Cooking thread!

[LD_Tickler]

So, in an effort to both save money and increase my general level of health, I started actually cooking food about a year ago, breaking away from my typical frozen food diet.

I'm still a lousy cook in general, but for a 24 year old grad student bachelor, I think I'm making progress.

Anybody here into cooking in a big way? Any favourite recipes? These days I'm all about dijon mustard and honey marinades.

 

[GQguy]

Man.......

I too am a cook. I think it's a great skill for the bachelor to have. I'm starting to realize too that it's a great skill for the husband to have as well if he doesn't want to break his wallet but also wants a great meal without flying out to see mom....but I digress.

I am a great cook! My specialties include but are not limited to:

*denotes from scratch

Lasagna
Chicken Parm *
Guacemole *
Pan Pizza *
Fall off the bone ribs *
Gourmet burgers *
Subs
Wings *
Fried Rice *
General Tsos Chicken *
Sticy rice w/ mango *
Pork fajita's *
Heath Cookies *
Pepper Steak *
Fried Turkey whole *
Shrimp/lobster gourmet mac and cheese *
Butter Chicken Makni(indian) *
Carne Asada *
Burritos

There's likely tons more but I can't think of anymore off of the top of my head. Usually my meals are made VERY spicy so liberal use of chili peppers/cayenne pepper/habanero ect. I also learned how to make a bunch of drinks as well. Goes well with the home bar I built from the ground up. See my albums for pics.

GQ

 

[kis123]

I went from the mom who cooked for everyone to meals for one.......and it sucks!

Cooking for one sucks.......cooking for one every day royally sucks!

Well, if you're a chicken fan, I can tell you how to prepare chicken in so many ways it'll make your head spin. When one cooks for a family, it can get pretty creative. I and my husband used to get in the kitchen together and make stuff up because we were really poor back then. We made a pantry-laden red beans and rice that garnered the praise of my kids and we wiped the sweat from our brows after they went to bed. Wow! Those were actually fun times........

But I digress.......

If you want some tips, remember marinade is your friend. You can also use some salad dressings like italian or balsamic vinegar as a marinade or cooked sauce. Your lady friends will think you're a gourmet chef! Chicken, turkey, and beef can handle 24 hr marinades, but fish is about 30 minutes max.

Sometimes it's about the accessories so have lots of stuff in the pantry. I catch the 10 for $10 noodle mixes or rice mixes (depending on your pasta choice). And frozen can still have its place as in veggies and lots of them. You can also add a little olive oil in the water with some seasonings; people will think you cooked for hours in actuality you threw it in the last five minutes.

Stick with me.....I'll feed you well on the cheap!

 

[PiedPiper]

Cooking has been my second most favorite hobby for 30 years,... and living on the Chesapeake Bay certainly didn't hurt my seafood menu OR budget. GQ named off quite a few items,.... I mainly cook for just myself these days,.. usually,. so it's nice to dream up occasions that need a good dinner - I like to make authentic jumbalaya, ratatouille, all sorts of casseroles,.. but these are things which require at least a couple of hours right off the bat. For ordinary times, I'm a beans & rice w/steamed vegetables kind of guy. And as an obsessive-compulsive gardenar, I usually have plenty of that sort of stuff..

You didn't mention "economy." Eating well on a budget is different from eating well when money is no object. Comment?

 

[GEORGIATKLER]

Gee don't you have to be licensed and regulated and inspected (oh my!) to do that? Man, GQ, you fly high in the kitchen too!! My specialty is SB cookies (store bought). It is no joke that what we willingly eat is often so bad for our health. Cooking can save money, but I agree with Kis that cooking for a table of one is tough, even though I usually love leftovers. Like the cartoon caption in the Atlanta paper: When I heard Paula Deen had diabetes, I haven't been as shocked since I heard the Marlboro Man had lung cancer.

 

[addys]

great

 

[PiedPiper]

LD,...... some random notes

As a grad student, you should be able to get into this as something of an academic exercise, no?

For just flat out being healthier, read the packages closely. Sugar and especially fructose are in everything, and that is bad news (basically same effect on your liver as alcohol) Eat at least ONE raw plant item every day,... a salad, an apple, whatever. And while I'm far from being a vegan, I've come to accept that we require a lot less meat than we would often prefer to eat,.... about three or four ounces per day is plenty, provided you're getting protein from other sources, too.

Saving time and money when cooking for one: Cook for two days at a time,.... engineer that large pan of pasta fazool or rice & lentils,... and stash the leftovers for the next day,.... steaming some sort of veggie for accompaniment when you do. (Prepared foods from the supermarket cost a lot more per serving than home cooking)

Getting psyched up: Have a small garden,.... 4x4, w/peas, spinach and a tomato & pepper plant is all it takes to help focus more of your awareness on how you're eating. