How to learn to cook?

[spike13]

My mother didn''t ever really cook when I was young. As an adult I''ve never really gotten the hang of cooking. I don''t mean how to follow a recipe, which I can do if I have one. I mean more the whole planning - how to stock and manage the kitchen.

Unless it''s the once a year I am making something from a recipe, when I go to the grocery store I never know what to buy or how to smartly use things. A lot of times I''ll get fruit or veggies and then forget about them and they go bad.

So...I guess my question or topic I"m trying to start...is how does one learn how to manage the nuances of the kitchen such as what staples to buy, how to handle leftovers, plan meals for the week. Are there any good books or tips and tricks people have?

 

[bee*]

Ugh I''m in the exact same position. I would love to get some tips.

 

[Love2Travel]

My g/f does the cooking and she basically just wings it most of the time. I think that is half the fun. Taking out what you are in the mood for and trying to make something new.

As for what to buy. Just buy what you like. We have a spice rack. As for fruit and vegies, we buy a ton of fruit. We go through a pineapple, cantaloupe and a few apples/pears etc a week. That''s what we take to work for snacks. We have pretty much given up chips and the un healthy goods we love. Vegie wise, we buy enough for the week. Red peppers, carrots, leaf lettuce.

I am not going to ask for her assistance b/c then she will know what site I am on

 

[Lorelei]

One of the most useful things I have found, is to make larger batches of basic things, then freeze them in foil containers or plastic microwavable containers. For example, a large batch of ground beef with a tomatoe and garlic base, will make some meals of chili with the addition of some tinned kidney beans and chili powder, what is left will make a good bolognese sauce.

Here is what I do.
You will need -

4 medium size onions ( no need to be exact)
a few peeled and crushed garlic cloves ( according to taste)
3 or 4 tins of tomatoes
tin of tomato paste ( or puree)
Olive oil / veg oil for browning
seasoning.
red or white wine ( optional)
dried oregano
red or green peppers, fresh or frozen.

Grab 4 packs of defrosted ground beef. Add to large saucepan with the olive oil, add chopped onion and cook until mince has started to brown. Then add chopped garlic, stir, add the tins of tomatoes and tomato paste, oregano, seasoning, and top up with red or white wine or water according to taste. Bring to the boil, then simmer very gently for about 1 hour.

Once cooked, then split in half if desired, add kidney beans and chili powder to one half, bring back to boil, simmer for half an hour. Let it cool, then split into meal size portions and freeze. With the remaining half, then you can add some mushrooms if desired and extra herbs, return to boil, simmer for half an hour, then cool and freeze.

With this method, all you need to do is take out a portion of your meat sauce the night before you need it, or that morning, then heat thoroughly, cook your spaghetti or rice and voila - dinner is served!

Of course any recipe will work, also casseroles are well suited to this method, stroganoff, lasagne etc.

 

[Lorelei]

Also menu planning is useful, work out what you want to have for dinner each day, then shop for it weekly. That way you know where you are, and it avoids waste as you buy what you need and are going to use.

 

[FrekeChild]

I''m afraid there is no easy answer to what you''re asking.

We have a pantry of random stuff that we could make if we run out of ideas or are being lazy, and I try to only buy as much fruit or veggies than we''ll eat in a couple days time. I, too, have bought apples or some other fruit and forgotten about it and found it later all disgusting and inedible.

How often do you cook? Would you like to cook more? What types of food do you like to eat? Do you have any relatives or friends that really enjoy cooking that might be willing to help you learn? Do you have anywhere close by that offers cooking classes?

I have a few things around the house that if we run out of or run low on, we''ll buy more ASAP-marked by *s.
*Spices-all kinds, cinnamon, garlic, onion, montreal steak seasoning, ginger, white pepper, black peppercorns (we have a grinder), red pepper flakes, salt, seasoned pepper etc.
*Can of tomato sauce/paste-we make pasta, meatloaf, tacos or whatever with it
*Whole wheat pasta
Soup
Few boxes of mac and cheese/rice mixes/instant potatoes/cous cous/etc
*bags of plain rice
8sugar
*flour
*peanut butter
*crackers
*canned veggies
*canned fruits
*baking powder and baking soda
popcorn
tea bags
*Olive and other various oils
*white/rice/balsamic or red wine vinegar
*chicken and beef broth

