Hi, I'm BUM, and I'm a novice cooker! In this thread, we share cooking tips with one another. Being a novice cooker, I like to receive tips once in a while, on how people think an item should be prepared. Especially, clever little things that go into the preparation. Post some of the recent things you've cooked, and walk us through it, so we can get an idea of it!
Yesterday, I made a steak. It was USDA graded "Choice", which is #2. The top is Prime, and the #3 is Select. Choice is pretty good though, affordable and almost as good as Prime. The difference comes mostly from the marbling, or how much fat is present throughout the steak. A good amount of marbling means a tender, juicy steak. This is contrary to hamburger meat, in which case you probably want it leaner, because the fat in hamburger meat just makes it greasy and gross.
One piece of advice I found, is that when you are making steak, let the steak get to room temperature. I have no hard evidence to back this claim up, but a steak site told me steaks going from cold to hot... well something happens and it winds up tougher than it should be. I preheated the oven and broiled it at the same time. I don't know why, but it worked. It was actually one of the finest steaks I've enjoyed.
Today, I made eggplant. Eggplant can go into a lot of recipes, but I don't have much with me, and I thought it'd be fun to cook it. It's definitely a unique dinner for someone like me, who is mostly a bread and meat guy, with fruit thrown in there. I sliced the eggplant but kept the skin on- most veggies keep their virtues in the skin, and getting rid of it can get rid of the whole reason someone like me would even eat vegetables in the first place.
It was recommended to me to salt the eggplant slices and let them sit for an hour. This process leeches the moisture out of the eggplant that would otherwise make it too likely to soak up the oil you might want to cook it in. Then wash them, and squeeze them between your hands to really get 'em dry. Then, I cooked it on the stove, with some vidalia/sweet onion, in oil.
The end result? It was very rich and complex-- make sure the eggplant almost melts away under your fork before you take it off the stove! Otherwise it will be bitter. The eggplant is creamy and stands alone on its own, or with onion and garlic if you don't have many fancy ingredients. However, the veggie taste always triggers a bit of a gagging feeling in me, so I couldn't finish it all. I would make it again in a recipe, but as a standalone, it's a bit too much time considering I can only happily eat about half of it.
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Typed this up myself. It's not an exact science because we don't go from a recipe book. But here it is. They are more delicious every time we make them.
you need:
-about an hour: 20-30 minutes to do the work, then 30 min. in the oven
-big lasagna pan. The bigger the pan, the more enchiladas can fit :)
-frying pan
-big tortillas, they are usually labeled "burrito size"
-about half a bag of frozen corn
-a can of refried beans
-two fat cans of enchilada sauce... I go name-brand on this because off-brands can be really different... I like Old El Paso... you probably won't use 2 full cans but you will use more than one
-one bag of Mexican mix cheese (or your own mix of sharp cheddar, jack, and monterrey)
-1.5 lbs. of ground beef
-big handful of dried red chili peppers (my big handful is probably two handfuls for you, but this is to taste, so feel free to spice as you like)
-a cup of sour cream
-big handful of jalapeños
-paprika, chili powder, minced garlic or garlic powder, black pepper
Start your preheat to 350.
Beef in the frying pan, get it spread out and then put your spices in: enough paprika to lightly cover all the meat, same with chili powder, cover with black pepper also but much more lightly, put in a spoonful of minced garlic, cook to near well done. When getting close, put in the jalapeños and red hot chili peppers, both of which you should dice first, and then cook to well done. Stir often so your peppers don't char.
Put half the bag of cheese, and all the sour cream, into a big bowl you can mix stuff up in. Then put the meat on top of it and mix it up. At this point it's edible and I usually dip a tortilla chip to taste it.
Now, take your tortilla on a plate, scoop one big spoon of refried beans in and then on top of it put one or two spoonfuls of enchilada sauce on it and spread it around. On top of this, put your meat/cheese mix: a couple big spoonfuls (you'll figure out the amount by how well it fits when you try to fold the tortilla up). Close it up and put it in your lasagna pan, the bottom of which should be covered with a layer of enchilada sauce. To close it up, move the mix down to the bottom half of the tortilla, closest to you, but give it some room before the edge. Fold the sides in over the pile of filling, and then roll the bottom up towards the top. It doesn't have to close tightly because you can lay it with the "seam" down at the bottom of the pan and that will keep it closed. Do this for each tortilla, and when you have them all in the pan, drizzle enchilada sauce so that the top and sides of the enchiladas are wet with it, and then sprinkle cheese over it (we usually use the rest of the bag). Put it in the oven, which you've preheated for 350 F, and bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!
