Adventures in Cooking
I have decided to learn how to cook.
(Okay, family, you can stop it with the spit-takes. It's not THAT funny.)
Just to clarify, I don't mean "learn to cook" in the sense of braise a roast or whatever. I don't even know what "braise a roast" means. Sounds like two verbs to me. I mean very basic feed-yourself-to-avoid-scurvy cooking.
You see, I lack the kitchen equivalent of a green thumb. I have shattered glass and melted dish drying racks while attempting the oh-so-complex task of cooking pasta. I have transformed hard-boiled eggs into oozing globules. I have failed to toast toast.
You're probably wondering how I've made it this far in life without cooking. I can answer that in five letters: PIZZA. Also, chocolate.
Anyway, I started this adventure a few days ago by declaring my new resolution on Twitter, and one bit of advice that I got was that learning to cook is like learning to write -- more art than science.
So I've decided to test that as I learn how to cook.
First lesson: You have to know the rules before you can break them.
Obvious enough advice in writing. For example, in general, you want to avoid the passive voice. But sometimes, if you use it sparingly, a sentence in the passive voice can pierce with as much power as a sword strike. Or, conversely, it can soften something that might have felt too much like a sword strike.
Apparently, this advice is also true in cooking. My first real from-scratch meal was supposed to be Thai peanut butter pasta with chicken, broccoli, and mushrooms. But I kind of didn't pay attention to the amounts of ingredients.
Turns out "heaping tablespoon" is not the same as half the jar of peanut butter. You know how they put peanut butter on the top of Mr. Ed's mouth so he would move his jaw as if he were talking. That's how I felt while eating this dish.....
Another unfortunate side effect of my cooking: this song is now stuck in my head
Also, the verb "mince" means more than "chop garlic in half." Who knew?
Since my first attempt was such a disaster (or perhaps "a teachable moment"), I thought I should turn to you guys. How do you all feed yourselves? Do you have any recipes you'd recommend that I try?
Please keep in mind that it MUST be quick and easy. If you tell me to poach an egg, I'll think that I'm supposed to steal one from the king's royal forest. Thanks!
posted by Sarah Beth Durst @ 9:24 PM
32 comments
32 Comments:
Sadly it looks like this book has gone out-of-print http://www.amazon.com/Clueless-Kitchen-Cookbook-Teens-Beginners/dp/1552092240/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271124819&sr=1-1 but I would highly recommend it as a good cookbook written in very approachable style. One of my all time favorite brownie recipes is from this book.
Also if you have cable you might want to turn on the food network, buried underneath all the competition shows are the cooking shows and Alton Brown's show Good Eats is a personal favorite of mine. It's a blend of science, humor, and history applied to cooking. If you don't have cable there's always YouTube http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/GEFP/EpisodeByOrder.htm
Buy can of pre-cooked rice & beans. Open...
Oh, wait. How are you with can-openers?
Okay, but seriously: mix equal amounts of ketchup, white vinegar, and brown sugar (about 1/3 of a cup each is safe). Pour over chicken cutlets. Bake chicken cutlets, uncovered, at 350 degrees for half an hour.
Gail: That book looks right at my level. I'll try to find it. Thanks! And I'll check out Good Eats too.
Leah: You may think you're joking, but I have a secret fear of electric can openers. Manual ones are fine, but the electric ones... *shudder* That recipe sounds good, though. I'm definitely going to try it. Thanks!
I like cookies. Here is one recipe that you can mess up, but if you're careful you won't. I've put a * by the cooking terms you should look up to make sure you get right.
Elevator Lady Cookies:
1 cup sugar
¾ cup shortening
1 egg
¼ c molasses
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda (NOT baking powder!)
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp cloves
¾ tsp ginger
Heat oven to 350°.
Cream* together sugar and shortening.
Add the egg and molasses and mix well.
In another bowl, stir together flour, baking SODA, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger until well combined (so you don't get a hunk of salt or baking SODA in one cookie, because that's gross).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until a dough forms.