And in my fridge I always have:
1/2 and 1/2
butter
chopped garlic in a jar
1 onion
a couple of lemons or limes
ketchup/mustard
asian hot sauce
soy sauce
maple syrup
various cheeses
salsa
wine
bbq sauce
salad dressing
an herb or two (right now its tarragon, but it''s usually parsley, chives, dill or basil)

And in my freezer I have:
variety of meats that I buy when they go on sale (chicken, frozen shrimp in a bag, steaks, ground beef, porkloin, sausage)
chocolate
frozen fruit
nuts
And a lot of experiments that I''ve made (shrimp stock, chocolate ganache, beef stock, etc)

So basically, it all comes down to personal taste. I prefer asian foods, and BF likes Italian/American/Southwestern. But we''ve gotten snowed in before and didn''t have anything around to eat, so it''s changed a little bit since then.

We always buy fresh fish from off the ice at the fish counter or frozen in a bag.

If you need any help there are tons of us around here who can answer questions you may have. (I''m good at baking.)

Oh! And go buy "The Joy of Cooking". It''s awesome.

Good luck!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/28/2008 2:31:48 PM
Author: Lorelei
Also menu planning is useful, work out what you want to have for dinner each day, then shop for it weekly. That way you know where you are, and it avoids waste as you buy what you need and are going to use.

This is exactly what I do.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

My FI and I don''t have time to cook real meals most of the time, so we keep the following ingredients on hand for the most part so we can make any number of things with them.

Noodles
chicken
beef
italian sausage
tuna
cream of mushroom soup
tomato sauce
cream
parmasan
mushrooms
frozen peas

Here are some of the things we make:
tuna caserole (tuna, mushroom soup, noodles and peas)
Fake chicken tetrezzini (chicken, cream of mushroom, mushrooms, noodles, parmasan)
Baked ziti (italian sausage, cream, tomato sauce, noodles, parmasan)
fake beef stroganoff (beff, mushrooms, noodles, cream of mushroom)
fake chicken parmasan (chicken, pamasan, noodles, tomato sauce)

We also do a number of things with eggs, cheese, potatos and often meat.

We have perfected our own recipies over the years with spices, sauteed garlic, onions, etc, but these are the basics. It works well for us and we do eat other things, but these are what we keep on hand

 

[vespergirl]

Get a manageable cookbook with easy recipes - Rachael Ray is gerat for beginners - and just start making things that sound good to you.

 

[dragonfly411]

I have had to basically teach myself to cook as well. Start with some easy things just to boost confidence. Canned vegetables can usually be heated in water. Do some mac and cheese. Simple. Then grab some cookbooks that you see appetizing recipes in. You honestly have to jump into it. I''ve found that to be the best learning exp for me. I make dinner every Friday night and I plan ahead for what I''ll need. Make sure you get everything ready and follow the steps as they''re shown.

 

[Elmorton]

I learned by watching cooking shows constantly. You realize after a few weeks that they're always using the same techniques and ingredients, and then it's easy to re-create in your own kitchen.

I also meal-plan, one week at a time. I write down what I want to cook, then a list of all the ingredients, and then I make a master list that is organized by section to the grocery store. It takes 20 minutes of your time and saves you about 30 mins at the store, which I think is worth its weight in gold. I hate wandering around the store. I have had to learn the hard way how to organize my meals during the week so that the hearty vegetables/fruits are included last and things that go bad quickly are used first. For example, tomatoes are pretty hearty whereas cucumbers/zucchini aren't always.

To get started cooking, really, I just started experimenting with whatever I was jonesing for. If I wanted sushi, I decided to make it. DH and I eat Mexican food constantly, so I started making it at home (homemade tortilla chips are insanely easy and sooo yummy). I will say that cooking is a LOT easier with the right appliances - I use my mixer and food processor (a small one) often, and it's also good to have at least one great knife, a strainer, a small grater (zest!), a juicing tool of some sort, tongs, and I live by Rachel Ray's garbage bowl concept. So smart. OH! And cutting boards - I use those so often.

