

Youtube is your friend.

 

[Connery]

Cooking is an art depending on how you look at it. The ingredients are the paints by which you color and develop your main part of the dish. Fresh vegetables and herbs you can never go wrong. I like using a wok with sesame oil or my copper core pots and pans as the heat is evenly distributed and EVVO.

It takes a bit of time to find your own rhythm in the kitchen, but once you do there is no stopping you. Cooking and creating is a lot of fun. Do not skimp on the ingredients.

 

[Politico]

Cooking is easy. The first thing you need to do is stop watching Bobby Flay.

 

[Unkotare]

Cooking is easy. The first thing you need to do is stop watching Bobby Flay.

 

[S.J.]

Cooking is easy. The first thing you need to do is stop watching Bobby Flay.

I like Alton Brown, he's more of a food scientist and an excellent teacher. Funny too.

 

[Wake]

I'm working with a few concepts while trying not to harm anyone. Fresh ingredients help, and it seems not following recipes, but being there routinely tasting and gauging how the dish is developing really helps.

so what do you want to learn to cook? And yes, you do need to learn how to cook.

Pretty much your basic, healthy ingredients. Simple, dried lentils, black beans, mayocoba beans... I like working with boneless, skinless chicken breast. The only oil I use currently is pure canola oil because of it's incredibly healthy 2:1 LDL/HDL oil ratio. I will not touch white rice, because it's a nutritional disaster. Brown rice has way more minerals and fiber, and tastes good in a fine risotto with a smidgen of real butter.

After reading a lot about the bad things in our food culture, it was decided it'd be better to swap out most of the processed stuff for raw materials. Another ingredient would be pure, canned pumpkin, which has an immense amount of nutrition. Brown Russet potatoes are another good food with a bad rep. Fresh rhubarb is another valuable material.

In short I want to cook healthy, wholesome meals. That, and maybe my future wife might like a man who can cook well for her.

Roasting is nice, and so is pan-searing in a little canola oil. I've got a 2-quart slow cooker too, but that's proven to be a challenge. Frying potato slices and frozen chicken thighs in 4" of hot oil is no longer practical nor healthy, either. What I need are better utensils, and a better grasp on the basic cooking techniques; if given that, things should fall into place.

Here's a list of the things I can cook well, currently:

1) Moist, pan-seared chicken breast with spice mix. (Uses ladling technique to keep chicken from drying.)

2) Perfectly cooked brown rice in a silver saucepan, per the instructions on the rice bag. Would like to try a pinch of cumin and a small dollop of butter or olive oil to give it a richer background.

Not really sure what else. I'd like to make a nice lentil soup with fresh ginger (saw it on YouTube ).

 

[hjmick]

I cook.

I started cooking when I was in junior high school, latch-key kid...

Damn... That's better than thirty-five years ago...

I am really quite good at it.

So good in fact, my wife stopped cooking. Completely.

Some days it pisses me off...

 

[koshergrl]

Alton Brown...fffftt...I love his show. I don't touch his recipes.

The things that I learned to cook that have stood me in good stead...

Roasts, or any large cut of meat.

Bread/biscuits.

Beans.

Roasts...the secret is to cook them long enough that they progress beyond the shoe leather stage, to the sublime, melt in your mouth, cut with a fork or spoon stage. My mom taught me that any roast, frozen or thawed, takes 3-1/2 hours at low heat (325-350). You can put it in a pan and cover it in the stove, you can sear it and then put it in a pan, you can cook it uncovered...those are techniques that you can play with. But if you cook a roast (except loin or crown rib roast...those require a different approach) @ 325 for 3-1/2 hours, checking on it to add water if you need to, or cover it if it's drying out...I guarantee it will be delicious.

Don't be afraid of sugar when you are cooking fruit. There's nothing more disgusting than pastries and jams that aren't sweet enough. If you want your goodies to be actually good, please add enough sugar. Otherwise, you might as well just skip it.

Pie crust is better if you don't work it very much...

And bread likes to be worked.

The secret to good tasting breads/biscuits/pie crusts is SALT, more than you think is healthy.

The secret to good noodles is SALT in the water.

Bacon grease will make anything taste better.

But if you store it on the stove, don't use that bottom bit..the liquid under the fat. It spoils.

Never use soap on your cast iron cookware, and don't store them stacked in the cupboard. Keep your skillet out on the stove or in it, and clean it with water only. If you have caked on stuff, put some water in it and simmer until you can scrape everything off. If you get carbon build up on your skillet, take it camping and leave it over the fire..fire will burn that stuff off. It will be like new.

Wash your hands before and while you're cooking.

Always look in your pots and bowls before you dump food in them.

Learn how to fry different kinds of meat and make pan gravy.

When you make use of time savers, don't feel guilty. I bought pies one year for thanksgiving...I felt awful about it..but the work it saved me (and the fact that they were REALLY good frozen pies!) and the fact that the kids didn't notice the difference, made my guilt evaporate.

 

[koshergrl]

So I think you should make a pie!

Apple pie

cored, peeled, cut up apples. A lot of them...probably about a 5 lb bag.

Sugar
cinnamon
lemon juice

Flour
LARD (use lard, it will make it so much better. You can buy lard in little pound squares at the store...I prefer to buy it by the bucket, we go through it...but I can't find buckets of it here)
Salt

So cut up all your apples, the kids can help. Peel them, slice them up. I peel first, then cut in half, then use a spoon to scoop out the cores, then slice....

Or you can peel them, then quarter them, THEN remove the core section when you're cutting them up, it depends on what sort of knife work you prefer. With kids, the spoon method is nice.

RINSE your sliced apples. Please. Put them in a strainer and rinse them because they've been handled a lot.