Scoop into balls and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 7-9 minutes.
Good luck! I hope these work out!
Thanks, Q! I have mixed up baking powder and baking soda before. I have also messed up tablespoon and teaspoon. (Why couldn't they have called one something that starts with a different letter?)
I have RSI, so I can only do simple meals at the moment.
sort of Japanese style noodle soup:
Boil dried udon noodles as per the instructions on the packet.
Boil sliced carrot and bite-sized broccali pieces until tender (yes, you can boil them with the noodles, but they'll only need four or five minutes wheras dried noodles will need about 10)
Pour miso soup powder into cups (one sachet and cup per person), add boiling water
finely slice button mushrooms (one for each person) and place in serving bowls
cut up some sea vegetable (comes in thin sheets) and add to each bowel
Dice Japanese flavoured tofu (yes, I'm too lazy to do my own marinading) and heat in the microwave
Drain noodles and veggies and place in bowl/s. Add miso soup abd tofu.
You can leave out the sea vegetable if you don't like it/don't have any.
Of course, this recipe entirely depends on your liking tofu. I suppose you could replace it will small pieces of meat, though.
I apologise for some horrible typos in the above post. *winces*
How to cook everything is good, but intimidatingly large. I'd say the best advice is start easy. Hint: Thai anything is not starting easy, even if the recipe claims differently. Seriously, just look up simple things to do with a chicken breast- marinate, then grill or bake? Try a salad as a meal, it doesn't feel like cooking but it is real food. And if you're into pizza? Make a pizza. It's surprisingly easy (go with premade crust to begin, and don't load the toppings too thick). Veggies in the microwave are easy, but if you buy a steamer, that's pretty easy too and doesn't feel like cheating. Also, a steamer is the coolest/scariest/alien looking standard kitchen item and costs under $5 so you have to get one. Buy a timer. You can never have enough timers. They let you forget about whatever you're cooking (so long as you don't forget too set the timer). Ooh... Try making a chili. That's a great food that is difficult to get wrong. Come to think of it I know a tasty, really easy Thai chili recipe...
Hi Sarah, Its Laura here, i email you abit. Anyway, here's some tips for you to try.
1. Get a ready meal from Iceland. (careful not to freeze yourself)
2. Cook an Omlette. (Mine turned out like a pile of eggs wishing it was somthing. Burnt cuz i forgot that you don't flip it)
3. Try Micro Chips, and, also, Nothings wrong with Pizza. Its great!
Check out kids cookbooks from the library. Whenever I have people coming in that want to learn a new skill, crocheting, gardening, drawing, whatever, I always tell them to try the kids' craft books first. They have simple, easy directions, fun projects, and they don't assume you know what you're doing, which a lot of adult how-to books seem to do! Try Kids Can Press' The Jumbo Cookbook or The Jumbo Vegetarian Cookbook by Judi Gillies or
1. You and I are in exactly the same boat. I can barely do macaroni and cheese from a box. I'm blogging about food right now too!
2. The other morning I caught the weirdest episode of Mr. Ed (it involved aliens) and went online to research. This is the only reason I know that the peanut butter thing was a lie - they made it up. Doesn't that disappoint you? Turns out he was trying to get a piece of nylon out of his mouth. Not as yummy.
Boojumlol: Sorry to hear you have RSI. Not fun. Hope it gets better soon! Thanks for the recipe. I do like tofu.
Meagan: I have discovered microwave steamed veggies. Brilliant invention. I should definitely invest in a timer. Good idea. One of my problems is that I'm easily distracted by shiny things and will forget that I'm cooking... (That's what happened to the glassware I shattered. All the water boiled off. And then I panicked and put it under cold water and then placed it on a plastic drying rack... Bad, bad idea.)
Laura: You don't flip omlettes? But then how does the other side cook?
Jennifer: Great idea. I'll try to find those cookbooks. Thanks!