***If you want to change the spiciness of the dish, I suggest modifying the amount of black pepper and diced dried red pepper. Changing the jalapeños won't really do it because when you bake this dish they end up tasting more sweet than spicy.
I remember that recipe! I should try that sometime.
Oh, here's something I learned. When you are putting tomato-based products (i.e. spaghetti sauce) in a tupperware, you can spray it with a cooking spray and it won't stain. Is this true? Haven't tried it but it sounds legit.
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I tend to use a lot of garlic when I'm cooking, just because they make almost any dish taste better when they're cooked together, and because they're so simple to use.
Generally, I'll crush the garlic with the side of my knife, in order to make peeling easier. From there, it's just a matter of dicing it and then either throwing it into the marinade, or into the stir fry or whatever else it is that I'm doing.
One word of advice though--the less you handle the garlic, the better. I've had my fingers smelling like garlic for a full two days before.
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"A period"
~~This is what I like to add to the end of almost every sentence.~~
Jess and I have noticed that stir fry is really easy to make (especially if you buy a stir-fry sauce... look in the ethnic foods aisle). We have impressed a few friends with our stir fry. What we do is, while I cook the chicken (in rice wine vinegar and butter and whatever spices suit the dish) Jess cuts the vegetables. Cook the chicken through, then put the vegetables and chicken together in a wok (might as well start the chicken off in the wok) and put water in with, and cover the wok. The water will boil and mostly absorb into the vegetables. The area of discernment is when to lift the lid... do it too late and your vegetables will get soggy, do it too early and they won't get soft enough... don't do it at all and you will have a watery dish! I guess I recommend less water so that you can keep it covered longer without anything getting soggy. Towards the end you put the sauce in (five or ten minutes from the end I guess). Pretty easy.
From: ShadowSpy | Posted: 7/23/2010 1:03:36 PM | #004
One word of advice though--the less you handle the garlic, the better. I've had my fingers smelling like garlic for a full two days before.
And here's another reason:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic_allergy
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"If I pick nine, you'd better not be racist against me!"
"No promises,
niney."
Easy recipes from a guy who only really learned how to cook over this past year:
Really easy chicken adobo:
Chicken (or you can use pork, which also works)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Soy sauce
Vinegar
Oil to fry the meat in
Take boneless chicken thighs or breasts (you can also use pork). Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides of the meat and fry. After flipping the meat once, let it continue to cook until it's almost done all the way through. Once there, add equal parts soy sauce and vinegar (measurements are hard to give because I don't use any) to the pan and let the meat soak in it while it cooks. Serve over rice with the sauce.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!
I'm going to try the chicken adobo tomorrow because I just bought some chicken. And garlic- but I'll be sure not to handle it with my fingers too much! I've never bought actual cloves before, usually just powder, so this will be different for me.
Today was... pizza. From a pizza place, it was leftovers, so no cooking here! I did have a carrot though. Here's a tip about carrots: as you already know, many vitamins are in the skin of the carrot. I don't really notice any difference eating it with the skin on or off- they're fine to crunch into raw and unpeeled (just wash 'em). But, baby carrots! These are carrots that once were ugly, mutated carrots, that no one was going to eat anyways. So they've been chopped to bits and sold... but they obviously have no skin because they've been chopped! Also, if it bothers you, they technically are coated with preservatives to help preserve them because their skin is gone, if that's an issue to you.
Anyways, carrot + honey = good
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Spicy (chili garlic) beef teriyaki:
You'll need:
Soy sauce
Chili garlic paste (I usually get the stuff that's the same brand as Sriracha sauce but isn't sriracha; it says 'Chili garlic' on the bottle)
Sesame oil (easily obtained at a grocery store or ethnic market)
A couple cloves of garlic (if you want) or garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Thinly sliced beef
Take a bowl. Add soy sauce (for however much 'extra sauce' you want to have. Maybe a cup or two? Again, I don't measure, so I can't tell). Using a spoon, scoop out 1.5 - 2 tablespoons of chili garlic paste and mix in (this really depends on how spicy you want it to be; you can start out with less the first time you make it and adjust as you go the next time.) Add in about 1.5-2 tablespoons of sesame oil as well. Mix vigorously. Add a good amount of pepper, a little bit of salt, and either garlic powder or your cloves of garlic, finely chopped. Mix it up again.