A typical grocery trip at our house includes (for 2):
4-5 tomatoes
2 lemons, 1 lime
garlic
ginger
cilantro, basil - fresh (I started growing my own though, so much cheaper!)
2 onions (whatever is on sale)
avacado (I love them)
apples, grapes, oranges, some other fruit - fruit salad is a great side in the summer
a head of lettuce, sometimes another of red cabbage - we eat lots of salads
an assortment of vegetables - peppers, carrots, green beans, mushrooms (these really depend on what I'm making)
celery (BIG snack at our house)
chicken
fish
turkey
fat free plain yogurt (great to cook with)
cheeses of some sort (mozz and cheddar, shredded)

and I usually get one thing that I've never cooked with before to try - right now, I'm trying to figure out what the best recipe for canning beets is, since I really miss my gma's beets!

OH - and there is a magazine actually called Cooking for Two or something like that. I followed a bunch of recipes for 2 people before I was able to figure out how much we really need to eat. I also try to buy meat in the correct quantity - 2 chicken breasts, etc, because I find that I'll make it all and then be stuck with leftovers, which DH and I really don't eat.

 

[anchor31]

As far as forgetting things when grocery shopping goes, my advice would be to make a list for your weekly groceries. Check your fridge and pantry for things you need and write them down, with the quantities so you don''t under or overbuy. Working out a menu, as it''s already been suggested, is a great way to figure out what to put on that list.

Cooking is fun! Enjoy learning it.

 

[Elegant]

I don''t know how to cook all that well either, but one day my coworker lets me borrow a cookbook - but for crockpots! OMG!!! I absolutely love it. Big servings, the cooking gets done when you are out at work, come home to warm/hot food, and possibly left overs for the next day. This cookbook had dessert recipes too. I look at the recipes, make a list of the ingredients I will need, and go to the store and buy the food. It worked for me! I was crockpot queen for a while there!

 

[strmrdr]

It is hard to learn but once you know how its easy and a lot of fun.
I'm a that looks about right cook.
I have several dozen cookbooks but don't use them much.

For example for dinner tonight I took some left over pork roast, mixed in some spicy mustard and cheddar cheese and nuked it for 2min on high.
Served on flour tortillas.
It was awesome!!!

The pork roast was cooked in the crock pot for 6 hours.
I threw the roast in the pot added 3 cups water, a pinch or 4 of spice, a shot or 5 or teriyaki sauce and 4 squirts of catchup.
Cook for 3.5 hours on high in the crockpot, flip and cook for 2.5 more hours for a 5lb roast with bone. When you flip it throw in quartered potatoes. 1 per person and 1/2 quartered onion per person.
Serve with homemade style bread, spicy mustard and a vegetable.

 

[Elmorton]

I heart crock pots - there is SO much you can do with them. I just picked up a cookbook at the library that is "Slow Cookers for 2" - using a mini-size one. Fabulous!

 

[Elegant]

I love my crockpot/slowcooker too...
My recipe book is called "Fix-It and Forget-It Recipes for Entertaining" by Good & Ranck.
I highly recommend this book!

 

[perry]

Start with something simple. I''ve had people before that I had to start with boiling hot dogs....

But a lot of things can be made in a fry pan on the stove. Most of them can be very simple.

Here are some things I started with (these typically makes several servings).

1 Lb hamberger (I prefer very lean).

1 potato.

1 small onion (or a half of an onion).

Salt & pepper.

Dice potato & Onion.

Use medium heat.

lightly oil pan with vegetable oil.

Break up hamburger, mix in diced potato & onion, and cook on medium heat. You will need to ocasionally mix and turn it over with a spatula. You may wish to cover the top to retain the heat.

Salt and pepper to taste.


If it gets too dry add a little water.

After a few times you will get an idea for the right heat level (but this will cook well on a range of heat levels). If you burn it - or really dry it out you have the heat too high.

Now lots of variations can be used - but I find most people are most comfortable starting with hamburger:

Substitute any meat (except fish) - I like to use either diced ham or steak.

Many vegetables can be added: an almost endless variety.

Turnups (and other things) can be substituted for the potatoes.

Other spices can be used (I like dicing some garlic into it).

Key here is that this is a simple dish that allows you to lean one form of basic stovetop cooking while alloying an almost endless variety of meat/vegetable mixes and various spices. Feel free to experiment. After a while you will get good at this kind of dish and have an idea on what spices work.


