Thread: Can't Cook, Won't Cook Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.
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Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on
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I can cook. I started when I was very young, helping my mother, and thoroughly enjoy it.
However recently I've had two friends say that they can't. In one instance, said friend is trying to learn but finds the whole thing very stressful. She said even something as simple as scrambling an egg is beyond her if she's not feeling on top of her game and she wouldn't even contemplate anything beyond toast a large part of the time.
The other just looked horrified at the idea that she might even contemplate cooking. "Why?" she said "Making soup would just be horrific."
So, my question is, if you're someone who can't cook / won't cook, why not? What is it about cooking that's anathema to you? Help me understand.
No judgement. I'm totally not saying that is great to cook and terrible not to. I'm just trying to understand.
(PS Hope this is the right board - I dithered between here and Purg. And I guess there's also a case for it in All Saints.)
Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on
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I can cook, when I have to, but it's very simple stuff. I am not creative when cooking, so I can manage roasts and the like but not anything very complicated. Some people say they find it relaxing to bake cakes, or soothing to mess about with recipes, but (like your friend, Yangtze) I find it stressful. My mother wasn't much of a cook, and certainly never taught me how to do it, and the only thing I remember her showing me was how to shell fresh peas.
Mr Marten and I had a medieval party recently, in honour of Richard III, and to be honest that was different - we concocted a medieval menu and although a bit stressed I found it interesting. Not half as soothing though as sitting handsewing two Ricardian banners while watching my boxset of Dexter ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
.
[ 02. March 2013, 15:20: Message edited by: Pine Marten ]
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
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Hmmm. Not sure if I fit your category, but here goes: I tell people I "can't" cook, though in fact I do -- I have to, since I now live alone, and fear health consequences if I depend solely on canned goods plus economic consequences if I eat out all the time.
WHat "I can't cook" means in my case is that my results, while serviceable enough (I hope) are nothing I'd be happy to offer guests (or take to potlucks at church when I was a member). Meals take the form of "glop" -- mixtures of veggies in something sauce-like and possibly fish served over noodles or rice or bread or maybe a baked potato.
Aside from the color in the veggies, these don't look particularly nice in presentation. They smell and taste OK, since I do add spices and herbs, but it's otherwise pretty plain and unprepossessing fare done fast for the sake of time and convenience, and nothing I'd foist on a guest.
"Real" cooking, in my book, involves a lot of expense -- going beyond parsley flakes and basil and garlic, etc., and prepping several dishes at once, which (in my experience or more accurately inexperience) will never manage to be ready all at the same time.
Certainly nothing to undertake during weeks when I'm "on call" at work.
Posted by Desert Daughter (# 13635) on
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Just like Porridge I prefer to cook myself than to rely on canned or other prepared food. In fact I don't even own a microwave.
So yes, I think I can cook. But I will never admit it to anyone who is likely to call at my place.
Because I am very, very shy about my cooking.
The problem is that I've been cooking just for myself for the past 26 years. And over those years, having lived in a variety of countries ranging from Argentina to Finland and from the US to India, my cooking became somewhat eclectic. I use strong spices and exotic vegetables. I love, and often prepare, Tibetan butter tea. And I have my own secret recipe for hot curry noodles with seaweed.
So I am painfully aware of the fact that while my repertoire may be rather wide and exotic, I am no good at cooking the "standard" things one would be expected to dish up when hosting friends. I am quite good at grilling meat, a skill I learned in Argentina, but in today's squeamish veggie-society that only gets you so far.
My impression is that at least in the urban, western middle-class world there's quite a "codex" on what to cook, and how to be a gracious host. I cannot keep up with that. Besides, my place is so crammed with books that there are no free chairs on which guests could sit. But that is another story. I simply can't keep up with the unwritten rules of being a gracious host in an urban European 21st century environment.
So no, I officially cannot, and will not, cook.
Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on
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A lot of my cooking is some kind of highly spiced "glop" as well, for what it's worth ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
"Real" cooking, in my book, involves a lot of expense -- going beyond parsley flakes and basil and garlic, etc., and prepping several dishes at once, which (in my experience or more accurately inexperience) will never manage to be ready all at the same time.
It saddens me that you - and DD - feel disqualified from cooking food to share. Eating (and drinking) with friends is to me one of the principle joys of existence.
And it need not be difficult to provide 3 or 4 courses with minimal skill, and no need to co-ordinate timings.
- Cold starter, prepared in advance. Smoked salmon trimmings with a lemon wedge and brown bread and butter. Slices of tomato and mozzarella with a few torn basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. Pâté and crusty bread. Crudités and dip.
- Classic casserole. Boeuf en daube. Coq au vin. Lamb hotpot. Whatever your favourite cuisine, it will have somewhere a thrifty concoction of meat and veg which just needs to be left to itself for a few hours in an oven. There's a reason these recipes endure.
- Cheese course. Cheeses. Bunch of grapes. Oatcakes, crackers whatever.
- Dessert. As for starter. Fresh fruit salad. Baked fruit salad. Fruit in jelly. Bought ice cream or sorbet. Ready rolled puff pastry topped with sliced apple or tinned apricots.
Unless your friends are the sort of miserable, life-denying faddists that you wouldn't want to sit down with in any case, any of the above - and a free hand with the wine - will be all you need.
Posted by chive (# 208) on
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I can't cook and I rarely attempt to try. I live on takeaways, microwave meals and toast. I can go a week to ten days without eating a hot meal fairly regularly.
There are a few reasons for this. Firstly my mother is a very good cook and also had a very bad temper. She used to try and get us to help her and then explode at us if we got anything wrong. I can remember trying to make toast when I was about 5, burning it and being so scared of the consequences that I buried it in the garden.
Secondly I have a panic disorder. I often decide I'm going to cook and buy the ingredients. By the time I've laid them out I begin to catastrophise - 'I won't be able to do it, it'll go wrong, I'll set the house on fire and then I'll be homeless and then I won't be able to have anywhere to live so I'll have to kill myself.' Yes, I know it's utterly irrational but if boiling an egg leads in your head to imminent suicide you don't boil many eggs. This is one of the reasons I am entitled to Disability Living Allowance.
Thirdly, I work shifts. If I leave for work at quarter to five in the morning and don't get in til the back of six at night, phoning the take away seems like all the effort I can cope with.
Fourthly, I don't know how to cook. I've never learned and I've never tried to learn. It's all too stressful.
So laziness, madness and lack of knowledge are my excuses.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
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I can cook. I just usually don't much these days.
After a day at work and a long commute home that doesn't always go to plan, I simply don't have the energy or motivation to do anything much in the kitchen other than something on toast, re-heating leftovers from the weekend, snack food, or (and strictly only once a week) a takeaway.
One thing that puts me off cooking is that your hands are constantly in and out of water. Rinsing surfaces, scrubbing veg, washing off once you've handled raw meat, cleaning pots and utensils as you go, your hands are rarely dry for long, and that's all before the official washing-up stage. (I really hate scrubbing encrusted oven dishes.) By the end of it my fingers are really dried out and cream doesn't help.
I don't bother much at weekends either, though now and again I might make a batch of something so that there's some over for the week.
One of the side-effects of commuting is that you don't get to know anybody locally, as you're really only there evenings and weekends and it takes a while to replenish energy levels. So it's rare that I cook for anyone but myself. When I do have guests I like to make an occasion of it, and will take some trouble over it, but cooking for me is more of a leisure activity than a way of life.
Posted by Amorya (# 2652) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I can cook. I just usually don't much these days.
This. It's no fun if it's just for me.
I love hosting dinner parties, or cooking for friends… but I seldom get much chance to do that these days either, with a full time job and loads of stuff that needs to get done…
Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Porridge:
[qb]
And it need not be difficult to provide 3 or 4 courses with minimal skill.....
Firenze, I suspect that whilst you or I would look at your list and think, "oh easy, 10 mins prepping then bung in the oven" for some of the 'can't cook, won't cook' folk wouldn't know where to start with it.
(Obviously cooking is one of those things that the more you do the easier it gets, but it does seem for some people even the starting to learn or rather the desire to learn is not there.)
I do get the whole 'I'm knackered and on my own so can't be bothered' thing so I'll just have toast or a takeaway sometimes. And I live on my own so am pretty much always cooking for one and it's definitely not as much fun as cooking for others. But for my friends above even the simple things I do on a regular basis like the aforementioned scrambled eggs or omelette seem to be not possible.
Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on
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Sorry, I messed up the code and didn't notice till it was too late to edit (yes, I know preview post is my friend). It was Firenze who I was quoting not Porridge.
Posted by Abigail (# 1672) on
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I live on my own and I do try to cook for myself but I would be horrified if I had to cook for anyone else – my cooking is totally unreliable. I might cook a meal one day and think, "mm, not bad", but the next time I do it it’s a total disaster. My mum was an excellent cook and she enjoyed cooking. Unfortunately I never managed to pick up any of her skills. I try to cook the meals she prepared – and they just taste wrong . I’ve bought cookery books (including one totally useless one called "Can’t cook – Want to Learn" ) but when I try to follow recipes they don't work and I never have any idea why. As other people have said, I find cooking incredibly stressful.
I have a few things that I can do that usually turn out all right but most cooking, even really basic things, is beyond me.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
One thing that puts me off cooking is that your hands are constantly in and out of water. Rinsing surfaces, scrubbing veg, washing off once you've handled raw meat, cleaning pots and utensils as you go, your hands are rarely dry for long, and that's all before the official washing-up stage. (I really hate scrubbing encrusted oven dishes.) By the end of it my fingers are really dried out and cream doesn't help.
Two words: vinyl gloves. I buy mine at Costco, but you can get them
online.
The other magic word is tinfoil. Anytime I am grilling or roasting anything, I line the tin with it.
(The third magic word is Soaking, but you probably knew that.)
Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on
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I didn't start this thread with any intention of trying to convert anyone to the glories of cooking, but it has just struck me that if anyone reading would like to do more but is stressed by trying to understand techniques and what directions in recipes really mean then they might like to look at the brilliant Cooking for Engineers.
(I've linked to a particular recipe so you can see how they lay it out with photos clearly showing the stages.)
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Yangtze:
... "Why?" she said. "Making soup would just be horrific." ...
I feel very sorry for your friend, Yangtze: I make chicken stock and veggie soup about every other week and find making it wonderfully therapeutic, perhaps not least because my Beloved really likes it (and says so).
My mum was a very good cook (much better than she thought she was) and encouraged me to enjoy cooking, which I do, though I wouldn't claim to be in her league. I have a half-decent repertoire of things I make, and because I love cook-books and TV cookery shows, I'm usually game for trying something new, or adapting a recipe to our tastes.
I think the point is not to be scared of cooking; if I make something and it works out well, it gets written into my recipe notebook and used again. If it doesn't, it'll be put down to experience.
Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on
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Cooking for myself (the standard of the last 26 years) - I often find stressful.
What I do is spend once a week, or so, cooking. I make standard recipe sizes, so what I don't have for a meal I freeze or store in the frigo.
I am fond of making soups and often do out of vegetables that I have got tired of.
Breakfast is often porridge or toast and tea. Lunch is either soup or salad.
Weekends is often a brunch type meal- usually involving eggs, or puttu.
I guess I am not a bad cook; I think I have tossed some things in the bin a handful of times in my cooking years. But my mistakes aren't all bad; just different, and I usually eat them.
I have a repertoire of a metric dozen recipes which I trot out for company, and no one who I invite have seriously objected.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
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My mother was a plain cook. But my elder brother and I obviously had some innate instinct for exotica; I can remember us turning the family saucepans ochre as we tried to make Indian food with such spices as you could find in 1960s Belfast.
As far as I can make out, the driver for cooking has to be 'I want to eat something that is not otherwise available to me' (given that I learnt before there was much in the way of ready meals, and I didn't have the money for restaurants and takeaways).
Posted by ecumaniac (# 376) on
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I'm currently obsessed with salads, not least because it involves very little real cooking and rather more take-things-out-of-fridge-and-put-in-bowl.
I couldn't do any cooking until I moved to a house with an electric oven. I was petrified of lighting the gas oven and refused to touch it. The gas stove is ok, provided the auto clicker works and I don't have to use (shudder) matches.
I can understand the thing about not wanting to cook for guests though. I have certain "alone" meals that I can make, but I feel very awkward if I have to feed them to my friends. Until I discovered that a fair few of my friends felt exactly the same way. Now we will happily get together and eat "pasta & pesto" or whatever we can dredge up from the bottom of the fridge.
Posted by Kitten (# 1179) on
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I can cook quite well, and I used to cook a lot when my children were young and money was tight, but I've never enjoyed cooking and now that I don't have to, I do it as little as possible.
I have a very demanding job and the last thing I want to do when I return from work or have a day off is to faff about in the kitchen.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
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I rarely make soup from homemade stock. I have done, but it is hassle. You buy all the veg for it, get the right herbs and seasoning, then chuck in the bones and bits and simmer for a long time. Then strain all the liquid, and there's your soup base, now you have to embark on actually making the soup and going through all the preparation of what you want in your soup all over again then simmering for a while, and at the end, probably putting the whole thing in a blender. It's not the work of a moment.
Having said that, homemade tomato soup is superior to anything you find in a shop, and I do have a microwave recipe for it that works well, but some other things do need that long slow simmer.
Depression can be a factor. If you're depressed cooking can often seem like too much hassle.
Posted by M. (# 3291) on
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Goodness, if you approach making soup from stock like that, yes it does sound a palaver. I do it in bits, each bit is really simple.
Stage 1 - Bung vegetable trimmings or bones from chicken in a pot with onion/carrot/celery/whatever you happen to have, add water and let simmer for a couple of hours. Leave overnight to cool.
Stage 2 - Next morning, strain and put in pots to freeze.
Stage 3 - Take out when needed to make soup. If you forget to take it out, you can melt it in the saucepan.
I would never season stock, only the soup when made.
I find it really useful to have a supply of stock in the freezer - lentil soup in particular is a real standby that hardly takes any time and I love it.
M.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
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Ah. You see that big glass jar beside the cooker? With all the pretty-coloured foil-wrapped cubes?
Beef, chicken, vegetable, pork, lamb, fish and spicy - which I can't get anymore since the Thai deli closed.
Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Ah. You see that big glass jar beside the cooker? With all the pretty-coloured foil-wrapped cubes?
Beef, chicken, vegetable, pork, lamb, fish and spicy - which I can't get anymore since the Thai deli closed.
And Yangtze invented a delicious Tomato Lentil Soup which, as she didn't have any stock to hand, was fine without it.
And quick.
[ 03. March 2013, 16:46: Message edited by: Roseofsharon ]
Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on
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As someone who grew up with a mother who liked to get a large frying pan/skillet, filled with 1½" of water and stand open tin cans of green beans, peas, and various main course imposters in it to heat up (anyone remember Chef-Boy-R-Dee ravioli and Puritan Beef Stew?), I can say I have definitely learned to cook, make all of our breads, and my children also resist packaged foods.
I forgot to mention powdered things, like potatoes, eggs, and mushroom gravy. The latter is a gluey substance, grey in colour, with lumps in it, some which are mushrooms, the rest undissolved powder landmines.
