Cooking In General

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Well I've noticed that cooking and baking often sneak there way into a number of topics so I thought I'd start a topic for all the people who like to cook, would like to learn to cook, or just like food.

I thought this topic up this evening when I was in the kitched spending an 2.5 hours making a pan full of caramalized onions for tonights dinner (with extra for freezing) I haven't had a lot of time lately for painting and sculpting so I pour all my creative energies into cooking. Since it is something that I have to do anyway I might as well make it interesting.

 

Sounds good - so long as the thread does not descend into a Random Food Babbling thread, with people saying "Mmm, I need cake" and "/me hands you the cake".

It would be nice to share something constructive like special recipes and that sort of thing.

 

I love cooking! Of course, I can only make a few dishes, but I am learning more every day... right now, I my best dishes are various stir-fries, breaded fish fries, venison in a mushroom/onion/wine sauce, and chicken in a lemon wine sauce. I'm also working with my dad on some venison stews.

But I love all sorts of cooking, and I don't mind cleaning up afterwards... it just gets annoying when my sister complains about it, even though she cleans up once every 3 months...

And carmelized onions are awesome My mom makes a tender beef stew with pearl onions during wintertime, which I find really tasty.

Mmm, talking about food has made me hungry...

 

A recipe swapping thread? That's an excellent idea, Dfly. New recipies would be kinda welcome, as I'm getting tired of the current ones I have.

 

Caramlized onions? Blech! How dare you people treat an innocent vegetable like that.

I love to cook, too, even after being a cook as a job for 3 years. Mostly I bake cookies. They turn out soft and chewy. None of this hard cr*p. I leave that for the big name cookie companies.

I'm going to tell you the secret to my baking soft cookies. 8 minutes per batch: 4 minutes, turn the pan 180*, 4 more minutes. Seriously, this works with oatmeal, choc. chip, peanut butter, etc.

 

Really? I thought that it had something to do with the amount of fat that you put in the cookies. I'm always kind of worried that when my cookies turn out soft that maybe they aren't fully cooked.

I don't bake that many cookies but I do bake tea-breads and cakes a lot for my husband who likes baked stuff for breakfast. I like to cook a lot of different soups and my oldest son thinks that I should open a chilli restaurant just to sell my home-made chilli. (Sweet kid)

 

Your husband has cakes for breakfast? I dread to think how fat I would end up if I ate cakes for breakfast! He must do a lot of exercise.

My wife made me some home-made muesli for breakfast last week that lasted a couple of weeks. She put loads of fruit in with the oats and wheat flakes and toasted it all the oven with some orange juice. Yummy AND healthy AND quick to grab in the morning.

 

My mom worked in a restaurant and she even studied to be a cook, so for about 15 years, I had to help her a lot and finaly, to cook everyday. So I'm kind of master , seriously; I cook some Argentinian food so well that every two weekends, the whole family get together at our home to eat what I cook; and I can learn easy: I learnt some Spanish food recipes and I cook them even better than my mother in law
I'll start to search the name of the ingredients in my English dictionary so I can share some recipes, if you want, of course.

 

@ HB - Yes, he does exercise a lot. He doesn't always eat baked things for breakfast but he likes to have something to grab and eat with coffee if he gets up too early to have cereal. Your wifes muesli sounds good. I've come across several recipies for it and I think I might have to make some. Sounds like a healthy alternative to cake.

@Sydax - Please do post some of your Argentinian recipies. l love cultural diversity in my cooking.

 

Please do share recipes and cooking skills! And they don't all have to be creative or exotic... I need to start developing some cooking knowledge. I just can't imagine living on my own and not being able to cook anything decent to eat!

 

I'm the world's worst cook. Basically I buy a microwave meal and chuck it in the microwave
My fiance's mum is going to teach me how to cook stuff when we move closer to her, so maybe I'll have some variety then. I did make shepherd's pie once...

 

I'm a very good cook and have loved cooking since I was about 10. I make my own bread, because I'm now on a no-salt diet I cook almost everthing from first principles, this includes curries, stir-fries and soups.

I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and in particular soups (hot and cold), curries, seafood; oh anything really.

I make my own flavoured oils as well for cooking with and the only oils I use are Extra Virgin Olive, Walnut, Groundnut and Sesame.

