The Teach Me How To Cook Thread

[The Fake Shemp]

My brother got DQ'd for both the Army and the Marines, and is now considering culinary school. He's actually smoking a goose today, which took two days to prepare already, but I was wondering if you guys had any cookbook suggestions for someone that is interested in that kind of thing. I know he's going to be attending some classes and workshops to get a feel for it, and I recommended that he got a job in a kitchen to see what it's like.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Cupcakes are! 

living in Southern California has made me anti-cupcake, it's like a Paris Hilton in your mouth

Willco, if your brother wants to go pro, he needs a shitty job working at the bottom of a kitchen like immediately.

My brother got this MEAT book for Christmas and it seems pretty good, not sure how it is on goose specifically. It's more information about how to cook and prepare meat correctly than "recipes."

[Rman]

Willco,

The CIA Garde Manger cookbook is a wonderful reference.  I believe there is a new edition out now.  Michael Rulhman's CHARCUTERIE is excellent for beginners as well as, so is Jane Grigson's CHARCUTERIE AND FRENCH PORK COOKERY.

[Green Shinobi]

Anyone have any recommendations for a good pork marinade?

[CrystalGemini]

What do you mean by "pork"?  Roast?  Chops?  Ribs?

[CrystalGemini]

There's a simple marinade we use for grilling - not sure it'll work for what you're doing but it's easy though I've never used thin slices of pork in my cooking (sounds like something good for hot pot though).

I don't have measurements for anything as we just mix by eye: sesame oil, light soy sauce, mushroom soy sauce, a bit of sugar (I use brown), fresh ginger, finely chopped garlic, chopped green onion (optional) and sesame seeds (optional).

[Cormacaroni]

There's a simple marinade we use for grilling - not sure it'll work for what you're doing but it's easy though I've never used thin slices of pork in my cooking (sounds like something good for hot pot though).

I don't have measurements for anything as we just mix by eye: sesame oil, light soy sauce, mushroom soy sauce, a bit of sugar (I use brown), fresh ginger, finely chopped garlic, chopped green onion (optional) and sesame seeds (optional).

haha, exactly what I was going to post. The Japanese recipe is known as shoga yaki - the only diff is that it uses sweet rice wine (mirin) instead of sugar. It's usually served over thinly sliced cabbage with rice on the side.

[CrystalGemini]

That's awesome.   We use it for just about everything: chicken, beef, pork...etc. 

That sounds good. I need to make a trip to the grocery store.

Take pictures!

[OnkelC]

Basics Vol.1: scrambled eggs (in real time):
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[Phoenix Dark]

Any tips on cooking onion rings? I've made some that taste good, but just wondering if there's a different way of doing them. I just

-combine flour, 1 egg, and some milk in a bowl, mix until it has a nice consistency
-dip onion rings in
-then put some Italian bread crumbs on the onion rings
-cook on both sides until brown

[Mr. Gundam]

Use some panko and/or tempura flour.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Joe brought me this book back from Seattle

[Eric P]

yesterday i made my first lasagna

shit ruled.

so much better than the microwave meal versions.

i added paprika and ginger to the ricotta cheese and a bit of lemon juice to the meat while it cooked and it came out just so well.

and as a result, lunch today ruled too

my next experiment is to make meatballs

[Howard Alan Treesong]

did you make the noodles? or just use store bought?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

making noodles is for chumps - there's cooking from scratch and then there's punishing yourself for self-perceived sins

[close]

[Rman]

Joe brought me this book back from Seattle

http://i.ebayimg.com/03/!BkJf9O!CGk~$%28KGrHqIOKjwEtEPqd5-hBLWT%29V3-cw~~_12.JPG[/img]

Oh man.  Time Life's The Good Cook series is legendary.  They're all out of print now, but I've been wanting to track down the whole series.  The library at my culinary school had an entire set.