Add in your slices of beef, tossing them around to make sure they get nice and coated. Leave in fridge to marinade for at least an hour or so. Less time if you're impatient/hungry like me. Fry the beef. Because they're cut thin, they'll probably cook really, really quickly. As they finish, move to a separate plate. After you're done cooking, use the marinade as a sauce. Put it into the pan you were frying in, let it cook off for awhile, and then pour all over your delicious beef teriyaki-esque creation. Again, serve over rice with the sauce.
A lot of my recipes require a lot of the same things because... that's usually what I have on hand. But it has served me well. And you can always add/subtract things as you like.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!
Kylo, that sounds really good, but are you sure about the cups of soy sauce? I think a cup or two would be a HUGE amount.
There are a few things stopping me from making an accurate assessment. First of all, I'm a horrible, horrible judge of volume, so I really have no idea, and I almost never measure, I just go by... feel. It's probably closer to one cup. That, and I usually make this for either multiple meals or multiple people, so there's usually enough meat + whatever else I cook to have for dinner, pack some for lunch the next day, and still have enough for maybe a light dinner or snack when I get home the next day. I'm so unscientific.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!
The above recipe I just posted also works with chicken, too, and it turns out nicely.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!
A large percentage of my mobile uploads on Facebook is food I cook or food I eat. I guess this is as good a time as any to share?
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!
Another tasty recipe, but if you didn't know, when it comes to measuring, a cup is 8 oz. An average bottle of water that you might see at the gas station is 16 oz (or 1 pint).
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One question---what seasoning tastes best on cooked novices?
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I thought I saw upon the stair a little man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today. Oh how I wish he'd go away.
Yeah, you usually can't go wrong with salt or garlic salt. (Garlic salt tastes amazing on so many things.)
As a spicy-foods lover, I also use Sriracha very generously. If you haven't heard of it, it's a red paste (or is it a sauce?), usually with a rooster on the bottle and a green cap.
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"A period"
~~This is what I like to add to the end of almost every sentence.~~
I think it's more of a paste than a sauce, but I call it a sauce because calling something a paste is kinda dumb. I love that stuff though. First discovered it during a discipleship group meeting where we'd ordered KFC. It's soooooo good on fried chicken.
By "calling something a paste is kinda dumb" I didn't mean to offend if you wanna call it a paste. I just mean, I don't like saying it when I can say sauce. I don't mean that I think you're dumb if you say it.
The chili garlic paste/sauce that I use has the same branding as that sauce/paste that you mentioned, but it's in a smaller cylindrical bottle and you can still see the seeds, etc, within it.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!
From: PaperSpock | Posted: 7/27/2010 6:41:17 PM | #015
One question---what seasoning tastes best on cooked novices?
I thought "novice cooker" was just loose language. Then I remembered topic #55671378.
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"If I pick nine, you'd better not be racist against me!"
"No promises,
niney."
Not surprisingly, my fingers are wired for mimir227's email and password.
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"If I pick nine, you'd better not be racist against me!"
"No promises, niney."
I have no new recipes but I also have no idea what the purge rate is on our board, so I'm posting here.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!
Probably the best way to get such an estimate is to find the newest topic on Wisterwood that's been purged from GameFAQs. At the moment, that topic is
http://arfer.net/pms/topics/55641578
so the purge rate is about 17 days.
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"If I pick nine, you'd better not be racist against me!"
"No promises, niney."
Today was steak (again... can't get enough. Did I mention, don't salt your steak before cooking? This salt leeches the juice out of your steak, and it will be tough! Salt after!) and corn on the cob.
Corn is a pretty easy thing, but I'll tell you what: if you have not gotten corn fresh from a farm, you should try it at least once in your life. It is vastly superior to corn at the grocery store. The few times I've enjoyed corn fresh off the stalk, I've remembered to be so much better than corn from the store. This one was from a farm I drove by while at work doing field research.
Put the corn, husk and all (don't be a wuss and husk it before you boil!) in a big pot of water. Bring it to a boil. Make sure the corn is already in, don't make the mistake of putting the corn into boiling water, unless you don't enjoy tender corn. Pull it out after 5-10 minutes, and voila! Husk it (be a man/woman about it, no "it's too hot" excuses!) and pull the silky strings off. Enjoy!
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Making some cajun catfish today! I hope it goes well. I bought some fresh catfish at the store today, and am going to cook it for about 7-8 minutes in the middle of the oven, preheated at 400 F.
To go with it, I'm throwing on some chili powder, cajun seasoning, and pepper. I wish I had a lemon!
But I also wanted a sauce to put on it... so I improvised! Try this sometime for fish! A poor man's sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp vinegar
sprinkle nutmeg
add cajun seasoning to taste
add anything else that's spicy! Chili peppers or jalapenos sound good! You'd better mince them!
