Basic cooking essentials

[GooseChaser]

Hello! So... up to this point I haven't really learned much about cooking. Off the top of my head, my knowledge of cooking includes stuff like eggs (scrambled, fried, hard- and soft-boiled, over-easy), rice, mashed potatoes, hot dogs, kielbasa, chunks of beef, spaghetti and other pastas, macaroni and cheese (sometimes with tuna), ramen, and the occasional cookies. I also like making canned foods (vegetables, pasta, soup, black beans, fruit, etc) and sandwiches. I think it's a good start; this selection is very basic and not too complicated, but decent, feeds me and covers my nutrition needs, low cost, and gives me an okay variety to choose from for meals.

 

I'm interested in expanding on what I can make but it's hard to know where to start. Ideas of what to practice would be helpful! Are there any recipes that you think are really good to learn to prepare? Any cooking techniques that you'd say are essential, or ones that are just nice to learn? If anyone knows of places I could read about the topic on my own, that would be nice too. Perhaps I should just open a cookbook and start experimenting? Thank you for your time.

Edited October 20, 2015 by GooseChaser

[Popsicle]

It's better to watch others cook than to just read about it, since it is a hands on skill. And of course do/try it yourself.

[GooseChaser]

Okay, I'll see what I can find on Youtube. I could even look for cooking videos at the library or something. Sounds good! Thank you Popsicle!

[Popsicle]

Okay, I'll see what I can find on Youtube. I could even look for cooking videos at the library or something. Sounds good! Thank you Popsicle!

 

You're Welcome. There will lots and lots on the Internet and YouTube. Try to he cookingchannel and Thefoodnetwork websites too.

[SammySammy]

Guide to Basic Cooking Techniques

 

[GorillaTheater]

What kind of foods are you interested in? Early on I started collecting books on grilling, Tex-Mex, and Cajun/Creole (yes, I make a bad-ass gumbo).

 

Although I'm no novice, I still learn interesting things. Some of the pages are barely readable due to me slopping stuff on them while cooking.

[lchf]

For God's sake, make sure you have a decent quality SHARP large knife, learn how to sharpen it, and learn how to use it.

[carhill]

From doing most of my own cooking in life, and being the daily cook while I was married....

Ideas of what to practice would be helpful!

1. Practice steaming rice, from plain white to mixed dishes with different varieties of rice and other ingredients. It's an inexpensive and versatile building block of meals.

 

2. Practice making pasta dishes. Boiling pasta seems simple but there is practice to get it, and the dishes one builds out of it, appetizing in taste and texture.

 

3. Even if not eating often, practice the cooking of meats. Learn how to tell when a steak is of differing doneness without cutting it or probing it. How to probe meats to make sure they are right and safe temperature.

 

4. Pick something you like to eat and enjoy cooking and practice it often, to the point it becomes your 'signature'. It doesn't have to be widely desirable to others. You're not running a restaurant. Heh.

 

5. Perhaps not often focused on these days, I'd still suggest practicing making a gravy or brown sauce or white sauce from scratch and also making a basic vegetable salad and dressing from scratch. Those are great teachers of the science of cooking as well as being very commonly served items. The latter, the salad, can make, depending on ingredients, a wonderful entree in itself, and a very quick meal for oneself.

 

 

 

Are there any recipes that you think are really good to learn to prepare?

 

In my M, I focused mostly on grunt food and baking. Hence, I tended to focus on quick meals that covered the food groups for weekday cooking. A common go-to was either spaghetti and homemade meatballs with, yup, sauce out of a can and some 'bling', or a rice dish or, as common in our area, tacos. Most of my expertise in the dessert areas was in cobblers (easy!), various kinds of cookies, and cheesecakes (harder!).

 

A one-off and IMO not essential but widely popular recipe I practiced a lot was making home-made pizza dough and pizzas. The trickiest part was getting the yeast content and rise time right and the stone hot enough in a residential oven to get that perfect crust, something that sometimes still eludes me, but is still fun to practice.