I now believe that civilised people discuss at breakfast what they having for supper, smack their lips, kiss each other, and go off into the world hunting for income without a sense that work is the centre of life.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
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quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
I now believe that civilised people discuss at breakfast what they having for supper, smack their lips, kiss each other, and go off into the world hunting for income without a sense that work is the centre of life.
I don't know that one wants to be too precious about it or create the impression that if it's not Lobster Thermidor with a Puligny Montrachet, then it's not up to scratch. Quite one of the most fun dinners I can remember, the food was some sort of Somalian stew and the wine Asda Chateau Plonque, but we were a room full of people shouting cheerfully at each other about politics.
Posted by Keren-Happuch (# 9818) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Ah. You see that big glass jar beside the cooker? With all the pretty-coloured foil-wrapped cubes?
Beef, chicken, vegetable, pork, lamb, fish and spicy - which I can't get anymore since the Thai deli closed.
Quite. I used to think soup was a hassle and took hours. Now I know I can make a fake minestrone in 10 minutes with a stock cube, spaghetti, frozen mixed veg, tomato puree and herbs.
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on
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I do like to cook. Some things have been a touch complicated, like spanakopita. Or homemade key lime pie with hand beaten meringue.
Since the kids have flown the nest, however, most of my meals are very simple. The favorite is plain grilled salmon and sweet potatoes cooked in the grill, usually served with a salad or steamed whatever veggie is in season. I make this at least once a week. A bishop visited my home last week. This was our menu. He was blown away!
So, simple is many times the best way to go!
Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
I now believe that civilised people discuss at breakfast what they having for supper, smack their lips, kiss each other, and go off into the world hunting for income without a sense that work is the centre of life.
I don't know that one wants to be too precious about it or create the impression that if it's not Lobster Thermidor with a Puligny Montrachet, then it's not up to scratch. Quite one of the most fun dinners I can remember, the food was some sort of Somalian stew and the wine Asda Chateau Plonque, but we were a room full of people shouting cheerfully at each other about politics.
Macaroni and cheese qualifies in our house, as does curried lentils and rice. Sunday supper was fish tacos. It doesn't have to be fancy.
You're ahead of me on the wine. Our's was red.
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on
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I did the chicken stock - veggie soup thing this evening (it's still simmering as I type this) and I really didn't find it as hasslesome as Ariel makes out. Chuck stuff in pot with water, bring to boil, skim the surface. Then leave it simmering for an hour or so and go and do something else. Come back and strain it, peel and chop a few more veggies, chuck in pot, add the stock and some pulses, leave to simmer until everything's cooked.
Kitchen therapy. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on
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If I'm feeling energetic I enjoy cooking, especially soups and stews that aren't terribly fussy, then I freeze portions for later. If I'm depressed I run out of energy and eat very boring food.
Babybear once posted a lentil soup recipe which uses stuff that I usually have in my cupboard - it's one of the most useful recipes I have, along with a chickpea one I found on the internet.
I find that I eat better if I have a good range of long lasting ingredients as they keep without spoiling whereas things like bacon hocks add pressure because they go off if not used within a rather narrow window of opportunity.
[ 04. March 2013, 04:13: Message edited by: Huia ]
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
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I never use stock cubes because of the salt content. If I make stock, soy sauce is the base note. It does contain salt, but less so and once cooked the flavour is altogether mellower. It's great in casseroles too.
Posted by Meerkat (# 16117) on
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I like to cook and have done so since I was about 16 (ahem...40 years) and Mrs. Kat does not like to cook. Well, she makes the odd soup from scratch, but I cook apart from that!
I like to experiment and rarely follow a recipe to the letter - just use it as a guide. It is kept in a folder if we like it (the recipe, not the food!).
I love risotto; curry; roasts; fish pie... in fact, as long as it doesn't rely on having peppers, nuts or sesame (the last two will kill me), we'll try just about everything.
Mrs. Kat started 'Slimming World' a few months ago and I have been using their recipes for 5 days out of 7. They are really tasty and have a 'twist' on 'traditional' recipes which makes them interesting. They are mostly easy to do. The bonus is that you lose weight into the bargain!
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
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We're wandering a bit from the topic.
On the one hand cooking is -
- Easy
- Therapeutic
- A social hub
- A core art of civilisation
On the other it's - - Difficult
- Too much bother
- Scary
- Something to hide from your friends
Is there any way of moving between these positions?
Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Keren-Happuch:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Ah. You see that big glass jar beside the cooker? With all the pretty-coloured foil-wrapped cubes?
Beef, chicken, vegetable, pork, lamb, fish and spicy - which I can't get anymore since the Thai deli closed.
Quite. I used to think soup was a hassle and took hours. Now I know I can make a fake minestrone in 10 minutes with a stock cube, spaghetti, frozen mixed veg, tomato puree and herbs.
With one small alteration, you have just solved the first course dilemma for when we take the kids on an overnight bike expedition, self catering.
(mentally notes: 1 tin mixed veg, 2 chicken stock cubes, tube tomato purée, tub mixed herbs, small bag spaghetti + bread, lots of bread = minestrone soup.)
Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on
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Mental note to self - unlike a few minutes ago, remember the tinned mixed veg.
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
We're wandering a bit from the topic.
On the one hand cooking is -
- Easy
- Therapeutic
- A social hub
- A core art of civilisation
On the other it's - - Difficult
- Too much bother
- Scary
- Something to hide from your friends
Is there any way of moving between these positions?
You forgot "expensive." When I actually want to fix something nice for friends, it nearly always involves the purchase of several ingredients I don't normally have on hand, must go out and shop for, and then stick on the shelf to go unused and stale by the time I'm able to invite someone again.
Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on
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I'm poor at cooking - mostly through lack of practice. My husband loves to cook and hates to clear up, so I rarely do any.
I do have two dishes that I cook well - so if I have to cook I do one of those. (Chilli is one and a past, salmon thingie is the other)
Baking s another story - I love o bake bread and cakes.
Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Pine Marten:
Mr Marten and I had a medieval party recently, in honour of Richard III, and to be honest that was different - we concocted a medieval menu ....
With roast (white) boar?
Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Yangtze:
A lot of my cooking is some kind of highly spiced "glop" as well, for what it's worth
I call it "splodge".
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
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When I was student age, it was 'myeh' - and based on the one attainable exotic dish we knew - Chinese fried rice.
There's possibly a larval stage of becoming a cook in which you toss things into a pan, mix them together and see what comes out. Maybe it's missing out on that stage of reckless experimentation that leaves some people daunted by the thought of cooking?
I remember at about age 12 or 13 inventing a sort of rostioidal concoction of grated spud, onion and egg, which was, broadly speaking, edible. Sufficiently so to convince me that there was nothing to this cooking lark.
Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on
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I guess I oscillate between the two ends of the spectrum most of the time.
I can cook, and folk usually make all the right noises if they eat at my place. I positively enjoy baking, and fortunately folk in the church/choir/work are only too happy to be the guinea pigs if I feel the urge to try things out. Or if I fel the need to bake, which I sometimes find therapeutic.
On the other hand, I live alone and generally find cooking a faff and a bother. I love my slow cooker, and generally cook up a large batch of some splodge or another which is either eaten during the week or portioned out & frozen. This results in the other great staple: freezer delight, as I generally don't know what I'm getting until I've defrosted & reheated it!
I do quite enjoy cooking if I've got friends round, but do sometimes find it stressful, especially if I do dessert. Mind you, it's still stews and casseroles etc as it minimises the amount of stuff I have to do once people have arrived. Having guests and having to fiddle about in the kitchen is definitely stressy!
[ 04. March 2013, 21:38: Message edited by: kingsfold ]
Posted by doubtingthomas (# 14498) on
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I'd say I can't cook, even though I am capable of preparing edible food for my own consumption if necessary.
I used to cook as a student (4-portion sauce mix, pile of veg, microwave - to last several days), but I've enver enjoyed the process.
Nowadays I have access to an excellent canteen and get through the weekend with ready meals from one of the posher British retailers - both of which are better than anything I'd produce. (plus, I can now afford it...). So why waste time on something that will be gone in much less time than it took to make?
Communal cooking is very different - there the process itself is a social activity, and I can happily chop the veg, so the proper cooks can do the difficult stuff.
As for vistors to my humble ablode - they get taken to one of this towns many decent eateries.
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on
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I'm kind of on the same page as kingsfold-- either I really don't want to cook or I really want to cook. I will get these wild urges to make something specific, like the time I made my own dulce de leche from scratch, just because I had the right ingredients lying around. Or the time I got a wild urge to make quiche for a family gathering. (Thanks for the recipe, Amazing Grace.)And sometimes I will buy a pint of whipping cream and pour it into a washed- out peanut butter jar and churn my own butter. Nothing like it.
But the cafeteria at school is excellent and very healthy, so that's where I have been eating the bulk of my meals lately. quote:
Originally posted by doubtingthomas:
Communal cooking is very different - there the process itself is a social activity, and I can happily chop the veg, so the proper cooks can do the difficult stuff.
Communal cooking is so much fun.
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on
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quote:
Originally posted by doubtingthomas:
... ready meals from one of the posher British retailers ...
No shame in that, DT.
When D. took up his present job, he moved to Newfoundland and I stayed on for six months in Belfast to wait for permits and sell the house. Living on my own and working 9 to 5 I found that when I got home I couldn't be bothered to cook and would go up to Marks & Sparks for microwaveable fettuccine whatever or tagliatelle thingummy-bob.
It wasn't that I didn't like cooking - I just didn't have the energy.
Posted by Jason in NYC (# 2689) on
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For my friends who would like to cook, but are reticent to - might I suggest checking out Jacques Pepin's 'Fast Food, My Way'. A book that uses many easily available supermarket items to prepare some lovely dishes.
Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
And sometimes I will buy a pint of whipping cream and pour it into a washed- out peanut butter jar and churn my own butter. Nothing like it.
Wow, how do you do that?
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on
:
Start with a half pint or so of heavy whipping cream, pour it into the jar (The peanut butter jar I use is about a pint), make sure lid is TIGHT.You shake it and shake it until the cream has fluffed up so thick it won't shake anymore. Then you keep shaking it. If you keep it up long enough, you have a round, smooth little ball of butter, and about a half cup of very tasty fresh buttermilk. But it's important not to be fooled when it stops moving.
[ 05. March 2013, 06:12: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
Posted by QLib (# 43) on
:
I think of cooking like alcohol - enjoyable in small doses, but important not to let it take control of my life. I need to stay aware that it can make me flustered and bad-tempered and thereby spoil the point of the party it was intended to serve. However, unlike alcohol, it is safe to practice by indulging in it when you're alone.
Posted by Kittyville (# 16106) on
:
Does anyone on the Ship have a Thermomix? I've just hosted a demo and ordered one, and the woman who did the demo said a lot of sales are to non-cooks, who think the machine will basically do everything for them and thus open up a world of home cooking that they would never have attempted alone. Conversely, another lot of sales are to advanced cooks and trained chefs. It's an interesting machine!
(I hope this doesn't read like an ad, it's not intended to. But I am a kitchen gadget nerd and I was very impressed).
[ 05. March 2013, 09:30: Message edited by: Kittyville ]
Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
There's possibly a larval stage of becoming a cook in which you toss things into a pan, mix them together and see what comes out. Maybe it's missing out on that stage of reckless experimentation that leaves some people daunted by the thought of cooking?
I wonder if you're on to something here. Certainly I used to cook a lot of "risotto" as a teenager, which mainly involved rice, tinned toms and a lot of brown sauce together with whatever veg and or meat/fish we had a around.
Could anyone who is in the "can't cook" category comment on this?
Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by QLib:
I think of cooking like alcohol - enjoyable in small doses, but important not to let it take control of my life. I need to stay aware that it can make me flustered and bad-tempered and thereby spoil the point of the party it was intended to serve. However, unlike alcohol, it is safe to practice by indulging in it when you're alone.
But it's fun to prepare with a fellow sufferer, eh? Remember the veg and non-veg chili we prepared to feed an army at Wightmeet 2009?
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Kittyville:
Does anyone on the Ship have a Thermomix? I've just hosted a demo and ordered one, and the woman who did the demo said a lot of sales are to non-cooks, who think the machine will basically do everything for them and thus open up a world of home cooking that they would never have attempted alone.
I had to look this up; I'd never heard of this beast.
I'm not anti-gadget - my breadmaker works for its living, and I use a mini-processor a lot. Nor am I against the throw-it-a-pot-and-come-back-when-it's-done approach. But I would never, ever be tempted by one of these. Firstly, because you can prepare and cook just about anything with a sharp knife, a pan with a lid, a bowl and a wooden spoon.
Secondly, I like to be able to intervene in my cooking at any time - slow it down, speed it up, add a pinch of this or a handful of that, crisp the top, thicken the sauce, set it on fire - but most of all taste it.
Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Sparrow:
quote:
Originally posted by Pine Marten:
Mr Marten and I had a medieval party recently, in honour of Richard III, and to be honest that was different - we concocted a medieval menu ....
With roast (white) boar?
Ah, the boar stayed on the banner , but we did have a rather nice saffron rice to go with game stew, which included pigeon, partridge, mallard, peasant - er, pheasant, onions and root veg. Lots of ginger and cinammon in most things too. And a lovely salat with watercress and herbs. All taken from 15th century recipes.
I don't generally have much confidence cooking. On the other hand I can sing, have done drama and a bit of dance, and used to do a lot of drawing and painting, so I don't feel I'm that hamfisted, it's just that food doesn't inspire me in the same way that music and art do.
Fortunately Mr Marten quite likes cooking, so we take it in turns to do it, which seems to work fine.
Posted by Mama Thomas (# 10170) on
:
I think I can cook. I have cooked but being by myself it is next to impossible for me to make small portions. So if I cook, I prepare a family sized portion, eat what I can, carefully wrap and cover, refrigerate for a few days or weeks and throw it away.
When I quit smoking, I became really fat and am still trying hard to get rid of the blubber. This makes it even more difficult to make "right sized" portions.
I live in the USA now-restaurant portions are simply obscene most of the time--and cheap and greasy fast food is available at almost every corner and is much faster that preparing fresh vegetables.
Single portion microwave dinners are just gross for me. Something on rice only 399 calories!
So, yogurt, toast and cereal and the occasional can of something are just fine most of the time. Though actually cooking something would be much healthier, I own.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
I'll admit to a pattern of eating if I'm on my own which is something of a One Day Meal. Typically I will have only vegetables or pulses for lunch - either as salad, soup or dhal - and only protein, or protein and carbs for dinner - chicken wings or pork ribs* or a steak sandwich or sautéed prawns with crusty bread.
*this is also a good time for the messier sort of finger food.
[ 05. March 2013, 16:15: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Yangtze:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
There's possibly a larval stage of becoming a cook in which you toss things into a pan, mix them together and see what comes out. Maybe it's missing out on that stage of reckless experimentation that leaves some people daunted by the thought of cooking?
I wonder if you're on to something here. Certainly I used to cook a lot of "risotto" as a teenager, which mainly involved rice, tinned toms and a lot of brown sauce together with whatever veg and or meat/fish we had a around.
Could anyone who is in the "can't cook" category comment on this?
My husband does a lot of experimenting and is a great cook.
I hate tasting food before I eat it. So experimenting with cooking is not on my radar at all.
This is why I love to bake - you don't taste it until it's done, made and on the table.