The only sources of Salt in my diet are Soy, Thai Fish and Worcestershire sauces and Marmite (yeast extract).

 

Cooking is muchly fun I have always loved cooking - I jjust hate the clean-up, and my kitchen proves that... *cough*

I usually cook stuff that's either done in less than 20 minutes, or takes several hours to prepare - for example, my lunch was dead simple, macaroni with broth that took about 1 minutes to prepare, most of the time waiting for the water to boil. But for dinner, I intend to make my special chicken curry,and that one is going to be sitting on the stove for 3-ish hours

I don't bake often because I like baked goods waay too much for my own good, and havee no one to foist the results on so I end up gobbling 'em up all by my ownsies...

I also don't even own a microwave, actually, and have been known to bake bread when I have been too lazy to go to the store to buy more

 

You have to take into account the oven you're baking in, what butter/margarine you used, the type of baking sheet, etc. These all factor in to how soft or burnt cookies get. Also, cookies continue to 'bake' when taken off the sheet and left to cool, so removing them from the oven early is okay.

I am reminded of my first time baking gingerbread cookies. I passed them out to friends and they all wondered why the cookies weren't hard.

Most of my recipes are from the back of the package or my stock of cookbooks. And I'm not sharing all of my secrets.

 

I just got an old hand written recipe book for christmas in Irish calligraphy. It had tons of excellent baked goods.

I am really good at Turkish, Irish and Thai cusine and I am a also major food snob!

 

If I couldn't cook I wouldn't be as fat as I am. I started cooking when I was 12, and shortly thereafter I was cooking supper almost every night for the family. I learned a lot from my dad.

Most often I cook for the family on my nights off, and I love it. I will often take out the cookbooks and read over the recipes, and then take different things from a bunch of them and come up with my own.

My kids and wife say that I make the best French in the world, but they don't get out much!

 

Here is a great recipe that is simple and very delicious. It is also suitable if you are a vegetarian.

Mojetes (the j is pronounced like a y)

INGREDIENTS:
-1 loaf fresh french bread
-2 or 3 tablespoons of butter
-quite a bit of grated mozzarella (or cheese of choice)
-1 can of kidney beans

INGREDIENTS for Pico de Gallo SALSA
-2 ripe tomatoes
1/4 of an onion chopped fine
1/4 of a raw garlic clove chopped fine
2 or 3 hot peppers (choose non-spicy if you don't like spice)
2 or 3 tablespoons of finely chopped Cilantro (also known as corriander)

Generally I start with the salsa which can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for a couple of days.

Chop all the ingredients for the salsa into fine pieces and mix together with salt to taste. The quantities of the ingredients can be altered to your taste as well. If you like you can add a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice for a nice flavour.

Assemblage of the Mojetes:

Thickly slice your french bread into 2 or 3 slices per person. Lightly butter each side of the bread and place in a baking tray. Next pour your can of beans into a frying pan and mash them completely with a medium-low heat. Spread a layer of mashed beans onto each slice of bread and then top the bread with slices of cheese. Put in a medium heated oven to broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediatly and top with Pico de Gallo salsa. *note - leftover beans can be kept in a tupperware and used for a lot of different things so don't throw them away. **This recipe is great for feeding kids, just don't top with the salsa unless they are used to that kind of thing.

 

I like simple dishes that can be made with little, if no preparation. Here's a contribution, if anyone's interested in some Spanish cuisine.


TORRIJAS (the "j" must be pronounced like that throat-clearing sound old men do right before spitting... seriously).

WHAT ARE THEY?
Basically, fried milk-soaked bread.

WHEN DO YOU EAT THEM?
At all times, if possible, but in Spain they're a traditional Easter dessert.

INGREDIENTS (for 15-20 pieces):
1 loaf of french bread
4 eggs
1 litre of milk
Sunflower oil
Sugar
Cinammon

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut the bread in 15-20 slices about 2 fingers thick. Pour the oil in a non-stick frying pan until there is enough to soak half a slice in it (that would be the width of one finger, for the math-impaired ). Set the cooker to medium-high.

Pour a glass of milk in a small bowl, and add two tablespoons of sugar. Whisk one egg in another bowl.

