DL Any Great Cooking Tips? 👨‍🍳. What Are The Do’s And Don’ts? What Are The Best Kitchen Gadgets And Appliances?

[quote] Is cooking really that difficult or am I just an idiot.

You already know the answer.

R1 anyway, while R1 grabs a maxi pad, any tips. Seriously, I would love advice.

I have thousands of kitchen tips and wisdom. A brief list, off of the tips of my head:

When in doubt, run the dishwasher. Don’t wait until it’s full, just run it.

Buy a 50 pack of terry cloth bar towels at Costco to use for kitchen clean up. It’s what restaurants do and so should you.

Hand wash all knives. Always. I had a Japanese sushi chef tell me once that knives have souls and you would never put something with a soul in a dishwasher.

Microwaves are fantastic tools and do some things far better and faster than other ways. Most fine restaurants have one in the kitchen and they aren’t just for TV dinners.

Bacon should be baked in the oven. It’s cleaner, makes prettier bacon, and saves a lot of mess. Bake the entire pack in a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil in the oven at 350 F for fifteen minutes or until as crispy as you like. Watch carefully in the last few minutes. Pour off the grease and rotate the pan halfway through.

Keep the spices you seldom use in the freezer. They will stay fresher longer. This also works for tea, coffee, and marijuana.

How did you burn a stockpot and the noodles when trying to make pasta? Making pasta is basically just boiling water.

If you can't boil water you may actually be an idiot.

Normally, I would recommend buying a cookbook, and learning to follow directions - cooking from a recipe is really just following directions.

In your case, for your own safety - and more importantly, the safety of your dogs, I am going to recommend you stick to microwave cooking.

Here is a cookbook for you to try

what kind of stove do you have? electric or gas? It sounds like you are cooking on too high of heat. Rarely do you use high heat for cooking

We trust Cook implicitly, although we have very occasionally attempted scrambled eggs . . .

Not being able to make pasta is a sure sign of idiocy.

R3 seriously, thank you.

R4 I was having a party. I had the burner on too high and the water evaporated.

Op are you sure you weren’t just drunk and passed out? That’s why you burned out all the water for your pasta!

First of all get a decent set of knives. Here’s a set for $42! After hand washing them, use a clean towel and dry them and put them away in the block. And use a cutting board when using knives!

Use real butter! Not that that fake crap! Low and slow when scrambling eggs!

Get yourself a nice cast iron skillet and learn how to use it. I prefer old skillets from Griswold or Wagner. They are just made better than the modern ones made today. You can pick them up on eBay for a decent price.

Watch the 'right' kind of cooking shows - the ones that take you step by step through making things. (I kind of like America's Test Kitchen.) Don't cook for parties until you're comfortable cooking with no distractions. Get a good electronic thermometer and use recipes that give you temperatures of the food for using it (especially for meat). Taste as you go and add seasoning like salt/pepper gradually as you taste.

Oh and follow the recipe, no substitutions. (Until you're very comfortable with cooking.)

One of the easiest things to cook in a cast iron skillet is a nice ribeye steak. All you need is salt and fresh cracked pepper on both sides high temperature and cook each side for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. The cast iron skillet put a nice sear on the meat. Also learn this trick to tell the temperature of your steak inside without cutting into it. It’s very helpful.

IMO, you only need 2 knives: a big one and a small one. The small one would be a paring knife. If you like bread, get a 3rd knife, a serrated knife. My big knife is the santoku shape and I like it a lot. You don't have to spend a ton of money, but your budget should be focused here.

Use nonstick or Teflon-coated pans, and pots as well. Especially if you're a beginner and you're burning stuff. They're super easy to clean.

Make sure to have a microwave. I like to cook vegetables in there (same results as steaming).

Use enough salt and oil. Not too much oil, though.

After cooking bacon, pour the grease into a can and place in your refrigerator. You can use bacon grease for many things like flavoring green beans or making popcorn on the stove top. It’s very flavorful.

R10 yes, I was tipsy. We were playing the forehead game “Who Am I”. I found out that night, I was a terrible cook.

Do not boil in non-stick pans. They aren't meant for that. The non-stick coating releases during prolonged high heat. Not sure about the newer ceramic non-stick, although one manufacturerer said they don't recommend it. Non-stick is meant for low to medium heat.

I use enameled cast iron for soups and stews that need to simmer for a while. If you aren't using tomatoes or don't notice the difference in taste while using stainless steel, they are good multipurpose pots and pans.

1. Never use a microwave, it ruins food. Restaurants that use them should be closed down.

2. Bacon, never in the oven always on the stove top. filter and save the grease.

And yes, you are an idiot

R21 Why thanks, I think.

Rate the recipes you try on the internet. Be sure to make a lot f changes to said recipe and proceed to say how awful it was.

Ever use unsalted butter, not even for baking.

[quote]I use enameled cast iron for soups and stews that need to simmer for a while. If you aren't using tomatoes or don't notice the difference in taste while using stainless steel, they are good multipurpose pots and pans.

You can use either enameled cast iron or stainless steel when cooking with tomatoes (or other acidic foods, like citrus, vinegar, wine). It's aluminum and non-enameled cast iron you don't want to use with tomatoes, etc.

[quote]In your case, for your own safety - and more importantly, the safety of your dogs, I am going to recommend you stick to microwave cooking.

I recommend he stick to making only one thing: reservations.

NEVER put coffee in the freezer - especially if you’re a coffee nut and buy a fresh ground bag every week. Clearly you will finish it so putting it in the freezer only serves to neutralize it’s flavor.

I notice the difference in taste even with stainless steel. Metals are alkaline and affect the acidity level in tomato sauce.

However, others hold differing opinions, which is why I included, "... or don't notice the difference in taste when using stainless steel..."

You should use enameled cast iron then, r28.

And that's "differ[bold]e[/bold]nce."

I actually DID say I use enameled cast iron, contarian r29.

[quote]I use enameled cast iron for soups and stews that need to simmer for a while.

R21 why do you never put bacon in oven?

A small cast iron pan is nice for cooking eggs.

Relax. That's the first thing to do. It's just food. Don't put pressure on yourself.

Start simple, which you seem to be doing. Don't try to take on complex recipes right off the bat.

Have a friend let you shadow them in the kitchen when they cook and ask questions. Let them give you tasks to help out.

Watch YouTube videos about just about any recipe imaginable. It's all covered on YouTube.

Get good at one thing or recipe before trying to take on several new ones. Build up a little repertoire over time.

Focus on good ingredients. If asparagus are in season, you don't have to do much to them but steam them and pour over a little melted butter and some salt. If you get a good lamb chop, it requires little more than searing in a hot skillet after some salt and pepper.

[quote] Relax. That's the first thing to do. It's just food. Don't put pressure on yourself.

The best advice on this thread.

R34 that is the secret to relax with cooking. I find I do better if I just say, ‘I’m going to try and if I fail it’s ok”. Now, I’m a master baker. It’s the meat, noodles, etc I just screw up.

My biggest tips.

1. Start with basic seasoning. Everybody's taste buds are different. You can always add seasoning, you can never remove them.

2. As someone upthread mentioned, never put knives through a dishwasher. Wash with warm soapy water and dry immediately. Sharpen and hone regularly. You're more likely to get cut on a dull knife than a sharp one because you're applying more pressure with a dull knife.

3. When baking, don't alter your chemicals. Yeast, salt, baking soda, baking powder. Put in exactly what the recipe calls for.

