This thread is about cooking.

[blkmage]

So in the past year or so, I've discovered the joys of actually cooking. I'd subsisted for a while on lazy-cooking, but I got sick of it and was also inspired by other cooking threads and forums around the internet to cook something awesome to eat. And so I would like to share that joy with you too.

First of all:

Cooking is the process of preparing food by applying heat. Cooks select and combine ingredients using a wide range of tools and methods. In the process, the flavor, texture, appearance, and chemical properties of the ingredients can change. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions.

That's a little specific. In general, we'll be talking about:

Food preparation is the act of preparing foodstuffs for consumption. Many types of food preparation involve heating the food ingredients, however other types of preparation involve chemical, biological, or mechanical means.

As I have learned, one day, you will either be forced to cook, have lots of money to throw at making other people cook for you, or you will be an unsatisfied shell of a person. Personally, I've found cooking fun and trying to make something new is really fun and usually tasty (sometimes it isn't, but you can't win them all).

Don't think you can cook? Don't worry! Because I most certainly could not when I started out, lazily throwing things into a pot of boiling water every day. It takes a bit of practice and it takes a while to build up a library of things you can make without thinking. And to be honest, I'm still not entirely sure how best to do go about buying and selecting produce or planning meals and such.

But that's what this thread is for, which was likely your next question. This is a cooking thread and we will talk about all things related to cooking, such as cooking equipment, cooking techniques, things to cook, eating your cooking, acquiring goods with which to cook, effective ways to use your spending power in the pursuit of cooking, etc. I'm sure there are a lot of people who want to learn how to cook but need a push as well as tons of people who enjoy cooking and would like to teach and/or bounce ideas or show off what cool things you made.

FYI, today, I baked some delicious pasta using the torihamu I made this week and I am boiling some beans for some red bean soup, all of which is so that I don't have to cook while I am trying to learn math over the next few days.

[ShiroiHikari]

I've gotten pretty lazy with cooking lately, but it can certainly be a lot of fun. Also, it's healthier. I think if I had someone around to cook with me every day, I'd enjoy it more.

Does anyone else get exhausted by searching for recipes? I guess maybe I overdid it, but I got so tired of looking for stuff that I sort of got burned out on cooking. Is there maybe a better way to do it?

[Vega]

I need to really learn how to cook cause instant ramen just aint doin it

[Rusty Claymore]

Well, add veggies 'n stuff to your ramen! I'd cook more, 'cept I hate doing the dishes lol. I have a hard time getting all the ingredients together, so if foi de' groas(spelling?) came in a prepacked kit like instant kimchi I'd cook all the time! >.<

[goldenspines]

That picture makes me smile.

I enjoy cooking, but when I'm in school, I rarely have time to make much of anything. Though, I feel a bit inspired after reading this thread.
I love experimenting with new stuff; making up my own recipes or adding a new twist on old ones. And hey, if it doesn't work, I try again next time. XD I always try to cook something I think I may like though. XD
One of the first things I tried in my cooking experience was to just add some random spices to chicken/pork when I fried/grilled it. It can prove to have some interesting and delicious results. ^_^

[Tsukuyomi]

Baked pasta.. That sounds good O__O I'm hungry now.. 8]~~~

For instant noodle type things, I had frozen corn to it ^^ Pepper to.. If it doesn't come with a spice packet that is (sometimes it still not spicy enough for me, so I end up adding some more pepper anyway) ^^ You can also add some lemon/lime to give it more flavor 8D

Adding an egg a little after the instant noodles soften is good too ^^

[TGJesusfreak]

For simple ramen I'll:

1. put metal pan on the stove (no duh)
2. put water in pan and turn on the stove
3. add ramen and (hot)water and all that
4. add some soy sauce and/or seseme oil
5. let it come to a boil and then add a beaten/scrambled egg to the pan and stir just a bit.

Then you eat it.... It's really good and takes about 5-6 minutes to do.

[Rusty Claymore]

My all time fav is to make a PBJ (to lazy to write it out) then butter the outsides, fry it, then eat it with powdered sugar and maple syrup. As you can imagine I don't have it too often. >.<

[ShiroiHikari]

I enjoy lemon cream sauce. It's easy and wonderful. Basically all you need is garlic, heavy cream, two or three lemons, butter, salt and pepper. Cook the garlic in the butter for a minute, add the cream plus lemon juice and lemon zest, cook for about 15 minutes or until thick. Pour over pasta, toss in some broccoli or baby arugula and it's amazing. If anyone wants the actual recipe I can post it.