Soak well a slice of bread in the milk, and then cover lightly with some of the whisked egg. Put the slice in the frying pan and cook until the part covered by the oil turns golden. Turn and repeat with the other side. It should take about two minutes to cook evenly. When ready, set aside to cool, on a plate covered with kitchen paper to soak away the oil.

Repeat with the remaining slices. If you feel brave enough, you can try cooking several at a time!

Keep adding eggs and milk as needed to the bowls, just ensure to have enough for the next slice.

Serve on a clean tray, and sprinkle generously with a mixture of sugar and cinammon (about 3 parts of sugar per part of cinammon).

 

Baked Trout Recipe :
2 trout - 2 oz butter - 1 tbsp chopped basil - 1 tbsp chopped chervil - 2 tbsp chopped parsley - 1 clove crushed garlic - 1 chopped shallot
Lemon Sauce
4 oz butter - 1/2 lemon - 2 tbsp lemon juice - 2 tbsp fish stock - lemon segments for garnish
Mix ingredients (not lemon sauce) together and spread over one side of the trout (use any left to fill cavity). Bake for roughly 20 minutes at 425 degrees F.

Lemon Sauce - In a small pan add the lemon, lemon juice and the fish stock - boil and either spread over fish or serve on the side


Southern Hush Puppies. There are many recipes for Hush Puppies, this is a basic one. Close to the original

2 cups yellow cornmeal - 1 teaspoon sage - 1 teaspoon salt - (1/2 teaspoon cayenne - pepper)* - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper - 1 small onion -- minced - 3/4 cup milk - 1 egg -- beaten *optional

Heat oil in a deep fryer, or large saucepan to 370 degrees. In a mixing bowl
combine cornmeal, sage, salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper and onion. Add milk
and egg and mix until well incorporated. Gather tablespoons of the dough to form
1 inch balls and drop into heated oil. Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper
towels and serve.


I prefer my trout whole with head on but if serving guests I strongly advise you to make sure they do not mind eating fish that still have the head on.

[ January 27, 2006, 03:37: Message edited by: Nakia ]

 

Ok, now this a thread...I'm latin and we love food.
So be ready because I will put some of my favorites foods from my country.

First: Sobrebarriga (Flank Steak)

Ingredients :

2 lb flank steak, trimmed of all fat
1 1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
3 tsp vegetable oil for marinade
1 cup coarsely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1 tsp minced garlic
4 sm tomatoes, finely chopped
3 tsp oil for frying
2 cup water
1 bot beer
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin

Marinate the meat overnight with salt, pepper, vegetable oil, onions, celery, garlic and tomatoes. The next day, heat 3 T. of oil over high heat in a heavy casserole and add the flank steak; brown it quickly on both sides without burning. Transfer the steak to a plate and saute the vegetables until they are soft but not brown. Return the meat to the casserole. Pour in the water and beer and bring to a boil. Cover the casserole and cook slowly for about two hours until the meat is tender. The last hour of cooking add the final 1/2 t. of salt and the 1 t. of ground cumin. Finally, remove the flank steak and put it on an oven-proof plate. Top with onions, etc. and brown under the broiler.

Now, that should make about four poeple serving.

ok, for a side dish with it:

Papas Chorreadas (Don't know translation well is potatoes, but I dont know how to explain the second word!!)

Ingredients :

1 lb small or medium red potatoes
2 med tomatoes
1 cup Milk
1 bn cilantro (also known as Chinese parsley)
1 bn scallions
white cheese
table salt

Peel the potatoes partially leaving some skin on. Boil the potatoes until tender. Chop onions cilantro and tomato into fine small pieces. Shred about 1/2 cup of white cheese. Stir fry the onions cilantro and tomato in a frying pan, until they are mixed and cooked well. Add the milk, cheese, and salt to taste. Turn heat to low, and let it simmer until it thickens. Serve the potatoes on a plate, and add the sauce on top, or mix drain the water from the potatoes, and add sauce to them, and mix well.

And if you want you can add:

Patacones (Fried Plantains)

Ingredients :

4 lrg green plantains
vegetable oil
salt

Peel the plantains and cut into 3-4 pieces, Fry in hot vegetable oil. When they are golden, take them out of the oil and pound them flat. Return them to the oil and refry for a few minutes. Remove and place on absorbant paper. Sprinkle salt to taste.

Ok, thats it for now, if you like this I have more where this one came from (I love to cook all this), so please let me know if you like.