Elva: Never seen that episode. That sounds rather awesome. I love completely bizarre TV. Disappointing about the peanut butter and Mr. Ed, though. Nylon not nearly as tasty. Good luck with your cooking!
Unfortunately, I can't help you with my own personal tips, as I'm one of those people who does things like season to taste, and thinks of recipes as, as a Caribbean pirate might say, "more like guidelines"! However, one of the sites I frequent for "recipe" ideas, 101 Cookbooks, had someone write in with a similar, but not identical, issue. I don't know if it will help (aside from being a beginner cook, his other problem was that he was an unwilling cook), but here is the link, which has lots of helpful comments beneath:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001574.html
And followup: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/an-update-from-the-unwilling-cook-recipe.html
Another site, Serious Eats, has a feature that could help you, but sometimes they do very fancy stuff along with the basics:
http://www.seriouseats.com/tags/Technique%20of%20the%20Week
Best of luck in your cooking endeavors!
You flip Pancakes, not Omlettes, well, maybe you them but, mine looked poor and unloved..
P.S: Could you look at my Blog and post a comment?
The thing to remember about cooking is that it all comes down to a handful of basic skills. Learn the vocabulary, post a couple of handy references in convenient places (say, tape a measure conversion chart to a cupboard door), and pay attention. That's probably your main problem. You assume that it's hard so you're thinking about how hard it is instead of about what you're doing.
For boiling: Most recipes specify salting the water. Don't do this, except maybe to dried beans. It increases your sodium intake unnecessarily. If the food needs salt, you can usually add it at the table. To cook grains such as corn, rice, or pasta (yes, pasta's made of grain!), start the liquid boiling first. Put vegetables into the pan first, then barely cover them with the water. Once ingrediants and liquid are boiling together, turn the burner way down, cover it, and set a timer for a little less time than you think you need. White rice takes about 15 minutes to cook, so check in ten minutes; that way if the burner's up too high you'll notice before you scorch the pan.
The main things you should know about cooking proteins is that low heat + long cook time = tender; high heat + short cook time = tough. That's eggs, beans, corn, flesh of dead animals, cheese, all of it. How long they take to cook through depends on the thickness. Eggs and fish are thin, therefore they cook quickly even at low temperatures.
If you're not sure something's done, take it off the heat, let it sit long enough to cool a bit, then test it - by cutting or poking into it for meat, by biting it for anything else. Most things can be put back on the heat to cook another five or ten minutes without harm, but if you've burned or dried it out, it can't be fixed. A lot of things cook themselves for a few minutes after being removed from the heat; especially high-fat or high liquid-content foods.
Don't try to make your own sauces till you get comfortable with the basics. Most sauces are simple but they take patience and a lot of stirring. Focus on covering the nutritional groups, then get fancy.
Buy some wooden utensils. Then you won't have to worry about them scratching your no-stick cookware, melting, or burning your hand. DON'T WASH WOODEN UTENSILS IN THE DISHWASHER. They float, land on the heating element, and burn up.
My favourite recipes are leftover stir fry (take any left over meat/vegetables/meals and throw into a saucepan/wok with chopped onion and some rice, stir it a bit and leave it to cook) and spaghetti. Our family spaghetti recipe is the easiest thing ever, though I warn they will all have UK measurements:
-Roughly chop up an onion and cook in a splash of olive oil in a saucepan until the pieces go soft and brownish
-Add a clove of garlic (remembering that's the individual piece not the whole bulb - so many people have misinterpreted me with tragic results!) that's been, yes, minced! (If you're going to keep cooking a garlic press is a worthwhile investment.) and stir in
-Then add about 100g of minced beef and stir until it's broken up and brown all over with no signs of pink
-Add some flour to soak up some of the juices - about a heaped dessertspoonful is usually okay
-Put on the pasta to boil - the packet will tell you how much. Put in a saucepan with lots of boiling water and a pinch of salt and leave to cook, stirring it occasionally to make sure it doesn't get too starchy/stuck together
-Add a can of chopped tomatoes, or whole peeled tomatoes that you have chopped and stir in. Then add a crushed stock cube or some old beef gravy if you have it lying around
-Then add about two handfuls of chopped mushrooms (quite big pieces, a mushroom goes into about four or six pieces) and a handful of frozen pepper pieces. You can use fresh peppers if you like - red and yellow are nicest
-Stir and cook until it boils, then add a pinch of salt, some pepper and some oregano and basil. Also a squirt of anything tomatoey you have - puree, pasata and ketchup are all good. I don't know if it's been exported to the US, but a splash Worcestershire sauce makes it awseome.
-Add a good glug of red wine and stir.
-Serve with the pasta, green salad and garlic bread and grated parmesan
I always thought that anyone who could read could cook. I have since learned that, that isn't true. Try Cooks.com. It is a good site for recipes that are easy. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. I have taught several people to cook. I love to cook! Think of it as an adventure. Good Luck
Cooking involves not just vocabulary, but math and science as well.
...and cleaning up when you're done (I hate that part).
Anyway, congratulations on wanting to try to cook! That's great! It's fun, and you can make lots of tasty (and pretty) food.
If you copy and paste this link onto your URL box, you'll find an archive of staple recipes from the Pioneer Woman. If there was ever a fairy tale about cooking, she would be the queen.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/category/staples/
Anyway, here are some recipes:
Baked potatoes (don't laugh):
Ingredients:
Several medium to small potatoes, depending on what you want.
A microwave.
Gloves, possibly.
A bowl or plate.
A fork
A hungry husband or another member of the male species.
Instructions:
1. Stab the potatoes all over with the fork generously (the potatoes don’t think it’s generous).
2. Place them on a plate or in a bowl, and then put them in the microwave.
3. If your microwave has a button that says “baked potatoes,” you know what to do. I’m not sure how many minutes it would be otherwise.
4. After the potatoes are done, pierce the skin that doesn’t have a hole in it. If it goes in and comes out quickly, then it’s done. If not…uh…I guess put it back in the microwave for a period of time. Sorry. : S
5. Cut the baked potatoes in half with a knife and lay a pat of butter on each side. Take a fork and mash the potato part up until everything’s nice and mashed and buttery. Add salt for extra flavor.
6. Feed it to the hungry husband and roll your eyes heavenward with pleasure as you taste it, and beam with pride as Hubs praises your cooking.
Now for the main entrée:
Breaded chicken (or, as my brother and I call it, Uncle Mikey chicken, after our uncle, who introduced it to our mother).
Ingredients:
Chicken breasts (however many you like, as long as you have enough pans).
A tall can of Progresso Italian bread crumbs.
A half stick or a stick of butter.
An oven.
9x13 inch pans.
A small frying pan.
A bowl.
A cutting board.
Gloves.
A knife.
A hungry husband.
Instructions:
1. In the morning, put the frozen chicken breasts in a plastic bag, then put that in a bowl of cold water. Put that in the sink, and let it sit there to thaw all day until it’s time to bake.
2. When you’re ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the pans with cooking spray.
3. While that’s preheating, put the frying pan on the stovetop and heat it to low temperature. Unwrap the butter and put it in the pan, and let it melt. Don’t let it turn brown, and get it off the stove if it starts smelling funky, because those are signs that it’s burning. After the butter melts, turn off the stovetop.
4. Take the chicken out of the plastic bag and put it on the cutting board. With the knife, cut the chicken into several good sized pieces, small enough so that all will fit on the pan.
5. Dip each piece of chicken into the butter, so that it’s all gooey. Then, dip the buttered chicken into the bread crumbs, making sure that all of it is covered. Lay it on the baking pan. Repeat with all the chicken pieces.
6. Put the pan into the oven for 40 minutes. Don’t throw the butter away – you’ll need it for later.
7. When the time’s up, pull out the oven rack part way. With a spoon, take the leftover butter and pour it on each of the chicken pieces. Kinda like a sauce.