4. Also when baking, do not over mix. Stir until moistened. If you don't you'll end up with hockey pucks.

5. When cooking steak, cook just under your desired temp., let rest then cut. The steak continues cooking during the rest period.

6. If you want to learn to cook something, pick a cuisine. Southwestern, Italian, Greek, fish, vegetarian, vegan, etc., then focus on that one area. One tip, pizza is difficult to make and turns to shit if you don't have a convection oven.

7. One thing a lot of people don't do is calibrate their ovens. You can buy a cheap oven thermometer and look up how to calibrate your specific oven on YouTube.

8. If you make cookies, use unsalted butter. No margarine, shortening, or butters with oils. Use unsalted because you will have to add salt to your dough.

Automatic can openers are a waste of counter space. Get a good hand crank opener and wash after every use so you don't have any gunk built up on it. I got a good one made by OXO good grips. The can opener is one the least cleaned things in you house, so it's easier just to get a hand crank one.

R31

Several reasons. You use a lot of energy and heat up the house for bacon, no way.

It also makes it too uniform and too crisp unless you watch it constantly.

You Queens know something!

Please talk about simple rules while using instapot.

I've had mine under the bed for 2 years because, I'm terrified to use it..

R38 yes, I agree.

You guys might like this guy on YouTube, Pressure Luck.

Gordon Ramsay was extremely rude to Chris Hyndman on the Steven and Chris talk show, probably because he was an effeminate gay man. It takes some nerve to come onto a talk show to plug your book and be rude to the host.

You’re not an idiot. You’re a hot mess. Take a cooking class. Many grocery stores (Whole Foods) offer them. Look on Groupon.

Just some random thoughts:

When cooking anything with a batter - cake, pancakes, whatever - wait 10 minutes before putting it in the oven (if it's a cake) or making on a griddle (like pancakes). The batter needs time to relax, and that 10-15 minutes will allow anything you're making rise more. For example, that's why many people's first pancake is flat as opposed to fluffy.

FWIW I usually don't like cooking with non-stick cookware. I prefer all-clad.

Add fresh chopped herbs or black pepper at the end of cooking after what you've made is off the heat. Fresh herbs lose their flavor when cooked, and pepper has a tendency to turn a little bitter.

Speaking of which: nothing chops fresh herbs better than scissors. If it's a large amount, cop them in a cup. If it's a small amount, use something like one of those pyrex 2-TB shotglasses. It's way easier and more effective than doing it on a cutting board.

When cooking anything with anchovies - like say a puttanesca sauce or pasta Siracusa or con sarde - don't add the anchovies until the last two minutes or the anchovies will impart a bitter taste to the sauce.

Here's something I like to do for a meat sauce: I form the chop meat into 4 oz patties and then cook them 2 minutes per side (minus any oil), and then remove and chop up (with scissors) to be added to the sauce later. (I never cook more than two patties at a time.) Even though some bits of the meat stick to the bottom of the pan by the end, I then (after draining the pan) cook the onions in oil, followed by garlic, and then finally tomatoes & the chopped meat - all of which eventually loosens up the meat in the pan and consequently adds to the flavor. The purpose of cooking the meat before anything else is to avoid "steaming" it, which is what essentially happens when you cook it the way most people do - plopped into the pan in its entirety after the onions/garlic.

[quote] Now, I’m a master baker.

Ya know I’m.....

Nah, too easy.

These cooking disasters, OP. They don't involve match stick Xanax, do they?

OP asked about best kitchen gadgets and appliances:

Handheld immersion blender. I whip cream, make vinaigrettes and mayonnaise with mine. Easy to clean, doesn't take much space.

Mini-chopper for shallots, onions, mirepoix, spinach.

Here’s a beginners guide to instapot......

R46 can you link a mini chopper that you like?

None of the last very long R48, I generally buy used ones at a thrift store for 3 bucks. The Cuisinart one I’ve had for the last year does a good job.

I like the Cuisinart Mini-Prep Chopper. Working for me for more than six years.

R50, that’s the one I picked up for 3 bucks at Goodwill. It is good.

Use sesame oil and fish sauce very sparingly.

That having been said, I cooked regular food for a small group for a couple of years. I found that one DROP of fish sauce can really turn up meat when it is being cooked in some kind of sauce.

[quote]Please talk about simple rules while using instapot.

No such thing. It's an INSTANT POT.

You too, R47.

Sorry if this has already been suggested but get both volumes of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Start at the beginning and work your way through. It's a fantastic guide to technique.

has anyone here used filtered pork fat as fuck lube?f

If so, that's why i love you, you little pig

For the best rice you don't need a rice cooker. Rinse the rice beforehand until the water runs clear and is no longer cloudy. It may take a while, but by doing this you wash all the starch they use for packaging reasons from each grain. This creates fluffier stickier rice. Boil in two cups of water for every one cup of rice.

Everybody fucks up in the kitchen Some people think cooking's magic or that you have to be an expert, so they give up. Sometimes their first experiences are bad and they become intimidated. Mistakes are part of the process. You learn how to fix them or avoid them, just like life. You do have to pay attention, though.

Use timers. Set them for about 20% shorter than the total cook time so you can catch a problem before it's too late. Reset the timer for the remainder, of course, if needed. For al dente pasta, cook for 1-2 minutes shorter than the directions advise. Gently stir periodically so pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Read recipes all the way through before you start doing shit. Read a few of the comments of online recipes. They often have good suggestions or explanations.

Learn some survival basics, like how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. A George Foreman grill and an Instant Pot are both handy.

Don't be a hero. Keep it simple and have fun.

R57 thanks!

[quote]For al dente pasta, cook for 1-2 minutes shorter than the directions advise.

Depends. You need to test cooked pasta between your own [italic]denti[/italic]. I have a friend who serves pasta he considers al dente, but what it really is is undercooked.

too much random advice which borders on esoteric and overwhelming the novice.

if you are burning a pot full of boiling water to trash, best we just start with one recipe and work up from there.

what do you want to make, OP? what do you like to eat?

moreover, how in hell are you still alive? microwaved burritos?

R60 my husband/partner likes pasta. I hate cooking pasta I just despise it. I want to learn to cook a roast or some sort of meat.

[quote]Handheld immersion blender.

My wife caught her index finger in one of these.

Ok DL cooks,

What ingredients do you always have on hand?

Flour Corn Meal Eggs Sugar Vanilla Can of beans Chicken and beef broth Cheese Cocaine

Flour

Corn Meal

Eggs

Sugar

Vanilla

Cans of beans

Chicken and beef broth

Cheese

Cocaine

Tortillas

R64 you?

R63, the staples.

-flour

-sugar

-iodized and sea salt

-black pepper

-baking soda and baking powder

-oregano

-Italian seasoning

-garlic

-onions. I'm very allergic, but if I'm cooking for someone else I'll use yellow, like Vidalia, or white. Those red onions are the devil.

-bay leaves

-unsalted butter

-vegetable oil. It has a high smoke point and it's cheap to use for basic frying. I'd use peanut oil, but you know, allergies.

-olive oil for cooking more Mediterranean type cuisines. It just gives the food a much better flavor.

-cinnamon

My only protein is pretty much chicken so I always have chicken on hand. I prefer white meat, but will use thighs for tacos, burritos, teriyaki, adobo. Dark meat is better for marinating, IMO, it has the flavors in better.

If you’re going to use a recipe, read through it and understand it before you start. Gather all the ingredients and measure them and put them in their separate bowls, ramekins, etc. before you start with the recipe. Also chop all your things before you start cooking as well. That way you’re not scrambling around while you’re trying to cook.

