Cooking tips for beginners AMA

[Caca-faat]

Cooking is the shyt, brehs.

It is, in my opinion, the key to a happy relationship.

Think about every time your woman was on your ass about some unimportant emotional shyt. Was she hungry at the time? I bet she was. I have headed off 90% of the fights in my relationship by simply asking my girl, "Are you hungry?"

Women. Are. Always. Hungry. Brehs. Be the nikka who can wrangle that shyt confidently and skillfully.

Plus once you've cultivated the skill, you can create anything you want to eat anytime you want to eat it.

That super-divine shyt you had in France that one time? You can have that shyt whenever you want.

Your late-Grandma's famous smothered pork chops? About 25 mins away.

It's like a super power in the dating world.

Pro-tip: Frank Sinatra and a glass of wine turns cooking into a full-on good-ass time.

Facts! all of the above.

 

[Caca-faat]

DIY

If you can do things yourself do so. It's much easier to avoid processed food that way and gives you the option to control the salt and sugar content and unnecessary chemicals.

Grated cheese for example is coated in anti caking and cost more for less So why not grate your own.

Shop bought sauces are filled with sugars, salt and preservatives which wouldn't be necessary if you made it yourself.

Use your senses

All five senses are used when cooking, if you're an inexperienced cook it's important to pay attention. It is very easy to become distracted and turn away from a boiling pot and it over flows or take a phone call and lose track of how long you have been cooking a piece of steak.

As @BaldingSoHard above pointed out tasting is cooking. Taste, Taste Taste. Taste when ever you add something, and if you need to add more then add the ingredient and taste again.

Balance and correction
You want to make sure your food isnt overly spicy. If your protein is spicy, your sauce is spicy and your rice is spicy then your food will not be enjoyable.

In cooking you will have to learn how to correct dishes if you over salt or over spice dishes.

For example if you are making a soup or sauce and it's too salty put a peice of raw potato into it. This will absorb the salt. When you feel the flavour is balanced fish out the potato and discard.
You can add a teaspoon or so of sugar if a dish is too tangy or salty. Tomato soup or tomato sauce for example.

For a soup or sauce you also add water to reduce the salt content but bare in mind this will water down the integrity of your dish and you will have to reduce or "cook down" the dish.


Reduction

Reducing is cooking the sauce, gravy,soup or stew to reduce the water content. This helps to concentrate the flavour and meld the spices and aromatics together. If you reduce it too far it can become too salty and you will have to add more water and cook it down again. You cannot just add water and turn it off, you have to cook till it combine all the flavours otherwise it will taste watery.

Multitasking

You want everything to be ready to eat at the same time. The dish that takes the longest must always be the first dish you start working on. The cooking time of the rest of your dishes will based around that.

Separately you dont want to wait till the main dish has finished cooking before you start cooking the second dish. E.g if your chicken takes 1 hour to cook. Start cooking your rice when you have 25 mins left at the same time start prepping your vegetables so you can put them on in the last 15mins. That way everything is ready to eat at the same time and is cooked within the shortest time possible.

Rice

Rice can be tricky if you over think it. The easiest method is the absorption method.

1. Always wash your rice. You want to wash off the excess starch which can cause your rice to be sticky. I put my rice in a strainer and run it under the tap swirling my hand through the rice until the water runs clear.

Then I put the rice in a saucepan and cover it with a finger digits worth of hot water from the kettle. When adding water remember that the water is also going in between each rice grain and the water on top that you can see is not all the water there is. Add a knob of butter and salt. With salt you have to add it to your own taste. Always taste the water after adding salt ensuring you haven't added too much. Remember you can always add salt but never remove it without starting over.

Turn the fire onto the lowest it can go. Remember the water is from the kettle so the cooking process will begin immediately.

I cover my saucepan with aluminium foil sealing the edges so no steam escapes. The rice will take 20 mins with this method. No stirring or anything. You will know when the rice is done because you will smell that "cooked rice smell" before opening the pot.

If you haven't added enough water you will hear the rice sizzling because the liquid has dried out, or you will also smell it burning. It shouldn't come to the point where it is burning in that short amount of time. So you will only need to add a small amount of water. Only enough to just cover what you imagine would be the base of the pot. Seal again and allow it to cook until you smell that cooked rice smell.