Posted by Keren-Happuch (# 9818) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
This is why I love to bake - you don't taste it until it's done, made and on the table.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
You mean you don't lick the spoon? Or the bowl? Or the mixture that somehow ends up on your fingers?
How is this possible?
[ 05. March 2013, 21:15: Message edited by: Keren-Happuch ]
Posted by doubtingthomas (# 14498) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
quote:
Originally posted by doubtingthomas:
... ready meals from one of the posher British retailers ...
No shame in that, DT.
...I couldn't be bothered to cook and would go up to Marks & Sparks for microwaveable fettuccine whatever or tagliatelle thingummy-bob.
Thank you, and yep, that's the one - glad to see a cooking person liking it, too.
It's also nice that while normally quite expensive, they have some very generous offer or another pretty much all the time.
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
*sigh*
I just ate an "artisanal" peanut-butter sandwich for supper. Unfortunately, I'm still hungry, and the fridge contents are far from inspiring.
Posted by Laud-able (# 9896) on
:
I would recommend Cooking in Ten Minutes by Edouard de Pomiane to those that find standard cookery too daunting. He worked as a physician at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, and in the nineteen-thirties he published this little book as an antidote to classical French cookery: it is very much suited to cooking for one.
He writes clearly and with great charm and simplicity: both Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson praised him. His larger work Cooking With Pomiane is equally attractive and sensible.
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
*sigh*
I just ate an "artisanal" peanut-butter sandwich for supper. Unfortunately, I'm still hungry, and the fridge contents are far from inspiring.
Great. My drive to buy local and support local artisans is now going to lead me into buying $7 jars of peanut butter.
Kel// California wine and beer only, thank you.
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Keren-Happuch:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
This is why I love to bake - you don't taste it until it's done, made and on the table.
You mean you don't lick the spoon? Or the bowl? Or the mixture that somehow ends up on your fingers?
How is this possible?
It isn't. She is an AI program or assassin. Licking the spoon is part of the baking. Never trust a cook or baker who doesn't. ![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif)
[ 06. March 2013, 05:28: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]
Posted by QLib (# 43) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Yangtze:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
There's possibly a larval stage of becoming a cook in which you toss things into a pan, mix them together and see what comes out. Maybe it's missing out on that stage of reckless experimentation that leaves some people daunted by the thought of cooking?
I wonder if you're on to something here. Certainly I used to cook a lot of "risotto" as a teenager, which mainly involved rice, tinned toms and a lot of brown sauce together with whatever veg and or meat/fish we had a around.
Yes, I've done the risotto thing, and I also used to do something called Saturday Flan, which was the week's leftovers on a pastry base. Stir-fry tends to be the big experiment these days. It's doing things 'properly' that daunts me.
quote:
Originally posted by PeteC:
But it's fun to prepare with a fellow sufferer, eh? Remember the veg and non-veg chili we prepared to feed an army at Wightmeet 2009?
Ah, yes - didn't we forget the salt? I think we were eventually rescued by another Wightmeeter with professional experience.
Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
*sigh*
I just ate an "artisanal" peanut-butter sandwich for supper. Unfortunately, I'm still hungry, and the fridge contents are far from inspiring.
What is an artisanal peanut butter sandwich please?
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on
:
quote:
Saturday Flan,
Pastry is great for leftovers. Pies, roll ups whatever. They often look completely different to the way they had been served.
When my sons were growing up in their teens, we had 40 acres in the bush as a holiday place. We camped in tents while building and I did all the cooking over a long trench fire which could be hot one end and steady the other.
Camp Goo was a favourite evening meal, I can't glorify it by calling it dinner. After lunch I would put rice or pasta or barley, lots of vegetables, especially onions and garlic, tinned tuna or ham or bacon or chicken into a large heavy Dutch oven. More seasonings and fill up the space with stock or even water. Onto the slow end of the fire and camp goo would be a welcome meal after a hard afternoon of building.
Breakfast sometimes had Camp Seasoning. If it was windy, it was almost impossible to avoid a bit of ash in the porridge.
[ 06. March 2013, 08:57: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Gee D:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
*sigh*
I just ate an "artisanal" peanut-butter sandwich for supper. Unfortunately, I'm still hungry, and the fridge contents are far from inspiring.
What is an artisanal peanut butter sandwich please?
Well, Kelly took this to a level I hadn't imagined, but what I meant in my ironic fashion was a peanut butter sandwich made by hand. ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
You know, like all of them.
Posted by Thurible (# 3206) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Lothlorien:
Pastry is great for leftovers. Pies, roll ups whatever. They often look completely different to the way they had been served.
Tis true. Having had mapo dofu for dinner last night, and reheated for lunch at work today, it's going into a pie tonight (well, actually it's going to be topped with a puff pastry lid) and served with mash and veg. Normally when I make it, I just make enough for 2 - last night, I made enough for 5. Yum!
Thurible
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
quote:
Originally posted by Gee D:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
*sigh*
I just ate an "artisanal" peanut-butter sandwich for supper. Unfortunately, I'm still hungry, and the fridge contents are far from inspiring.
What is an artisanal peanut butter sandwich please?
Well, Kelly took this to a level I hadn't imagined, but what I meant in my ironic fashion was a peanut butter sandwich made by hand.
You know, like all of them.
I was with Kelly. I was imagining peanut butter for which each individual peanut had been hand-crushed by yeoman Nutters using hammers dating back to Agincourt, before being gloopified in cauldrons over fires of Patagonian birch twigs and packed in recycled WW II jam pots before being sent over the mountains by mule train.
Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by QLib:
quote:
Originally posted by PeteC:
But it's fun to prepare with a fellow sufferer, eh? Remember the veg and non-veg chili we prepared to feed an army at Wightmeet 2009?
Ah, yes - didn't we forget the salt? I think we were eventually rescued by another Wightmeeter with professional experience.
Ah, but it was good. (Was it really four years ago?)
I wonder if we aren't all coming at this with different ideas of what cooking is. Despite the food-obsessed Masterchef tendency these days, cooking doesn't have to be fine dining with smears of five different sauces in exotic colours. You don't have to skin and bone a rabbit and serve it three ways. You just have to make something warm and tasty.
The other obstacle is probably preparing and having the right things on hand. If you don't generally cook much, you don't have the necessary ingredients, so it takes a special effort to get them in, which makes it more fuss, and so on. With that in mind, and assuming that you have some basic food around, there are easy options which only use food that will keep a long time.
One of my favourites as a student *mumblemumble* years ago was to boil up a load of pasta, add tuna (tinned), sweetcorn (tinned) and mayonnaise (keeps well), and eat. Even silly "not cooking" things like beans on toast can be a lot more fun with a dash of worcester sauce and/or curry powder in the beans, cheese or even a fried egg on top. Whatever your level, there are ways of improving things, and if something doesn't work or you don't like it, don't do it again.
Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by The Great Gumby:
Whatever your level, there are ways of improving things, and if something doesn't work or you don't like it, don't do it again.
No no no no no no no no no no no no no NO!
This was the thing which stopped me making any effort at cooking or baking. I gave up far too easily. Things always went wrong so I didn't try again.
Since my MIL died and my Mum got dementia I realised no cake would happen unless I made it myself. So I started, about six months ago, to bake.
The secret is - if something doesn't work, or you don't like it, try again and again.
It took me five goes to get a really decent sponge cake going. But now I take variations (almond, victoria, cherry, lemon, orange, tropical fruit ...) to work, church, camera club, friends etc and BASK in the compliments.
My SIL said 'please could you bring a cake' the other day. ohhhh yes! what a pleasure for [totally useless at cooking] me to be asked!
[ 06. March 2013, 16:55: Message edited by: Boogie ]
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
I was with Kelly. I was imagining peanut butter for which each individual peanut had been hand-crushed by yeoman Nutters using hammers dating back to Agincourt, before being gloopified in cauldrons over fires of Patagonian birch twigs and packed in recycled WW II jam pots before being sent over the mountains by mule train.
Not far off. Made by squirrels, though.
Posted by ken (# 2460) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
You forgot "expensive." When I actually want to fix something nice for friends, it nearly always involves the purchase of several ingredients I don't normally have on hand, must go out and shop for, and then stick on the shelf to go unused and stale by the time I'm able to invite someone again.
What about ordinary meals rather tahn posh ones? Its much, muich, cheapoer to cook yourself thn it is to but prepared food and stick it in a microwave.
Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
You forgot "expensive." When I actually want to fix something nice for friends, it nearly always involves the purchase of several ingredients I don't normally have on hand, must go out and shop for, and then stick on the shelf to go unused and stale by the time I'm able to invite someone again.
What about ordinary meals rather tahn posh ones? Its much, muich, cheapoer to cook yourself thn it is to but prepared food and stick it in a microwave.
That's true if you already have some skill, or you've been cooking for a while, but not in all cases.
I love cooking, and I own most of the kit/herbs and spices I'll ever need. Everything else can be bought one item at a time. I can cook cheaply. I have a friend who is teaching herself to cook. To bake a basic cake she had to buy a bowl, wooden spoon, a seive, scales and a tin, plus baking parchment and powder, in one go. The same is true for cooking, say, Indian food which require specific spices. Not expensive in the long run, but it definitely puts some people I know off cooking anything that isn't wrapped in plastic.
Posted by Viola (# 20) on
:
Seems to me there's a few things that the keen cooks don't understand about the lives of the non-cooks.
1. Starting instructions on making soup with talk of 'chicken bones, veg and whatever you have around' implies that they've already cooked a chicken recently and that they would happen to have veg lying around (along with other 'store cupboard basics'). They won't. Why would they? They don't cook.
2. The people who learned to cook by experimenting with things lying around their parents' kitchens, had different childhood kitchen rules from mine.
I learned/ am learning the reverse way. I follow recipes which claim to be quick and easy, to the letter. Eventually, when I feel confident with a recipe and can maybe even do it from memory(!), I might daringly subsitute one of the ingredients for something else, or add another spice, or something. Then I might think that a sauce from one recipe might go equally well with another type of meat/ fish, and eventually Jamie Oliver's recipe might evolve cautiously into one of my own.
I am definitely a 'by the book' cook, and only really bother when husband is home or friends are coming, although I try harder now that I have a toddler to feed as well. My husband on the other hand will buy a load of ingredients for which he has a general idea of the outcome, and will often decide he no longer has the time to cook his planned meal. So he'll ask me to 'just chuck a boeuf en daube together - all the stuff's there'. Drives me nuts. Drives him nuts too by the time I've asked him every 5 minutes what I should be doing next.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
I love cooking, and I own most of the kit/herbs and spices I'll ever need. Everything else can be bought one item at a time. I can cook cheaply.
Exactly. As you cook, you discover the tastes and cuisines you like. I always have - fresh garlic, ginger and chillies - frequently yoghurt, Harissa, coriander and tamarind. Plus tinned coconut milk, bottled soy and oyster sauce, Worcester, Tabaco and Nam Pla, and dried spices. So I can instantly cook Thai, Chinese, Indian, middle Eastern/African and TexMex. Add tinned tomatoes/tomato purée, olive oil, creme fraiche, butter (and more garlic) and that's Mediterranean, French and Italian cuisine added.
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on
:
Viola I found your post really helpful as it summed up my difficulties with cooking too.
I have only discovered chickpeas in the last 5 years or so, which led me to finding one of the easiest soup recipies of all time on the internet. I only needed to buy tumeric, cayenne pepper and cumin (none of which I had used before) to make it, and now they are in my cupboard I make it often.
Firenze there are a few things I've only ever read about on that list, and one I've never even heard of
huia - off to soak some chickpeas.
Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
Firenze there are a few things I've only ever read about on that list, and one I've never even heard of
Me too, and I've been cooking for 50 years, some of that time professionally.
I'm sure those who love cooking find the idea of being a non-cook incomprehensible, in the same way that I - who can never remember being unable to read - couldn't understand why Elder Sons (later diagnosed with dyslexia) struggled with learning to read.
I didn't cook with my mother, but did have a year of cookery lessons at school and then in my mid-teens started cooking with and for friends. As we all had disasters, and could laugh about them with each other, they weren't the end of the world, and our successes were celebrated as absolute triumphs!
That was what gave me my love of cooking
Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
Firenze there are a few things I've only ever read about on that list, and one I've never even heard of
Whereas I have all of them in the house at the moment. Except for creme fraiche (though I do have yoghurt) and oyster sauce (because I don't really like it.
And I think that and what Viola an others have said helps with the point that us cooks really struggle with understanding the starting point non-cooks are coming from.
(Though of course one can be a cook focussing on one tradition so not have experience of the variety of Firenze's list.)
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
You forgot "expensive." When I actually want to fix something nice for friends, it nearly always involves the purchase of several ingredients I don't normally have on hand, must go out and shop for, and then stick on the shelf to go unused and stale by the time I'm able to invite someone again.
What about ordinary meals rather tahn posh ones? Its much, muich, cheapoer to cook yourself thn it is to but prepared food and stick it in a microwave.
Well, as noted upthread, my ordinary meals tend to be glop, spodge, or goo, as described by various posters above. Perfectly serviceable in terms of nutrition and taste, but low on presentability.
That is, when I haven't hand-crafted a mule-train-delivered nut-by-nut-crushed peanut butter sandwich.
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Viola:
I am definitely a 'by the book' cook...
I generally am, too, at least the first time I try a recipe. After that, I cook by the 'dump and pour' method.
In my group of friends, we have folks that naturally tend to one or the other of those cooking methods. And all of us have cooked since we were young. But, I have noticed that the 'by the book' people are now starting to throw other things into basic recipe starters. Sometimes they are yummy and exciting. Sometimes the results are not exactly what is hoped. And, I can see that having a recipe flop (especially when someone is just starting to cook) can cause that person to be a bit gun shy about adventurous cooking.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
I hardly ever strick strictly to a recipe, but not every recipe is 100% reliable or to my taste anyway.
I regard it as essential to taste as you go along - how else will you be able to gauge flavours and judge whether something needs a bit more salt or altogether less sugar than the recipe recommends? I'd never serve anything up to guests that hadn't been tested first.
I had no interest in food or cooking as a child. It wasn't until I got to university and had to fend for myself that I discovered that I could have what I liked (assuming I could afford it).
My essentials are chilli, cumin, coriander (fresh and dried); garlic and fresh ginger; lemons, tomato puree, olive oil and soy sauce. I have a range of other flavourings but those tend to be the keynotes. On the occasions when I do cook it tends to be Middle Eastern/Mediterranean/ethnic.
I rarely ever roast a chicken. I'm on my own and while a whole chicken is certainly economical, you end up living off it for days. The freezer compartment in my fridge is quite small, so not a great deal of room to store much.
Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
quote:
Originally posted by The Great Gumby:
Whatever your level, there are ways of improving things, and if something doesn't work or you don't like it, don't do it again.
No no no no no no no no no no no no no NO!
This was the thing which stopped me making any effort at cooking or baking. I gave up far too easily. Things always went wrong so I didn't try again.
Ah. I think I could have communicated that better. What I mean is, don't do it in exactly that way again, but learn from it and try something a bit different. If you added something that made it taste nasty, leave it out next time. If you overcooked it, take it out sooner. And so on.
I was trying to make the point that it's not a disaster if you make something nasty. Even if it's completely inedible (very unlikely), it's a data point that you can use next time. Mostly, you'll only be adding extra ingredients one or two at a time, so the result is unlikely to be catastrophic, and if you think you prefer it without the tomato puree/worcester sauce/bayleaf, you can just leave it out in future.
Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on
:
My mother is a brilliant cook, but hates anyone interfering in her kitchen. So no early cooking experiences for me, beyond marshmallows over a campfire at Brownies.
At school (bog standard comp) there was a choice for girls between Cooking or Latin. On the assumption that those of us who did Latin would go to Uni and bag ourselves a husband with a professional career, we had the option to do a course of Dinner Party cookery later, so that we'd be equipped to entertain our future husband's Important Guests.
So I arrived at University capable of cooking in a tin can over an open fire, and producing a set menu of sweetcorn chowder, I-forget-the-main-course and hazlenut dacquios, but totally incapable of producing macoroni cheese or spag bol.
I really got into cooking when trying a diet called the Foresight diet, all organic and freshly cooked, which was supposed to boost your fertility and reduce the risk of miscarriage. The idea was that the diet was so wide you were bound to get every last trace element going. So not just 7-a-day fruit and veg, but over the course of a week you had to incorporate 20 different fruits and veg. Plus a different nut every day. Plus a range of pulses. Plus a range of meats. Everything cooked from scratch. Three course meals No microwave. No white sugar. No white flour.
It was too much effort long term, but it did change the way I cook permanently.
I love cooking now. I get a real buzz from preparing veg; the way it hits all your senses. Take a muddy carrot, wash it, scrape it and -vivid orange. Take an unpreposessing beetroot, peel and - vivid purple! I like the way leeks feel squeaky under the knife, the way that red cabbages reveal their glorious internal patterns, the way mushrooms feel. And the smell of a freshly cut parsnip! All the textures, crinkly savoys, smooth onions, papery garlic and glorious colours, and smells - it's the only thing I do which plays with colour and form and sensation. Obviously, I'd draw short of saying that making a pan of veg soup is better than sex, but it's up there with the good things of life. And, unlike sex, you can listen to something interesting on Radio 4 at the same time.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
And, unlike sex, you can listen to something interesting on Radio 4 at the same time.
Why ever not? You'll be saying next you ought to put your book down.
Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on
:
quote:
At school (bog standard comp) there was a choice for girls between Cooking or Latin. On the assumption that those of us who did Latin would go to Uni and bag ourselves a husband with a professional career, we had the option to do a course of Dinner Party cookery later, so that we'd be equipped to entertain our future husband's Important Guests.
This is pure comedy gold.
Posted by Tubbs (# 440) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Viola:
Seems to me there's a few things that the keen cooks don't understand about the lives of the non-cooks.
1. Starting instructions on making soup with talk of 'chicken bones, veg and whatever you have around' implies that they've already cooked a chicken recently and that they would happen to have veg lying around (along with other 'store cupboard basics'). They won't. Why would they? They don't cook.
2. The people who learned to cook by experimenting with things lying around their parents' kitchens, had different childhood kitchen rules from mine.
I learned/ am learning the reverse way. I follow recipes which claim to be quick and easy, to the letter. Eventually, when I feel confident with a recipe and can maybe even do it from memory(!), I might daringly subsitute one of the ingredients for something else, or add another spice, or something. Then I might think that a sauce from one recipe might go equally well with another type of meat/ fish, and eventually Jamie Oliver's recipe might evolve cautiously into one of my own.
I am definitely a 'by the book' cook, and only really bother when husband is home or friends are coming, although I try harder now that I have a toddler to feed as well. My husband on the other hand will buy a load of ingredients for which he has a general idea of the outcome, and will often decide he no longer has the time to cook his planned meal. So he'll ask me to 'just chuck a boeuf en daube together - all the stuff's there'. Drives me nuts. Drives him nuts too by the time I've asked him every 5 minutes what I should be doing next.
I am a reasonably competent cook – never poisoned or killed anyone – and cheerfully adapt recipes, but usually on the basis that THIS is too expensive, but I have THAT and it’ll do the same thing …
I remember the health visitor looking at me in wonder when I said that I’d never stewed fruit, pureed vegetables etc before the Tubblet needed weaning. And after two hour slogs when the enormous pile of vegetables and the like produced about 3 cubes that she promptly spat out, I quietly went back to buying the organic jars that the health visitor told me off about because I knew that she’d eat them … The Tubblet is now 9, eats like a horse and appears to be showing no ill-effects.
Tubbs
[ 07. March 2013, 12:15: Message edited by: Tubbs ]
Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Viola:
Seems to me there's a few things that the keen cooks don't understand about the lives of the non-cooks.
1. Starting instructions on making soup with talk of 'chicken bones, veg and whatever you have around' implies that they've already cooked a chicken recently and that they would happen to have veg lying around (along with other 'store cupboard basics'). They won't. Why would they? They don't cook.
Yes. Exactly.
quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
quote:
At school (bog standard comp) there was a choice for girls between Cooking or Latin. On the assumption that those of us who did Latin would go to Uni and bag ourselves a husband with a professional career, we had the option to do a course of Dinner Party cookery later, so that we'd be equipped to entertain our future husband's Important Guests.
This is pure comedy gold.
Certainly is!
But - Oh. My. God. If only we could have had that choice at my school! Only my friend Liz and I fancied doing Latin, so of course it wasn't on. In the first couple of years we had what was then called 'Housecraft', comprising cooking and some other household tasks I now forget. I hated, hated, hated it - the other girls all seemed to know what they were doing and bustled about, and muggins here was stumped. I used to bunk off when I could, it was horrible... ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Posted by ken (# 2460) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Viola:
2. The people who learned to cook by experimenting with things lying around their parents' kitchens, had different childhood kitchen rules from mine.
But you have your own kitchen now! Start playing!
quote:
... and only really bother when husband is home or friends are coming...
I think that's the real difference. If anything I am more likely to cook when its just for me, because there is no risk of annoying or inconveniencing anyone else if it takes too long or if it turns out to be horrible. So the lack of pressure is kind of relaxing and fun. I think there have only been two or three times when I've cooked a meal for myself and decided not to eat it after all - but it has happened. And I can usually manage to stomach stuff I would not want to feed to anyone else!
quote:
...although I try harder now that I have a toddler to feed as well.
Having kids makes a HUGE difference! When my daughter was growing up there of course had to be food on the table, whether I felt like it or not. She was easy to feed when she was little but things got harder later... My cooking was the default option. And often very plain. By the end of the month it was variations on rice and vegetables, or pasta with either a tomatoey or a cheesy sauce. Because cheap and foolproof. So a takeaway or pizza or fish & chips or whatever was a bit of a treat. Now I live on my own the takeaways and the microwaveable-ready-meals and so on have almost vanished from what I buy. (That might be different if there was a decent fish-and-ship shop within five minutes walk) If I want a treat-like meal its more likely to be something meaty rather than vegetably.
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
Firenze there are a few things I've only ever read about on that list, and one I've never even heard of
I think I have 12 of the 18 things on that list in my flat at the moment. There are another two that I probably would have if it wasn't for the season, and another two or three I often buy. The only thing on the list I haven't bought in the last few months is probably creme fraiche. I rarely buy oyster sauce either, but I did have some not so long ago. But then it helps living in inner London - I can get 8 or 10 of those things at the corner shop less than 100 yards from my front door that stays open till 1am (I bought some curry leaves there after midnight last night). And most of the rest could be bought rather expensively by crossing the road to the all-night garage, or more cheaply if I remembered in time from the Turkish shops in the High Street. I think the only things I'd have to bother to go to a supermarket for would be creme fraiche (though I'd usually buy butter and things like Worcester sauce in a supermarket because they tend to be cheaper there)
Curry leaves... for some reason I was thinking about curry leaves yesterday. And when I was at work I got an unexpected phone call from my brother who said come out for a drink. So we went to the pub up in town and ended up getting a late bus home (I often go to pubs but usually near home not near work) And I hadn't eaten since a salad I'd taken to work for lunch and I fancied something to eat so I was thinking of something on toast as it was well after midnight. But I went to the corner shop - to be honest for a packet of fags and a can of something - and they had curry leaves so I bought some - 35p for a small packet - so I just cooked rice and veg. But when I looked in the fridge I found that the very small aubergine left over from something I cooked last week was looking a a bit limp. Aubergine in rice seems a bit weird and slimy. But it needed using (and I'd been put off keeping it longer by a rotting aubergine brandished on a Gordon Ramsey programme the other day) so I chopped it up small - chunks maybe less than a centimetre across - and fried it in a little oil in a pan, and then I added some chopped onion, then some garlic, then some muhammara (a Turkish or Syrian chili paste a bit like harissa but with pomegranate and almonds or walnuts added - its cheap and lasts for weeks and is good spread on toast) and put the rice in, mixed it up, put a cup of water in, stirred it round, threw in a handful of the curry leaves and a handful of cheap mixed frozen veg to add some carrot-and-pea colour, a second cup of water, brought it to the boil as fast as I could, turned it down to simmer, put the lid on, and went to watch TV. (one of the good things about cooking rice is you get to sit down and watch TV while you are doing it because it doesn't matter exactly how long you leave it on the hob as long as the heat is low enough - in fact it does better for being left undisturbed for five to twenty minutes after you turn the heat off)
And - seeing as I wanted a cooked meal at the unseasonable hour of after midnight - that probably took almost no longer than heating up a microwaveabdle thingy would have, even if I had such a thing without going to a shop to get it. I arrived home at 00:18, and thought I could get the lid on the cooking pot by half past. Actually it took till 00:32 because I had trouble closing the lid of the plastic box I keep the rice in (everything is in plastic boxes now because of the mice and the rice is the biggest one) Simmered it till 00:44s, then turned it off and left it undisturbed while I sat down and watched TV for a bit longer while it steamed itself. So I could have been eating it half an hour after walking in the door. I wasn't because there was an interesting TV programme on, but I could've been.
And it was really nice Though I think that was only because it was a really small aubergine. And if it had been horrible I'd have had the toast anyway.
Posted by Viola (# 20) on
:
It's OK Ken - if you came round for a meal, you'd think I was actually a pretty good cook. Because I follow the recipes. And because I've been following recipes from a variety of interesting and exotic books for a number of years now, I have most of the funky ingredients in stock (there's only one thing on Firenze's list that I hadn't heard of, and that and one other that I don't have in the kitchen at the moment).
And if I have an evening totally on my own, I may well experiment - a bit. And, yes, I have meals that I will eat that I wouldn't feed to anyone else. But usually, with the time available and the mouths requiring food, there isn't the time to take risks, so I follow a recipe, and, assuming it's a book I know and trust, I'll be pretty confident that a good meal will emerge.
There's a degree of talent/ flair involved in this, I'm sure. Talented cooks, who have a flair for it, will know (remember from experience I suppose) which flavours will go well together, and will tweak things as they go along. Us plodders will follow the rules and produce nice things, but they won't be unique. Which is fine.
I'm the same with navigating on journeys - I follow my satnav (before that it was carefully written out directions taped to the dashboard) and it takes me a long time to work out how a whole town or area links up. Meanwhile my husband will ignore the satnav and go by 'astral navigation' in a strange environment. OK - he's an astrophysicist, but still!
But - stick me in a musical setting and I'll be baffled by the way some people have to do the whole thing by numbers with loads of practice and with every last detail written into their score, whilst I can just feel it and get on with a convincing, expressive performance of something on no rehearsal. Which is why that's my job I suppose!
So - I do cook - and I like the fact that people enjoy my food, but it's not the cooking process that I enjoy, and as for therapeutic baking - well I'm very grateful that it works for some people, but it's not for me. (Tried it - soggy sponges - gave up - life's too short and the Co-op round the corner does excellent cakes)
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
And, unlike sex, you can listen to something interesting on Radio 4 at the same time.
Why ever not? You'll be saying next you ought to put your book down.
I commend you both to the Quotes File. ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Posted by Dormouse (# 5954) on
:
For reluctant cooks who are unsure about experimentation, I recommend (lovely) Nigel Slater's book Appetite
It is a lovely enticing book to just read, but it is also (I found) quite liberating in the way that recipes -and their variations - are introduced.
Indeed, one of the reviewers on Amazon says:
This book hugely helped me as a cook. Nigel Slater teaches you cooking - not following a recipe. Indeed, the recipes are very vague in places, stating "a handful" of this, and "a pinch" of that. It's all about helping the reader develop their own skills as a cook. This is unfussy, everyday sort of food, the sort you want to cook after a horrid day at work, with an emphasis on using quality, fresh and seasonal ingredients.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
His Real Fast Food is another non-cooks cookbook.
Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on
:
Cooking... when I have to cook, I can do it. Indeed, I'm reasonably good at it given how rarely I do it - both in following a recipe and in "free-styling". And it's not just me who says so.
But I hate it.
Basically, it's just too much bother. First, you have to gather all the ingredients together. This often requires considerable organisation and planning, including the dreaded "shop to cook". Then you typically have to prepare quite a lot of stuff. Next you have the stress of the actual cooking, scheduling a flurry of activity to converge to a common finish. After that you have to clean up the mess, which often is a quite lengthy undertaking as well. And for all the "ten minute easy cooking" stuff, the truth is still that in general, better food requires more effort. (Also making more food requires more effort. The economy of scale isn't so economical when there's lots of working with your hands involved.)
I can do all of that. I enjoy none of it. It just is annoying and stressful work in order to get to what I actually enjoy: eating good food.
Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
Well, as noted upthread, my ordinary meals tend to be glop, spodge, or goo, as described by various posters above. Perfectly serviceable in terms of nutrition and taste, but low on presentability.
Sounds like my cooking, but this is why clear labelling is so important.
Glop with spices + rice = curry
Glop with herbs + pasta = pasta
Glop with herbs + rice = risotto
Glop with spices + pasta = fusion
Glop with mashed potato on top = some variant on shepherd's pie
Glop in a tortilla wrap = Mexican
Glop with paprika + rice (or dumplings*) = goulash
Pepper stuffed with glop = stuffed pepper
Aubergine stuffed with glop = there is a Turkish name for this but I've forgotten it
Foul-tasting glop + tamarind paste + rice = tamarind curry (tamarind is excellent for hiding an experiment that went wrong)
FWIW I take the line that anyone who doesn't like the appearance of my food hasn't quite grasped the point of eating.
* Dumplings are basically bread converted into glop.
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
Ah, Ricardus!
So -- at least semantically speaking -- I CAN cook after all!
Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
Aubergine stuffed with glop = there is a Turkish name for this but I've forgotten it
Turkish? Heretick! The One True Name for such a thing is Papoutsia, and is Greek, as any fule kno.
If the Turks have a different name for the dish (and I'm sure they do), there's no possible way it can compare to making "shoes".
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
Aubergine stuffed with glop = there is a Turkish name for this but I've forgotten it
You may be thinking of "imam bayildi". So named because it's said to be so delicious that the imam who tasted it swooned in delight.
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Basically, it's just too much bother. First, you have to gather all the ingredients together. This often requires considerable organisation and planning, including the dreaded "shop to cook".
What typically happens is that you have a lot of ingredients left over, as well. The vanilla pods you probably won't use for months. The bulgur wheat you've had for four years. Half a packet of Chinese stir-fry sauce which you know you must finish within two days now you've opened it, but which wasn't actually all that nice. Half a tin of tuna, which tastes overpoweringly of brine (or tin) but must be finished now it's open. The beans you soaked for the stated time, and cooked according to instructions, and then longer, but which still came out crunchy and unappetising. A vegetable you bought for a particular recipe and didn't use all of, and don't have any real enthusiasm for.