8. Put the rack back in and time the oven again for 20 minutes.
9. When that’s done, take out the pan and set it on a cookie rack and let it cool.
10. Put the chicken on the plates and serve it to your happy husband.
11. Bon apetit.
Good luck! You can do it! : )
Sharyna: I'd like to be one of those people who season to taste. Not there yet, as the peanut butter incident proves. I'll check out those sites. Thanks!!
Laura: I did try making pancakes and had some moderate success. Flipped a few too early, but they were edible.
Peni: I should totally be taking notes. That was helpful. Especially the cooking times/heat bit. Thanks!
Hannah: Definitely don't own a garlic press. Will consider... Thanks for the recipe! Looks yummy.
Linda: I can vouch personally for the lack of correlation between reading and cooking. :) I'll try out that site. Thanks!
Lauren: I've been on that site but hadn't noticed the cooking part. I'll go check that out. And thanks for the recipes! Those look like something I can do. Particularly the baked potato. I assume if you don't stab the potato that it explodes in some spectacular fashion?
I started learning to cook a couple years ago when i discovered I actually have to move out of my parents house some day and cook my own food. "Helper" is a good place to start ie - Hamburger helper, tuna helper. Etc. All you really do is brown ground meat (put it in a pan and separate it with a spatuala until it's brown) The Geroge Foremen grill is a must have. My favorite quick easy meal - throw hamburger or sausage or chicken on the grill (until chicken is ALL THE WAY white on the inside) and make lipton rice- which is rice and water and some butter and throw it in the micro wave. Start with the easy little stuff and learn the skills - like mincing, browning, chopping,before you try anything too hard.
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You're quite welcome. :)
I believe the potatoes do explode. I never tried exploded potato for dinner, and I'm not sure if I want to. Awfully messy to clean up, probably.
In regards to P-Dub, I definitely recommend the apple dumplings. They involve Mountain Dew as an ingredient. If you're up for the challenge, you'll have one happy hubby. :D
Just think of all the story ideas you'll get as you cook! You'll have a lot of fun with everybody's recipes! :D
Unpierced potatoes do indeed explode. I never did this, but my Mom did, long before I was born.
An hour in a conventional oven at 400 degrees will bake most medium-sized potatoes. Large ones might take an hour and a half. Lower temperatures and longer times are okay, but a higher temperature is likely to scorch the skin, the tastiest part. Roll them between your hands (in oven mitts!) once done to make them mealier. How long it takes in a microwave varies with the microwave; experiment.
The potato is literally the perfect food. Not only can you live on nothing but potatoes and whole milk products (assuming you eat the skin as well; otherwise, insufficient insoluble fiber) indefinitely, but the amount of potato plant necessary produce the number of potatoes that will keep you alive for a day will absorb as much carbon dioxide as you exhale and produce as much oxygen as you need to inhale during the same time period.
NEVER eat a green potato. It's been exposed to too much light and has produced toxins.
(I love food. Especially potatoes.)
I know you might not have time Sarah but could you take a look at my Blog posts and comment on them? If you have the time of course. There's only 3.
thanks x
Lauren: It worked! Victory!!! I made something edible!
I tried your chicken and potato dinner last night, and it was a huge success. (And the leftovers worked in sandwiches the next day.) Thank you!
Do you have any other easy dinner recipes like that?
PaulaAlicia: Good advice. I definitely don't know the basics yet. I don't even know the vocab yet!
I've actually never eaten hamburger helper (too intimidated by the idea of the hamburger part). I should try it. I like those Lipton rice mixes.
Peni: Very cool potato facts. Never would have thought to roll a potato in oven mitts. Thanks!
I have a good recipe, and it's amazingly yummy!
Campbell's Kitchen Crunchy No-Fry Chicken
3/4 cup finely crushed corn flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast half (about 1 pound)
1/4 cup Swanson® Chicken Stock
* Heat the oven to 400°F.