Richard Olney is a god.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Joe brought me this book back from Seattle

http://i.ebayimg.com/03/!BkJf9O!CGk~$%28KGrHqIOKjwEtEPqd5-hBLWT%29V3-cw~~_12.JPG[/img]

Oh man.  Time Life's The Good Cook series is legendary.  They're all out of print now, but I've been wanting to track down the whole series.  The library at my culinary school had an entire set.

Richard Olney is a god.

Yeah, I have:

Salads, Lamb, Poultry, Candy, and now Cookies & Crackers.

I really want Beef & Veal, Fish, Pasta, and Sauces.

[Mupepe]

So on Friday night, the missus and I went to a restaurant called Amici Ristorante.

Sooooooooooooooo fucking good.  Holy shit.

Amazing food.  We had bread, fried calamari with some wine sauce and peppers on it.  Sooo fucking amazing.  I had fettucini chicken alfredo.  That's right.  I don't care!  I have to get it anytime I see it.  I love that dish.  It was damn amazing too.  She had pretty much a gigantic steak with mushrooms.  The steak was cooked perfectly.  then for dessert we had cannolis.  holy fuck!  i've never had anything so damn tasty in my life and now i'm going to learn how to make them.  fuck fuck fuck.

[Eric P]

did you make the noodles? or just use store bought?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

making noodles is for chumps - there's cooking from scratch and then there's punishing yourself for self-perceived sins

[close]

store bought

i mean, it's not like i made the cheese or ground the cow

[CrystalGemini]

Basics Vol.1: scrambled eggs (in real time):
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

What were the wedges you put into the pan with the butter?  Kind of looks like Laughing Cow cheese wedges:


EDIT: Ok nevermind.  Just saw the responses in the IronGAF thread.   

[Eric P]

oh fuck

amen, my brother, onkel

edit: i love that your cat sneaks in to see what you're making

[Howard Alan Treesong]

did you make the noodles? or just use store bought?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

making noodles is for chumps - there's cooking from scratch and then there's punishing yourself for self-perceived sins

[close]

store bought

i mean, it's not like i made the cheese or ground the cow

exactly, but for some reason some people get really into "making pasta" as an integral part of Italian food at home. F that S

[etiolate]

This is my omelette routine:

1. Take eggs out of fridge and put in warm water. Let sit.
2. Heat up frying pan
3. Test pan with butter, when butter browns the pan is ready.
4. Get eggs out of water now that they are room temp.
5. Scramble eggs with bit of salt and pepper, plus one herb.
5. Pour yolks onto pan, swirl pan to get eggs around the edge.
6. Scrape up edge of yolks and swirl the rest of yolk out again to the edge.
7. Let sit 15 or so seconds
8. Roll up your omelettes on pan, rub a little butter on top
9. FINI

[Cormacaroni]

Did you see the amount of butter he used?

[Eel O'Brian]

I made some excellent chicken salad using onion and chive cream cheese with a little mayo

[Cormacaroni]

The butter was all in the middle of the pan though. That surprised me. I thought you had to spread the butter around before putting the eggs in. Guess I've been doing it wrong.

Pour the eggs on top of the butter, and the butter spreads out under the eggs. It's not rocket science. Just don't have the heat on stupidly high and it really is hard to fuck up eggs. I can do it at 6am in the dark half-asleep, before coffee even!

[Barry Egan]

low heat is a must if you want fluffier eggs.  Also note the copious amounts of cream and cheese 

[Cormacaroni]

had mine with chorizo sausage this morning. 3 eggs, 2 sausages, some cheese, one raw tomato (garnished with a little olive oil, salt and pepper) and black coffee. Pretty standard breakfast for me. I can make this faster than most people can make cereal.

[Eric P]

my week day breakfast is a yogurt and a banana

it's the weekends when i get crazy

[Mupepe]

my weekday breakfast is either two sausage, egg and cheese breakfast tacos or two sausage egg and cheese mcmuffins.   

[Green Shinobi]

I got all the ingredients for that pork marinade, except I forgot the ginger.  I made it anyway, and it came out pretty well, but it definitely needed something to balance it out. I'll go back for ginger sometime this week.