And so it goes.
[ 08. March 2013, 14:35: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
Aubergine stuffed with glop = there is a Turkish name for this but I've forgotten it
You may be thinking of "imam bayildi". So named because it's said to be so delicious that the imam who tasted it swooned in delight.
I was thinking "Baba ghanoush."
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
What typically happens is that you have a lot of ingredients left over, as well.
But that's the whole fun. From fridges containing some elderly parsnip, undated tray of smoked salmon trimmings, squidgy tomatoes and a lifetime supply of Scotch Bonnet chillies, arise great new dishes. Well, I certainly hope so, since that's what I've got.
Some of my most successful dinners have been exercises in Using Stuff Up. I am an addict of the aleatory. It's why I like watercolour and random knitting yarn.
There are maybe fewer frontiers where one may boldly go these days, but food is still one of them.
Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on
:
I did a lot of cooking when children were at home, but now that there is just the two of us, I have less interest in day to day meals. I fix one larger meal in the middle of the day and we are each on our own for breakfast and snack in the evening. I like trying new recipes now and then to keep up my interest, but other then that I make the standard stuff. The crock pot is often my friend. Drop in the meat and veggies and let it take care of itself. We go out to breakfast once a month and on Sunday I often stop on the way home from church and buy a pre-cooked chicken, a loaf of bread and makings for a salad. I could of course make all this myself without much trouble, and for less money, but I do not feel like it, so I do not. So I go from enjoying cooking a meal, to won't cook often all in the same week.
Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on
:
Cooking for yourself is so expensive. Like, Christmas cookie recipe called for something named mace. $7 for a jar. All I needed was 1 tsp. Awful expensive two dozen cookies! Next recipe wants soy sauce, have to buy a whole bottle. All these bottles and jars of things used once go out of date before I see another recipe that uses them, and I don't know which dates I can ignore. Even salt and sugar have "use by" dates, I know they last forever, but milk goes bad.
Oh, that reminds me, I'm milk intolerant, so if a recipe demands milk or cheese, which most of them seem to, and how do I know if I can substitute something or not? I'm going wheatless, can I use a different grain for muffins? So much more to it than just follow a recipe! Confusing.
Speaking of confusing, we're supposed to not cook on teflon because it give off poisonous fumes, aluminum might lead to altzheimers, cast iron you can't let sit a few days before washing or it will rust, glass can't be used on the stove top sort of and I keep forgetting the sort of exceptions -- what do you cook in? And if it says a 9 inch square metal pan and what I have is an 8 inch glass pan how do I adjust temperature and time?
I'm awed by people who can cook. I can only heat things. I can follow a simple recipe but I have to look up words like "saute" so it's a bigger project than it seemed, and if the batter is supposed be "the consistency of peanut butter" - runny or thick peanut butter?
Speaking of instructions, you know all those healthy foods in the store, the ones that don't come with instructions? How am I supposed to cook something that has no instructions? Is it edible raw or does it have to be cooked? Do I peal it or is the peel edible, eat the roots/leave/skin or cut them off?
I can "cook" foods that come with instructions but they all seem to have fake food ingredients.
Every so often I try but it's a tremendous amount of time to make one meal! Or you make a batch and have to eat the same thing day after day.
And you have to be thinking about food long before you are hungry if you want a meal ready when you want to eat, but my mom couldn't cook and so I didn't enjoy eating, it just eased hunger pains, if eating isn't fun then there's no interest in thinking about food when not hungry.
Challenge, can this girl become a good cook and love it?
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
Allow me to recommend my artisanal peanut butter sandwiches.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
Aubergine stuffed with glop = there is a Turkish name for this but I've forgotten it
You may be thinking of "imam bayildi". So named because it's said to be so delicious that the imam who tasted it swooned in delight.
I was thinking "Baba ghanoush."
Baba ghannoush is pureed aubergine (or mashed). Either way, it's cooked and pulped and you add your seasonings.
Which prompts me to think it might be time to make that again. It's good with pitta bread, or toast.
[ 09. March 2013, 07:17: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on
:
Meh, I guess I was thinking baba ghanoush because I like baba ghanoush.
Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on
:
Some Googling suggests I was thinking of karnıyarık, although it also looks like the glop part of karnıyarık has specified ingredients, which would make it unsuitable for the Ricardus school of cooking.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
Mm yes, specified ingredients. However, there are ways of getting around that. I was once invited to dinner with someone who had made a lasagne. We commented on the interesting and unusual flavour. The hostess cheerfully revealed that in addition to the pasta and meat, in had gone a tin of mushroom soup, some leftover kidney beans, and half a tin of pineapple that needed to be used up.
You can put anything into a pie or curry, use up leftovers as fillings for baked potatoes, or, I guess, lasagne. You aren't legally required to stick hard and fast to any recipe. The point is that you enjoy what you've cooked.
Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on
:
Oh, I absolutely agree - but I can't call something X if X is defined by an ingredient I haven't actually put in it. E.g. dopiaza made with something other than industrial quantities of onions might be very nice, but it isn't a dopiaza.
And I am definitely going to try putting tinned pineapple in lasagne.
(I once made soup that contained apple, celeriac and cinnamon. Absolutely nobody has ever believed me that this could possibly taste nice.
Also soup with sauerkraut and paprika. This is actually a Czech speciality called zelňačka, but again, nobody believes me ...)
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
I believe you.
At one place where I worked the canteen had a cook who liked to experiment. Not all of his experiments were hugely successful. The gooseberry and onion soup and the kidney and orange soup spring to mind. I finished the gooseberry and onion soup more by willpower, reminding myself that it was vegetarian so wouldn't hurt, but gave up on the kidney and orange.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
(I once made soup that contained apple, celeriac and cinnamon. Absolutely nobody has ever believed me that this could possibly taste nice.
I can believe it. The basis of free-form cooking is knowing the essential character of an ingredient, and therefore having an idea of how it will behave in combination with others. Apple and cinnamon often turn up in dessert, and people possibly think of them as inherently sweet - but that's the presence of sugar. Apple is fruity/acidic, and goes very well in savoury dishes.
Not everything works with everything. Black pudding and green pepper sandwiches. Don't go there.
Posted by QLib (# 43) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Not everything works with everything. Black pudding and green pepper sandwiches. Don't go there.
But perhaps black pudding and Peppadew.....?
Posted by Moo (# 107) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
I am an addict of the aleatory.
Thanks for adding the word 'aleatory' to my vocabulary.
Moo
Posted by John Holding (# 158) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Cooking for yourself is so expensive. Like, Christmas cookie recipe called for something named mace. $7 for a jar. All I needed was 1 tsp. Awful expensive two dozen cookies! ...
Speaking of confusing, we're supposed to not cook on teflon because it give off poisonous fumes, aluminum might lead to altzheimers, cast iron you can't let sit a few days before washing or it will rust, glass can't be used on the stove top sort of and I keep forgetting the sort of exceptions -- what do you cook in? And if it says a 9 inch square metal pan and what I have is an 8 inch glass pan how do I adjust temperature and time?
Do you have a health food store, or the equivalent of an outlet in Canada called "Bulk Barn". BB isn't a Costco equivalent, but sells food from bins, where you buy as much as you need, sort of like a health food outlet. You need a teaspoon of mace -- buy a teaspoon of mace. It'll probably cost you about 10 cents.
As for the other -- cooking can be precise (baking things like cakes may be) but usually isn't. And there's a lot of room for variations. It really doesn't matter for most things whether you cook them at 325, 350 or 375. In reality, most ovens aren't that precise anyway. 350 is a kind of default temperature for most oven cooking; baking is less forgiving because of the sugar and leavening agents involved. All that means is that you check the oven to see what's happening. If the recipe calls for 30 minutes at 350, and you've set the oven at 375 -- well, you were going to check the oven at 25 minutes anyway, weren't you? And if the accident went the other way, when you check at 25 minutes you'll see that it needs an extra 5-10 minutes.
Cooking's like a lot of things -- it presents as precise when it's mostly really not. 8x8 or 9x9 -- if you have the bigger one, it'll be a little thinner. Glass or metal baking dish -- I've never found it made much of a difference with most of the things I cook on a normal day. For something special -- the kind of thing you might consider as a one off, once in a blue moon -- you probably want to follow the recipe more carefully.
John
Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by John Holding:
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Cooking for yourself is so expensive. Like, Christmas cookie recipe called for something named mace. $7 for a jar. All I needed was 1 tsp. Awful expensive two dozen cookies! ...
Do you have a health food store, or the equivalent ... sells food from bins, where you buy as much as you need, sort of like a health food outlet. You need a teaspoon of mace -- buy a teaspoon of mace. It'll probably cost you about 10 cents.
Two hours away. If I planned meals/cooking a month or two ahead I could buy precise amounts of ingredients on my quarterly run into the city. One of the downsides of small town life is no Asian market, no health food stores, etc. But anywhere you go - standing in line at the post office - is a social encounter with people you know. That's fun.
Posted by basso (# 4228) on
:
Ricardus's taxonomy of glop is very helpful.
One I've had before (but not made yet) is the old standby where the 'meat' in the dish is sliced hot dogs. I call it Frankenglop.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
Days I'm feeling cheap and a bit German, I love hot sliced smoked sausage and potato, doused in a mustardy vinaigrette with lots of black pepper.
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on
:
My lovely bride can cook lovely meals from Julia Child recipes in our little Pullman kitchen, but we often have Tesco ready meals or sausages. Two or three times a month, I cook a steak.
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by basso:
Ricardus's taxonomy of glop is very helpful.
One I've had before (but not made yet) is the old standby where the 'meat' in the dish is sliced hot dogs. I call it Frankenglop.
I'm not sure which label I love better: the "taxonomy of glop" or the "Frankenglop."
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
... hot sliced smoked sausage and potato ...
We buy big packs of assorted sausages from Costco which I bag up and freeze (each pack will make half a dozen meals). One of our favourite standbys is sausages, potatoes and red peppers, chopped and baked in the oven - very flavoursome, and dead easy.
Posted by Barnabas Aus (# 15869) on
:
I don't know what the situation might be in other parts, but here in country Australia even Aldi is making the move into small towns.
Thus tonight's quick and easy meal for the two of us was a small steak, red sweet potato peeled, sliced into rounds, parboiled for 3 minutes in the microwave and then grilled on our teppanyaki grill with the steak, and a quick steam pack of carrots, broccoli and cauliflower done for 2 minutes 15 in the microwave, all purchased [including the grill] at our local Aldi.
From start to finish dinner was ready in about ten or twelve minutes. Colourful, fresh or snap-frozen produce at a reasonable price, and a very healthy uncomplicated meal.
Some of these supermarkets are targeting the single person or empty nesters with their packaging, and we are finding it easier than we thought to downsize from our previous cooking for five.
Certainly in our community the idea of complicated dinner party cooking has gone. People seem to want fresh uncomplicated food, which makes preparation so much easier. If you are not confident in the kitchen, that would be the path I would recommend.
Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Cooking for yourself is so expensive. Like, Christmas cookie recipe called for something named mace. $7 for a jar. All I needed was 1 tsp. Awful expensive two dozen cookies! Next recipe wants soy sauce, have to buy a whole bottle. All these bottles and jars of things used once go out of date before I see another recipe that uses them, and I don't know which dates I can ignore. Even salt and sugar have "use by" dates, I know they last forever, but milk goes bad.
In my experience, soy sauce will keep for at least 3 years without any trouble, and possibly longer. You might find a few salt crystals forming in it, but that's normal - it used to say so on the labels of one particular brand here to stop people worrying.
Bit late now, but nutmeg is a perfectly good substitute for mace (mace is best described as the husk of the nutmeg nut). If you buy whole nutmeg, then grate as needed, they keep for ages (at least 10 years). An alternative to both is mixed spice (although most varieties of that will also have quite a bit of cinnamon in, so if the recipe also uses cinnamon, then leave that out!) I know you said the cookies in question were Christmas ones, but if they tasted nice, why not make them out of season?
On the dates thing, as far as I understand it, 'best before' means that after that date the item is still edible but will not taste as good. (Most dried herbs and spices fall into this category). 'Use by' means that it will probably be going bad after that date - although the day after I might chance it anyway!
quote:
Speaking of confusing, we're supposed to not cook on teflon because it give off poisonous fumes, aluminum might lead to altzheimers, cast iron you can't let sit a few days before washing or it will rust, glass can't be used on the stove top sort of and I keep forgetting the sort of exceptions -- what do you cook in? And if it says a 9 inch square metal pan and what I have is an 8 inch glass pan how do I adjust temperature and time?
Never heard that about Teflon before. All of our pans except for the 2 frying pans are stainless steel. The frying pans are non-stick lined (probably Teflon...). As John Holding said, unless you're doing baking (and in my experience even then!) cooking is not as precise as the recipe books/fancy cooks on TV like to make it look. I bake sponge cakes now by converting the temp in deg F that I learnt from my Dad into deg C as I have a modern oven. Then reducing temp by 20 degrees or cooking time by 10 min as I have a fan oven. The tins used have varied over the years from 'proper' cake tins to a roasting tin when I was in a shared student house. Cooking time was pretty much the same in all cases (although in the student house I had to get a housemate to explain gas-mark temps on the oven to me).
I suppose I grew up helping parents cook. If I don't know what to do with a vegetable/fish I might ask Mum, or I might ask the person selling it, or check the BBC food website, or I might resort to Google. I wouldn't say that I always cook good food - Sandemaniac still reminds me about one particularly inedible chilli - but I do have fun trying to cook it!
Posted by Rowen (# 1194) on
:
I have folk staying with me... But, as ever, I bought a hot, roast chicken. That plus salad for night one. Night 2, we chopped remaining chicken into bits. Threw it into a bowl. Cooked a packet of microwave rice. Threw it into the bowl. Cooked some frozen peas and corn. Bowl ditto. Added a jar of white pasta-type sauce. Warmed the lot in the microwave.
Diner last night, and tonight. Usually I freeze enough for later, but with guests here, we will eat the lot.
Simple.
Easy.
Hardly any prep time at all.
Didn't need to measure anything, just threw in whatever peas and corn I liked.
No oven.
No bewildering array of saucepans.
Just a bowl and microwave.
[ 10. March 2013, 23:16: Message edited by: Rowen ]
Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on
:
Knotweed's comment about asking someone reminds me - in this country at least, if you buy your produce from a real butcher/fishmonger whatever, instead of the supermarket, the person in the shop will happily advise you about what you're supposed to do with it.
The stuff is more expensive, but I think it's worth it when you're cooking something nice for a treat. A while back, I had some people round for a roast beef dinner. I went in the butcher's and asked for a piece of meat for five people, and without even being asked, the butcher told me exactly how long to cook it and at what temperature.
Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on
:
Originally posted by Celtic Knotweed:
quote:
The tins used have varied over the years from 'proper' cake tins to a roasting tin when I was in a shared student house.