R67 great advice. That is definitely part of my problem. Food burns while I’m trying to get everything ready and prepped.

R68, prep first, cook second. Of all the advice you've been given, and given your description of your cooking process, what r67 told you is probably the single most important thing you've been told here. Slow down. Go in order.

What kind of food do you like to eat most?

R68, prep first, cook second. Of all the advice you've been given, and given your description of your cooking process, what r67 told you is probably the single most important thing you've been told here. Slow down. Go in order.

What kind of food do you like to eat most?

R69 I love shrimp. So I eat lots. My husband is meat man. Whereas I’m more the vegetarian man.

R61, if you want to cook a roast, get the type of digital thermometer that stays in the meat while it's in the oven. You can find charts online that tell you the correct internal temperature for your desired level of doneness. Cooking it all the way to that temperature in the oven will result in overcooking due to carryover cooking once the meat is out. The residual heat will continue moving toward the center, so set the temperature a little lower than what's recommended and then take the roast out and loosely tent it with foil.

(You're going to measure the temperature with the tip of the probe in the middle of the thickest part of the meat, or the thickest part of the thigh if you're cooking poultry, but not touching any bone. You shouldn't be putting it into the oven straight out of the refrigerator, so after it's sat at room temperature for a little while you can push the probe in beyond the middle and then watch the change in temperature as you slowly pull it back out. You'll see the temp going down as you approach the center, then it will start to rise as you've passed it. You'll do the same thing to check the temperature after it has cooked. In each case, when it registers the coolest, that's where you'll position the tip.

Once it's out of the oven, set the thermometer again for the internal temperature you were going for in the first place and let the roast rest until it rises. How much carryover cooking you'll achieve depends on size and thickness — inch-thick steaks will only go up about five degrees but a large turkey or roast can go up over twenty degrees.

I would say to just set the thermometer at end temperature you're going for and remember to take it out a few degrees short, but it's safer to set it lower and reset the thermometer again if there's any chance you might forget and leave it in until you hear the beep....at which point it will be overcooked.

[quote]If you’re going to use a recipe, read through it and understand it before you start. Gather all the ingredients and measure them and put them in their separate bowls, ramekins, etc. before you start with the recipe.

Also, check to make sure you have all the ingredients before you start! I've often started to prepare something assuming I have all the ingredients only to find out that I'm out of a certain spice, or some other key ingredient.

There are certain ingredients that are measured by weight and some measured by volume. Maybe somebody here can explain the concept.

I agree with the tip to keep unsalted butter on hand. It freezes, so you can stock up with a favorite brand goes on sale.

Handheld can openers: I read a Consumer Reports recommendation for Swing-A-Way can openers. I liked the them and have stuck with them for decades. They're inexpensive, so no worries about putting them in the dishwasher frequently.

People have favorite brands of knives. Wusthof Trident, Henckels and Sabatier have fans. What's important is what [italic]you[/italic] like. I most frequently use a Wusthof paring knife, a Wusthof tomato knife and a Zwilling chef's knife. They feel good in my hand, well balanced, easy to use. The best cook I know, who has run his own restaurant, has a huge knife block of knives. I don't think any two are the same brand. He's just accumulated them over the decades, keeping the knives that worked for him. Try out different brands when they go on sale or if you see a good deal some place like Marshall's or Ross.

If you buy a gadget like a food processor or mixer, keep it on the counter so it's easy to use. If you store it way in the back of a cabinet somewhere, every time you need it, it will become too much of a chore to dig it out and you will end up not using it and wonder why you bought it.

staples?

I would add Lemon to that list. Seems like lots of different foods, chicken, fish, Mexican, Italian, baking needs a squeeze of lemon and the store bought piss in a yellow plastic shaped lemon bottle actually tastes worse than piss.

Regarding weight vs volume.

What I measure out for a cup of sugar may be different than someone else's cup of sugar while a pound of sugar is a pound of sugar. Weight is more precise than volume. Metric is more precise than US measurements, that's why it's used for measurements in the medical field.

Are there any other countries in the world that don't use the metric system?

Actually, a lot of bakers in the US use metric as well.

R79, true. I meant that medical uses metric specifically since it's so accurate. But yes, bakers too.

So if you’re measuring by weight is it best to use an electronic scale? If so give us an example of one?

r78 Only two.

Liberia, that is!

Baking recipes are much better if they use weight, but it's not always easy to find recipes written that way. And you can use weight in either metric or regular; most electronic scales have both options.

I've used both both types of scales. Restaurants use digital scales and thermometers. I'm not sure why, but the regular scales tend to get broken springs all the time. They use digital thermometers because you don't have to calibrate them or hold them in ice water.

Here is a good digital scale similar to what I'veused in restaurant work. You just have to place the empty container of whatever you're measuring on it and put in the tare/zero it out. There are also scales with bowls on them.

Leave the meat out overnight to relax.

Raw milk only. It tastes better and if you are lactose intolerant, raw milk has an enzyme that takes care of the lactose.

Don't peel root vegetables. You'll lose valuable vitamins, minerals, and bacteria.

Cage free eggs are best, especially raw.

Only pink Himalayan salt, please. Everything else is poison.

Keep leftover pickle juice around of a flavoring in egg, chicken, tuna, salmon, and vermin salads.

The OXO scale is great. Oxo products in general are usually very highly-rated.

OP, stick with a bowl of cereal!

After boiling, ALWAYS drain your pasta with a colander.

I use my Wilton brownie spatula a couple times a week, not for baking sweets, but for lifting baked french fries off the cookie sheet, lifting hash browns out of the pan. It's a sturdy piece of steel, great when you need to apply some pressure to scrape something off a steel pan. The pictured item is called a cookie spatula. My brownie spatula has a red handle and might be a tad wider. Picked it up at Michael's with a coupon.

And I forgot the link:

Mmmm, vermin salad!

Do what R56 said but never, ever, rinse the rice.

[quote]Leave the meat out overnight to relax. Cage free eggs are best, especially raw.

That's dangerous, don't do that. 2 hours is the maximum time to leave meat out at room temp before dangerous bacteria starts to multiply exponentially. And raw eggs were a thing back the Rocky Balboa days Circa 1980 but they are not safe now. Salmonella posing is real and it turns up in about 1/3 of all raw chicken and IT CAN EVEN BE INSIDE THE SHELL.

[quote]Keep leftover pickle juice around of a flavoring in egg, chicken, tuna, salmon, and vermin salads.

Ewww, Ewww, and Ewww. And stay away from the rats too!

Get a baking Mat OP like one of these. They really work great as a non stick surface and insulator for things like cookies. They work better than parchment or wax paper and don't burn on the bottom.

SILPAT is a good brand.

[quote] Rinse the rice beforehand until the water runs clear and is no longer cloudy.

[quote] never, ever, rinse the rice.

Well, bitches...which is it?

R97 do not rinse, it removes valuable starch and will affect the final product.

Cooking is not that difficult, if you are unable to follow basic instructions for preparing food it suggests a lack of intelligence or a lack of physical ability, which one do you think it is?

As an aside, I've never understood why Americans refer to pasta as 'noodles'. To me, pasta is pasta and noodles are noodles - they are two different things and I don't get why Americans use them interchangeably. Like if you're making macaroni cheese (mac AND cheese to you Americans) you would say "add the sauce to the cooked noodles" but we'd say "add the sauce to the cooked pasta."