[Ecrofirt]

Basics Vol.1: scrambled eggs (in real time):
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

My god man, you'll be dead in a year if you keep eating like that!

[Phoenix Dark]

ffffuuu now I'm hungry

My breakfast is usually oatmeal but dammit, I'm gonna make eggs right now

[OnkelC]

Basics Vol.1: scrambled eggs (in real time):
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

My god man, you'll be dead in a year if you keep eating like that!

That's what people told me since I was 13

[Green Shinobi]

Pardon my ignorance, Mr. Onkel, but which herb did you mix into the eggs in that video?

[Phoenix Dark]

weed

[CrystalGemini]

Pardon my ignorance, Mr. Onkel, but which herb did you mix into the eggs in that video?

Chives.

[OnkelC]

Strammer Max:







http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strammer_Max

[OnkelC]

which recipe from whom?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Onkel have you ever tried james beard's scrambled egg recipe?

It's the only way I make em. The one from American Cookery?

[OnkelC]

in 30 minutes, i make mine, feast, do the dishes and am back surfing...

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Cohen have you ever had ... EGG 63

[Howard Alan Treesong]

It's a soft boiled egg cooked for an hour at 63^oC. (Some people prefer 64 or 65.)

If you do it right, the yolk and white come out with the exact same perfect custard-like consistency and it's de-li-cious

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I think the most underrated element of good cooking is temperature. But texture is a close second. Not putting so much fucking salt in your food is third.

If you do try to make an Egg 63, eat it in the shell. It's too runny to eat from a plate effectively. It's basically like a very smooth, barely cohering custard. Whatever is below "soft boiled" on the egg cooking chart.

[Phoenix Dark]

Sorry, I want me eggs NOW

and by now I mean in 10min or so

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Salt is about integration.  Takes time to get that concept.

You mean, I always need to use it with pepper?

[Mupepe]

so, i wanted to try something tonight and I thought maybe you guys could help.

The wife and I hardly cook at home anymore, let alone try to cook new things at home.  So, we decided that tonight instead of going to the movies and out to eat, we'd take that money and use it to make something delicious at home.  Something new.

What do you guys suggest for something out of the ordinary and can be made with around 20-30 bucks?  Enough to feed two people too.

It doesn't have to be fancy.  Just tasty.  

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I just wanted to use

oversalting is one of the biggest problems with restaurant-cooked food. it's like people equate saltiness with quality and value

[Howard Alan Treesong]

For two people at that price I would get some good steaks or chops (lamb chops ) and make a marinade. Miso-mirin marinade on lamb chops is both super easy and "out of the ordinary."

[Mupepe]

Sorry, I want me eggs NOW

and by now I mean in 10min or so

I don't understand most fancy eggs.  I'm still almost always incredibly satisfied with cookings eggs the traditionally bad hispanic way.

make a little pool of oil at the bottom, drop your egg(s) in when the oil is hot.  Put some salt on the top while it's still raw.  Then get a spoon and throw oil on the top and fry the top.  

I don't know if it's just hispanics, but all hispanics I know make it that way and I haven't really seen white people make it that way.  

It makes the egg whites so cripsy and cooks the salt inside and you don't have to worry about flipping the egg and fucking it up.  And it's done in like 30 minutes.

Get some buttered toast and a bit of mexican cheese on the side and baby you got yourself a meal.

Scrambled eggs i just do the basic way.  throw it in a bowl and mix together to a uniform color, throw it in a pan and move that shit around for a few minutes on a medium temperature. or if i'm lazy, mix it just in the pan.  skip the bowl.

but i like to do it with some cheese sometimes.  Get your cheese of choice, cut it up it in thin strips.  get a few eggs, beat them in a bowl.  pour a little bit of milk and then drop the cheese in.  mix it all up.  Then fry it in a pan with just a bit of oil and salt.

