Learning to Cook - Recipes and Things to Cook

[Jeni78]

Hi All,

So, I am 30 and just in the last several years or so have started learning to cook and bake.

I am looking for recipes and things to cook that will help expand my knowledge a bit and perhaps help me to be a little more self sufficient in the kitchen. By self sufficient I mean able to put something together without a recipe and able to substitute.

I realize that most of this is practice-trial-error and that my self sufficiency may not come for many years, but it seems like there are many people on here that work as chefs, have been to culinary school and/or have spent their lives cooking.

I am a horseback riding instructor so I have tons of "exercises" for people to do that will help them to ride better.

I'm wondering if there are "exercises" or recipes and things to make and practice on that can help a person develop better skills in the kitchen.

For example, I heard on tv that the ability to cook eggs well, in a variety of ways is a "basic" for a chef so I have almost done that.

I've also been trying to do everything from "scratch" (as in shopping the outer walls of the grocery store).

I am not desiring to be a chef or anything like that, but if anyone has any advice in this area, I would really appreciate it!

Oh, and I have TOO MANY cookbooks. Not that I'm not willing to take suggestions (because there will be more in the future), but I am somewhat of a "book collector" and one of my favorite things is cookbooks

This forum has helped me greatly already so THANK YOU I really appreciate it.

 

[Andy M.]

You can have a lot of fun getting to where you want to be.

One way to do it is to choose a cuisine such as Italian. Grab one of your Italian cookbooks and cook few recipes. That will give you an idea of which combinations work well for some of the foods of Italy.

Do the same thing with a Mexican cookbook.

In the cold weather, start making soups. You'll see that many soups have common procedures, ingredients, etc. The same goes for stews and braises.

By cooking a wide variety of recipes, you will begin to get a feel for winning combinations and the proper steps to follow when you want to throw something together using stuff you have on hand.

Watch cooking shows and try some of the recipes you like there.

Bottom line - experience with cooking will give you the knowledge and skill to become an intuitive cook - someone who can throw something together without thinking too much about it.

You'll make some mistakes. Don't tell anyone. Just tell them that's the way it was supposed to be. It will usually be edible, even if you don't like it very much.

Write things down so you can correct your bad recipes and repeat your successes.

 

[CharlieD]

Howdy neighbor. I have a deal for you, you teach how to ride a horse, and I'll teach you how to cook. Where about in MN are you?

 

[attie]

As usual Andy M gives good advise, from me I would say firstly write down what you like.
Look up the recipe and give it a go
Follow the recipe as best you can but be mindful that the person who wrote the recipe won't be giving you a guarantee that it will work.
Andy or myself could give you a recipe that works for us but it may not work for you.
Trial and error and don't worry about the flops,
SO if you want to be able to cook like Andy you will have to work really-really hard at it. If you want to be able to cook like me, be prepared for some failures, but when it turns out good it's sensational. It doesn't matter what I cook I always seem to vary from the recipe, it's a personal taste thing.
The biggest downfall for me is that I can rarely repeat the recipe because I never write things down.

Good luck Jeni
Be a devil and go for it

 

[msmofet]

trial and error are important learning tools. the first time i made homemade ravioli (i rolled the dough by hand). my table was bent in the middle so when i did the make a well in the flour and drop an egg in method, the egg rolled out of the well and into the crack and onto the floor. the cat was happy i wasn't!! well i got the dough mixed and made my raviolis not a one broke open!! BUT you could only fit ONE on a 9" plate. i have gotten better at the size thing and i still like to roll my own dough out because they never leak the filling into the water.

the first time i made swedish meatballs well............ my hub still refers to them as swedish bowling balls.

they tasted good!!

after i had my first daughter (at the begining of december) i was told i still had to bring lemon meringue pie and pecan pie for holiday dinner (mine were the best i was told). well i was so tired from nursing the baby and little sleep. i made my pies. they looked beautiful. the pecan was perfect but when my uncle cut into the lemon and it was soup he just rolled with it and said thats ok just give me a spoon this is mine!! accidents happen!! this happened AFTER i was making lemon pies for years so even experienced cooks have off days. no worries. learn to laugh at the boo boos!! and never apologize.

