Hi,
I'm new to the site and fairly new to cooking, about 6 months in. Graduate school has forced me to start cooking for myself (even though I've had experience cooking some things with my Mom). I would call myself a rather good cook following recipes and such. I already know how to make:
-Chicken Marsala
-Homemade pasta sauce and crab gravy
-Shrimp Scampi
-California Chicken
-Beef Burgundy
-Chicken parm
-Beef stew
-Honey BBQ chicken
-Pasta Asian stir-fry (doesn't count since I buy the prepackaged stir-fry and mix in with pasta and oil)
(geez, that can't be all I know how to make!)
and they turn out to be really good.
However, I would like to be able to learn how to make my own dishes or rather "understand" how to cook instead of just following a recipe.
Is there some sort of 101 guide to cooking that anyone knows of that can help me learn the basics of cooking? Kinda like the key, basic recipes that are good to learn how certain ingredients flavor meat? Sorta like a group of dishes that use a common ingredient so I know that x ingredient will flavor it this way. (ie if you use thyme with several dishes you will understand the thyme taste quite well)
Even though I know how to make several quality dishes, I never really experiment with different spices or veges. The primary spices I've ever used are:
-garlic
-salt/pepper (although I never actually taste the pepper)
-Thyme
-Nutmeg (only for making spaetzels)
-Bay leaf (not sure what this adds to the dishes)
-Parsley (once again, not sure what this adds to the dishes)
-Paprika (???)
-Bullion cubes
-Lemon
-Butter
And the only veges are:
-mushrooms
-onions (don't know the differences between onions)
-Tomato sauce
I've never made anything with cucumber or tomato for example. A prime example of my cluelessness is when I make California Chicken. It calls for paprika. I use it but have absolutely no idea what kind of flavor it brings and thus how much to use.
Now onto the wine question:
What is the difference between the types of red and white wine? When I'm asked to use white wine, I don't know whether to use Chablis, Marsala or Riesling (that's what I currently have) and for red wine, I only have Burgundy.
Thanks!
I'm new to the site and fairly new to cooking, about 6 months in. Graduate school has forced me to start cooking for myself (even though I've had experience cooking some things with my Mom). I would call myself a rather good cook following recipes and such. I already know how to make:
-Chicken Marsala
-Homemade pasta sauce and crab gravy
-Shrimp Scampi
-California Chicken
-Beef Burgundy
-Chicken parm
-Beef stew
-Honey BBQ chicken
-Pasta Asian stir-fry (doesn't count since I buy the prepackaged stir-fry and mix in with pasta and oil)
(geez, that can't be all I know how to make!)
and they turn out to be really good.
However, I would like to be able to learn how to make my own dishes or rather "understand" how to cook instead of just following a recipe.
Is there some sort of 101 guide to cooking that anyone knows of that can help me learn the basics of cooking? Kinda like the key, basic recipes that are good to learn how certain ingredients flavor meat? Sorta like a group of dishes that use a common ingredient so I know that x ingredient will flavor it this way. (ie if you use thyme with several dishes you will understand the thyme taste quite well)
Even though I know how to make several quality dishes, I never really experiment with different spices or veges. The primary spices I've ever used are:
-garlic
-salt/pepper (although I never actually taste the pepper)
-Thyme
-Nutmeg (only for making spaetzels)
-Bay leaf (not sure what this adds to the dishes)
-Parsley (once again, not sure what this adds to the dishes)
-Paprika (???)
-Bullion cubes
-Lemon
-Butter
And the only veges are:
-mushrooms
-onions (don't know the differences between onions)
-Tomato sauce
I've never made anything with cucumber or tomato for example. A prime example of my cluelessness is when I make California Chicken. It calls for paprika. I use it but have absolutely no idea what kind of flavor it brings and thus how much to use.
Now onto the wine question:
What is the difference between the types of red and white wine? When I'm asked to use white wine, I don't know whether to use Chablis, Marsala or Riesling (that's what I currently have) and for red wine, I only have Burgundy.
Thanks!
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