Learning to cook...FINALLY!

White_Knight

Why am I learning cooking, an essential life skill, JUST NOW!?...AT AGE 29!? Well, growing up our parents always cooked so I guess I just figured, "oh they got it, okay once less thing to worry about". But now it’s like "Ok, Kenneth. You’re 30 in 3 months, you’re supposed to know stuff already. Get with it!” So I’m finally learning how to cook. It’s not that I ever was apprehensive or lacked the confidence to cook, it’s just our parents always did it so we just kind of left it to them.

But I like cooking. It’s fun and it usually tastes better because then you get to cook it the way YOU like it. Also due to emotional abuse from kids at school all throughout my formative years, I don't have a lot of love for myself. A pro on here actually wrote a blog entry that really resonated with me and gave me hope. You know who you are, and thank you again for that. I love other people, and care about them deeply, but I barely ever think about myself. So it’s important for me to express my independence and learn to love myself again. Cooking is a great way to do that and makes me more confidant in general. Cause its like 'well, at least I can cook for myself'. Hehe

Below are some pics of the first several things I learned to cook. First thing ever was eggs, which I never really ate before because my Mom always made em super dry and overdone, but since I can make em myself now, I eat eggs about twice a week now. I'd eat em more often but trying to cut down my cholesterol.

third or fourth ? time that I made eggs, I put some microwave sausage-patties with it...

Grilled cheese - for the first time ever! A bit burnt but I didn't care, I still ate it. Hehe

Another time, I also did one with a provolone on a hoagie bun. I left it in there a bit too long, but it came out tasting like a pretzel which, with the provolone cheese, made it taste super awesome! Hehe. I made two, ate the first one then realized I forgot to take a picture, so that's why there's a giant grease stain next to it.

Then I did some burger buns one night when we had burgers for dinner. Came out perfect. Evenly toasted, nice golden-brown. So good! And yes, that's a bit of the butter I used Haha

Another time I made eggs for myself, then my Dad wanted breakfast so I made him some and left it for him to just eat it straight out of the pan. We're farming family so we eat like that sometimes. REAL country cookin' LOL He said it really hit the spot. Hehe And yes our stove top is really rusted, but we've had it since before I was even born! So that's why all the rust and corrosion.

Hamburger "Steak" and Eggs. Made this for breakfast today actually about 3 hours ago. I say "steak" because its actually just a hamburger patty. My sister and her boyfriend wanted to hangout and make burgers. But I declined, telling them I wanted to make burgers on my own my first, that way when I come over I'll already know what to do. They said that was fine. So to practice, I did a hamburger patty in the skillet, then put my eggs with it. I normally eat 3 eggs, but since I was having the hamburger too, I only did two eggs. It came out really great. Only took me about 15 minutes or so, if even that. It was really good.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to the store and get ingredients for stir-fry. I'm going to do a Szechwan Shredded Beef and Carrots, from a stir-fry cookbook I bought at the half-price book store awhile back. Its from Better Homes and Garden so it ought to be really great. Gonna make it for dinner tomorrow night and invite my grandma over, she lives just down the road from us. She's an amazing cook herself. Her mother was a cook for some rich family back in the day so that's where she learned to cook. But I think stir-fry would be good dish for my first actual MEAL cooking start to finish. Will post again to let y'all know how it turns out...

waywardchild80

Congrats @White_Knight ! Learning new skills always makes me feel good about myself and you are never too old to learn something!