 

 

 

 

Any cooking techniques that you'd say are essential, or ones that are just nice to learn?

 

IMO, probably because I got thrown to the wolves at a young age with two essential resources, the science of cooking (a book) and the original 1950's Betty Crocker cookbook, a lot of what became 'technique' came from why things cook like they do (the science part) and old-fashioned recipes. The biggest modification was getting rid of butter and lard (common in the 1950's) and replacing with vegetable oil or going fat-less in non-stick cookware.

 

Oh, lastly, though it might seem easy, learning to cook vegetables to that al-dente balance of doneness and crispness is IMO, especially now that fresh vegetables and cooked vegetables are so focused on, a good technique to practice, both in the steamer or pot, or on the grill or in the fry pan.

[CarrieT]

I also like making canned foods (vegetables, pasta, soup, black beans, fruit, etc) and sandwiches. I think it's a good start; this selection is very basic and not too complicated, but decent, feeds me and covers my nutrition needs, low cost, and gives me an okay variety to choose from for meals.

Here is the best place you can start. Learn to get rid of cans. Nutritionally, they really aren't that good for you (taste mediocre, too much sodium, and preservatives). Buy fresh fruit and vegetables instead of canned fruit, please.

 

So, those things that you like that come in cans are good things to learn to cook. Ultimately, you can make a larger batch (soups, beans, especially) for much less money that can then be frozen in smaller batches for future use.

 

Once you appreciate how REALLY GOOD homemade soup and homemade beans can be, you will never open another can. There are excellent recipes online for beans and soups and a simple search for, "best beef soup" or "best Cuban black beans" will produce easy recipes.

 

But - and this comes from me, a trained chef - if a recipe calls for a shortcut that involves opening another can, AVOID! Like those casseroles that have you open a can of Cream of Mushroom soup? No! My *only* exception is when I make Minestrone soup, I might use canned red beans if I'm in a rush.

[Frankelly12]

Trial and error helped me learn how to cook. I got many recipes from friends and family on dishes that I enjoyed eating. Now I cook all my favorite foods!

[sportygirl89]

Being in medical field I use a crock pot a lot. It is almost stupid proof. Just have to remember to brown meat before putting in.

[sportygirl89]

Here is the best place you can start. Learn to get rid of cans. Nutritionally, they really aren't that good for you (taste mediocre, too much sodium, and preservatives). Buy fresh fruit and vegetables instead of canned fruit, please.

 

So, those things that you like that come in cans are good things to learn to cook. Ultimately, you can make a larger batch (soups, beans, especially) for much less money that can then be frozen in smaller batches for future use.

 

Once you appreciate how REALLY GOOD homemade soup and homemade beans can be, you will never open another can. There are excellent recipes online for beans and soups and a simple search for, "best beef soup" or "best Cuban black beans" will produce easy recipes.

 

But - and this comes from me, a trained chef - if a recipe calls for a shortcut that involves opening another can, AVOID! Like those casseroles that have you open a can of Cream of Mushroom soup? No! My *only* exception is when I make Minestrone soup, I might use canned red beans if I'm in a rush.

 

I made the olive garden version of pasta fagoli. My version so much better!

[lana-banana]

1) Get good knives. Take care of them, either by sharpening them yourself or finding someone who can. Overstock sells perfectly decent ones at a great price.

 

2) Better Homes and Gardens sells a cookbook with everything you could ever need about the basics of cooking, from measurements to cuts of meat to candy-making. They release a new edition every year but you only need one for the rest of your life.

 

3) Every time you buy a dried spice, write the date and the year on a sticker on the top. If you haven't used it all in two years, throw it out. Otherwise you might as well be cooking with flavorless sawdust.

 

4) Stock up on basic resources. The Flavor Bible, Joy of Baking, Beard on Bread, Simple Cooking Substitutions---read, read, read! Of course it's best to experiment for yourself, but you will learn a ton just by reading.