* Stir the corn flakes, garlic powder, black pepper and red pepper in a shallow medium bowl.
* Dip the chicken into the stock. Coat with the corn flake mixture. Place the chicken onto a baking sheet.
* Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
This delicious baked chicken, coated with seasoned cereal crumbs is every bit as tasty as it's fried counterpart...and it's ready in just 30 minutes!
Yummy! Hope I could help ;)
You could just change teaspoon to "little spoon" and tablespoon to "big spoon" in your head (or if you print out your recipes, just change the wording before you print). That might work.
Huzzah! That's great, Sarah! Good job!
Let's see...well, to be honest, I'm not the cook in my family. That noble title belongs to my heroic mother. Breaded chicken, therefore, is almost my signature meal.
Not to worry, though. She has easy recipes. Try this one by PW.
Crash Hot Potatoes (I have actually done this before):
Ingredients
* 12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
* 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* Kosher Salt To Taste
* Black Pepper To Taste
* Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste
Preparation Instructions
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)
Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
When I get home, I'll get my mom to give me the recipe for roasted crockpot chicken for you. Have fun!
Also: Pasta salad is a good thing to know how to make. This is my favorite kind.
Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
-4 cups uncooked spiral pasta
-1 cup basil pesto (buy this in a store unless you happen to have tons of fresh basil around your house)
-Sliced black olives (as much as looks good to you)
-Pine nuts (ditto)
-1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
-12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved (you can substitute other kinds of tomatoes if you don't have cherry tomatoes)
-Several fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped (or just tear them up into smaller pieces. Omit if you don't have them.)
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-Salt and pepper
Cook pasta according to instructions on the package. Make sure the water is salted (at least a half teaspoon per quart). Remove pasta from heat and strain when pasta is cooked, but still firm (al dente).
Put pasta in a big bowl. Mix in pesto and pine nuts. Gently mix in olives, tomatoes, peas, fresh basil, and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill or serve at room temperature.
Serves 6-8.
Here's where you could potentially mess up:
1. Don't overcook the pasta.
2. Don't add too much pesto. Start with 1/2 cup and then keep adding more until it looks good to you.
3. Like it says, gently stir in the tomatoes and olives. You don't want to crush them (though it'll still taste good).
I got the recipe here if you want to see a picture or the recipe without my alterations--this I didn't change much. It's pretty basic.
And after writing this I'm craving it something awful. Pesto is awesome.
Deana: That sounds doable. And yummy. I'll try it. Thanks!!
Lauren: Thanks again! I'll give this one a whirl too. I like the short ingredient list. :)
Q: Never made pasta salad, but I pretty much love pasta anything. Thanks for the recipe! Sounds good.
You're welcome, Sarah. I got the chicken recipe for you.
Ingredients:
One chicken (boned or boneless, it doesn't matter)
A crockpot
Garlic powder
One can of cream of chicken soup
Instructions:
1. Take the chicken out of its container in the morning and put it in the crockpot. Make sure that there's no guts or bag of guts inside the chicken. If there is, take it out.
2. Pour one can of cream of chicken soup onto the chicken.
3. Sprinkle garlic powder on top of that, not too much, not too little. Try a few pinches.
4. Set the crockpot on low. If the chicken has bones in it, you'll need to let it stay in the crockpot for 10 hours. If it doesn't have bones, then leave it in there for 8 hours.
5. Go about your merry way.
6. In the afternoon, after 8 or 10 hours, your chicken is done. I would recommend buying a chicken that had those timers inside of them. When the chicken is done, the timer (which looks like a tack) has popped up.
7. Take the chicken out and put it on a large plate. With parts that have small bones that can choke people, just take the meat off and throw the bones away.
8. Unless the chicken is too hot (in which you naturally wait for it to cool), put it on a plate and serve.
9. Taste and relish every sumptuous bite.
That's it. Good luck! :)
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