At least it's not just me

[quote]As an aside, I've never understood why Americans refer to pasta as 'noodles'.

We do? I've never heard of that. When I hear noodles I think of Asian noodles or egg noodles. Pasta is just pasta.

I'm sure I'll hear it everywhere now that I'm paying attention.

R100. Thank you! I know so many people who call ziti, linguine, spaghetti, etc. "noodles" and it's like nails on the chalkboard to me. I think it's a Southern thing where there aren't a lot of Italians. I grew up in the New York City area around a lot of Italian Americans and NEVER heard pasta referred to as, "noodles".

Pasta in the US is typically overcooked.

UK guy Triggered over Noodles.

OK, all joking aside, I never thought about it before. Keep in mind, that America has a long history with diversity and the Asian community has been here for hundreds of years. It's about 6% but that's still millions of people and so some of their words remain. Noodles is one of them. In a blended society with lots of cultures different words will be adopted by the masses. The American language as you probably know is not standard English. That is it's base, but we have German, French, Spanish, Italian words as well replacing what were one pronounced in English.

Since you brought up Mac and Cheese. Until recently, that was always considered a very, very cheap meal mostly because kids would eat it when they would touch anything else. I am talking about the kind in a box that comes with orange power version of Cheddar cheese and cost almost nothing to make. Now it's fancy cheeses and gourmet pasta but that's another story.

Anyway, being part Italian, we always called Spaghetti, Rigatoni, Fettuccine by it's name. They were all a form of pasta to me. But anything that was basically cheap mass produced like Mac and Cheese was a noodle. Asian food was a noodle. Jewish food like soups had noodles in them AKA Chicken Noodle Soup.

If you want to get technical about it, Italian durum-wheat-based ingredients are Pasta, you need that to make it strong when drying out. Noodles are things that can be made from any flour and usually contain eggs. As in Egg Noodles. Although, some Pasta for Italy, usually fresh made also contain eggs.

I know it's just semantics, but bottom line I think Americans say PASTA when the food being served is Italian. Everything else, German, Asian, Jewish are noodles.

[quote]Pasta in the US is typically overcooked.

Yes, we know al dente, we hear that endlessly. But the thing is, we don't like it chewy we like it tender.

r99, I (northeastern USA) never heard of anything but noodles being called "noodles" until the internet appeared in my life in the 1990s. I'm willing to forgive that bit of verbiage as long as someone does not pronounce "pasta" the way you Brits do. It's PAH-stuh, not PAA-steh.

I have been cooking for a long time, the best advice I can give you is to use a timer. You can use your phone as a reminder without having to press a button. I use my Google home to set timers at least 5 times a day for different things. When you're making multiple items or needing to walk out of the kitchen, a timer is invaluable.

Some good tips here.

[quote]Pasta in the US is typically overcooked.

I find more people undercooking it. Motivated by the desire to be perfectly, fashionably "al dente," they take it out before it's really done. I have a friend who does this regularly.

[quote] I (northeastern USA) never heard of anything but noodles being called "noodles"

You never went to an Italian restaurant?

[quote]You never went to an Italian restaurant?

Not one where they called any form of pasta "noodles." Not even pasta all'uovo. As someone stated above, it's usually referred to by its specific type name.

My other tip is dont party while you are cooking unless you can do it blindfolded. You always see people in movies having a glass of wine, with music going like having a party while they are cooking. That's kind of a fantasy unless you have been cooking for years and know what you are really doing.

Even if I just have another couple coming over, I hold off on drinking until I get the main course on the table. If I start before that, which of course they encourage, my timing gets way off, I forget things, get distracted in conversations, burned my and grabbing a pot I had in the oven etc. It's dangerous for me actually.

What part of the North East R111? I am guessing you live in a very remote wealthy white neighborhood to be sort of sheltered like that. My partner has relatives back east and no one there calls pasta noodles. Have you ever been in a grocery store? Are you that rich? Even the most common form of Spaghetti says PASTA on the box most stores practically have a wall of that. Most big markets have signs above every isle and they usually say Pasta & Noodles. Common sense would say there are two different things going on there.

Re gadgets, you need a good food processor, a good blender (both stick and tabletop), and a good mixer. Don't buy on the cheap. I recommend KitchenAid brand. If you can't afford that brand now, wait and save until you can rather than buy some junk that will do a poor job.

Yeah, [italic]pasta[/italic], r113. That's what I call pasta. Not noodles.

[quote]Re gadgets, you need a good food processor, a good blender (both stick and tabletop), and a good mixer. Don't buy on the cheap. I recommend KitchenAid brand.

I do not recommend KA blenders. The top of the base melted while I was blending soup in one. They wanted me to pay $25 for a container to mail it back to them in, even though I still had the original box it came in, with styrofoam inserts.

The biggest game-changer for me as a cook was getting a digital meat thermometer. Takes out all the guesswork for cooking food perfectly.

[quote]Rinse the rice beforehand until the water runs clear and is no longer cloudy.

[quote]never, ever, rinse the rice.

[quote][R97] do not rinse, it removes valuable starch and will affect the final product.

"There was a time when all white rice was processed with talc, a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate (sounds tasty, right?) to give it a whiter, cleaner appearance. Back then, rice needed a rinse to remove this talc. Most white rice grown in the U.S. is no longer milled that way, but some imported rices have been processed with talc, powdered glucose, or rice powder (all safe to eat, but still)."

"An initial rinsing of the dry rice removes surface starch and thus a source of added stickiness. For most long-grain and medium-grain rice, then, rinsing is a good idea. But if you’re using short-grain white rice to make a risotto, no rinsing is necessary—the extra starch creates the essential creamy texture. When white rice is milled, the outer husk and bran layers are removed to produce translucent grains, but this also removes some vitamins and nutrients. To make milled white rice healthier, the United States requires processors to enrich it with vitamins and other nutrients, which appear as a dusty layer on the individual grains. If you want to also preserve those nutrients, washing is a no-no."

Get yourself a good oven thermometer. Most oven temperatures are either calibrated wrong or go wrong with time. Your baking can really suffer if you preheat to 350° and you're actually cooking at 50° lower or higher. It's a big reason so many people have such poor results with oven cooking. A good thermometer will save you a lot of heartache.

He does not rinse his rice when he makes risotto. She does not rinse her rice when she makes risotto.

He is Giuliano Bugialli.

She is Marcella Hazan.

I do not rinse my rice when I make risotto. And all I make with rice is risotto.

R105 gross, just gross.

Is yours a saffron risotto?

r99, in the US we'd say "add sauce to the cooked macaroni."

To me, noodles are egg noodles. Pasta is usually long strands, served Italian style. Macaroni is shaped pasta.

No, r122. Saffron tastes like bleach to me. And "good" saffron tastes even bleachier.

I thought it was just me. A friend made paella for me. He worked so hard on it. I smiled and choked it down, but I thought it was foul.

Best advice from Julia Child: If it smells done, it is.

(works for everything except baking)

[quote] friend made paella for me. He worked so hard on it. I smiled and choked it down, but I thought it was foul.

I hate that too. I really don't get what the deal is with that if you take out the "traditional" part of it. People in love with the process, fail to produce a good result.

Saffron is good in other recipes. Iv had a pan sautes chicken breast in a creamy saffron reduction sauce that was delish.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R129. "Delish" means it tastes like it comes from a deli?

Are you on Instagram? Follow some foodie accounts. There are the pros and then you find some clever amateurs who have good, simple recipes, often with step-by-step instructions. Lately I’ve gotten some great, easy dishes from this sweet frau in Pittsburgh.