 

[feelosofer]

This may seem silly but if the food takes an hour or more to cook, prep before hand. like try and cut things up the night before. Seems basic but even I forget to do that and I spend an hour or two prepping especially foods like macaroni and cheese.

Also keep apple cider vinegar on deck, you can use it as an easy way to pickle veggies especially onions and peppers.

 

[Turbulent]

Sub

 

[Dog Based Gremlin]

How to boil water

1. Pour water into a pot
2. Turn on the Stove

 

[Rawtid]

Good Kitchen Habits


Developing good kitchen and cooking habits makes the cooking process much quicker.

Knowing which tools and pans you need before hand, which ingredients you dont have or need and always having kitchen staples to hand. It seems obvious but forward planning really gets the job done.

Kitchen Staples are multi purpose ingredients or tools that are essential.

• Flour
• Butter
• Eggs
• Cornflour
• Ketchup
• Salt
• Soy sauce
• Fresh onion
• Fresh Garlic
• Fresh Thyme
• Fresh ungrated Nutmeg
• Paprika and other seasonings
• Kettle
• Wooden spoon
• Metal oven tray x 2
• Pirex Dish
• Spatula
• Decent Knives
• Cutting board
• Tongs
• Measuring cups and spoons

I cannot express how important good Sharp knives are. Sharp knives speed up the cooking process, what can take you 6 strokes will take you 1 stroke with a good sharp knife. There are lots more reasons why good knives are important but for the purpose of this, just remember to always keep your knives sharp. Buy a knife sharpener and learn to sharpen your knives if you can.


A kettle is an essential tool in the kitchen. You will usually need hot water for what ever you are cooking so using a kettle is a way quicker means. You dont have to put potatoes or rice into cold water and wait for it to come up to temperature, you can cut out about 15 mins or so each dish than requires hot water just by using the kettle instead.



If you are planning on making large meals you will need more than one of most things.

A large frying pan and a small one
A large and small sauce pan
More than one cutting board (you can get 2 in a pack)
A large chefs knife and a meat cleaver

A spatula because using a spatula to pick up items is better than using a fork, you can use tongs where required.

When you say "good knives", what's the best way to determine? Any particular specs to look for on the box or is price/brand the main factor.

 

[MajesticLion]

You may need to draft a primer on how to wash/season meat for the cold-water-wash-and-pat-dry-with-a-paper-towel crowd.

 

[Caca-faat]

How to boil water

1. Pour water into a pot
2. Turn on the Stove

Or just boil the kettle.

 

[Dog Based Gremlin]

Or just boil the kettle.

 

[MischievousMonkey]

GOAT thread.

I have several questions:

I want to integrate more vegetables to what I eat but I don't really know how to cook them, and especially how to prepare them quickly. Like I can do my chicken fast but if I were to add carrots to it, I have to boil them first and then cut them in parts? I feel like vegetables take mad long to cook.

So I'm opened minded to any vegetables tips.

Also, what's the key to prepping? How do yall avoid the loss of flavor of food when it stays in the fridge after being cooked?

 

[Caca-faat]

When you say "good knives", what's the best way to determine? Any particular specs to look for on the box or is price/brand the main factor.

The best knives have good weight displacement. This allows the knife to do most of the work. The knives I have are global knives they have sand in the handle to allow more pressure on the item you are trying to cut without you doing as much work. Ideally your knife should have a heavy handle with a good strong blade in general. You will have to sharpen them either way so get a knife sharpener.

Have you ever tried cutting a tomato with a dull knife if the blade isnt sharp enough, while you are applying more and more pressure, you end up squashing the tomato more than anything. So its best to keep the knife blade SHARP whichever knife you choose even if the handle isnt weighted.
Some people like cerated knives they seem to stay sharper for longer.

TBH Good knives do cost a fair amount but they are worth it. I have been using my same knives for 9 years now so they are an investment.

Different knives do different things, my favourite is the big chefs knives. The blade is wide and tapered which makes it ideal for chopping so I can rock the knife back and forth. Then theres the meat cleaver. Good for chopping through joints and bones, making light work of a heavy task. I would start my collection with these two, the chefs knife can be multipurpose, I even use it to peel limes. Lol

 

[Caca-faat]

GOAT thread.