I also like Japanese food a whole lot. Soba noodles + soy sauce + furikake = easy and tasty snack :3

[Phantom_Sorano]

Hmm...what an interesting thread. Your recipe sounds good, Miss Shiroi. I been eating a bit of spinach alfredo rigatoni lately, so you sauce sounds refreshing.

Japanese food is a major plus too. Sometimes buying your own seedweed paper, sticky rice, and soy sauce makes for the best night of homemade rice balls. Yum...

[Bobtheduck]

I only care about cooking if I'm making food for other people. Otherwise, I'm hideously lazy. Why take special care to do something for myself that could be accomplished much easier?

When I have the chance to cook for others, my favorite thing to cook is Curry. "Addicted to Curry" has recipes every issue, and I want to try as many as I can, but it's sort of difficult to cook those dishes in my current apartment, especially my #1 dish, Curry Ramen (I had things all over the place when I made that... There's just not enough room)

By myself, I experiment when I have the chance, but buying things with which to experiment is daunting in a country in which I don't speak the language.

[EricTheFred]

Mm... Curry... Love it, especially Indian and Japanese styles. I've yet to make a curry from scratch to my own satisfaction, but I often buy the Golden Curry product that is basically a cake of curry sauce that you dilute in boiling water and then add your favorite ingredients to.

Instant Ramen - my favorite additions:
1) Add a few leaves of bok choy (chinese cabbage) at the same time the boiling water goes in (or when the cold water goes in and you toss it into the microwave, the way my kids cook it) Wash the cabbage first!

2) Add a fried egg just before serving.

3) Shoyu Ramen = Ramen with a few tablespoons of soy sauce. I picked up the belief somewhere that in Japan they usually use shiro shoyu for this, but I don't think it matters too much except for the color (regular soy sauce makes the broth darker.)

4) Miso Ramen. Most bigger grocery stores in my area have miso paste these days in the produce section. Dissolve a couple tablespoons into a little bit of hot water, then mix into the soup.

5) Wakame or Nori, if you can find them, make very good additions (and more traditional than bok choy, I think.) Wakame Ramen is normally served spicy, as I understand it.

6) Chop up a little spring onion and sprinkle on top. Chives work well also. For more traditional, see if you can find negi (the Japanese relative to spring onions) but you need to either eat lots of ramen or find some other good use for it (works great in salads) because negi are enormous compared to spring onions, and you'll only need a little for this.

7) saute some mushrooms (shiitake if you can find them) to add.

8) sprinkle in some pepper, some roast sesame seed (goma), or some chopped garlic or ginger.

9) Finally, it can be nice to add some of whatever the broth is... a little chicken meat for chicken flaver, shrimp for shrimp flavor, etc. I tease my Asian wife that for her own safety she better not buy the 'Oriental flavor' ramen

[ShiroiHikari]

Oh man, I love Japanese curry. One of my favorite things to add to it is green apples. Sounds weird, I know, but it's actually very very good, especially if you use pork for the meat. I also like to put a couple different colors of bell peppers, sometimes mushrooms, and of course onions.

Indian curry is also wonderful but I've had no luck making it at home. I think I just don't have the right equipment.

Also, I love chili. If anyone has any good chili recipes, please pass them on to me.

[Gelka]

I enjoy lemon cream sauce. It's easy and wonderful. Basically all you need is garlic, heavy cream, two or three lemons, butter, salt and pepper. Cook the garlic in the butter for a minute, add the cream plus lemon juice and lemon zest, cook for about 15 minutes or until thick. Pour over pasta, toss in some broccoli or baby arugula and it's amazing. If anyone wants the actual recipe I can post it.

I also like Japanese food a whole lot. Soba noodles + soy sauce + furikake = easy and tasty snack :3

Mmm, actually that really sounds good. Do you think you could post the entire recipe please? ^^

[ShiroiHikari]

For the lemon cream sauce:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3 lemons
- Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic, and cook for 60 seconds. Add the cream, the zest from 2 lemons, the juice of 2 lemons, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until it starts to thicken.