Link, r132? Thanks.

Can anyone recommend a recipe site that post straightforward recipes? I'm so fucking sick of clicking on a recipe post and having to scroll through ten paragraphs of absolutely inane and pointless babbling just to view the recipe. I would prefer Italian and Mediterranean recipes but anything healthy is fine.

r134 NYTimes Cooking. I use some command-line wizardry and editing to get around the subscription requirement when it pops up. NYTimes Cooking has good Italian and Mediterranean recipes; I've made shakshuka and Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Ragu using recipes from there. Also: Epicurious, Bon Appetit, "Clean Eating," Chatelaine (Cdn women's site).

I like the NY Times cooking website. This is their recipe for marinara, which I find [italic]perfetta[/italic]. It's just a can of tomatoes (I use whole and break them down—never diced), olive oil, garlic, a small chile or red pepper flakes (I usually use the flakes), salt, and fresh basil. The basil is optional, really. If I don't have it, I leave it out. I never, ever use dried basil. I don't use oregano, either. I don't like it, fresh or dried.

Making marinara barely counts as cooking. It's one step away from mixing.

For someone who needs to ask about recipe websites on DL, and specifies that he's interested in Italian, I don't think there's any wrong recipe. Are you this haughty in real life, r137? You must be such a disappointment to those who get to know you.

Someone always says use a cast iron skillet, which takes me back to childhood when it was my job to scour the skillet. It would take a much longer time to scour than other pots and leave you with black stains all over any skin or clothing that happened to touch the skillet.

It makes it hard for me to accept any of the "wisdom" offered in these threads.

I do not have that kind of time or energy for scrubbing, so it feels like these threads are not for us non-stick people.

James Beard had a "barely counts as cooking" recipe for a pasta sauce - garlic and oil (also parsley for garnish, and optional red pepper flakes). Some are just learning to cook and want something quick, cheap and tasty but uncomplicated to build their confidence.

To save time when boiling water for pasta, start with hot water out of the faucet. And a covered pot will boil up faster than an uncovered pot. And when adding salt, it isn't just a few shakes from your salt shaker. It's healthy little mound poured onto your palm, directly from the container your buy your salt in.

[quote]I like the NY Times cooking website. This is their recipe for marinara, which I find perfetta. It's just a can of tomatoes (I use whole and break them down—never diced)

I always use crushed tomatoes.

r141 America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated did a test and found you could start pasta in cold water and it turned out the same ... but you have to check frequently to see if it's done as obviously the time on the package directions would not apply.

R135 r136 Thanks, those recipes look good, I'll give them a try. I don't know why so many recipe sites can't just give straightforward info.

[quote] Someone always says use a cast iron skillet, which takes me back to childhood when it was my job to scour the skillet. It would take a much longer time to scour than other pots and leave you with black stains all over any skin or clothing that happened to touch the skillet.

I wouldn’t know. I had a governess.

[quote] And when adding salt, it isn't just a few shakes from your salt shaker. It's healthy little mound poured onto your palm, directly from the container your buy your salt in.

¿Cómo?

Buy an old fashioned kitchen timer to use, and don’t drink too much! Your timings will go to shit.

Use the best quality ingredients you can afford.

Don’t buy too many gadgets. Good knives and pans ( mine are circulon, really good ) are all you need to start with.

Practice by cooking just for you, and don’t set your sights too high at first. One thing can lead to another, eg:

Learn how to do a simple roast chicken.

Then make a stock by simmering the bones , scraps of meat and a little of the skin in a big pot On a low heat for 2 to 3 hours with a carrot, leek tops, whole onion with skin on, bouquet garni ( dried herbs in a tea bag) , handful of peppercorns and no salt.

Drain, leave to cool and refrigerate. Next day skim off the fat on the surface, and reduce gently.

You now have a rich liquid to use as a basis for so many simple things. Eg. Add noodles (Asian kind) , sliced mushrooms leftover chick and season to taste with soy sauce. You could add a hard boiled egg and chopped spinach.

Or a risotto. Use proper risotto rice and add a ladle at a time, stirring till it has been absorbed before adding the next.

You can freeze it too, for another time.

I love making stock. It’s Easy, earthy, satisfying and therapeutic. And the end result is so much better than anything you get from a cube or powder.

Some great advice here. Thanks to pp for Reminder to brown mince first, lift out, then brown onions before putting back. I don’t make it into patties but it makes a big difference, taste and texture wise.

Buy tomato paste in a tube. Just squeeze out what you need and save the rest for later. (Refrigerate it, though.)

Yes r148 , also umami paste adds real depth of flavour

R147 thank you for taking the time to write such great cooking tips. Very useful.

The key to good tasting pasta is to salt the water appropriately. Too many people under salt it and pasta tastes bland but they don't know why. The Italian rule of thumb is "the water should taste like the ocean". So for a small pot that might be about 1 Tbsp. For a big post double or triple that just depends on size.

The amount of salt I use for pasta...I don't let people look when I put it in. They'd freak out at how much it takes to make your pasta taste right. I don't know about Italians, but Americans have become saltophobes.

You can also blend some salt + a bouillon cube and then the pasta has a nice flavor soaked in (but make sure it complements your sauce - no one wants chickeny aglio e olio).

I'll stick with the salt, thanks, r153.

One of the best things you can do is learn how to make a pan sauce or reduction sauce. It's so simple and once you learn the method, you can literally make hundreds of different versions for whatever you are cooking. Plus, it has the added benefit of sticking to one pan and cleaning it at the same time.

OP should see this thread.

Am I the only one who hates cleaning up after cooking meat?

I never do it because the clean up is so extensive.

No, r157, you are not alone, friend.

OP, remember butter makes everything better.

I've always hated touching meat when I cook, and cleaning up is part of the awful. I don't like the smell when I saute it in a pan. Braising and roasting aren't so bad. But they all lead to needing to clean up after, so no, I don't cook meat much at home.

Ground meat is much easier, so I use that for making chili, Bolognese, etc.

Interesting. I find ground meat worse due to draining the grease.

r161, I don't drain ground meat. I usually use ground turkey, 7% fat. If I use ground beef, it's 10-15%, but I don't bother to drain it.

r159=Maria Schneider

[quote] You can also blend some salt + a bouillon cube and then the pasta has a nice flavor soaked in

I did this for rice, improved the taste.

[quote]Am I the only one who hates cleaning up after cooking meat?

I try to roast everything in the oven now because I can't stand cleaning up splattered oil on my gas cooktop and counters.

Lots to... digest... here. First off, don't listen to [R43] on baking! In general, baked goods must go into the oven as quickly as possible in order to capture as much of the chemical reaction causing the "rise" as possible. With genoise and other batters where beaten-in air is your principal source of rising, then letting them sit just causes them to deflate. Exceptions: soufflés can sit for 40-45 minutes before going into the oven. Yeast-based doughs need rising time and rest time. Pasty dough does need to rest (in the fridge) before and after rolling. When in doubt -Follow the directions on the recipe!

Julia Child was an expert teacher, and I recommend any of her books and videos. You might start with The Way to Cook -Her final magnum opus. It's based on the idea of learning one basic recipe, and then learning variations on it. There is a DVD set with 3-5 min. videos of each recipe and variation. Start with sauces, then move to soufflés. Learn pastry and move on to quiches and tarts. Go through her egg dishes (The French Chef -Elegance With Eggs) and then learn to prepare vegetables. Savory and sweet crepes...