Perry

 

[Haven]

I feel your pain, Spike! My mother cooked all the time but I was the pickiest eater as a child and had zero interest in learning anything in the kitchen. Now that I''m married and I have a beautiful kitchen in our home I want to learn to cook, so here''s what I''m doing:

I make a menu ahead of time for dinner. A very SIMPLE menu with only one or two items that need cooking or serious preparation, and then others that are ready-to-go. I use the Internet or one of the few cookbooks I have at home to pick out some items.
I shop for the ingredients the same day or the day before and purchase only what I need for that meal. (After making only a few meals I''ve already gotten a lot of staples for my pantry, which is great.)
I work backwards to figure out when I should start the cooking, and then I go for it!
Once we''re done I decide whether I''ll ever want to make any of the recipes again, and if I do I write them down on an index card and put them in a little recipe file I have with notes so I can make it again in the future.

I made a really delicious but really simple meal for dinner tonight:

Fresh rosemary and olive oil French bread (store-bought) with extra-virgin olive oil for dipping
Caprese salad (hubby''s favorite)
Honey baked chicken
Brownies (from a mix)

So, the only things I really had to put together were the Caprese salad and the chicken, but the entire meal was delish because it all came together well.

Here are the recipes, in case you want to try them. The chicken was so easy and SO good, hubby already asked me when I plan to make it again.

CAPRESE SALAD
From whatscookingamerica.net

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 cup fresh basil leaves
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons drained capers (optional)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a circular design around the side of a serving plate, alternate fresh mozzarella slices on a large platter (or on individual plates if you are doing individual portions) with sliced tomatoes, overlapping for effect.

Tear fresh basil leaves and sprinkle liberally over the slices. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Sprinkle capers over the top.

Just before serving, drizzle on some excellent extra-virgin olive oil. NOTE: Insalata Caprese should never be allowed to sit in oil for any length of time and become soggy, and no vinegar of any kind goes on Insalata Caprese!

Makes 4 servings.

Honey Baked Chicken
from allrecipes.com

1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place chicken pieces in a shallow baking pan, skin side up. Combine the melted butter or margarine, honey, mustard, salt and curry powder and pour the mixture over the chicken. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/4 hours (75 minutes), basting every 15 minutes with pan drippings, until the chicken is nicely browned and tender and the juices run clear.

 

[Kaleigh]

Here is an easy chicken recipe.

3/4 cup of cooking sherry

4 tablespoons of lemon jiuce
4 tablespoons of soy sauce

3/4 stick of butter

Let the above simmer in a sauce pot.

Pour over chicken breasts, cook in a 350 oven for 50 minutes.

Serve with rice, and a veggie . I usually steam some asparagus.

It''s a yummy dish, and so easy.

I didn''t learn to cook from my Mom either, we had a housekeeper. She was an amazing cook, but she cooked things that were very complicated. This is one of her''s that is a no brainer.

 

[absolut_blonde]

Mark Bittman's book "How To Cook Everything" is pretty good. It covers almost, well, everything and also has introductions at the beginning of each chapter explaining how to select certain foods, when they are in season, etc.

Frekechild gave you a great starting point, too.

Another thing to remember is that meals don't need to be overly complicated. Pick a protein, include some vegetables -- then add a starch and/or good fat and that's really all you need. Pasta, big salads (with meat, nuts, beans, yummy cheeses and homemade vinaigrette), and that type of thing are easy. I often do stuff like omelets with veg and cheese, with toast for dinner when I'm lazy.

Oh, another great book is 'Starting Out'. I forget who it's by, but my mom just bought it for me because I moved out recently. Lots of simple, straightforward recipes with handy tips in there.

Also, I'm the queen of leftovers for lunch. And SO will eat leftover for days (even when he possibly shouldn't... but he doesn't listen to me, LOL). So I make 3-4 servings at time and make sure nothing goes to waste, if at all possible. It's really nice to make spaghetti & meatballs or lasagna, because then you have another day's lunch or dinner.

 

[phoenixgirl]

I''m also in the same boat. My mom did cook, but nothing that I''d really like to copy now that I/we know more about health eating (sorry Mom!). DH''s mother didn''t cook at all, and as a result FIL became quite the gourmet. I''m lucky that DH has gotten that gene and can follow a complex recipe. The more complex the recipe, the more likely I''ll screw it up or run screaming from the house in frustration.