You can bake small Christmas cakes in a well-washed baked bean tin. I've baked cakes in pyrex dishes. However, (useful tip!) if the recipe says an 8 inch tin, and you have an 8 inch saucepan DON'T put the whole pan in the oven as a substitute baking tin without checking to see whether the handle is made of plastic. I'm just sayin'
Quick question - my mother got a fancy shaped cake tin (from Lakeland Plastics, so it wouldn't have been cheap.) Her cakes wouldn't come out cleanly, so she gave it to me. I have the same problem. How do you get a fancy cake-tin to release cleanly? Being an unusual shape, it doesn't stack into other tins and takes up an inordinate amount of space, too.
Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
Quick question - my mother got a fancy shaped cake tin (from Lakeland Plastics, so it wouldn't have been cheap.) Her cakes wouldn't come out cleanly, so she gave it to me. I have the same problem. How do you get a fancy cake-tin to release cleanly? Being an unusual shape, it doesn't stack into other tins and takes up an inordinate amount of space, too.
Aha! Lakeland has the answer to this too! Just so you can spend more money.
Cake Release
I've never tried it, so this is not a recommendation. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Cottontail:
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
Quick question - my mother got a fancy shaped cake tin (from Lakeland Plastics, so it wouldn't have been cheap.) Her cakes wouldn't come out cleanly, so she gave it to me. I have the same problem. How do you get a fancy cake-tin to release cleanly? Being an unusual shape, it doesn't stack into other tins and takes up an inordinate amount of space, too.
Aha! Lakeland has the answer to this too! Just so you can spend more money.
Cake Release
I've never tried it, so this is not a recommendation. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
That would appear to be an admission by Lakeland Plastics that one cannot get cakes out of their cake tins without assistance.
Mrs Sioni manages OK but I don't think any of her cake tins are from Lakeland Plastics.
Posted by Kitten (# 1179) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
Quick question - my mother got a fancy shaped cake tin (from Lakeland Plastics, so it wouldn't have been cheap.) Her cakes wouldn't come out cleanly, so she gave it to me. I have the same problem. How do you get a fancy cake-tin to release cleanly? Being an unusual shape, it doesn't stack into other tins and takes up an inordinate amount of space, too.
Line the bottom of the tin with baking parchment?
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
:
I've bought cake release from Waitrose for a fancy mould before and it worked well. It is a mix of vegetable oil and carruba wax in a fine spray.
Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on
:
To be fair to Lakeland, I don't think NEQ is talking about a normal cake tin, but a fancier thing more like a jelly mould in appearance. I myself am proud owner of something like this, also passed on to me by my mother. It is huge, but I am hoping might come in useful some day for a church pot luck. Or something.
Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on
:
Cottontail's picture gives the general idea, but mine is spikier. Lakeland don't sell my particular one any more (I wonder why not?) but it has 32 separate "bits" - sort of four tiers of eight. If 32 bits break off the cake and remain stuck to the tin, the result is not good!
I will buy "Cake Release" on my next venture into the big city and experiment. Thank you!
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Cottontail:
To be fair to Lakeland, I don't think NEQ is talking about a normal cake tin, but a fancier thing more like a jelly mould in appearance. I myself am proud owner of something like this, also passed on to me by my mother. It is huge, but I am hoping might come in useful some day for a church pot luck. Or something.
Oh, I've got one of those. I just spray it with veggie oil before baking in it. Don't be sparing of the oil; I was the first time I used it, and that cake came out in pieces.
Posted by Vulpior (# 12744) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Celtic Knotweed:
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Cooking for yourself is so expensive. Like, Christmas cookie recipe called for something named mace. $7 for a jar. All I needed was 1 tsp. Awful expensive two dozen cookies! Next recipe wants soy sauce, have to buy a whole bottle. All these bottles and jars of things used once go out of date before I see another recipe that uses them, and I don't know which dates I can ignore. Even salt and sugar have "use by" dates, I know they last forever, but milk goes bad.
In my experience, soy sauce will keep for at least 3 years without any trouble, and possibly longer. You might find a few salt crystals forming in it, but that's normal - it used to say so on the labels of one particular brand here to stop people worrying.
Bit late now, but nutmeg is a perfectly good substitute for mace (mace is best described as the husk of the nutmeg nut). If you buy whole nutmeg, then grate as needed, they keep for ages (at least 10 years). An alternative to both is mixed spice (although most varieties of that will also have quite a bit of cinnamon in, so if the recipe also uses cinnamon, then leave that out!) I know you said the cookies in question were Christmas ones, but if they tasted nice, why not make them out of season?
On the dates thing, as far as I understand it, 'best before' means that after that date the item is still edible but will not taste as good. (Most dried herbs and spices fall into this category). 'Use by' means that it will probably be going bad after that date - although the day after I might chance it anyway!
This typifies some of the issues about cooking 'literacy'. Celtic Knotweed and I both know that we can substitute nutmeg in a recipe that calls for mace if we find ourselves without, whereas Belle Ringer hasn't picked that up. And the same with keeping soy sauce for x years; x in my case is six or seven, as we have a large bottle left over from when we had a cafe.
I'm not sure where that comes from. I certainly had some experience of 'cooking with mother', but that was mainly baking which I don't do much of now. I was in self-catering halls when I went to university at the age of 18, so had to cook for myself from day one.
Cooking 'literacy' is partly about being able to substitute. It's about knowing that mixed herbs will do a lot of the time, but that oregano/basil make things more Italian. It's about using dry sherry instead of sake (rice wine) for a bit of zing in Chinese cooking. And maybe you either have the temperament to pick it up or you don't.
And being single, or in a small household, can make you think twice about cooking from scratch. I was single for years, though often with a housemate. You do get lazy and go for ready meals, but there's no reason why you can't do some of those yourself by bulk cooking and freezing.
I'm also with those who abhor waste. When I get home this evening I will deliberately be doing something that uses the veggies that are already in the fridge. I'm not quite sure what, but I'll decide on the way from work to the shop. Again, that's part of 'literacy' about combining ingredients.
Those of you who don't cook, but want to, whether for health or finance reasons, start small. If you buy hot roast chicken, learn to use the leftover pickings to make something the next day, then make stock from the carcass and soup from that.
Or learn to make bolognese sauce. Stock cubes, tomato paste or even chocolate (yes, I know someone who puts chocolate in bolognese) are all unnecessary additions. Fry minced beef and a chopped onion, add herbs and tinned tomatoes; maybe mushrooms too. Hold back some of the tinned tomato juice so it doesn't become too runny, and add it if needed while it's cooking. Serve with pasta and grated cheese. Make four portions, freeze two for later and have one for tomorrow.
When you are comfortable with bolognese, you can move on to chilli con carne, or lasagne if you feel brave enough to make a white/cheese sauce.
I think that's kind of the way I went about learning. It's much better to think about one pot meals, or about meat and veg, than to go for fancy recipes with lots of odd ingredients or baking.
Mr Vulpior has cooked for a living. I do rope him in sometimes, perhaps because I don't want to turn out a lumpy sauce, or because I'm unsure whether I've cooked something enough, or just because I'm too lazy to chop veg for 25 (Christmas in July, for example). But he is much better at cooking bulk, and tends to leave the household cooking to me.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
I would agree with Vulpior's points about knowing stuff. But that in turn may link to the interest in and curiosity about taste, which I think is a driver for cooking. You would be more prone to make a substitution if a) you already had a category in your head for that particular flavour and/or b) thought What the hell, this could be a whole new discovery.
My culinary approach has always been Sin Boldly, tempered with the realisation that certain classic techniques work. It's why I think it's a good idea to read people - like Jane Grigson or Elizabeth David or Nigel Slater - who write about food as well as giving recipes, so that you see the rationale, and catch some of the enthusiasm behind the end result.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
Curiosity is a factor. I'm sure many of us have had the experience of looking up a particular recipe on the internet after a particularly nice meal out, or seeing/buying something in the supermarket that you want to try and don't know what to do with.
OK, your attempts might not always succeed in recreating whatever it was, but even cooking simple things like steak and chips with a sauce (you can usually buy the sauce if you don't want to have a go at making it) can make you feel quite good.
The first time I did a roast chicken was when I was a student. The first person I bumped into afterwards was one of my tutors. I said proudly, "I've just cooked a roast chicken." He grinned back with understanding and said, "It's surprisingly easy, isn't it?" And it was (basically you just pre-heat the oven and put the thing in), but it felt like accomplished cooking.
[ 12. March 2013, 08:16: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posted by birdie (# 2173) on
:
I don't know if I'm a good cook, but I am a relaxed one. I've just never found it a stressful undertaking, but I can see how it could be.
It's the timing that's so intimidating with things like roast dinners - it's quite easy to roast a chicken. It's also easy to roast potatoes, parsnips, and steam green veg, carrots etc - but having them all ready AT THE SAME time is a challenge.
This is one of the reasons I love my slow cooker - when the cooking time for the meat is 5 to 7 hours, it allows you to relax a bit. Also learning what can be done in advance and reheated later, etc etc. But I think those things only come with experience.
We tend to view cooking (especially for other people) as a bit of a performance, and that really doesn't help. And I really don't understand it - if these are people I am relaxed enough with to have over to my house for a meal, I'm relaxed enough to put food on the table while saying cheerily "Sorry, there's not as much veg as I'd intended - realised as I was about to put the peas on that there wasn't space on the hob" or similar.
I'd echo the recommendations for Nigel Slater's Appetite, and I think the book that really got me started with what I would describe as 'proper cooking' (by which I mean having the confidence to fling things together) is Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. I don't think I've cooked more than four of the recipes from it but it is like a soothing conversation had in the kitchen while cooking.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by birdie:
Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. I don't think I've cooked more than four of the recipes from it but it is like a soothing conversation had in the kitchen while cooking.
And slowly licking chocolate fondant from your fingers while wearing a negligee..
Another aid to timing is the microwave. I know mine will cook potatoes in exactly 10 minutes, no need to keep lifting the lid and hopefully prodding. Other veg can be ready in 3 or 4 - so once the main, cooker-based part of the meal is nearly ready, just bang in the accompaniments (which are sat there ready in their microwave-to-table dishes) in rapid succession and there you are.
Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on
:
A good place to start can be a student cookbook - no matter if you are many years from your student days. The best of these concentrate on low-cost simple cooking.
When a Chinese friend moved to Scotland and wanted to learn British cooking, I gave her this 4 Ingredients cookbook. There are no fancy pictures or anything, and it does exactly what it says: teaches you to cook dishes using only 4 ingredients. And there are no sneaky 'extra' ingredients like an unexpected stock cube or drop of vanilla essence, or whatever. This particular book is currently being sold on AmazonUK for only 1p! (+ sneaky 'extra' P&P of course.)
Btw, the first thing I taught my Chinese friend to cook was Bangers and Mash. Sausages, potato, onion, and instant gravy. And a bit of salt to boil the potatoes.
There was a bit of a mishap when the sausages were waiting in the fridge to be cooked, and she decided to make one for her lunch. Upon inquiry, it turned out that she had boiled it hotdog-style! It had not, she said, been good.
Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by birdie:
It's the timing that's so intimidating with things like roast dinners - it's quite easy to roast a chicken. It's also easy to roast potatoes, parsnips, and steam green veg, carrots etc - but having them all ready AT THE SAME time is a challenge.
Ah, roast dinners. We used to be, well, not terrified exactly, but we used to feel like they were a big unnecessary fuss, and they're really not. Half the trouble was having a crappy old oven that didn't hold a good temperature, but there are ways of working round it. Our current technique with chicken is a Delia fast-cook method, but you can cook slowly at a lower heat just as easily.
The trouble, I think, comes from trying to recreate what you think a roast should be, or what you remember your parents doing, or whatever, instead of what you want or can manage. There isn't some holy writ that says:
quote:
Thou shalt serve roast potatoes and parsnips, and three kinds of vegetables and two of stuffing besides, and thou shalt make thine own gravy, for Bisto is an abomination unto the LORD, and thou shalt serve it from fancy dishes which thou never normally gettest out because they were Granny's and all horrible and floral, and a real faff to get clean.
You might like it that way, but it doesn't have to be that complicated. If you want, you can start with the roasting bit and just boil some potatoes and/or veg when you take it out of the oven to rest. But do keep the leftovers, to be put into curries and hashes and things over the next few days.
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
I would agree with Vulpior's points about knowing stuff. But that in turn may link to the interest in and curiosity about taste, which I think is a driver for cooking. You would be more prone to make a substitution if a) you already had a category in your head for that particular flavour and/or b) thought What the hell, this could be a whole new discovery.
I agree with you here. My cooking experience as a child was of the basic meat and two veg plain variety ( as the youngest daughter I was sometimes required to cook for my 4 older brothers ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
). But I really learnt to love cooking and be a good cook when I had the time and opportunity to experiment. It turns out I am one of those people who instinctively knows what flavours will substitute/compliment foods. My husband is also cooks but is more 'adventurous' with his flavourings so these can be more hit and miss. He is, however, an extremely good baker as he is better at the technical challenge. I seldom keep to any recipe, I change lots of things, but it is knowing what can be changed and what to that comes with experience.
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
:
Btw, this thread has spurred me on to get my sons (aged 8 and 12) to do more cooking. They've previous helped with the odd cake and the eldest has done a few things at school but now every Friday afternoon they are taking it in turns to cook dinner under my supervision. I've bought them the Usborne Beginner's Cookbook as a child friendly guide and they are really keen to choose their own meals. Zadok made macaroni cheese last week
Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on
:
And knowing that many of the cookery books which have come out over the last 10 to 15 years are written by people who don't make allowances for the average domestic kitchen - especially true of those authors who also perform on television. If you open a hot commercial oven to put your chicken in, it will regain heat very quickly. Most domestic ones will take rather longer. The authors often fail to make allowance for this sort of difference. they will also have you pre-heating an oven to 220 C when the food will be in there for only 15 to 20 minutes - very expensive unless you plan an entire round of baking. Get books by such authors as Beck, Bertholle and Child ( very good on basic recipes and techniques, as well as the more advanced dishes) or Elizabeth David. Here in Oz, books by Margaret Fulton make it hard to turn out a failure.
As for timing microwaves are excellent for almost all vegetables, especially green ones. You can take your roast out of the oven to rest and while that happens, or you are carving, the vegetables can go through the microwave and be ready to serve.
Posted by birdie (# 2173) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by birdie:
Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. I don't think I've cooked more than four of the recipes from it but it is like a soothing conversation had in the kitchen while cooking.
And slowly licking chocolate fondant from your fingers while wearing a negligee..
I have deliberately never watched her on tv because she seems SO ANNOYING. I stick with the print version.
Posted by ken (# 2460) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
It's why I think it's a good idea to read people - like Jane Grigson or Elizabeth David or Nigel Slater - who write about food as well as giving recipes, so that you see the rationale, and catch some of the enthusiasm behind the end result.
I'll say it again. Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book. Best cookery book I've ever seen. ![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
quote:
Originally posted by The Great Gumby:
quote:
Originally posted by birdie:
It's the timing that's so intimidating with things like roast dinners - it's quite easy to roast a chicken. It's also easy to roast potatoes, parsnips, and steam green veg, carrots etc - but having them all ready AT THE SAME time is a challenge.
Ah, roast dinners. We used to be, well, not terrified exactly, but we used to feel like they were a big unnecessary fuss, and they're really not.
And if you have a timer sort of thing on the oven you can safely sit down and watch TV or have a drink while its cooking Nice and relaxing.
