• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Learning to Cook

wedekit

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
694
MBTI Type
INFJ
Lately I have had a desire to domesticate myself a little more. I'll hopefully be on my own in graduate school and I think it might be important for me to learn how to cook. It comes with a few perks I wouldn't mind having either.

To be honest, the only kinds of food I feel comfortable making are desserts and Italian. But I don't really know where else to start. I recently moved back home since I graduated and I think I might be able to pull my weight more if I took over cooking dinner for everyone. It's a chore I wouldn't mind doing since it would be something productive to me on a personal level.

Anyone care to share how they taught themselves to cook?
 
P

Phantonym

Guest
Trial and error. :laugh: Cooking came quite naturally to me. I never had to nor had I any interest for cooking when living with my parents. So, when I moved out, I had to start whipping up something to feed myself. I advocate healthy and balanced meals that taste good, so no junk food. Eating out is not really my thing either. No problem, I have a head on my shoulders, I can read and follow instructions, I can use my imagination. I didn't have any hesitations with starting to try things out.

Nobody is a natural with cooking, it just takes some experience, time and practice. Start with simple things. If something works, stick with it. If not, time to perfect it. Keep on trying, you can always start over. Getting comfortable with making simple things makes you more confident to start trying new, more difficult dishes.

Maybe get some regular cookbooks for starters, nothing ultra fancy. Start browsing the web, there's lots of websites and cooking forums that share good recipes with instructions and tips. The sky is the limit! But be careful, it can be highly addictive once you get yourself into it. There's so many new things to discover all the time. It's fascinating beyond belief. :D
 

Tiltyred

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
4,322
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
468
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
My mother taught me to read and follow a recipe. Just a matter of learning some new vocabulary, and then following instructions. What kind of things do you like to eat?
 

ceecee

Coolatta® Enjoyer
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
15,906
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
8w9
I would recommend a some cookbooks that will walk you through the basics, get you familiar with terminology and ingredients and you can progress from there. Unlike online resources, these are the hands on reference guides you can use for any level and any type of cooking.

The Joy of Cooking
The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook
The Betty Crocker Cookbook
The King Arthur Flour Baking Cookbook
Baking With Julia
America's Test Kitchen Cookbook
 

Tiltyred

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
4,322
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
468
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Those are great recommendations. Also Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything."
 

Laurie

Was E.laur
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
6,072
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7w6
Basically, follow recipes. Unlike baking, though, you can be random and replace stuff with similar stuff. I love my Betty Crocker book, it really does help to have something to look up words you don't know and information.

I think to learn to cook well you have to taste your recipes and learn to adjust them. I suck at that.

All recipes – complete resource for recipes and cooking tips is awesome
 

Tiltyred

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
4,322
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
468
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
A tip for following recipes: Read the recipe through once and double check to make sure you have the ingredients and the equipment before you get started. (I learned this the hard way.)
 

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
I still use the Betty Crocker cookbook I bought shortly after I married. It covers the basics pretty well.

You can follow the recipes that look like they only contain stuff you like until you get a feel for cooking. Then you can adjust other recipes by substituting ingredients according to your taste and/or the tastes of the people you are cooking for. Or that's what I try to do anyway.

Also like Pillsbury One-Dish Meals because one dish meals are a lazy cook's friend. :yes:
 

Charmed Justice

Nickle Iron Silicone
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Messages
2,805
MBTI Type
INFJ
My college roommates and I learned to cook together. We used to take turns cooking for each other, which was lots of fun. I like to have a recipe on the first go, and after that, I'll cook the same dish from memory, improvising to taste as I go along. I really like the Food Network's website because they have what seems like a million ways to make one thing. I'll get a taste for a specific dish, but desire a new way to make it, so it's good like that. The ratings make it good for me too. I'll cook things that other people have rated highly. I also like the Publix cookbook.
 

wedekit

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
694
MBTI Type
INFJ
Lol, I own "The Joy of Cooking" and it usually confuses me with ingredients I have never even heard of. It was a wedding present for my mom. Needless to say it is mint condition; my mom is a terrible cook. She has been cooking the same 4 or 5 things since I was born. We finally switched to frozen dinners that just need to be thrown in the oven. I personally thinks it's sad.

When I was in college I was friends with one of those girls that are destined to be a mom and housewife. She loved children, she loved cooking, and she loved being a hostess. After rehearsals some of us would go back to her apartment and she would always have ingredients to make something appetizing for everyone. One time she was looking through what she had in her fridge and ended up making the best pico de gallo I have ever had in my life.

Anyways, my point is I can't do that. I look in my pantry and I only see packages of instant everything and it makes me nauseous. I'd rather learn how to make my own food so I can feel like I'm actually getting some kind of nutrition.

I can make simple things... last night I made a lasagna for everyone. It was actually really good. I can make eggplant parmesan, though there was definitely some trial and error with that... I guess I just don't know where exactly to go from here. I honestly don't really know what constitutes a dinner meal.
 