High-quality pans are really worth it. They cook better and clean up easier.

Never use imitation anything! Real butter. Heavy cream. Pure vanilla extract.

Spices are always better fresh. Fresh ground pepper or freshly-grated nutmeg are so much more flavorful than their pre-ground counterparts.

When a recipe calls for spinach (other than a spinach salad, of course) use frozen cooked chopped spinach -the kind without stems. It will taste the same, and save you a huge amount of work and mess. In a pinch, frozen peas, carrots, and broccoli can replace fresh (never use canned).

Someone else mentioned the advantage of preparing your "mise en place" –That's the pre-measured, pre-chopped ingredients in little containers, ready to be added in according to the recipe. Since you would measure or chop anyway, it adds no time/work to the cooking. (It does add a little bit of washing up, of course.) It frees you to give your full attention to whatever it is you are cooking -To watch temperature, time, consistency, color, etc. It also can keep you from leaving out a crucial ingredient!

Part 2;

The advice on adding spices at the end of the cooking is good, but there are a few exceptions. Salt should usually be added at the beginning. Many chefs can tell when you salted the dish by its taste. Pasta and beans should have their cooking water heavily salted. Soups should be salted early. In Asian cooking (esp. Indian) the spices are fried in a small bit of oil at the very beginning in order to infuse the flavors.

Rinsing pasta and rice. It's not a rule -It's a matter of what you want to achieve. Rice is naturally starchy. Un-rinsed rice will be sticky and clumpy -Just as you want it to be in Asian cooking. Rice casseroles, Mexican-style rice, etc. require the rice to be rinsed to remove excess starch so that the rice doesn't clump together. If cooked pasta is allowed to get dry it sticks together in an impossible mess. The starchy cooking water is traditionally used (in small amounts) as a liaison to get the sauce to adhere to the pasta. You can pull the pasta out of the water with tongs, or drain it through a colander AFTER reserving some of the water in a cup. Either way, you should add the pasta to the sauce immediately, while it is still very wet.

Patience is a virtue in cooking. Resist the temptation to increase the heat in order to speed things up. Sauces, puddings, custards, even soups, can be ruined by scorching. Not to mention overheating a pan is a sure way to ruin it, especially it has a non-stick surface.

Nobody has a kitchen big enough for all the pans, utensils, and gadgets out there. A great way to have some essentials in a small space is an immersion blender that includes a whip attachment and a small food processor. All-in-one. Should only cost $35 or so, and you can blend, whip, and chop easily with little space and easy cleanup. After that, a good, solid stand mixer (Kitchen Aid) with a large metal bowl. Very expensive, but it will last a lifetime and come in really handy. A microplane grater and a box grater. A couple of good, sharp knives.

Cookbooks are great, but you can get almost any recipe online for free. When making something new, it's worth it to read a whole bunch of recipes for the same dish. See what they all have in common, and what the basic instructions are, then choose the version that suits your taste and temperament. I always copy and paste the recipe into a text document on my computer and (if the result is good) save it in a file of "go to" recipes. The handiest cookbooks in my collection are Julia Child's The French Chef (the recipes from her classic TV show), and my great-grandmother's Inglenook Cookbook from 1911. It has basic recipes for literally everything. Basic methods for baking bread, muffins, making jams, candies, marshmallows, soups -Anything and everything. And using only ingredients found in a Kansas kitchen in 1911. (The cherry pie recipe begins with picking cherries...)

Most of all -HAVE FUN! Cooking should not be stressful, it should be an enjoyable labor of love. Don't be afraid to try new things. Some, like soufflés, have a reputation for being difficult but are really quite easy! Other take some practice and skill, but the results are so worth it. There isn't a store-bought cake that can compare with homemade. The same with salad dressings, breads, and jams.

And it's great to cook for friends and have them around to share in the chopping as well as the eating!

I just made a batch of lemon-poppyseed mini-loaves with lemon glaze for my senior center's bake sale.

[quote]Never use imitation anything! Real butter. Heavy cream. Pure vanilla extract.

Please stop with this myth. Test after test has shown that imitation vanilla does just as well, if not better, than pricy real vanilla in baked goods. Most real vanilla bakes out in the oven, while the imitation stuff retains more of its flavor. The only time it makes sense to splurge for the real stuff is when you are making uncooked desserts like custards, frostings and ice creams.

An imitation vanilla just won a Cook's Country taste test over very expensive brands like Nielsen-Massey Madagascar vanilla.

As a southerner with a large collection of cast iron, the key is to cover the bottom of the pan with salt while its warm and then scrub it using a nylon brush under hot water. Takes all the stuck on stuff off easily. If its really stuck, you can soak it for a few minutes (not hours or overnight).

Then put it back on the burner and turn it on and let it dry out after wiping with a paper towel. A teaspoon or so of oil and buff until dry and it's good to go. I actually worry less with cast iron than I do with Calphalon as its tougher to scratch.

[quote]Am I the only one who hates cleaning up after cooking meat?

No everyone hates that. Which is why you should learn to make a pan sauce. The process of making the sauce in the same pan scrapes up all the brown bits on the pan and incorporates them into the flavor of the sauce. No more burnt on crud. In fact, once the sauce is done, I can literally rinse it out with soap and water without any scrubbing. You kill two birds with one stone that way.

I am convinced this is why French sauces were invented.

[quote] I don't like the smell when I saute it in a pan. Braising and roasting aren't so bad.

Doesn't sound like you really like meat at all. Who doesn't like the smell of a steak sizzling in a cast iron pan with some butter, rosemary and garlic?

Pasta and beans should have their cooking water heavily salted.

Yes for pasta, but if you are cooking beans that are dried or soaked, the first cook is done without salt to keep them from getting tough. I learned this from Miami Cubans - soak and cook the first hour with just half a chopped bell pepper, some oregano and thyme, and a bay leaf. Then you can add stock and salt and more seasonings for the rest of the cook.

R169 Well, that's quite a surprise synthetic vanillin was the winner. I don't doubt many can be fooled, however I still wouldn't seek this out to save $5. Many of us relish the control we have doing our own baking and cooking. We strive to source the most natural and healthiest ingredients, and take pride in the wholesome aspect of "home-made"

Many of us stopped using skincare products decades ago when we learnt petrol-derived products such as mineral oil or paraffin were not conducive to health, and accumulate in the liver over time. Many believe they're carcinogens as well. Not only is this vanillin derived from crude oil, but also contains artificial caramel colour, also a petrol-derivative, which can be metabolised as methylimidazole, a known carcinogen all its own. (4-MEI) The products usually require sodium benzoate as a preservative, in lieu of the alcohol in the original extract. Sodium benzoate is yet another carcinogen. ( majority converts to benzene)

If I purchase a cheap American candy bar (rare), consume other pre-made items containing vanillin, so be it. It's another thing entirely to pour this engine oil like product into my recipes. I think the poster you quoted still has the best advice. We eat enough crap we have no control over much of the time. No need to be cooking up cancer cakes and cancer cookies in our own kitchens.

[quote]Who doesn't like the smell of a steak sizzling in a cast iron pan

I don't.

[quote] The products usually require sodium benzoate as a preservative, in lieu of the alcohol in the original extract. Sodium benzoate is yet another carcinogen

So is alcohol

Dont go to a fancy steak house R175, you wont be happy then.

R176 Feel free to equate ethyl alcohol with benzene if it makes you more comfortable consuming artificial vanilla flavouring. You're completely illogical to equate the two substances. The human body can handle the byproducts of alcohol metabolism quite well, especially in small amounts as preservative. The same cannot be said for benzene compounds.