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Cooking for yourself is so expensive. Like, Christmas cookie recipe called for something named mace.
$7 for a jar.
Think that's expensive? Try saffron! But seriously, not many things have mace in them. If you are cooking for yourself start by cooking things you want to eat with ingredients you can get easily. Takes the pressure off.
All I needed was 1 tsp. Awful expensive two dozen cookies! Next recipe wants soy sauce, have to buy a whole bottle. All these bottles and jars of things used once go out of date before I see another recipe that uses them, and I don't know which dates I can ignore.
quote:
Even salt and sugar have "use by" dates, I know they last forever, but milk goes bad.
Maybe not for ever but our salt has been lying around in heaps since the Permian era.
Milk, well yes, but if you use mik regularly at all and have a fridge its not a problem. And if you don't use it regularly, don't' buy it unless you really want to.
quote:
Oh, that reminds me, I'm milk intolerant...
All the more reason to cook syourself so you know exctly what you are eating.
quote:
...how do I know if I can substitute something or not?
Try it and see.
That's one of the benefits of cooking for yourself, if you mess it up and get inedible glop, no-one is likely to know other than you. So none of the pressure that people get when they have to feed a hungry family. It doesn't have to come oput the way you intended it to. Which is kind of relaxing and fun. Also the chances are that your glop won't actually be inedible. Ugly and glopular maybe, and nothing you would want to lay out before guests, but probably not that unpleasant to eat.
quote:
Speaking of confusing, we're supposed to not cook on teflon because it give off poisonous fumes, aluminum might lead to altzheimers...
Again, if you really worry about that sort of thing, cook for yourself, so you know what you are doing. Otherwise you are letting the supermarket or the cafe make that decision for you. (Personally I think the teflon thing is almost certainly cvastly exagerrated. I can make up plausible stories abotu aluminium being bad,m but I don't believe them enough to stop eating things cooked in aluminium pots)
quote:
And if it says a 9 inch square metal pan and what I have is an 8 inch glass pan how do I adjust temperature and time?
99% of the time it makes no difference. Most cooking does not depend on exact temperatures or exact quantities or exact times. The big exceptions to that are cakes and (some kinds of) pastry (which is one reason I tend not to make them very often. Too much like hard work! Bread on the other hand is very forgiving) There are also a few critical things involving cooking with eggs that are expected to rise - come to think of it that's what cakes are aren;t they? - but you soon pick them up if you practice. Most other things, a few minutes either way will make no difference and even if you get them a little wrong, the thing that comes out is still usually edible, jut not quite the thing you expected.
quote:
How am I supposed to cook something that has no instructions?
Like onions and carrots?
quote:
Challenge, can this girl become a good cook and love it?
I would suspect yes. Cook for yourself so you have no pressure to get it just right, cook cheap stuff so you don't feel hard done by if it doesn't work, play around, keep it simple at first - things with rice or pasta, vegetable stews, aforementioned glop - relax, try different things. Have the radio or some music on.
What do you actually prefer to eat?
[ 12. March 2013, 18:05: Message edited by: ken ]
Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
Well, as noted upthread, my ordinary meals tend to be glop, spodge, or goo, as described by various posters above. Perfectly serviceable in terms of nutrition and taste, but low on presentability.
Sounds like my cooking, but this is why clear labelling is so important.
Glop with spices + rice = curry
Glop with herbs + pasta = pasta
Glop with herbs + rice = risotto
Glop with spices + pasta = fusion
Glop with mashed potato on top = some variant on shepherd's pie
Glop in a tortilla wrap = Mexican
Glop with paprika + rice (or dumplings*) = goulash
Pepper stuffed with glop = stuffed pepper
Aubergine stuffed with glop = there is a Turkish name for this but I've forgotten it
Foul-tasting glop + tamarind paste + rice = tamarind curry (tamarind is excellent for hiding an experiment that went wrong)
FWIW I take the line that anyone who doesn't like the appearance of my food hasn't quite grasped the point of eating.
* Dumplings are basically bread converted into glop.
I would like to make an addition to this list based on what is currently on the stove simmering for supper.
Glop with spices (and a handful of dried fruit if you are feeling adventurous) + couscous = North African cuisine!
Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on
:
Watery glop = soup.
If you want a cream instead of a clear soup just run it through a blender. No need to add cream, cream here means it has been creamed.
Jengie
Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on
:
I should add that couscous is the ultimate easy cook food for those who are nervous of cooking. One cup of couscous in a bowl, a pinch of salt and pour on two cups of boiling water. Leave to stand for about 6 minutes. Eat.
Posted by John Holding (# 158) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
Btw, this thread has spurred me on to get my sons (aged 8 and 12) to do more cooking. They've previous helped with the odd cake and the eldest has done a few things at school but now every Friday afternoon they are taking it in turns to cook dinner under my supervision. I've bought them the Usborne Beginner's Cookbook as a child friendly guide and they are really keen to choose their own meals. Zadok made macaroni cheese last week
When my wife went back to school, our oldest was 14 and our youngest was 8. Each of the three was required to produce dinner (evening meal, biggest of the day) once a week. Initially from our youngest we got a lot of pasta with (previously made) bolognese sauce and (with older brother's help) carrot sticks. But it worked. All three are excellent cooks, both from recipes or on their own.
John
Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on
:
Personally, I have found that making soups is a really easy way to get into cooking. The best "starter" book IMHO is Twelve Months of Monastery Soups. They are deliberately simplified recipes so as not to intimidate beginners.
And soups have the added benefit that I have only occasionally set off the smoke-detector when making them.
Now that I have grown comfortable with making a variety of soups, I am branching out to making chilis. It is a natural progression. The plan is that I will graduate to stir-fry from that. Someday I may even try using that oven thingee.
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on
:
quote:
When my wife went back to school, our oldest was 14 and our youngest was 8. Each of the three was required to produce dinner (evening meal, biggest of the day) once a week. Initially from our youngest we got a lot of pasta with (previously made) bolognese sauce and (with older brother's help) carrot sticks. But it worked. All three are excellent cooks, both from recipes or on their own.
My three boys started out like this but in school holidays. Then progressed. One was heard to remark after a fairly adventurous meal for him at that stage, that he now knew why mum was tired. He had trouble getting timing right for all ingredients.
The three of them are now all great cooks and two of them also bake cakes and biscuits. They all have specialties. Because they learnt from following me, they rarely use recipes. Just add and taste.
DIL's mum did not let her cook so it was all new to her. Her mum also slavishly followed recipes, to the point of walking down the hill to shops one day when it was 36° C to buy beans because the recipe said, "serve with green beans." We had four other green vegetables she could have used.
After 15 years, DIL is now making up her own recipes and now knows how to adapt others. Her mum has not changed and would rather not watch any of us cook.
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Lucia:
I should add that couscous is the ultimate easy cook food for those who are nervous of cooking. One cup of couscous in a bowl, a pinch of salt and pour on two cups of boiling water. Leave to stand for about 6 minutes. Eat.
Lucia,
You are clearly an experienced couscous cook. Why does the texture and palatability vary so much? A few times it has come out really well: creamy but neither heavy and porridge-like on one hand, nor gritty and undercooked on the other. I suspect the proportions matter as does the need for boiling water (note: I have not eaten it at 6,000', where the thinner air may affect boiling point).
Posted by Keren-Happuch (# 9818) on
:
Yes, the glop method was how I got cooking as a student. I never did much cooking at home or in my first year (tiny kitchen between 13 students!) but built up from there.
Also need to add glop + chilli powder + kidney beans + rice = chilli con carne
Glop can be made with chicken, mince, sausages, lentils or tuna, all of which produce subtle variations. I used to have sausages with tomato sauce and pasta because I found potatoes a hassle = Italian sausage casserole. And so on.
Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on
:
While butchers may be more expensive for standard cuts of meat, they're great for cheaper and more unusual cuts - and if you only need a little or just want a single item to try, you can get that. Beef shin, oxtail, lamb henry (shoulder shank), beef skirt (perfect for Cornish pasties), gammon shank and knuckles, offal, ox and pigs cheeks and tongue are all tasty, cheap cuts of meat. Butchers will also happily sell bones for stock-making for pennies or even for free.
Beef shin and oxtail - slow-cooked stews
Lamb henry - cheaper than lamb shanks from the leg but use exactly the same way
Beef skirt - use for homemade Cornish pasties, which are dirt cheap to make but delicious
Cheap gammon joints like gammon shanks and knuckles - use the bones and scraps to flavour pea or lentil soups
Offal - kidneys and liver both take mere minutes to cook and are very tasty, I like chicken liver stroganoff
Ox and pig cheek - I use one of each, tomato paste, red wine, onion and carrot in the slow cooker for an amazing ragu bolognese
Tongue - makes amazing tacos, just pop in the slow cooker with some taco or fajita seasoning and salsa. The butcher can skin the tongue for you beforehand if you wish, but it's very easy to do yourself. Just blanch and the skin peels off easily.
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on
:
I use skirt steak for meat pies. Learnt from my mother to do that. Youngest son used to say my pies were 9.5/10, while hers were 12/10. She cooked the meat with red wine, mushrooms if she had them, on the side of the slow combustion wood stove in her kitchen.
Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on
:
Yes, skirt steak is very good in pies and casseroles too.
If you don't have a good local butcher, then the butcher counter in large supermarkets will be fine - they will sell oxtail, liver and kidneys, cheap stewing lamb, nice sausages and bacon and you can get just one piece of anything if you need to. The same goes for deli counters - if you just need a small piece of parmesan for example, it's much cheaper to get the exact amount from the cheese counter than buying a big ready-prepared block. Speaking of parmesan, Sainsburys Basics Italian hard cheese wedge is a great vegetarian parmesan substitute and not too expensive.
If you live in a rural or semi-rural area, keep an eye on the game shooting seasons because at the height of them, game meat can be very cheap indeed and is a real treat. A partridge or pigeon makes a good serving for one person, and the gravy is delicious. Duck legs are also a very economical buy, usually coming in a pack of two. Prick the skins so the fat can render properly and you can use the fat for amazing roast or sauteed potatoes.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Keren-Happuch:
I used to have sausages with tomato sauce and pasta because I found potatoes a hassle
Microwave. Baked potato in less than 10 minutes. Heat up baked beans, or add dollop of tuna mayonnaise, grated cheese, etc etc etc. Add half a salad pack, and there's a decent dinner.
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on
:
Microwaved potatoes are barely fit for consumption. Texture and taste are off.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Microwaved potatoes are barely fit for consumption. Texture and taste are off.
Are you talking 'baked' potato, whole in their skins? The microwave, which is basically a wet cooking method (akin to boiling or steaming) won't give the skin texture from dry heat. But cut the m/w potato into wedges, drizzle over some oil mixed with seasoning (spices, mustard, herbs whatever) and finish under a hot grill.
Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
quote:
Originally posted by Lucia:
I should add that couscous is the ultimate easy cook food for those who are nervous of cooking. One cup of couscous in a bowl, a pinch of salt and pour on two cups of boiling water. Leave to stand for about 6 minutes. Eat.
Lucia,
You are clearly an experienced couscous cook. Why does the texture and palatability vary so much? A few times it has come out really well: creamy but neither heavy and porridge-like on one hand, nor gritty and undercooked on the other. I suspect the proportions matter as does the need for boiling water (note: I have not eaten it at 6,000', where the thinner air may affect boiling point).
Yes it is to do with the proportion of water to couscous. Too little water = gritty couscous. Too much water = stodgy, stuck together couscous. I generally find that twice as much boiling water by volume as couscous by volume works well. ie I normally fill a mug with couscous and then use the same mug to measure 2 mugfulls of boiling water. When it is just right all the water should have been absorbed and the couscous should not be soggy but soft to eat. If it's still gritty you could add just a little more boiling water.
Of course all of this is cheating by North African standards. People here in Tunisia would normally steam the couscous in a steamer over the large cooking pot that contains the the rest of the meat, vegetables and sauce that will go over the top of the couscous afterwards. But it takes much longer to steam and I'm not that organised! Hence my cheating with the boiling water method which actually works fine.
[ 13. March 2013, 08:53: Message edited by: Lucia ]
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Microwaved potatoes are barely fit for consumption. Texture and taste are off.
Are you talking 'baked' potato, whole in their skins? The microwave, which is basically a wet cooking method (akin to boiling or steaming) won't give the skin texture from dry heat. But cut the m/w potato into wedges, drizzle over some oil mixed with seasoning (spices, mustard, herbs whatever) and finish under a hot grill.
I never eat the skins of baked potatoes so this isn't a problem for me. A microwaved potato, with a little effort, will also give you mash fairly quickly if you prefer that.
Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Microwaved potatoes are barely fit for consumption. Texture and taste are off.
Are you talking 'baked' potato, whole in their skins? The microwave, which is basically a wet cooking method (akin to boiling or steaming) won't give the skin texture from dry heat. But cut the m/w potato into wedges, drizzle over some oil mixed with seasoning (spices, mustard, herbs whatever) and finish under a hot grill.
I never eat the skins of baked potatoes so this isn't a problem for me. A microwaved potato, with a little effort, will also give you mash fairly quickly if you prefer that.
But the skins are the best bit!
And I don't see why microwaving, drizzling and grilling the potatoes is easier than just pricking them a few times with a fork, lightly oiling or salting them if you want, then bunging them in the oven for an hour or so. It's creating extra work for no reason.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by The Great Gumby:
bunging them in the oven for an hour or so. It's creating extra work for no reason.
That assumes you are in the vicinity of your oven one to two hours beforehand. Also, it seems a reckless spend of energy to heat an oven for possibly only one potato.
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
:
I usually do both - cook them in the microwave and bung them in the oven for a little while to crisp up!
Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Microwaved potatoes are barely fit for consumption. Texture and taste are off.
Are you talking 'baked' potato, whole in their skins? The microwave, which is basically a wet cooking method (akin to boiling or steaming) won't give the skin texture from dry heat. But cut the m/w potato into wedges, drizzle over some oil mixed with seasoning (spices, mustard, herbs whatever) and finish under a hot grill.
I never eat the skins of baked potatoes.
I am afraid to inform you that this means you will most definitely burn in Hell for all eternity.
Sorry.
Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
quote:
I never eat the skins of baked potatoes.
I am afraid to inform you that this means you will most definitely burn in Hell for all eternity.
Sorry.
And, of course, all the vitamins are just under the skin.
Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
quote:
I never eat the skins of baked potatoes.
I am afraid to inform you that this means you will most definitely burn in Hell for all eternity.
Sorry.
And, of course, all the vitamins are just under the skin.
Never mind the vitamins. The point is that leaving the skin is Just Wrong.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
I was quite surprised to find that people eat potato skins - it wasn't something I heard of anyone doing before I came to England.
Besides, this is an otherwise unpeeled root vegetable that has to be scrubbed very carefully, otherwise you get grit and mud with it, and the skin is quite tough and hard going to eat when it's baked. It's really not an appetizing concept.
[ 13. March 2013, 12:11: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posted by Gill H (# 68) on
:
It shouldn't be tough to eat. I usually rub a little salt into the skin before I put it in the oven, and the skin peels away gently and tastes great.
I don't peel carrots or potatoes when boiling these days either. As long as they are clean they don't need it.
Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on
:
Leave the skin you might as well just make mash. It's quicker.
