Hello from Buckeye Nation

[SubwayScriptures]

Hello!

I'm a college student at THE Ohio State University who just moved in and his own kitchen for the first time.

I'm not an absolute klutz around the kitchen, but would definitely appreciate any tips/recipes that you guys had to help me out and get me past Ramen and PBJ's.

Anyone should feel free to PM me or friend request(?) me.

Kind regards

 

[bethzaring]

Howdy back at you....LOL, I always thought it was funny having the emphasis on THE, but that's the way it is pronounced!

What kind of cooking do you like to do?

 

[SubwayScriptures]

Yea there's a lot of pride here so people like to really let others know the importance of Ohio State.

I love grilling, but b/c of my apartment (and the weather) that's not really an option.

I have a rice cooker with a steam tray for rice and veggies. Also I want to do more skillet/pan cooking, but I dont really have too much experience with that.

 

[bigdaddy3k]

Don't knock ramen! Most people don't know what they are doing with them. Ramen is a soup BASE! You are supposed to add a bunch of stuff to it. Break an egg in the water while its cooking. Add steamed veggies! Cut up some leftover KFC and add it to the pot.

Also, we will help you work on other things. I just didn't want you to throw ramen away.

 

[Nekolove]

Hello back at you! I just joined today too. I was born in Toledo, OH so you're like a little piece of home calling to me (I'm living in North Carolina right now, working my way through grad school).

I agree about adding things to the ramen. You will be amazed at how that changes the entire character of those little noodles. Many fancy-schmancy Japanese restaurants serve ramen with steamed veggies and an egg and slices of roast pork....and charge 10$ for it!

Something else you can try, now that it's getting cooler back in OH is cooking squash. There are lots of different kinds, but Butternut is my favorite (and you should be able to find it reasonably priced). Just peel off the rind, scoop out the seeds, cut it into cubes (or other similarly shaped small pieces) and then put into a big pot and cover with water. Bring it to the boil, and cook it until the squash is squishable (watch that you don't let the water boil over....the squash creates a weird starch slick on the water and it will burn on your stove). Then just drain off the water, put in a little butter and milk, salt and pepper and mash it up (like mashed potatoes!) Sometimes I also add a little bit of fresh grated ginger. Believe me, it's easy, delicious, and makes a pretty dish (you could use it to show off your cooking prowess to someone special).

Good luck!

 

[SubwayScriptures]

I didn't mean to knock on Ramen too hard. It is good (even if it's not good for you).

I like the squash idea too. Any other easy tips for me?

 

[chefkathleen]

Hello!

I'm a college student at THE Ohio State University who just moved in and his own kitchen for the first time.

I'm not an absolute klutz around the kitchen, but would definitely appreciate any tips/recipes that you guys had to help me out and get me past Ramen and PBJ's.

Anyone should feel free to PM me or friend request(?) me.

Kind regards

Hello from an Alum! I spent 4 wonderful years at OSU right out of high school many years ago! The best time ever! And way before culinary arts schools. Glad your here and I'll see if I can find a ramen recipe for you!

 

[SubwayScriptures]

Hello Kathleen. It's good to hear from another alum of the school. I'm sure there's plenty out there.

Anyone have any good pointers for me on how to stir-fry/sauteing foods?

 

[chefkathleen]

Hello Kathleen. It's good to hear from another alum of the school. I'm sure there's plenty out there.

Anyone have any good pointers for me on how to stir-fry/sauteing foods?

What is it you want to know?
btw, some good parties nearby too! Dimebag Derrell got killed at a place we used to go to sometimes too.

 

[SubwayScriptures]

What is it you want to know?

Well I'm trying to keep a budget for food (who isnt?) so I'm wondering which oils/spices/what nots are the most versatile. Instead of having to buy a bottle of something or other for one specific meal, I want to be able to buy something that I can use over and over for a variety of meals?

Also tips on basic cooking techinque would be nice toooo.

 

[chefkathleen]

Well, vegetable oil can be used for a variety of things. I've also used canola oil when the hubs was having issues with cholesterol. Olive oil is nice but I wouldn't use it as an everyday frying oil. It does make good salad dressings and marinades. Spices I keep on hand forever is always salt and pepper, garlic in one form or another. I like fresh but, you can also use granulated,powder and garlic salt. Just don't add as much regular salt if you use that. Oregano, basil, thyme, are more good ones that you can add to all kinds of dishes. As well as Lowry's seasoned salt or Mrs Dash or one of the multi blends like that.
When I saute, it depends on what I'm cooking in the order of how I do it.
Do you have any recipes yet that you're looking at or that you like? Are you in a dorm or a house or apt.?

 

[SubwayScriptures]

I'm living in an apartment so it's a pretty standard kitchen setup. In addition I have a small rice cooker with steam tray and a George Foreman grill.

Recipes... I'm still making pretty basic stuff but here's what I've done recently.

Last night I stir-fryed/satueed (whatever) strips of pork and broccoli using olive oil and then adding some soy sauce in later. To go with that I made brown rice in the cooker.

Tonight I made skinless chicken breast on the foreman (plain with bbq sauce added after cooking. And in the rice cooker I had brown rice and in the steam tray there was shelled edamame, broccoli, and baby carrots tossed in a olive oil and a McCormick's all-purpose spice.

Any tips or thoughts?

 

[chefkathleen]

Sounds like you've got a good handle on things. The George grill is great for pressed sandwiches as well. Hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, anything you can think of. And you already know the steamer is good for all of your vegs.

 

[SubwayScriptures]

Yea i guess i'm not completely helpless in the kitchen. But yesterday I made the mistake of not defrosting chicken before trying to take it out of the package and prepare it. That ended up being trouble. How long does it take to defrost something from the freezer to fridge?

Also I'm trying to add a little more flavor to my steamed vegetables. Any ideas? Yesterday I tried olive oil and an all-purpose spice. It wasn't bad but could use something extra?

 

[chefkathleen]

You could use a flavored water. Don't know if that would hurt your steamer or not. Lemon juice is always good. Or use a little wine.
I've taken a chicken out of my deep freezer and it's taken 2 days to thaw in the fridge. On the other hand if it's just in my fridge freezer, it usually only takes a day.

 

[SubwayScriptures]

You could use a flavored water.

Flavored water like Fruit-2-o or Propel?

 

[chefkathleen]

Sorry no. I was thinking of something more like adding chicken broth or base. Or putting lemon juice and wedges in there. You can also add orange or fresh herbs. You can do the same with your rice too.

 

[SubwayScriptures]

Chicken broth sounds good. Have you had any experience working with broth and a rice cooker? I was wondering if that could have any ill effects on the cooker.

What about your go-to recipes? Do you have any that you can always count on for a good, statisfying meal?

 

[chefkathleen]

Tons. And I'm sure there are tons on this site as well. What base do you want to use? What kind of meats, etc.
Never used a rice cooker. Always did it in big pots. LOL. What do the manufactures directions say?

 

[SubwayScriptures]

Sorry for the delay. Weekends are hectic to say the least.

I usually like to have either chicken breast or pork as my base. Last night I used turkey for the first time (made turkey burgers).

Anything for starters?