 

4) Find a cooking philosophy that appeals to you. Most people who say they hate cooking say so because they think of it as a chore rather than a form of self-expression. But there are as many kinds of cooking as there are kinds of food! Whether you're interested in entertaining, fancy dishes, simple things, cheap cuisine, whatever; there's a culinary subculture out there for you. I prefer more elegant and seasonal recipes, so I'm a big fan of food52; my boyfriend is a science fiend and can usually be found reading The Modernist Cuisine.

 

5) Yummly is an excellent resource for using up random odds and ends in the fridge. What can you do with mushrooms, pecans, spinach and mustard? Yummly will tell you.

 

6) Have fun! This is surprisingly easy to forget, especially when you're cooking for a dinner party and you drop a hot pan all over the kitchen floor. Accidents happen. You will make mistakes, some of which can't be salvaged. That's OK. Like every new skill, you just have to keep at it until your successes outnumber your failures.

[basil67]

You want to expand your repertoire? Well, what do you like to eat which you can't yet cook? I think desire for food is the best way forward.

[HopeForTomorrow]

I commend you for wanting to learn to cook. Gently, I would suggest that (other than the eggs) what you mainly have been doing is not cooking per se, but rather is heating up processed foods in cans (think REALLY high sodium and not fresh) and making sandwiches.

 

You are what you eat. What is missing from the list you mentioned is fresh foods, particularly vegetables. THAT is what you need to focus on, in my opinion, as well as how to cook lean/healthy proteins like chicken, fish, etc and complex carbs like couscous and lentils/beans (and yes as Carrie said, cook these from scratch, don't use the canned version).

 

I haven't gone to cooking school (would love to) but consider myself a decent cook. Most I learned through experimentation, trial-and-error, and also watching Food Network.

 

Focus on learning to cook proteins in ways that are healthy, such as baking or grilling. Vegetables should be fresh and almost ANY fresh vegetable can be roasted in the oven -- cut them up, drizzle with a high quality olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast. Google to see times and processes to do that. It's really not hard and they are delicious. AND you need them for nutrients. You won't get what you need from cans and sandwiches. Good luck!

[SpiralOut]

I think you should pick a cuisine that interests you and go from there, because the type of techniques you need to learn will totally depend on what you choose to cook. Some of my favourite techniques are roasting vegetables and toasting nuts. I throw nuts into rice dishes and stirfrys and salads. I turn the roasted veggies into soup or add them to lasagna. Roasted garlic is awesome and I'll make that to eat on its own, I'll just put it in the oven while I'm cooking something else like potatoes. Roasted potatoes are so easy and good too, we make that a lot at home as a side dish or a snack. .

 

 

You can't go wrong with stirfry. Get a nice big wok and find a simple recipe. Pasta sauce from scratch, homemade chili, and minestrone soup are quite easy and don't use many pots or pans. Make sure to get a garlic mincer. Lots of recipes call for fresh garlic.

 

 

Cooking shows are also helpful. If you watch enough of them you'll glean information such as cooking terms, types of ingredients, what goes well together.

Edited October 21, 2015 by SpiralOut

[todreaminblue]

one thing my family find magic about me is the ability to make a meal out of nothing........there will seem like nothing is in the fridge or the cupboard ....overlooked items and i will make a meal for eight.....having survived on jelly crystals for a while and two minute noodles for weeks..... makes me appreciate what i have and i use it all.....

 

 

cooking from head to tail on an animal using all the animal...learnign to cook offal.......learning to use the fronds of veggies to add flavor.......trying different foods like cracked burghul and making salad out of it instead of rice or potato...and loving your mistakes....learning how to substitute a missing ingredient....like eggs or flour for example in baking........you have to love cooking to be a good cook...that means learning to love mistakes.......its all growth and challenges in cooking are my specialty..my fam think im magic....smilin....im really not....just a die hard cook....deb