1/3 cup of lard
1 cup of flour
2 tsp salt (I put in a tablespoon)

pie dish (not a cake pan. A pie pan. Get one at the thrift store, you need one for pies....you can't make pies in cake pans, trust me. Messy.)
rolling pin (or full 2 litre pop bottle...I recommend you pick up a rolling pin. When you need one, you need one, and nothing else works as well.)

So cut your lard into your flour (kids can do this too) using butter knives or forks in criss-cross motion. When the lard is no longer in big clumps, put a couple of tsps or tbsps water in there, and use a spoon to stir in a circular motion until all your dough holds together as a big ball. DON'T OVERWORK IT. It just needs to stick together.

Divide in half.

If you want to you can wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate it so it gets stiffer and colder, and easier to work.

Put a generous amount of flour on whatever flat surface you have...plop one of your dough balls on there, dump some more flour over the top and use a rolling pin (or a 2 litre soda bottle. Full is better, you want some weight) and roll it out so it's somewhat bigger than your PIE dish, remembering to take into consideration the 2 inches or so sides of the dish...you need overlap.

Bring your pie pan over next to where you've rolled out your dough (if it is sticking to your pin, add more flour as you go...also keep an eye out that it doesn't stick underneath...flip over or add more flour as needed...). Fold your circle of dough over on itself, so the fold is next to the pie pan...then lift the half circle into your pan, and flop over the top half.

Put a couple of pats of butter in the bottom.

Mix up your apples with lots of sugar (1-1/2 cups at least) and cinnamon, and a little lemon juice (a tbsp). Stir them good, add a couple TBS of flour to the mix..

Fill your pie. You will have lots of apples left over probably, I usually make 2 pies at a time, haha. Put those in a pan on the stove, simmer them, and you have homemade apple sauce. Put it in a jar and store it in the fridge, it will keep for a long time.

Make your top crust, slap it on there the same way.

Cut off any super excess of crust...the rest, fold under, and crimp around the edges. I can't tell you how to flute the edges, but you can find that on youtube. Or you can just use a fork and primp the edges with that.

Cut holes in your crust to let out steam...I usually make the outline of an apple with steak knife cuts in my crust, with a leave and maybe an "A" somewhere.

Wrap tin foil around your edges or they're going to get really brown.

Put in the oven on a cookie sheet (because you will have leakage) and bake at, oh, maybe 350? For an hour or so.

You want it to be really done. Mom used to test by driving a knife through one of the vent holes...if there is any resistance, it's not done.

Let it cool before slicing, or you'll have apple soup with crust...all the filling will run to where the missing pieces are.

 

[koshergrl]

After you do that a couple of times, you'll realize that all other cooking is a walk in the park...and you will begin to understand why COBBLER is the way to go.

 

[koshergrl]

Oh and here's coleslaw (which my daughter likes, but not my son)

Shredded cabbage (i.e., sliced thin and cut so you don't have 6 inch shreds)
Salt
vinegar
sugar
mayo
Pepper

Shred cabbage...it will shrink so keep that in mind. A whole cabbage will feed 6 people all they want probably...3 people, you'll have a lot leftover.

Add a couple of TBSP salt to the cabbage, about 1/3 C sugar, a couple tbsp vinegar, and about 2/3 c mayo.

Stir it up. Let it sit for a few minutes; it will get juicy.

Now you can make cole slaw without mayo...it will still get juicy...but I like it with some mayo in there. I made my coleslaw today without mayo, and it was good, but I added mayo because i thought it needed some. And that turned it from "hmm this is good" to "OMGOSH THIS IS AMAZING".

Pepper it, too.

 

[Granny]

I don't know what a canola is - but cannoli ... now that's a whole different story. I've only used canola oil one time because that's what was available - nasty tasting stuff in my opinion. Try olive oil - it's better for you. Use butter instead of margarine - again it's better for you.

I truly understand how bacon, fatback (or salt pork) makes stuff taste wonderful but I would avoid it and steam veggies. A George Forman grill is my most-used utensil in lieu of frying stuff. (Also because it's not economical for me to have a real grill for one person.) I got one for my male non-cooking cousin and he's happy with it.

 

[boedicca]

Here is a simple method for raw or left over meat...chicken, beef, pork...

Ingredients:

- cubes or shredded meat
- cooking oil
- diced onion
- diced tomato
- minced peppers
- salt
- pepper
- cumin
- chile powder

- Heat some oil (olive is my preference, but the canola will do)
- If the meat is already cooked, add the onion peppers and saute a bit
- If the meat is raw, brown in the oil first, and then add the onion and peppers
- Season to taste with the salt/pep/cumin/chile powder
- Cook until you like it

This can be used for taco or burrito filling, over rice, on a salad...it's an all purpose easy meal.

 

[koshergrl]

Some other things that are good to know:

Burger and ground meats are more likely to be contaminated, and more likely to make people sick...because the ACT of grinding exposes all of the meat to that which only the OUTSIDE of cut meat....

When you buy whole chickens, always check the cavities and remove the giblets...and WASH the bird, in hot, even soapy, water. I use a scrub brush on the outside...because whole chickens are extremely gross...there will be feathers, poop, all sorts of things on the skin and that stuff needs to come off.

For making soups and dumplings...CHICKEN THIGHS (or thighs and drumsticks) (skin on/bone in) are a really good substitute for a whole chicken, if you are cooking a smaller amount.

Save chicken carcasses/bones in a big ziploc and freeze until you are going to make a soup...then put all the bones etc. into a big pot, cover with water, and simmer for a good long time. Add water if the level comes down too low...but usually you're best served not to add TOO much water.

Pour through a strainer or other filter or colander (use a coffee filter in your strainer) into jars or other containers; now you have really excellent chicken stock for soup, dumplings gravy, whatever.