[blkmage]

I really like curry, but I want to try and make a curry that's not the instant stuff, and in particular, a malaysian or thai curry.

For instant noodles, I've tried to fry them, but I apparently don't know how to do it right.

BTW, this is the last of what I was talking about:

Pasta is fusili, sauce is generic spaghetti sauce, zucchini, torihamu, and sweet potato with mozarella, ricotta, and parmesan. Cooked everything and threw it in the oven at 350 for half an hour.

[EricTheFred]

Also, I love chili. If anyone has any good chili recipes, please pass them on to me.

Very wide variation in chili recipes (and conversations about what is 'right' can lead to something close to a shooting war if you have serious chili cooks from more than one state in the room. All of the ones from the south and southwest will tell you it originated in their state, too.) What sort of meats or other items do you tend to expect in a chili? I have good recipes in more than one regional style.

[shooraijin]

I pay others to cook for me. Restaurants, you understand.

[Jingo Jaden]

Make me one.

[Wikiwalker]

This thread is putting me in the mood to cook something, even though I haven't cooked in ages. *wonders what to cook*

[Nate]

I'm a master at cooking Hungry Man meals. I also excel at cooking those French bread pizzas that Red Baron makes, and I'm not half-bad at making ramen either (though I'm too lazy to make it on the stove, I just microwave some water, add the noodles, microwave it a few more minutes, then add the powder).

I'll also occasionally make some garlic bread by toasting bread, spreading butter, and sprinkling garlic powder on it. It's pretty good, except when I accidentally put too much garlic powder on it.

[ShiroiHikari]

Guys, this thread is about cooking. XD

Eric, I don't know much about regional styles, but I do know that I like a tomato-y chili with lots of peppers in it. I also like it to be moderately thick, but not like that kind they put on chili dogs (you know, that stuff that comes in a brick?). I like it with beans; I prefer black beans but any kind are good.

Last night, I made this pot pie that called for garam masala (an Indian spice blend) and it was darn tasty. I put frozen biscuits on top instead of puff pastry (hate working with that stuff), which worked better than I expected. Only thing I'd do different next time would be to use chicken breasts instead of thighs. Even ground beef might go well with the spices.

[EricTheFred]

Eric, I don't know much about regional styles, but I do know that I like a tomato-y chili with lots of peppers in it. I also like it to be moderately thick, but not like that kind they put on chili dogs (you know, that stuff that comes in a brick?). I like it with beans]

That's what I think of as Midwestern style, but I think it's also somewhat like what they cook on the East Coast. The stuff on the chili dogs is a brutally low quality rendition of Texas-style chili, which is generally made thick enough to be eaten with crackers or hardtack (and that's why it became that thick. In range cooking, you could just serve it in a bowl and provide biscuits or crackers and the ranch hands could have their stew and bread without leaving any tableware to be cleaned. Saved on water that way.) In states to the west of us, they make essentially the same thing, but they are more likely to include pinto beans or black beans, while many Texans don't (and we constantly argue about which is the 'right' way. We're strange creatures.)

One last question then... in your area, can you get dried chiles? (aka chile pods or anchos.) If not, I need to adjust the recipe to chili powder instead.

Last night, I made this pot pie that called for garam masala (an Indian spice blend) and it was darn tasty. I put frozen biscuits on top instead of puff pastry (hate working with that stuff), which worked better than I expected. Only thing I'd do different next time would be to use chicken breasts instead of thighs. Even ground beef might go well with the spices.

Garam Masala is great stuff. I may try that. Pillsbury sells frozen pie dough that comes in a box, works very well for pot pie. Also, try the crescent rolls that come in a tube like biscuits. If you bake them unrolled they make a good crust.

[Nate]

Guys, this thread is about cooking. XD

Yes I know. That is why I talked about cooking. I said I was good at cooking Hungry Man meals and frozen pizzas.

[ShiroiHikari]

You mean heating up. Not the same thing as cooking. >_>

I believe you can get dried chiles here, I just don't know how to work with them so I've never bought any.

[Nate]

cook [kook]
–verb (used with object)
1. to prepare (food) by the use of heat, as by boiling, baking, or roasting.
2. to subject (anything) to the application of heat.