Shit, then get the tiny french breads, cut them in half and put that shit in there with some valentina hot sauce or some authentic salsa and god fucking damn.

i'm not very scientific with eggs but i eat them a lot  

[Mupepe]

For two people at that price I would get some good steaks or chops (lamb chops ) and make a marinade. Miso-mirin marinade on lamb chops is both super easy and "out of the ordinary."

I think this might be it...

30 dollar lobster

Seriously though find some fennel (2 big bulbs), 2 white fish steaks, and some italian white wine.  Chop the fennel finely, place it in a pan with a half cup of water and a little olive oil and simmer it with a lid on, about twenty minutes, or until tender (pierced with a fork).    When tender rapidly boil the water off without burning the fennel. Reduce to medium heat  Put some more oil in and move the fennel to one side.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place the fish in and spoon oil over it.  About 6 minutes on one side, 4 on the other.  Serve on some white rice with the fennel covering.  Simplicity itself.  Drink the wine.

That sounds really good.  The only problem for us is that neither of us are huge fish eaters and rarely our stomachs agree about "fish time".  I'll see how she feels about fish because goddamn that sounds delicious.

[Eric P]

The term Strammer Max (literally "stiff Max" or "tight Max") originated in the 1920s in Saxon slang, where it initially referred to an erection, the male name "Max" being often used as a slang word for penis (similar to the English "Dick" or "Willy"). The term was adopted into Berlin street slang and applied to a dish that was supposed to be especially strengthening to the sexual prowess of the person eating it.

lol

[OnkelC]

The term Strammer Max (literally "stiff Max" or "tight Max") originated in the 1920s in Saxon slang, where it initially referred to an erection, the male name "Max" being often used as a slang word for penis (similar to the English "Dick" or "Willy"). The term was adopted into Berlin street slang and applied to a dish that was supposed to be especially strengthening to the sexual prowess of the person eating it.

lol

lol

[Eric P]

tonight i made lamb meatballs with tzatziki sauce

came out ok

needed more spices, i think

[Cormacaroni]

Tonight's dinner - Pork chops w/shimeji cream sauce

Pretty simple if you already know the basics of pork chop prep (slice through the rind in 4 or 5 places to prevent the fat from curling up when cooking, season with salt & pepper and let sit for 20 mins or so to return the meat to room temp, then dust with flour before cooking).

Give the chops 3 mins on medium heat, turn, add mushrooms to the pan, 3 more mins of heat, stirring the shrooms occasionally. Take out the chops, shut off the heat, deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine, add cream, chopped parsley and a little salt and pepper if needed. Let the cream reduce a bit, then pour the mixture over the chops and serve.

[TEEEPO]

we cooked curry chicken last night while the snow kept piling up.

drank some aventinus and hefeweizen before and after.

and in the "morning" we had homemade pancakes topped with nibs and bananas.



and while this went on, the abgoosht was cooking.


snow

[Rman]

I finally made Jamie Oliver's simple lasagna recipe.  I believe it's a favorite of yours, Cormac.  I ran out of store bought fresh lasagna sheets so I had to make some from scratch, with a rolling pin no less, as I don't own a pasta machine.  First time since culinary school.  I forgot how fun it was.  Most professional kitchens at least have pasta machines.

Crappy iPhone pic

[Cormacaroni]

Looks good, Rman. Did you use creme fraiche? I can't get that over here so I have to fudge quite a few of his recipes. I've made his pumpkin lasagne a few times but not his regular one.

[Rman]

Yes.  You can always make a bechamel sauce/mornay sauce instead, Cormac, for a more traditional substitute.

[Cormacaroni]

That's what i do. But he goes out of his way to slam 'claggy old bechamels' so would like to try his variation instead. His cheese-for-sauce substitutions are quite interesting - another one he used a few times is mascarpone for custard. Simplifies prep too!

I have a wacky Japanese bechamel variation that's pretty good if you want some more protein. It involves grated Japanese yams (nagaimo) and tofu. Haven't tried it in lasagne yet, just a doria. The wife loved it.

[Mupepe]

Jesus that lasagna looks fucking good.