I have several questions:

I want to integrate more vegetables to what I eat but I don't really know how to cook them, and especially how to prepare them quickly. Like I can do my chicken fast but if I were to add carrots to it, I have to boil them first and then cut them in parts? I feel like vegetables take mad long to cook.

So I'm opened minded to any vegetables tips.

Also, what's the key to prepping? How do yall avoid the loss of flavor of food when it stays in the fridge after being cooked?

You dont have to cook vegetables before adding them to anything. If they can be eaten raw you dont have to worry about it too much, you are more cooking it to improve the texture or digestability.

If your cooking chicken and want to add carrots to it, the first thing you have to think about is if there is enough liquid in the pot to cook them.
A stew for example: should have enough gravy covering the meat and the carrots. Slice them up to just thicker than the size of a coin and add them towards the end, last 15 mins or so and you should be good.

Carrots hold their shape for a very long time, more so than even potatoes. So you can put them in at the beginning of a soup providing you have sliced them up up into chunks.

You can even grate them into the chicken, that wont take long to cook at all.

Corn on the cob just needs to be steamed in a steam pot or simmered gently. Just strip off the husk and chop into 3.

Broccoli just break off the florets and steam. I also like them sliced and sprinkled lightly with salt then lightly fried in a pan till the become lightly coloured. If you choose you can pour whisked eggs over them and make a broccoli omelette but they are fine on their own.

Eggplant is also pretty simple. Sliced thinly then lay out on a tray that has been covered in kitchen roll paper. Place the eggplant on the sheet then sprinkle all over with salt to draw out the excess liquid. This step is important because it helps to draw out any bitterness. After this you can grill or pan fry them. They are delicious. You can also try moussaka which kinda like a lasagna but instead of using pasta you use eggplant instead. Moussaka

I have also used butternut squash sheets instead of lasagna sheets.


You can make stuffed peppers. A quick version is a lasagna meat sauce mixed with rice and stuffed into bell peppers covered with cheese and baked. Find recipe below.
Beef and Rice Stuffed Peppers

 

[Caca-faat]

GOAT thread.


Also, what's the key to prepping? How do yall avoid the loss of flavor of food when it stays in the fridge after being cooked?

The key to prepping is prepping.

Start well before hand and chop items that you will need.

Chop things evenly so they all cook at the same time.

Marinate overnight where possible. Trust me on this.

Take the meat out to allow it to come to room temperature before cooking.

Make sure you have all the ingredients before cooking. You dont want to realise you need something important at the last minute.

Make sure you have the right equipment.


Food taste will not degrade when stored in the fridge, in fact it improves when stored correctly. Make sure it is covered and sealed. Cold fridge air will dry food out if left uncovered. A stew taste better after it has been left overnight as the flavours sit longer together.

 

[MischievousMonkey]

@Caca-faat

Thank you very much. I'm finna eat! Thread is bookmarked.

 

[Caca-faat]

You may need to draft a primer on how to wash/season meat for the cold-water-wash-and-pat-dry-with-a-paper-towel crowd.

Any meat you use will need to be washed. Chicken is by far the most bacteria filled in my opinion.

You can use salt or acid to help clean the meat. Or both if you choose.
I dont measure anything at all unfortunately so everything I cook is a "likkle bit of this or that".

Washing or soaking meat in a brine like liquid also helps to season the chicken or pork from inside out using osmosis by replacing the natural water content in the meat with the salty liquid in which it is submerged.
Before you start, remove any clean dishes from the sink area to avoid bacteria filled water splashing on them.

Place chicken pieces into a bowl and fill with cold water. Add salt and maybe 2 table spoons of water per litre or maybe 1/4 cup vinegar or the juice of 1 lemon on lime. Let sit for about 45 minutes. When washing chicken pieces with skin make sure to wash under the chicken skin to remove any slime.

Ensure to clean the marrow out of the back bone or side thigh bone, I use my thumb; I cant think of any other way to do it. The marrow has an offal like texture when cooked and isn't very nice.

Make sure to pick any feathers out of the chicken, especially the wings. Be careful as sometimes the quill may still be in the chicken, not a big deal but can be unpleasant so remove any you find.

Joint the chicken wings into 3, drums, flats and wing tips. Feel for the joint and cut right through the cartilage. I use the wing tips to make chicken stock, so store them in the freezer for later.

When washing a steak or lamb I tend not to use acid just a little salt.