Save me from the Force

[cosmolinguist]

For such a long time I did what my parents expected of me or what someone else wanted of me, that it's left me bewildered and worried just trying to find out what I want, much less actually doing it. Nothing new. So I'm going to start writing things down here, in hopes that I stop forgetting these things and get a little closer to actually doing them.

So, here's an easy one.

I want to be a better cook.

I'm not too stupid and I don't like ready meals but I did have about a week recently where I don't think I ate much other than grilled cheese. I'm not just lazy, I'm also uninspired. Or clueless.

I grew up with hamburger as a main ingredient and cream of mushroom as the Force, which runs through everything and binds it all together and I'm trying to avoid that.

When I got to college I made a lot of friends who could cook. Especially the veg(etari)an ones: I tink once you get rid of the pound-of-hamburger crutch you are more likely to know about the sorts of things that my mom would consider dangerously exotic. I envied them a lot and learned a little but forgot most of it.

I know I can google for recipes as easily as I can ask this, but I'd like to know what actually works for you, and anyway now that I have explained my latest Thing I Wanna Do I figure it won't hurt to ask: what's good for someone who might go so far as to eat poultry on special occasions and doesn't like mushrooms or tofu and doesn't know what she's doing? You can be as vague ("try risotto!") or specific ("look at this website!") as you like.

C'mon, I want my mom to think I'm dangerously exotic!

Comments

yay cooking!

[zammis.livejournal.com]

A couple of my favorite sites:

www.foodnetwork.com has recipes for about anything you can think of, with measurements for spices and what-not, in case the whole "add a little..." wigs out himself too much.

I also like www.whfoods.com- World's Healthiest foods, has some easy recipes involving poultry, fish etc. I made the Lamb Sweet Potato curry with ground turkey instead of lamb, and Karl likes it.

I made the chicken and sausage gumbo from www.gumbopages.com last night and it came out decent (though I have not yet mastered the roux.) Thre's a whole bunch of cajun recipes there, and recipes for how to make your own stock and seasonings, so you don't have to buy cajun seasoning.

If there is an ingedient you need shipped in, let me know, I wouldn't mind sending it! :)

cool

[zammis.livejournal.com]

I'll just be stealing the Delia link, thanks! :)

oh

[zammis.livejournal.com]

one other thing, in terms of frugality and "good for the earth" sort of thing- the More with Less cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre has a lot of frugal recipes with less meat and such. Focus is on forming complete vegetarian proteins, and there were a few recipes in there that could be considered low-carb. A lot I couldn't have due to being based in grains, but I think you'd appreciate the philosophy. ;)

Re: yay cooking!

[cosmolinguist]

Oh, Andrew won't really cook, much less with spices, but thanks; that's good to know.

And thanks for the offer! I'll let you know if I need to take you up on that. :-)

[cosmolinguist]

Well yes, that's the thing: you asked. Curiosity is a good sign. When Andrew left his mother's kitchen he made himself eight or ten pieces of toast for dinner.

He's gotten better; he will cook big lumps of meat himself (easiest thing ever as he doesn't want them to taste like anything else so you just throw the lamb chops or chicken in the oven, show him how to turn the oven on, and make sure to remind him to go check on them every so often; he still makes me verify that they're done because he's sure he's going to poison himself, but that I can handle) and I used to think he'd never even be that much of a cook. :-)

Re: oh

[cosmolinguist]

Thanks! There are a handful of little reasons I don't like to cook meat, and poverty is one of them, so that sounds good to me.

[bariau.livejournal.com]

Echoed. A little sugar really helps in tomato based sauces.

And a little lemon juice instead of salt.

Re: oh

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

I'm in, and about to go out again, otherwise I would post longer things on here and less potentially patronisingly, but Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food book is dead good for things that are fast and cheap and can be made with few cheap ingredients. I mean I am dead addicted to green lentils (dried) his "frugal way" with rice. Boil lentils vigorously for ten minutes with a bay leaf (i can send you some, i have a bay tree) and a dribble of olive oil. Drain and add salt and freshly ground black pepper, maybe a bit of butter if you have some. Serve with rice and any veggies you have lying around.

I also recommend a steamer (not an electric one or bamboo one, the metal pan sort) for steaming veg. Nicer than boiling and leaves in more nutrients.

I do advise getting hold of Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course if you can, as that's how I taught myself the basics. It's always in print (and always available cheaply second hand). Once you've learned a few things then it's a case of changing things a bit with different veg/fish/meat/spices and learning when you can substitute or adjust things and when you can't.

[cosmolinguist]

I never like salt anyway. Lemon juice is good, though! I used up the last of mine this morning, as I finally made the concoction you weirdo Englishes call pancakes. (They were edible; I was impressed. :-))

[cosmolinguist]

Lentils are one of those things I always like when I am offered a dish containing them but never think of otherwise. I think if I can solve this sort of brain short-circuit I have solved most of my cookery problems. :-)

I have been wanting a steamer for a while; it is on my list of Things I Will Get One of These Days. For now I fake it by putting the veggies in a bowl with a tiny bit of water, covering it in clingfilm and zapping it in the microwave.

I am totally excited at the thought of you sending me bay leaves; so perhaps I can be hopelessly domestic yet. :-)

[bariau.livejournal.com]

I love pancakes. MmmmMMMmm... :D

[cosmolinguist]

They were nice, and fun to make, but I'm still annoyed that they mean no one here knows what I'm talking about when I go on (as I do) about the pancakes I love. :-)

[belladonnalin.livejournal.com]

I think that the best thing I ever did for myself and cooking was experimenting with spices. You know ('cause we've comisserated) that I grew up in the same "ground beef plus cream of something soup equals dinner" household, so I got to college and was all "ummm ... what's tumeric?"

I have found that cooking with vegetables (stir fries, fried rice with veg, pasta with veg, roast veg) was a good way to experiment with spices. Because they have a less overwhelming flavor than meat, you can taste more what the spices do.

Personally, I love making curry (Indian-style and Thai-style). I'd be happy to send you (vague) recipies if you want.

[belladonnalin.livejournal.com]

You can also steam veggies by putting them in a metal colander and placing the colander on top of a pot of boiling water (best if it slides a bit into the pot, but still stays about the water line). Then, put tinfoil over hte top and ... ta dah! steamer.

[baphomette.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love this recipie for a spicy (could be made non spicy, if you fancy) fish stew.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/russell_howard/fish.shtml

If *I* can make it, you can. My previous cooking experience = take out of packet, put in oven, take out of oven, eat. Burn mouth.

[cosmolinguist]

As I'm sure I've said before, you give me hope. :-) Because you started out just like I did and ended up being an awesome cook who knows all kinds of things I wish I did, so it must be possible.

I love Indian curry and at least sometimes like Thai curry and would be quite happy to have recipes from you. Vagueness doesn't scare me. :-) As I say somewhere above, I do not think this is an exact science. I just need some idea of, y'know, what to shop for, and what to do with it.

[cosmolinguist]

Your cooking experience sounds a lot like Andrew's. :-) It's crazy and cool how Actual Cooking is not that much more difficult than taking things out of packets.

I gotta love a recipe that includes things like "3 cloves of garlic (use less if sexually active)".

[belladonnalin.livejournal.com]

Okay, here are a couple of my recipies:

Vegan Rice Fake-Grauitin (http://community.livejournal.com/vegancooking/1118498.html)
To address the "weird" stuff in there:
1) You can use ANY vegetable you like, just add them to the saute in the order of hardness (which more or less lets you know how long they'll take to cook/soften) so you don't get mushiness. A general rule for me is that the more colors the vegetables have, the better.
2) You don't have to use nutritional yeast (which I'm sure counts as "weird" for Andrew). I use it to add a cheesey/yeasty flavor, but you could totally do without it and add some curry/coriander/cumin for a more curry-kind of sauce, some chili powder for a more spicy sauce, etc. Or you could just put some cheese in at the end and let it melt.

Chana Mumbai Masala (http://belladonnalin.livejournal.com/446147.html)
This is totally not a genuine recipe, but it's an easy one. I do the same basic thing with a bunch of different veggies - a favorite is spinach (frozen is fine!) and chickpeas/garbanzo beans. Again, the nutritional yeast is not necessary.

Potato Rice Soup (http://community.livejournal.com/veggievictuals/37403.html)
This is really good. Very thick and pretty damn tasty.

[(Anonymous)]

Me too! I used four:)

[donttouchmyhat.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I can't help you on the recipes (though I can tell a person how to lose 60+ lbs. and still have 3 sodas a day). Er, no, what I really want to say is that I really truly Laughed Out Loud at the cream of mushroom soup line. Still am, in fact.

[donttouchmyhat.livejournal.com]

Almost but not completely unrelated to your post:

[keithlard.livejournal.com]

It was delicious! Thank you very much for the recipe! :D

I used Cornish Yarg cheese which I reely like the flavour of, and I added a little sliced garlic sossidge which I had some to use up. Yum yum!

And sophysings liked it too :>

[nodressrehersal.livejournal.com]

I love to cook, and I don't often use recipes...I'm more of an instinct cook, but I've been doing it for almost 30 years.

Stock your cupboards with things you like, for example, canned artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, water chestnuts, different beans, things that are fine canned. I keep a jar of minced garlic in the refrigerator. I always have the boxed cartons of chicken, beef, and vegetable stock on hand. Have different kinds of pasta available.

If you eat fish or chicken or meat of any kind, buy it bulk, and then repackage in dinner-sized ziploc bags and freeze.

Now all you need to do is melt some butter, add a spoon of garlic, chop some onion, saute it for a few minutes... add some flour to thicken and slowly stir in some of one of your broths until you have the consistency you want, thick or thinner. Throw in something from the cupboard and one fresh veggie that you love, change the flavor by adding a few tablespoons of a marinade, a dressing, sour cream, veggie dip, anything... add meat or shrimp if you eat it, boil up some pasta and voila, you've got a yummy meal that you can change a hundred ways, and it takes you 20 minutes to cook.

I keep shredded asiago cheese, pecorino romano, feta, and crumbled blue in the 'fridge at all times, too. A sprinkle on top, and yumm..

The bags of Uncle Ben's long grain rice that you cook in 90 seconds in the microwave are incredibly easy and good. 90 seconds! I keep half a dozen in the cupboard.

If you don't eat enough dark greens, here's the best tip I can offer. Get a mini chopper, one that holds 3 cups is great. I got mine for $12 at Wal-Mart. Buy a bag of fresh baby spinach, and chop a handful and add it to every single thing you eat. You can't really taste it, it adds great color, and it's so freakin' good for you. I put it in pasta sauce, goulash, linguine and clam sauce, everything! By mini-chopping it, it's so small you don't even notice it, but you get the goodness of it.

Here's another easy side dish. Take a few whole potatoes and slice them skinny, so you have round potato circles maybe 1/4" thick. Butter a cookie sheet, lay them out, however many you want to serve per person. lightly butter on top, and add salt or pepper if you want. Cook @ 425 for maybe 10-15 minutes each side, 'til they get kinda golden brownish. After you turn them and cook side two, sprinkle the tops with shredded cheddar. Add some crumbled bacon bits (I buy the bacon that cooks in the micro in 2-3 minutes) and heat until cheese melts. Another yum.

If you tell me some things you like, I could probably say more, but I'm thinking I've rambled enough.

[cosmolinguist]

I'm pretty sure now I stole that line from somewhere, but I haven't the slightest idea now where that might be. Glad you liked it anyway.

[dreamhope.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it is dangerous exotic, but a shocking number of my friends had never had acorn squash until I fed it to them. I love squash!

Some of my favourite recipes are on my work's website's recipe archive page (http://www.greenearthorganics.com/archive.asp?qsArchiveType=Recipe). I can't speak to the quality of all of them, but the great thing about the list is that the title almost always lists all the major ingredients, they are all vegetarian (but mostly tofu-free), and they aren't really complicated.

Oh, a tip: Because of the stupid way the archives work, if there's a typo or a problem with the posting, it gets re-posted with a separate entry in the archives. Always click on the top link for the best version.

Have fun with the cooking!