I am preparing food by the use of the microwave. Therefore it is cooking since heat is being applied to it.

FURTHERMORE, the boxes of the Red Baron pizzas have a note that says "COOK BEFORE SERVING." They have microwave instructions on the back, meaning that microwaving = cooking because if it didn't mean that, then the warning to cook before serving could not be followed.

*wins*

[PrincessZelda]

I love cooking, but sometimes I'm too lazy to cook. I cooked today, though. I made fajitas

[Mithrandir]

...I often buy the Golden Curry product that is basically a cake of curry sauce that you dilute in boiling water and then add your favorite ingredients to.

I use this as my base for Japanese Curry in a crock pot. potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, etc. Serve over rice. Recipe available upon request. I also have a local market that sells pickled radishes that you can use as a curry garnish. *YUM*

[EricTheFred]

cook [kook]
–]

*sighs*
This definition works well. Especially in this world where 'artists' throw buckets of paint at a blank canvas and call it 'painting'.

I believe you can get dried chiles here, I just don't know how to work with them so I've never bought any.

Midwestern style chili.
5 oz dried chile pods
2 cups water
2 lbs ground meat
(I think this is generally all beef up north. Use lean ground beef. Down here we often use other stuff. My usual Texas chili recipe uses 2 to 1 parts beef and bacon or pork and bacon or 1 part each beef, bacon, and pork.)
1 24 oz bottle or 750 g box tomato puree (aka strained tomatoes)
(A note to any Brits, this is not your tomato puree, that stuff is our tomato paste. I believe our puree is called strained tomatoes in UK as it is sometimes called here.)
(Second note: If you can't find this stuff, use 1 15 oz can tomato sauce and 1 12 oz can tomato paste.)
1 large onion, dice to get at least 1 cup.
1/2 to 1 cup diced green chili pepper (peppers vary wildly. Use mild ones, not Jalapenos. This amount will be from 2 to 5 Anaheims, which are best for this if your market has them)
1 32 oz can whole tomatoes or diced tomatoes with juice. (cut whole tomatos into chunks. Use diced if you don't like big chunks of tomato in your chili)
1/4 tsp cayenne <- This is your main adjustment for heat. Vary up or down as desired.
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon mexican oregano (any oregano is fine, I just prefer Mexican over the others.)

1 29 oz can kidney beans. Drain and rinse.
1 29 oz can pinto beans Drain and rinse.
optional 1-2 cups tomato juice or V8.

I've noticed that a lot of midwestern recipes have celery in them. To me this is too weird, and I don't include it. If you expect celery, then dice up about a cup and add it.

Directions
(Note 'chili pot' just means whatever sauce pan or dutch oven you have big enough for the chili.)
1. Remove stems and seeds from dry chiles. Just cut tops off with scissors and dump out the seeds. It doesn't have to be every seed, just get what you can. Keep your fingers away from your eyes while working with these! They don't add a lot of heat to the recipe, but raw the oil from them can still burn.
2. Put chiles in a pot (not your chili pot) with 2 cups water. Cover and cook over medium heat, reduce heat if it gets to a boil. Leave simmering as you work the rest of the recipe.
3. In your chili pot, brown meat over medium heat.
4. Drain excess fat and set meat aside. (Really, I just use a slotted spoon to ladle the meat to a holding bowl, then dump the liquid from the pot.)
5. Using minimal cooking oil, saute onions and green peppers in chili pot until they begin to soften.
6. Return meat to pot and add remaining ingredients except beans and extra tomato juice.
7. Cook on medium high, reduce heat to keep below a boil.
8. Stir chili broth (the dry chiles and water in the other pot) vigorously to loosen the pulp from the skins and dissolve as much as possible, then strain out and discard the skins. You can probably squeeze a little more pulp out of the skins by pressing them against the strainer with a spoon. Add the broth to the chili pot.
9. Simmer chili, stirring occasionally, for two to three hours.
10. Near the end, add beans, wait until they have heated through, then judge whether the chili is too thick for your tastes. Use tomato juice or V-8 to thin if desired.

It is ready to serve at this point, but the one thing that all chili chefs seem to agree about is that chili tastes better if you leave it in the fridge overnight and reheat and serve the following day.

If you like to have macaroni in your chili, prepare it separately and add it at serving time.