AngelPendavez

Hey, good for you!! And you know, there isn't much to it. Just remember four things:

-Salt
-Pepper
-Garlic
-Onion

That's basically it XD Once you have the basics, you find that when your heart's in the right place, you can make a really delicious meal with ease. A little practice, confidence, and love. That's all you need ~ Looking forward to the update! ^^

UKGuy

Congratulations on the progress you are making. I was never taught how to cook either. I have a collection of cook-books but I don't even understand all the terms they use. I get confused between tsp and tbsp and the difference between baking soda and baking powder. Terms like beat, baste, dice, chop, sieve, and fold leave my head spinning. Almost every recipe has one word or process that puzzles me. I have been single for long periods of my life, so I have learned how to make myself meals. I seldom use my oven but I do a lot of micro-waving since I like speed. I can make things like grilled cheese with tomato, veggie cheeseburgers, rice/quinoa/couscous combined with fresh vegetables, I buy pizza crusts and put my own combination of fresh tomatoes and cheeses on top. I can make waffles, pancakes, muffins and scones from scratch. I eat lots of fruit and I have recently started juicing fruits and vegetables. Photos are grilled cheese on ciabatta roll with fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice (from my tree) and Belgian waffle with fresh berries.

On the tips for stirfry.

A. Do something called mis-en-place. It's just a fancy term that means, getting all the ingrediants ready, and in place, for you to throw in, at the appropriate time. Some people, new to cooking, will actually put each ingrediant, in a small bowl and put them in the order of the recipe. There are 2 important aspects of mis-en-place.

A1) For the learner, you have everything ready. You'll have zero stress about measuring, under-fire. You can take all the time you need to be ready, and this gives your brain extra time to noodle-through the recipe. This helps you focus on the process which is where the magic happens.

A2) It makes the cooking real easy. If you get a set of small glass dishes, dedicated for this purpose, it makes clean-up easier too, allowing you to clean as you go because your "prepped" ingrediants can be set-aside from your immediate workspace.

B. Use high heat. But carefully.
B1. If you are new to this, you want the oil in the pan, to be heated to just-below the point where the oil starts to smoke. Be sure to back it off when you get there. You'll see tiny wisps of smoke, close to the surface. Back off the heat enough so that the temp is stable without smoking. For stirfry, as you get good at it, which you will after a few times, you'll actually want the heat at that smoking point, don't try that at first.

B2. Each type of oil has a different "smoke point", or temperature where the oil starts to smoke. Read-up on cooking oils that have a high smoke-point and choose one of them. Also, the different oils will impart different flavor or character to the food. That's also something that will come with time, knowing what oil will give you the taste you want. Some oils I cook with include: peanut, grapeseed, olive oil and coconut oil.

Peace!

White_Knight

I never thought about using ciabatta, Id bet that would pair well with Romano. I like Romano cheese because its what the roman legions ate while on campaign, hence the name. It would keep for long periods of time whithout spoiling which is why Rome's legions favored it as one of their go-to foodstuffs whilst on campaign. Yeah let's all eat like a legionary! haha No but its probably one of my favorite cheeses. I actually prefer a hard cheese. I like Romano because its a lot like parmesan but just a tad stronger and it has a natural smoke flavor to it (even if you buy the regular Romano).

Haha the waffles with the berries in each grid reminds me of childhood. That's the way we always ate em growing up. Same with the pizzas, we'd buy the crusts and then our parents let us make our own and they'd stick em in the oven.

And yes, with stir-fry you NEED to have everything prepped before hand AND in the right order. Its hard to try and mince garlic or julienne some peppers while you're also trying to keep the pork going Haha But its a good tip to remember.

@galowglass, those tips are awesome. I love stir fry, but I'm a lousy cook, so I can use all the tips I can get.

Threads like this are great. Just so you know: I'm going to be lurking and taking notes. And I may not be the only one....

CuddleStella

Yummy dishes!! So happy that you've picked up cooking! one of the best things out there we can learn to do!

Self-care, self-sufficiency, and self-fulfillment. Cooking is VERY empowering. Plus I'll bet if you could offer cuddles (+) PLUS a home-cooked meal, you might be on to something. From the tractor picture, I'm guessing you might have access to really fresh produce, too! Start a floating dinner club for cuddlers!
Peace

Babichev

@White_Knight - I see you've mastered the art of burnt toast. Congratulations!