 

[attie]

I loved your post msmofet.

Yes, this is what it's all about, To be a professional cook be professionally trained.

To be a home cook, practice on the family, do not be afraid to experiment, but remember to write down the successes.

 

[msmofet]

I loved your post msmofet.

Yes, this is what it's all about, To be a professional cook be professionally trained.

To be a home cook, practice on the family, do not be afraid to experiment, but remember to write down the successes.

thank you sweetie!!

 

[attie]

thank you sweetie!!

You are most welcome, it is nice to get a response to a post so early in the evening for us when you blokes are normally in bed --- I'm posting this at 6.50pm Friday evening here.

 

[msmofet]

You are most welcome, it is nice to get a response to a post so early in the evening for us when you blokes are normally in bed --- I'm posting this at 6.50pm Friday evening here.

it is 5am friday here. it has been raining and i don't sleep well (insomnia and pain keep me awake till i pass out from exhaustion. which sometimes takes 2 days+). at the moment i also have the beginning of a migraine argh!! it is nice to have someone else posting at this time, i am usually very lonely. LOL


btw were you laughing at me or with me? teehee

i am thinking about putting on a pot of coffee (fresh ground bean blend) and then making katie's devils food cake.

 

[attie]

Laughing with you msmofet, I to am a poor sleeper, I guess it's an age thing.

No coffee for me at this time of night, scotch and pepsi max to warm the bones. We are in the midst of a cold snap Brrrrrr! down to 4C today, I tell you, that is cold for us

 

[msmofet]

Laughing with you msmofet, I to am a poor sleeper, I guess it's an age thing.

No coffee for me at this time of night, scotch and pepsi max to warm the bones. We are in the midst of a cold snap Brrrrrr! down to 4C today, I tell you, that is cold for us

wow!! i still have to adjust to the fact that we are in complete opposite seasons. btw i hate HOT and humid weather (my allergies go crazy and i can't breathe).

 

[Jeni78]

LOL - so I am really not afraid to fail at the recipes I find. I do hate to waste food and I don't try new recipes out on new people LOL.

I am going to try to make pasta sometime in the next week (I think).

Oddly enough, I don't have specific cuisine cookbooks. Well, I do have one italian and one mexican. But the rest of my cookbooks are a little oddball, like the ND Cowboy Hall of Fame and Depression Era Recipes. I do have Cooking for Dummies which has helped me through some spice and herb questions, along with some terms and techniques.

The Joy of Cooking is one I don't have.

Otherwise I guess I'm looking for recipes that require the use of many skills.

Charlie, I am in the Twin Cities! My only dilemma with your offer is that all of my customers have their own horses. But if you found a horse to ride, and we are close enough together, that might just work!

 

[msmofet]

jen i just got a news letter from chef central with lots of great pasta tips in it. if you PM me your email i will forwad it to you.

 

[Silversage]

If you want to learn to cook without recipes, a useful tool would be Michael Ruhlman's new book, "Ratios". It's all about understanding the proportions that work together. For example, you can't go wrong with 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar as a starting point for salad dressing. Then you can add whatever flavoring you want or adjust the proportion based on the flavor you are trying to achieve, as long as you understand the basic proportion.

He breaks most of what we consider American cooking into just 20 or 30 basic ratios, and you take it from there.

Another book that really explains how & why ingredients work together, instead of just listing ingredients, is Shirley Corriher's "Cookwise" (and the sequel, "Bakewise"). She actually teaches you how to adjust and change recipes to arrive at what you want. Do you like your cookies chewy? soft? crispy? etc. Instead of looking for a different recipe, she teaches you how to adjust your ingredients to get the desired result.

And of course, the consumate reference guide for all things cooking is still "The Joy of Cooking".

 

[Jeni78]

Thank you very much for the book ideas...the Ratios, Cookwise and Bakewise sound like ones I should definitely get.

And of course, the Joy of Cooking - I have been looking for a clean used copy - Barnes & Noble charge quite a lot for it!

I have had my share of cooking failures. I followed a tilapia recipe to the "T" once and it turns out the recipe was missing some important things and I didn't even realize it.

It was a crockpot recipe. The fish was cooked but it tasted like lemony windex (or what I think lemony windex might taste like). I tried using marinara sauce to fix it and that made it taste like lemony-windex-puke.

Normally I eat what I make even if it's "just decent" or even a little less than decent - but this fish was not edible at all, no way. I wish I had the book I got the recipe out of, it is currently packed in storage. You would laugh at it. This was several years ago, but because of that recipe, I now question ingredients and steps in recipes...rather than just follow blindly like I used to do (not that I always know what to question-but at least I think about it). All in all, it was a very good learning experience.

Trying to remember...
I think the ingredients were tilapia, lemon wedges, a bay leaf and capers. All into the crockpot on low for 5 hours with nothing else. LOL

 

[Silversage]

And of course, the Joy of Cooking - I have been looking for a clean used copy - Barnes & Noble charge quite a lot for it!

Make sure you either get the edition published in the 1970's or the new one from 2006. Skip the edition between the - most agree it wasn't up to snuff!

I find the best prices on cookbooks at Jessica's Biscuit on the web. I've been using them for 6 or 8 years and they've been great. Their website is Cookbooks | World's Largest Cookbook Selection at Jessica's Biscuit - ecookbooks.com | Cookbooks, Cookbook Recipes for Chefs. The newest edition of Joy is there for $21. List is $35.

Trying to remember...
I think the ingredients were tilapia, lemon wedges, a bay leaf and capers. All into the crockpot on low for 5 hours with nothing else. LOL

Wow!!! 5 hours for tilapia sure seems like a lot You can do a tilapia filet in a skillet in 2 minutes per side. Since there's no collagen or sinew to break down, I can't see the reason to use a slow cooker. Which did it do - get hard & tough, or fall apart?

 

[Wyogal]

I read recipes, but don't usually follow them. I have found it quite helpful to learn methods: bake, fry, saute, poach, etc... I remember that Julia Child had some videos out a long time ago that were grouped according to main ingredient (beef, pork, poultry), then went into different methods for the different cuts of meat.
Same with side dishes: rice pilaf, plain rice, risotto; potatoes many different ways, etc.
That way, I can use a method of cooking, using ingredients and flavors that we favor; and that's where experimenting comes in.

 

[msmofet]

I read recipes, but don't usually follow them. I have found it quite helpful to learn methods: bake, fry, saute, poach, etc... I remember that Julia Child had some videos out a long time ago that were grouped according to main ingredient (beef, pork, poultry), then went into different methods for the different cuts of meat.
Same with side dishes: rice pilaf, plain rice, risotto; potatoes many different ways, etc.
That way, I can use a method of cooking, using ingredients and flavors that we favor; and that's where experimenting comes in.

i use recipes as guidelines also. i mix and match so to speak ingredients and methods. except with the baking i am more mindful of the basic chem of those recipes but fiddle with shapes, size and add ins/ons. i usually use a small scoop/disher because i like small cookies all the same size.

 

[Jeni78]

Wow!!! 5 hours for tilapia sure seems like a lot You can do a tilapia filet in a skillet in 2 minutes per side. Since there's no collagen or sinew to break down, I can't see the reason to use a slow cooker. Which did it do - get hard & tough, or fall apart?

LOL It fell apart and it didn't even smell good.

I haven't cooked tilapia since. Or any fish besides walleye (just did that for the first time a couple weeks ago) and tuna steak. I feel I have perfected tuna steak. LOL

Thanks for the website for cook books and all the suggestions, the more the merrier!