Charmed Justice

Nickle Iron Silicone
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Messages
2,805
MBTI Type
INFJ
I can make simple things... last night I made a lasagna for everyone. It was actually really good. I can make eggplant parmesan, though there was definitely some trial and error with that... I guess I just don't know where exactly to go from here. I honestly don't really know what constitutes a dinner meal.
Cookthink is one of the best websites for that problem:
Cookthink | Feel smarter in the kitchen.
 

Tiltyred

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
4,322
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
468
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Traditionally, a meat, two vegetables or a vegetable and a salad, bread/starch, maybe dessert.
 

Laurie

Was E.laur
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
6,072
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7w6
Well do yourself a favor and move past the whole meat and potatoes thing. I know people love roasts and stuff but boy, what boring stuff to cook. Vegetarian cooking is REALLY interesting, and even if you want to have meat don't make it just a slab of meat.
 

Tiltyred

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
4,322
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
468
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Crockpot pot roast is yummy and easy, though...
 

tinkerbell

New member
Joined
Aug 31, 2008
Messages
3,487
MBTI Type
ENTP
I learned at my mums elbow, I was nuts about cooking as a tiny kid. I was hospitliased at 8 with a coooking injury... LOL

learn some core dishes.

Gordon Ramsey Make it Easy is good. His scrambled eggs are devine.

Roasts are easy - byung them in the oven turn the over on....
Peel a few veg and you are done.
 

Udog

Seriously Delirious
Joined
Aug 2, 2008
Messages
5,290
MBTI Type
INfp
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Even though it won't make you a master chef, I learned alot from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals on Food Network. I had NO experience cooking, and the good thing about the show is that they show HOW she cuts, dices, and whatnot because she's doing everything in 30 minutes. Most TV food shows usually skip the details, so I appreciated being able to watch HOW she prepares the meal.
 

mockingbird

New member
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
249
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
9w1
I didn't know how to cook when I got married. But someone gave me a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook as a wedding present, and that taught me the basics very well. After learning those basic recipies, I really got a feel for cooking and got more and more creative with it.
I later learned more basics through Mastering the art of French Cooking by Julia Child.(although I didn't go through every recipe like in that movie;))

I would also recommend Gordon Ramsay's book Gordon Ramsay Makes it easy.
 

Tiltyred

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
4,322
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
468
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Gordon Ramsey has some excellent videos on YouTube. There are a lot of cooking how-to videos on YouTube.
 

ceecee

Coolatta® Enjoyer
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
15,906
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
8w9
Lol, I own "The Joy of Cooking" and it usually confuses me with ingredients I have never even heard of. It was a wedding present for my mom. Needless to say it is mint condition; my mom is a terrible cook. She has been cooking the same 4 or 5 things since I was born. We finally switched to frozen dinners that just need to be thrown in the oven. I personally thinks it's sad.

What ingredients confuse you? I just grabbed my copy (1978 edition) so if it was a wedding gift to your mom, I should be reasonably close to the copy you have. I, as I'm sure several people here would be, happy to help you with that.

When I was in college I was friends with one of those girls that are destined to be a mom and housewife. She loved children, she loved cooking, and she loved being a hostess. After rehearsals some of us would go back to her apartment and she would always have ingredients to make something appetizing for everyone. One time she was looking through what she had in her fridge and ended up making the best pico de gallo I have ever had in my life.

Anyways, my point is I can't do that. I look in my pantry and I only see packages of instant everything and it makes me nauseous. I'd rather learn how to make my own food so I can feel like I'm actually getting some kind of nutrition.

Well, who does the shopping at your house? If you could perhaps create 5 days worth of dinner ideas, you could then make a shopping list. You accumulate spices and things over time, stock up on staples then you would need maybe one trip a week for perishable replenishment (veggies, fruits and meats).

I can make simple things... last night I made a lasagna for everyone. It was actually really good. I can make eggplant parmesan, though there was definitely some trial and error with that... I guess I just don't know where exactly to go from here. I honestly don't really know what constitutes a dinner meal.

What did you make with the lasagna? All that's needed would be a green salad, maybe several kinds of leafy greens. Those come pre-washed in bags. Maybe some Italian bread then a simple dessert if you're wanting a dessert. It could even be cheese and fruit (which is one of my favorite desserts).
 

BlueSprout

/X\(:: :: )/X\
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
571
MBTI Type
pfni
Enneagram
4
I found I couldn't make myself interested in really cooking until I followed my tastebuds. I tried to discipline myself to master basic recipes from books, but I quickly lost interest. Luckily, we live in the age of the internet where you can find just about any recipe under the sun. I found it worked better to try recipes I like from restaurants - Thai, Japanese, Indian, Greek, etc. I became more engaged because cooking didn't seem like a chore and it was honestly kind of fun to deconstruct the flavor combinations that I had always loved. It really made me appreciate what went into the process of making my favorite dishes as well.

I'm not knocking the classics or saying that you should bypass learning basic recipes/skills, but if you have the same frustration/lack of motivation at any point, then you might want to switch it up a little.
 
Top