I've been on my own since I was 18 so I learned to cook a long time ago. I've cooked in two vegetarian restaurants and one non-veg restaurant. I tend to cook with an Italian accent. I love playing in the kitchen and make all kinds of things - home made pasta, really good pizza, home made ice cream and sorbet in the summer. Right now I'm eating the last of the white peach rosewater sorbet. It's incredibly easy to make, is beautiful and delicious. I like cooking on the Weber kettle in the summer, it's very forgiving.

It's good to learn how to cook. After all, we have to eat!

cmorley92

hey i usually don't get involved in the forums here, but i just had to say i really commend you for this, as im 26 and living a similar experience. was never really close to kitchens until i started working in them lol and i see now how important and interesting the skill really is. so yeah.. keep it up!

Bluttrinker

JayPhoenix777

Great job, I love how happy you look in the first pic. I love breakfast foods & stir fry so I was kinda drooling haha. I'm glad you're finding ways to love yourself.

gentlesnuggle

I'm with you, White_Knight. Like UKGuy, I struggle with terms. When I prepare food, it tends to be the easy variety involving either a crock pot or a juicer. That's about it for me. Consequently, I might takes some notes here.

All your base are belong to us and all your toast is belong to burnt.

Tho I still get tablespoon and teaspoon mixed up so I'm one to talk.

Good luck.

White_Knight

Hey, sorry to get back so late. This past week has been REALLY busy. Anyway, so long story short, here are some pics from earlier this evening making my first stir-fry ever! We ate about two hours ago but Im still riding the high of making my first meal ever Hehe I feel so proud even though its just a stir-fry.

Me cooking my first-ever stir-fry! Yes, Im aware of the time stamp. Haha Its an old camera. Something happened to it and the time stamp has been way off ever since. Oh well hehe

Close-up of stir-frying the beef and carrots after adding in the Szechwan sauce. Yeah sorry about the giant glare from spatula just now realized it haha

Beef and carrots stir-fried in a Szechwan sauce, served on a bed of white rice, garnished with green onions.

The cookbook of stir-fries where I got the recipe. Its by Better Homes and Garden. I found it at the half-price book store for like five bucks. Hehe

Szechwan Beef and Carrots and the recipe to make it. Recipe makes enough for 4 people. Prep time about 20 minutes, cook time about 10 minutes.

You're going to need to update that sign on your wall.
4 kinds of meals...
4. Home-cooked (but only if you cuddle)

White_Knight

It was really good. It was like restaurant quality, or even better actually. I will definitely be making this again. I even sent a plate down to my Grandma, that she wouldn't have to get out with all the mosquitos (it just rained the past few days) - they're really bad out here. Anyway, so I sent her a plate. She said it was really good and the way the flavors all blended together were really great. It came out really good.

If anyone wants the recipe to make it themselves or for their family, just message me and I'll message it to you...

congrats

Babichev

@White_Knight - I am so happy for you! I enjoy cooking (when I'm in the mood for it). I love the creative process, I love eating it, and I love sharing it. The look of joy and sense of accomplishment in your face is delightful. Thanks for sharing it!

One of the great things about this pursuit is that it's something you can enjoy for the rest of your life. There is absolutely no limit and you can take it in any direction you want to go.

Here in St. Louis there are some wonderful resources. There is a cooking store that has classes where you make food in class and then get to eat it. The community college has classes. And there is a place where you can prepare food to then take home and freeze for later. They have all the ingredients laid out and cut up with directions on how to assemble and how to cook it later at home.

Enjoy yourself!

White_Knight

For Christmas this year, I'm asking people to buy me an apron, a set of good quality knives, and some pot holders Hehe

cuddlerforu24

For good cutlery brands ask Santa for
Henckels, Sabatier, or victorinox .

pmvines

Cooking is a great skill to have

White_Knight

I made some pork chops for dinner. Usually we do em shake and bake, but this time I wanted to learn how to do em in a skillet. They came out great! I didn't do anything fancy, just some season salt. They took forever though because we usually do the butterfly for shake and bake but I kinda decided last minute to do em in the skillet.