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Gill H:
I don't peel carrots or potatoes when boiling these days either. As long as they are clean they don't need it.
Me too, even my mash has skin in it.
Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by The Great Gumby:
bunging them in the oven for an hour or so. It's creating extra work for no reason.
That assumes you are in the vicinity of your oven one to two hours beforehand. Also, it seems a reckless spend of energy to heat an oven for possibly only one potato.
I thought we were talking about making cooking easy. Cooking in the oven is the easy way, and any alternative methods are more complicated and more likely to go wrong.
If you're not in a position to just stick it in the oven and leave it while you do other things, baked potatoes are probably the wrong option anyway. As for energy spend, in winter (i.e. baked potato season) the heat from the oven will reduce the need to heat the house, so I'm not convinced that the net cost is all that substantial.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
Assumptions, assumptions. The only thing our kitchen heats, is the sky above it. And why should someone be denied the joy of baked potato, just because they're at work, or commuting or for any other reason want to eat within an hour of coming home?
And I would say the answer to non-cooking is not One Way Only, but improvisation, flexibility and experiment. Go mad, grill a potato....
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Go mad, grill a potato....
That explains everything.
I normally cook all my potatoes, baking or sweet, in the grill. They are the best! However, a friend gave me a 'microwave baked potato pouch' for Christmas. I thought it was a useless but sweet gift.
One day I had bare minutes of time for a meal between events, so stuck a potato in the pouch and zapped it for six minutes. It was amazing! Instead of the sticky, gloopy mess of a M/W bake, it was fluffy and tasty. I don't remember if the skin was crispy or not. I ate it and it must have also been good.
But, the gas grill is the best. Scrub the potatoes, put them in the grill on high heat, wait one hour, and you have potato heaven. (The sugar in the sweet potatoes are like pure dessert for a veg.)
Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on
:
Hmmmm - even grilling a potato for ten minutes would have the kitchen on fire!
I don't think we mean the same things by 'grill' - what do you call a grill? This is what our grill looks like.
Posted by lily pad (# 11456) on
:
In America, a grill is an outdoor thing. We call the appliance a barbeque here but barbeque there is a type of food not an item or a verb for how you cook on that item. There are also grills in homes like George Foreman grills or a built in grill. These are usually in warmer States.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
I've done french fries and oven chips in a tray under the grill. They're usually fine. (Much nicer than microwave chips.) The secret is to have fairly thin ones. They get cooked on both sides if you put them in a tray.
Posted by lily pad (# 11456) on
:
Ahh, I missed a bit, what you call grill, we call broiling or under the broiler.
Posted by ken (# 2460) on
:
My opinion of microwaved "baked" potatoes can be found by Googling " mild cheddar"
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on
:
lily pad,
The grill Boogie referred to is Trans-Atlantic.
I believe I have heard the oven thing referred to as a "rack" as well as a grill.
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on
:
This is similar to my grill. Sometimes it's the difference between cooking and not cooking.
Popcorn and a glass of wine have been occasional not cooking meals.
Posted by justlooking (# 12079) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
I usually do both - cook them in the microwave and bung them in the oven for a little while to crisp up!
I've replaced my microwave with a combi oven -microwave, convection and grill - which is quick and economical for almost everything I need to cook in an oven.
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on
:
Lucia,
Thanks for the hints re couscous, I'll try again.
Sioni
Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Abigail:
I live on my own and I do try to cook for myself but I would be horrified if I had to cook for anyone else – my cooking is totally unreliable. I might cook a meal one day and think, "mm, not bad", but the next time I do it it’s a total disaster. My mum was an excellent cook and she enjoyed cooking. Unfortunately I never managed to pick up any of her skills. I try to cook the meals she prepared – and they just taste wrong . I’ve bought cookery books (including one totally useless one called "Can’t cook – Want to Learn" ) but when I try to follow recipes they don't work and I never have any idea why. As other people have said, I find cooking incredibly stressful.
I have a few things that I can do that usually turn out all right but most cooking, even really basic things, is beyond me.
This is me too!
(Apart from baking cakes, which I have learned over the last 6 months You can bake cakes ahead of time - so disasters can go in the bin, no-one the wiser!)
[ 15. March 2013, 21:18: Message edited by: Boogie ]
Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
... (Apart from baking cakes, which I have learned over the last 6 months You can bake cakes ahead of time - so disasters can go in the bin, no-one the wiser!)
In my experience, there are few baking disasters that can't be turned into a pudding with a judicial pour of custard.
Posted by Moo (# 107) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Cottontail:
In my experience, there are few baking disasters that can't be turned into a pudding with a judicial pour of custard.
If the ingredients are good, it is hard to produce something that tastes bad, even when there are problems with consistency or texture.
Moo
Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by justlooking:
quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
I usually do both - cook them in the microwave and bung them in the oven for a little while to crisp up!
I've replaced my microwave with a combi oven -microwave, convection and grill - which is quick and economical for almost everything I need to cook in an oven.
We have a combination microwave/convection oven, which can cook with both methods at the same time. Or separately to your choice. It means that you can scrub and oil potatoes, put them on the rack with sheet of baking paper under to catch any oil which drips, and in 15 minutes or so, you have baked potatoes for 4, crisp and brown on the outside, cooked inside, and delicious. Or put in a large pie from the pastry shop, and again, in a quarter hour, there's dinner with properly cooked pastry, not the soggy mess you get in an ordinary microwave.
[ 15. March 2013, 22:34: Message edited by: Gee D ]
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
quote:
Originally posted by Cottontail:
In my experience, there are few baking disasters that can't be turned into a pudding with a judicial pour of custard.
If the ingredients are good, it is hard to produce something that tastes bad, even when there are problems with consistency or texture.
Moo
Mrs Sioni, an excellent cook, managed an exception to that by leaving flour out of a cake recipe. OK, it was for Sachertorte, which hasn't much flour in, but all we got was a charred brown biscuit in the cake tin, over the baking tray and on the base of the oven. Even brandy butter couldn't save that.
Posted by Vulpior (# 12744) on
:
Baked potatoes. Yes, I'll use the oven for them if it's already on for another part of the meal, but otherwise I'll microwave.
Microwaving in a combi oven, when we had one, was a good option, but the other technique I learned was to wrap each potato in kitchen paper. It helps to capture the moisture.
But we now have a terracotta pot with a lid specially for doing potatoes in the microwave, which must be similar to the above-mentioned pouch. It works really well.
And peeling? I haven't peeled a root vegetable or potato in years. I'm no good at it and I detest it. Part of learning to cook: if there's something you don't like doing or are no good at, find a way round it.
Posted by RuthW (# 13) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
If the ingredients are good, it is hard to produce something that tastes bad, even when there are problems with consistency or texture
It's pretty easy, actually. All you need to do is come up with two things that really don't go well together. I like ketchup on my scrambled eggs, but once when I didn't have any I thought I'd try and see if mustard would be good on eggs. It isn't. I've done plenty of things like that, usually involving some kind of prepared sauce that clashes badly with the thing I've dumped it on.
Posted by comet (# 10353) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
quote:
Originally posted by Cottontail:
In my experience, there are few baking disasters that can't be turned into a pudding with a judicial pour of custard.
If the ingredients are good, it is hard to produce something that tastes bad, even when there are problems with consistency or texture.
Moo
Mrs Sioni, an excellent cook, managed an exception to that by leaving flour out of a cake recipe. OK, it was for Sachertorte, which hasn't much flour in, but all we got was a charred brown biscuit in the cake tin, over the baking tray and on the base of the oven. Even brandy butter couldn't save that.
yes, there's the too little or none of something vital, and then there's the too much factor. for instance, rice in soup - less is more. more makes a nasty brick thing with a burny bottom.
also - my daughter once overdid the salt in a cookie recipe (she was about 12) no bringing that back from the dead.
and my best, also when I was a kid - I misread a cake recipe as calling for 1.5 CUPS of cinnamon, rather than teaspoons. not kidding. I bought out all they had in the village store and borrowed a bunch from neighbors. it was spectacularly unpalatable. even the dogs wouldn't touch it.
house smelled AMAZING, though!
Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on
:
When I was at university -with a tiny budget- I was ready to make a pot of hearty, vegetable beef soup which I planned to eat for four or five days. I seared the chuck, chopped up oodles of veggies, threw in a can of tomatoes, threw in a bay leaf, seasoned it nicely with salt, and finally brought over the black pepper... and its lid fell off and I had about five tablespoons of pepper floating in my nice soup. ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
I skimmed as much as I could out and actually ate the glop twice before I gave up. It was P&J sandwiches for another ten days.
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on
:
One of the basses in our last-choir-but-one didn't realise that the term "one clove of garlic" didn't mean the entire bulb and wondered why the rest of the basses were giving him such a wide berth the next day.
Posted by Boadicea Trott (# 9621) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Cottontail:
In my experience, there are few baking disasters that can't be turned into a pudding with a judicial pour of custard.
Best quote ever.
Posted by QLib (# 43) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
The microwave, which is basically a wet cooking method (akin to boiling or steaming) won't give the skin texture from dry heat. But cut the m/w potato into wedges, drizzle over some oil mixed with seasoning (spices, mustard, herbs whatever) and finish under a hot grill.
Top tip. Tried this mid-week (less than an hour turnaround between w*rk and Real Life book group) and the result was delicious. Thanks.
Posted by Moo (# 107) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by RuthW:
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
If the ingredients are good, it is hard to produce something that tastes bad, even when there are problems with consistency or texture
It's pretty easy, actually. All you need to do is come up with two things that really don't go well together. I like ketchup on my scrambled eggs, but once when I didn't have any I thought I'd try and see if mustard would be good on eggs. It isn't. I've done plenty of things like that, usually involving some kind of prepared sauce that clashes badly with the thing I've dumped it on.
I meant when you follow a recipe, including all the ingredients, and something goes wrong with the baking process.
Moo
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
Well, I went and did it.
It was the peanut butter sandwich that tipped me over the edge. I'm of A Certain Age where childhood included sitting down at day's end to a cooked meal at a set table furnished with placemats or tablecloth, and accompanied with light conversation of the day's doings.
"Dinner," (called "supper" in my region, as it tends to be eaten at around 6-7 p.m., and not 8-9 p.m. when "dinner" is normally served) was not standing at a kitchen counter eating a sandwich over a paper towel.
I made a New England Boiled Dinner, and it's dead easy, though scraping carrots and parsnips and peeling beets takes time. And you do have to start well ahead of time, as the corned beef requires long cooking.
I'm going to invite some mixed* people over for St. Patrick's Day and serve this again. It's perfectly presentable, it's not glop, and I can enjoy the company of my guests while it cooks. Does anybody happen to know if the traditional corned-beef-and-cabbage pot liquor is improved at all by the addition of a little Irish stout? It sounds like one of those ideas that might work better in theory than in practice.
*mixed = a motley collection of them that's Irish and them that wishes they were.
Posted by QLib (# 43) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
Does anybody happen to know if the traditional corned-beef-and-cabbage pot liquor is improved at all by the addition of a little Irish stout? It sounds like one of those ideas that might work better in theory than in practice.
All I can tell you is that most of the recipes I know for ordinary beef in Guinness or brown ale usually add something for a touch of sweetness (prunes, in my favourite recipe). I'm not familiar with corned beef other than out of a can but I'm guessing the tastes are similar - so the answer may depend on how dry your stout is.
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
I think I'd save the stout for putting in glasses and drinking with.
But leprechaun* points for actually getting on and doing it.
*like brownie points only green.
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on
:
The theory being drink enough Guinness and the corned beef becomes palatable?
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
Corned beef is good. One of life's simple pleasures is a (tinned) corned beef and Branston pickle sandwich on fresh white bread.
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on
:
Barbarian. Be sacking Rome next, you will.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by QLib:
I'm not familiar with corned beef other than out of a can
I seem to remember I had the non-tinned sort once. It was quite different. Nice, but not a lot like the tinned version. It is essentially a sort of preserved silverside, with spices, if I remember correctly.
Posted by balaam (# 4543) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
quote:
Originally posted by Cottontail:
In my experience, there are few baking disasters that can't be turned into a pudding with a judicial pour of custard.
If the ingredients are good, it is hard to produce something that tastes bad, even when there are problems with consistency or texture.
Moo
My one attempt at Lasagne was a disgusting looking sloppy mess, waaaaay too much liquid. But it was delicious.
Next time I'll not be taking Cottontail's advice and adding custard.
Posted by M. (# 3291) on
:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by QLib:
I'm not familiar with corned beef other than out of a can
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I seem to remember I had the non-tinned sort once. It was quite different. Nice, but not a lot like the tinned version. It is essentially a sort of preserved silverside, with spices, if I remember correctly.
TANGENT: some years back, in preparation for Christmas, Macarius & I decided to make a pressed beef recipe we'd found. We bought an expensive joint, covered it in all sorts of spices - and saltpetre from under the counter we managed to persuade someone to sell us. We put weights on it and turned it every day. After a few days, we had to start scraping the mould off...
And at the end, it tasted just like corned beef.
End of tangent.
And to continue another theme, we have beef and guinness stew tonight, yum!
M.
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on
:
I've don't think I've ever seen corned beef in a can. What we get in New England is beef in a vacuum-sealed plastic pouch, with a small amount of liquid and (depending on brand) a small packet of what I'd call "pickling spices" of the kind one makes bread-and-butter pickles with: bay leaf, coriander, mustard seed, cinnamon stick, clove, etc.
AFAICT, the entirety of the region gets swamped with the stuff every March, since it appears everybody eats corned-beef-and-cabbage on or around St. Paddy's Day, even if you happen to be some strange blend of Islamic Jewry and hail originally from Ulan Bator.
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Corned beef is good. One of life's simple pleasures is a (tinned) corned beef and Branston pickle sandwich on fresh white bread.
For some reason this has to be tinned corned beef, sliced white bread and Branston pickle. It just isn't the same with fancier beef, wholemeal bread and some posh chutney that comes in a tiny jar, priced £3.99 and from the Duke of Cornwall's estates.
Posted by M. (# 3291) on
:
(I have just realised that it must sound as though we chose beef & guinness stew because it's St. Patrick's day today, apparently.
I am horrified & hope no-one thinks so. It was chance, that's all. On reflection, I should have called it beef & stout.)
M.
Posted by QLib (# 43) on
:
Ah, begorrah! Sure, the thought never even crossed my mind, until you mentioned it yourself.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by M.:
(I have just realised that it must sound as though we chose beef & guinness stew because it's St. Patrick's day today, apparently.
I am horrified & hope no-one thinks so.
What's wrong with marking a saint's day?
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
There does be them of us would be after being more offended if you didn't mark it.
Posted by M. (# 3291) on
:
I'm not Irish*.
And I'm not the sort that celebrates saints' days.
And I don't like jumping on bandwagons.
M.
*(but then, neither was St Patrick, of course).
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on
:
Och, gwon, gwon, gwon...
Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on
:
I'm back. (Accidentally spilled tea over laptop - not advised - have been able to read but not post easily.)
The conversation seems to have moved on to people who can cook (or people who used to cook but don't so much any more) sharing their thoughts about cooking and food, with some posts by the can't cook/won't cook folk.
I'd be really interested to hear more from the latter about what you eat if you don't cook. Is it all ready meals? Or takeaways? Or tinned soup? Or toast?
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