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Mark, did you ever try the enchiladas? How'd they turn out? Any tweaks to the recipe that you made that you think added to it?
I did try the enchiladas! I followed the recipe fairly closely- only I wanted to have black beans instead of refried beans. Regrettably, the beans did not finish in time, I accidentally left the heat too low for them to soften, so I went ahead without them.
My tweaks to the recipe are this:
Add Mexican music. Seriously. If you add Mexican music and put it out with chips and salsa, especially if you have a Mexican looking plate, man... you will really dig it. It brings it all in man!
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Here's what I had for lunch today. I got it from Cook's Illustrated. It's pretty simple, but delicious!
Cacio e Pepe (Spaghetti with Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper)
4 oz finely grated Pecorino Romano (about 2 cups)
1 lb spaghetti
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Black Pepper (preferably freshly ground)
1. Boil pasta in 2 quarts of salted water (no more, no less). When you drain, save the pasta water.
2. In a medium bowl, put in Romano and slowly whisk/mix in 1 cup of the pasta water until smooth. Then whisk/mix in the cream, oil, and black pepper (40 grinds, or 1.5 tsp).
3. Pour cheese over pasta, tossing to coat. Let rest for 1-2 minutes, tossing frequently. Add up to 1/2 cup more pasta water to adjust consistency. Serve with coarsely grated Pecorino Romano on top.
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"To truly live, one must first be born." ~ Evan [aX]
Paper Mario Social: The Safe Haven of GameFAQs. (Board 2000083)
OTL
I made fail-omelettes last night. I think I had the heat on all wrong, I used too many veggies and not enough egg, etc. Everything ended up as a scramble.
I think I also picked a bad pan too, because the egg was stuck pretty badly to it. Which is weird, because it's supposed to be a non-stick pan.
Anyone got any advice?
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"A period"
~~This is what I like to add to the end of almost every sentence.~~
I melt butter as a coating for the pan. Then, low heat.
BUM... how'd you like them?
Oh, they were delicious. Probably not as spicy as yours, but that's because I still have taste buds, and yours are probably seared off judging by the spiciness level of your Thai food ;)
Jace, that sounds really good- I will have to try that soon! I better save these recipes for when the topic gets purged.
Shadow, I think that even though something is non-stick or Teflon, eggs still stick a good deal. Make sure to use butter or spray, it really helps! Omelettes are a pain, and I don't think I get them right very often.
Today's dinner? Baked potato and breaded chicken tenders!! With an after dinner drink of a "1605" to sip on.
Delicious, and not too difficult. Here's how we did it.
Baked potato: Easy. Generally I'd put it in the oven, but I microwaved it today, for 6 minutes, after popping some tiny holes in it with the fork. Dressed with sour cream, butter and cheese, it was very nice! Most people add some spices to it as well, like garlic.
Breaded chicken tenders: Crack an egg and stir it up, then dip your chicken tenders in it! Get them covered well. In a ziplock bag, I poured half a cup of pancake mix. Put the chicken in the bag, shake it up, and voila!
TIP: Baked chicken is often very dry! To solve this? While you're getting your chicken breaded, put some oil in a pan and turn it on. Get it hot, and drop the chicken in, for about a minute on each side (or until golden brown and crispy). The chicken is not cooked, but the breading is! And it will lock in the juice while it cooks in the oven.
350 F oven, bake for 30 minutes, turning over once, and you have perfect chicken tenders! I had it with a new BBQ sauce I'm trying, Bullseye.
1605: this is a cocktail I read of from the website of Chartreuse, a vegetal liqueur made by Carthusian monks in France's Chartreuse mountain range. It's got a great history, but anyways:
Muddle a lime (I used half a lime) and some sugar (I used 1.5 tsp) in a collins glass (or just a tall glass). Put in 2 oz Green Chartreuse liqueur, a dash of Angostura bitters, a few leaves of mint, several ice cubes, and top it off with about 8 oz of soda (club soda). This is pretty good! I was afraid to mix my Chartreuse because it's expensive, but this was worthwhile!
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One thing to remember, Roman, is that non-stick pans don't stay non-stick forever. Pretty much no matter how good they are, the coating begins to come off. (Cook's Illustrated did a test recently by constantly cooking eggs in pans until they stuck. One brand had eggs stick after only 2 go-rounds! But the best brands were still non-stick after 78 eggs.) But yeah, coating the pan is key.
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"To truly live, one must first be born." ~ Evan [aX]
Paper Mario Social: The Safe Haven of GameFAQs. (Board 2000083)