[quote] Who doesn't like the smell of a steak sizzling in a cast iron pan with some butter, rosemary and garlic?

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Keep multiple measuring cups and spoons on hand (for "dry" and "wet" measurements). You'll sometimes need several for one meal/recipe. I always have multi-sized storage bags within reach (snack size, quart and gallon). This makes cleaning up easier without having to dirty bowls. Mise-en-place (or prep everything and have it in one place) really is a basic cooking necessity. Always clean as you go. This means washing bowls, wiping counters, storing extra chopped items, etc. There's nothing like the feeling of knowing the only sign a meal was prepared in your kitchen is the aroma of the food.

Read the recipe several times, and make notes if necessary. If you're doubling or tripling the recipe, write out the doubled or tripled amounts. Use a calculator or ask Alexa for help with doubling confusing non-metric measurements (e.g., how many cups is six tablespoons?)

I think its strange to realize so many younger people have never known cast iron cookware. I was trying to show my neighbor's son how to make cornbread, and he was terrified of the cast iron skillet. Mind you, this is a beefy, tall, handsome young black man. But the idea that the cast iron was still hot after coming out the oven really scared him. I have cast iron pans that have to be over 100 years old. But no one ever cared to keep track of those things. You can purchase new cast iron cookware, but it takes some time until its seasoned. You're better off buying some used cast iron at an antique mall. The sellers may give you a bit of history about their grannies.

R182 I might be one if these people. We didn't have any cast iron pans in my family and I'd have no idea how to use it. It seems to require some specific handling that I'm unfamiliar with. But the idea that a pan could last a lifetime is definitely interesting. (Your neighbor sounds very interesting too.)

When making a salad:

Chop stuff finely. No big pieces.

Don't forget little surprises, such as capers or bits of mint leaves.

Sprinkle a little seasoning salt on the salad, in addition to any dressing you will add.

Don't drop whole croutons on top. Crush the croutons and scatter them on the salad at the last minute.

You don't necessarily need an expensive food processor. You just need one with a pulse function and one with the right attachments. I have a Black n Decker that has served me well for 5+ years. Made so many batches of salsa with it. It shreds cheese in seconds with the attachment provided. I'll never buy shredded cheese again...that stuff is nasty and has gotten worse over the years

[quote] You don't necessarily need an expensive food processor. You just need one with a pulse function and one with the right attachments.

Same criteria I look for in a man.

I keep a box of latex gloves under the sink (no, not for fisting you filthy minded queens) for chopping various peppers (jalapeno, habanero, etc).

Early in my cooking career I made the mistake of chopping jalapenos, then using the restroom. I had set my downstairs area on fire!

Be sure to wash knives and cutting surfaces immediately after chopping peppers, as the juice will stay on them.

Right on r186!

Do people still eat those little cocktail wieners that come in a can?

R189 or sardines in a multi-coffin like can with the roll off lid? My dad always ate those on saltine crackers. I remember not minding them but barf at the thought today

[quote]Do people still eat those little cocktail wieners that come in a can?

It's good practice for any micropenises you may encounter in your lifetime.

R13, I have my grandmother's Wagner No. 8 deep skillet-roaster (with lid) which she received as a wedding gift, in 1926. I love it and use it for just about everything! (except boiling pasta, ha!) Reading this thread made me curious as to how much it's worth. Holy smokes! One sold for $150 on eBay about a month ago.

I have a set of expensive All-Clad cookware, but I use my old cast iron skillet 95% of the time. It retains heat better and it gets a better sear on things. I even cook bolognese sauce in it, even though you're not supposed to cook tomatoes in it.

[R169] What do you mean "uncooked desserts like custard, frosting, and ice cream?" Custard is a cooked dessert. Ditto ice cream. For that matter, so are many frostings. I will concede that there may be better versions of artificial vanilla out there these days, but with food you usually get what you pay for. I had a friend who made the most disgusting, bland, flavorless cookies. I thought he had bad recipes. It turned out that he used plain Crisco instead of butter, artificial vanilla, and he never added the required salt ("Why would you put salt into something sweet??").

It is a myth that "all the alcohol bakes out." The truth is that even flaming doesn't entirely remove the alcohol content from foods. Baking leaves as much as 60% of the alcohol content -even when you bake for an hour or more!

Awards mean almost nothing. I'm sure there's a contest out there where CoolWhip beat out whipped cream, and tasters preferred Swiss Miss instant cocoa made with water.

I'll stick with real vanilla, thank you...

Cook's Illustrated blind taste test is a joke and should not be taken as anything other than entertainment. It's skewed by white house Fraus with poor taste. It's not scientific at all in spite of the appearance of it they want you to believe.

Do NOT drink while you are cooking. Your timing will be way off and in the kitchen, a couple minuets can mean the difference between perfectly cooked to burnt. Plus it's much easier to cut yourself or burn yourself and Iv done both, it's not fun. It's easy for example to forget that metal pan handle in the oven is now 500F! Leave that drinking wine while you cook to the pros.

[quote]Do NOT drink while you are cooking. Your timing will be way off and in the kitchen, a couple minuets can mean the difference between perfectly cooked to burnt.

Indeed. NO drinking and dancing.

[quote][[R169]] What do you mean "uncooked desserts like custard, frosting, and ice cream?" Custard is a cooked dessert. Ditto ice cream. For that matter, so are many frostings.

Vanilla is added AFTER the custard is cooked to retain the full vanilla flavor. Same with frostings. Here it makes sense to use real vanilla if you don't mind the extra cost.

I can understand not wanting to use imitation vanilla for health reasons, although you aren't consuming big enough quantities to make a difference, but the idea that real vanilla gives a better tasting product when baked is simply an expensive myth.

WTF [198]! How do you add vanilla after the custard is baked?? At that point it is set. Do you also put nuts in the brownies after they come out of the oven?

Well, I do, r199.

Of course we could be talking about two entirely different type of nuts.

R155 -

What the ever-living FUCK is with that guy’s vocal inflection?

You leave Chef John alone there, R201. He's amazing.

[quote]I find ground meat worse due to draining the grease.

Tilt the pan and use a turkey baster to drain it. Works like a charm.

Use non-stick aluminum foil to line baking sheets. Love that stuff. Food slides right off. And no pan to wash.

Use foil liners for muffins instead of paper. They slip right out, no sticking.

Cento San Marzano whole tomatoes for marinara. Nothing compares.

Bake meatballs for 20 mins @ 375º (on non-stick foil, of course). Add pan drippings to the sauce along with the meatballs.

For quicker baked potatoes, microwave them for 10 mins, then transfer to a 450º oven for 20 mins.

If packing your oven with multiple dishes (Thanksgiving, etc.), food can take as much as 20% longer to cook.

Test run any dish you plan to make for guests ahead of time. Give any leftovers to Meals on Wheels.

Don't take foods such as meats and casseroles right from the fridge to the oven. Let them stand at room temp for 30 mins so they will cook properly.

Salt steak and let rest for 15 mins before pan frying.

Never add liquid to anything you want to char/crisp in the oven. Oil only. Example: roasted veg will steam if you even squeeze a little lemon juice over them prior to cooking. Wait until they are done.

Roasted potatoes: cut baby potatoes in half, put in a gallon size plastic bag with some evoo. Seal and squish around to coat. Place cut side down on a non-stick foil lined baking pan. Roast for 30 mins @ 400º. Salt AFTER roasting (or they will steam). Crispy, golden and delicious--and so easy.