I''ve been using two EatingWell cookbooks (the Healthy in a Hurry one, and the EatingWell for Two one), and have found those to be fun and manageable. I mean, yeah, I had to figure out to use the broiler last night and didn''t realize there would be this huge flame sticking down from the top of the oven and almost set our dinner on fire, and I wouldn''t have gotten the right kind of tomatoes if I hadn''t looked up plum tomato on the internet before I went to the grocery store . . . It''s definitely a learning process!

Maybe part of the problem is the way things are sold in such large amounts? That''s my problem with buying something like asparagus or brocoli. I use it once for dinner and then forget about it and find the rest of it a week later and need to throw it out. I recently made two recipes using Italian Turkey Sausage from the EatingWell for Two cookbook, and since it only uses one link per recipe it tells you how to freeze it and gives ideas on what to use the rest for (omelettes, stir fry with brown rice and veggies). I''m sure those things are obvious to other people but not to me, so I am really excited about these cookbooks.

Another problem I have is what to serve with the dinner. So I slave away for 45 minutes making these tiny stuffed peppers that are 300 or 400 calories each. Dinner is my big meal of the day and DH definitely needs more calories than that, but if the recipe doesn''t say to make rice or couscous, I''m an idiot who can''t figure out what to do. But what I''ve come up with is:

Salad (the Romaine kind in the plastic box that you rip apart to serve -- the salad in a bag always seems wilted to me)

Rice, couscous, bulgar, etc. (I have one of those tupperware storage bins full of brown rice with the instructions taped to the box because there''s no way I can remember them) with water or vegetable/chicken broth for flavor

Steamed veggies (asparagus, green beas, snap peas, brocoli, etc.) Again, this is my weakness as I know/feel that DH disapproves of those microwavable veggies being the gourmet that he is (although I eat them on my own all the time), and I don''t want to have asparagus over and over again for a week so I usually stick to salad.

So my current plan of action is to look in my cookbooks for recipes with like ingredients (there are a couple that sound really good with ground lamb) and then use a couple of those in a row.

These are the fresh items I use most often:

-onions
-tomato
-garlic
-bell peppers
-mushrooms
-fruit to snack on

I also buy premade pizza crusts (wish I could find them in whole grain). Those are easy to make with whatever you have, especially if you used half a bell pepper the night before. Add pasta sauce or pesto, sliced tomatos, cheese, and toppings, bake for 8 minutes. Not healthy but quick.

A meal I actually do make on a regular basis is rice and beans. This makes 4-6 servings:

Rice and Beans

2 cans black beans
2 bell peppers, deseeded and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 servings of brown rice
splash of vinegar
(The recipe also calls for tabasco sauce but having a low spice tolerance I''ve never tried it. This would be added with the vinegar.)

Cook rice according to instructions. In a large pan, add a little olive oil, set to medium heat, and saute garlic, onion, and peppers. Dump out cans of black beans into strainer and drain (I spray them with the sink hose to get the gunk off). After about ten minutes, add black beans and splash of vinegar to peppers. Stir, then let it sizzle with the top on for 3 to 5 minutes.

Fill a bowl half-way with rice, top with peppers etc., and sprinkle on some cheese or add a dab of sour cream and enjoy. This saves really well too.

 

[trillionaire]

good staples:

canned string beans
frozen spinach
canned corn
frozen peas
pancake mix (once you make pancakes, they freeze well)
variety of flavored rices and flavored beans/rice mixes (ie, red/black beans and rice, yellow rice, wild rice)
pasta noodles
baked beans/dry beans
bullion cubes
frozen chicken, fish, ground turkey/beef
tomato sauce, canned diced tomatoes
frozen or refrigerated biscuits
peanut butter
bread
butter
fresh fruits and veggies, seasonal
cereal
oatmeal/cream of wheat
coffee/tea/hot chocolate
sugars (white, brown, powdered)
eggs (or egg beaters)
bacon
milk/soymilk
cheese (sliced or shredded or your choice)
deli meat (for lunches)
potatoes (or instant mashed potato mix)
emergency kool-aid packets for when there are no drinks in the house (or make iced tea)

Just some things I always get off the top