If you're going to do meat in a skillet, it really needs to be more of the cutlet type of meats versus butterflied. You can still do butterfly, but it takes ALOT longer. Also its kinda hard to get em heated consistently. Butterfly is do-able, but for skillet yeah, you really do need cutlet style. But they came out great nonetheless.

They were about a third of an inch, which is pretty thick for skillet which is why they took so long. I wasn't watching timer but I did them about 7 minutes per side if I had to guess how long. Somewhere around there.

So for now its CUTLET ONLY in the skillet. Hehe

cuddlerforu24

White knight : you can always finish the meat in the oven if it’s takkng too long in the skillet. Heat your oven to 350dehrees , fry the meat to get it brown and crispy , then finish in the oven if they are too thick .
Next : I want you to learn how to make fried chicken .

Take a chicken and you killit, and
put it in a skillet. ( actually that’s a line from a song)

Ok : Kentucky fried chicken ... this is colonel sanders recipe.
Mix flour , salt , and pepper together in a bowl .
Dunk your chicken parts in milk , then dredge them in the flour mixture , coat all sides , then into the frying pan with the hot oil and
Fry them . You want to chicken parts pretty much submerged in the hot oil , almost like deep frying .
That’s it

gentleandkind

This is a topic that hits home with many. Old and new cooks sharing best practices. Some secret ingredients I would suggest:
Adobo
Sazón
Knorr
Rice cooker!!!
I have also picked up lots of easy and cool recipes on youtube. I hope this helps.

Babichev

I just hit a cooking milestone today. Many years ago I was studying Spanish and my class had a potluck at my apartment one evening. My Mexican teacher and I got together early and made corn tortillas. We were making them from the same masa but hers were puffing up consistently and mine were not. I could not understand why. She said that in Mexico they said of women that when your tortillas puff up, you are ready to be married. I have often said that the reason I am still single is because my tortillas don't puff up.

Tonight I found out a Mexican grocery that I stop in occasionally sells fresh masa on the weekends. I bought some and lo and behold, my tortillas puffed up beautifully! This has been a quest for decades! I'm really excited.

Don't know how well you can see in the photo but this was my first one and it puffed up beautifully.

I wonder if this will lead to a change in my marital status?

UKGuy

I've found a big problem being a single person is everything comes in too big packages and goes bad or expires before I can use it all. This always happens with pancake mix, and I buy the expensive multi-grain kind. Just went to buy egg substitute, which I prefer using instead of eggs, and found they discontinued the small size. Now you can only get the large size, which I'll never use before it expires. I'd have to make pancakes every morning for two weeks just to get through it. Ended up having to buy 6 real eggs, used one egg to make 6 pancakes, fed three people. Now what do I do with the other 5 eggs?

cuddlerforu24

I love eggs . But my cardio guy doesn’t want me too . I’ll have them poached ,scrambled, over easy , whatever .

For UK guy your leftover egges,
I encourage you to learn how to make hollandaise sauce from the yolks ,
Then you can whip the whites into merengue for a pie topping

Myrddyn

Congrats, @White_Knight! It's one thing to cook for yourself -- one must eat, and that doesn't always take much -- but as you already know, cooking for others can be a real joy.

And if anyone in NC sees this, I will cook for anyone, anytime -- cuddles optional!

PaulaDahla

@Babichev good luck with the marriage proposals and congrats on the puffiness, yes it does come through nicely in the pictures.

@Myrddyn that would be an extremely good reason to get me to visit and if the food was good I may even cuddle while cooking just for the sheer excitement of having a man cook a wonderful meal! The joy of the smells, sounds, colors, and watching someone who's comfortable in the kitchen is like a show I'd pay to watch as long as I could ask questions if desired!!

I cook well enough at this point in my life after a 28 year marriage and three kids but my ex made chili. That was the extent of his made from scratch cooking and he used so many pots and utensils that the joy of him cooking was lost in my anxiety of watching my kitchen become dirtier and used items piling up in the sink or the counter!