For a crowd, make a lasagna and chicken piccata (or marsala) a day ahead in two 9 x 13 pans. Bake/saute according to recipes, but cutting the cooking time short by about 15%. Cool, then put in the fridge covered with foil. On party day, take both dishes out of the fridge, let stand at room temp for 30 mins. Pop them in the oven to re-heat/finish cooking, covered with foil @ 350º for 30 mins. Serve with salad and some good Italian bread. So easy you can even drink and enjoy yourself while entertaining your guests :)

Easy desert: pound cake, short cake or vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries soaked in Grand Marnier + whipped cream.

[quote]Tilt the pan and use a turkey baster to drain it.

Unless you live in a house with a pregnant lesbian.

No, R202. That guy should be given a Final Notice. If he does not correct that vocal affectation, then slit his throat.

I hate cleaning a turkey baster...pain in the ass. I usually drain the fat by tilting the pan over the sink using the lid. If it's a big batch of meat I'll then use a colander.

R106 no one says it like that - it's PASS-TUH in the UK. Pretty much how Americans say the word 'pastor'.

r207 we had a discussion/argument about that at dinner last night about this. "Your mother didn't say 'pass-tah', your brother didn't say 'pass-tah', why is your kid saying 'pass-tah'?" The kid says "I eat pass-tah in my Mahz-dah."

And no, I didn't rinse the pasta. I did serve it [italic]con aglio e olio[/italic] with a pinch of crushed red pepper, as recommended up thread, and it was marvelled upon.

[quote]Tilt the pan and use a turkey baster to drain it. Works like a charm.

Much easier to use paper towels to mop up the grease. You just throw them away, and it saves you from having to clean a turkey baster.

Yes!

Buy a Brownie spatula! I can't believe what a handy tool it is.

Hello OP, have you tried out any of the ideas? How are you doing?

I’ve just thought of a few more tips:

Many Italian or French recipes start off with mire poix or soffrito. All this is, is carrot onion and celery cut up small. It delivers huge flavour to the soup or casserole or Mince mix or whatever.

In U.K. you can buy this frozen. It cooks from frozen, and massively saves time and effort.

Buy!

Butter improves the flavour of nearly everything.

Ditto wine/ alcohol. Experiment, and make sure it’s thoroughly cooked. In U.K. I can buy little sachets of cooking sherry/ brandy / Marsala, and honestly it lifts any dish and adds another depth of flavour and sophistication.

As always, test on yourself first, but really it’s not difficult .

I got home an hour ago, Had nothing fresh in, so defrosted some chicken quarters, in the micro, cooked the frozen veg mix, added some chopped canned tomatoes, reduced it down, added some cooking wine.

Then browned the chick in butter, added a drop of brandy, tipped it all in the same pot with some olives, and now in the oven in the pot to cook.

All from the freezer/ store cupboard. It needs mushrooms, but will have to make do with the olives.

Oh - and always be in a place with a dishwasher. :)

Def Pass tuh.

The long ‘a’ and it’s correct use is a class marker here. No long ‘a’ in pasta.

And the turkey baster , no, use kitchen towel,for immediate serving, otherwise chill and spoon off the next day.

Oh, dear. That sounds rather suggestive.

When you make smoothies or work with a blender, put the fluid in first about halfway ( milk or water or juice.) Then, put the powder or sugar in. This way so that you can premix the compounds and nothing gets stuck at the bottom. Finally, put the fruit in and top off the rest of the fluid into the blender.

Argh! Its not it’s. Autocorrect!

[quote] No, [R202]. That guy should be given a Final Notice. If he does not correct that vocal affectation, then slit his throat.

In more recent videos, he toned down that affectation. I agree, it's awful.

At the end of each video, he sings (in a creepy voice): "And as always ... enjoy!" (You have to hear it to "appreciate" it.) He hasn't toned that down, yet.

[quote] Argh! Its not it’s. Autocorrect!

Yeah, because that was all that was wrong with your post.

Agree about Chef John's voice. I love his recipes but his goofy sing-song delivery and constant up-talk is gouge your eyes out annoying.

[quote]You leave Chef John alone there, [R201]. He's amazing.

Ditto. He is an amazing down to earth type of guy, learned a lot from watching his videos. Yes, he is cheesy in a sort of DAD way but at least he is not full of himself like most TV chefs.

[quote] That guy should be given a Final Notice. If he does not correct that vocal affectation, then slit his throat.

You have issues dude. FYI he is like the top 3 chefs on YouTube.

[quote]R30 Get good at one thing or recipe before trying to take on several new ones. Build up a little repertoire over time.

THIS. I can make about 10 things really well.

If I’m making something outside that, I go to THE BEST RECIPE cookbook, put out by America’s Test Kitchen. They explain everything really, really well while also simplifying things for ordinary people.

OP needs this book:

[quote] Founded in 1980, Cook's Illustrated (formerly Cook's Magazine) has emerged as "America's Test Kitchen," renowned for its near-obsessive dedication to finding the best methods of American home cooking. Over the years, we've tested 80 recipes for chocolate chip cookies, more than 70 recipes for gumbo, 40 versions of the peanut butter cookie, and more than 20 versions of such simple recipes as coleslaw, roast chicken, and hash brown potatoes. The Best Recipe is a collection of the editors' picks from the pages of Cook's Illustrated.

[quote] THIS. I can make about 10 things really well.

We’ll be the judge of that. Please bring 8 of these dishes to the next DL get-together and we’ll let you know.

Anybody have any good crock pot recipes?

[quote]r220 We’ll be the judge of that. Please bring 8 of these dishes to the next DL get-together and we’ll let you know.

You know what? FUCK YOU! [italic]Everyone[/italic] loves my bacon wrapped meatloaf ! !

I gotta be honest...that looks good!

Give me some from the crotch area with the extra bacon!

Thank you!!

I’m also famous in some circles for my special Blackened Pasta Flambé!

Those don't open, r224.

One of Chef John's recipes is for "Ping Gai Chicken."

If that's not the gayest (or DLest) recipe name EVER, I don't know what is.

Ping Gai Chicken.

Probably a favorite of Bryan Singer.

Ping gai chicken is right up there with chai tea, shrimp scampi, and ATM machine.

[R221] Trisha Yearwood has a great recipe for crockpot mac 'n cheese. It's available online. Some of the ingredients sounded weird to me (eggs?) but I followed the recipe for a work potluck and it was a huge hit. Go figure...

[quote]In U.K. you can buy this frozen. It cooks from frozen, and massively saves time and effort.

You can buy mirepoix here in the US at Trader Joe's. It isn't frozen but rather in the vegetable section. They also have cubed squash. a container of mirepoix and a container of squash and you are three quarters of the way to some good soup.

I love chopping celery, carrots, and onions for soffritto. It proclaims, "Yes, I cook. I love to cook." From there, I can go on and make so many things. If I need to "massively save time and effort," I make something simpler.

r230

I go to Trader Joe's just for the mirepoix sometimes. Whole foods has a frozen version but I have never tried it

Bump.

Don't do what I did!

If you want to make spaghetti in your instant pot, be sure to carefully place the pasta on top of the meatballs! I made the mistake of putting the pasta on the bottom once, which cooked into a hardened mass at the bottom of the pot and was just about impossible to completely remove!

Yes: Turn off The Food Network.

[quote]I go to Trader Joe's just for the mirepoix sometimes.

Personally I go to the free clinic.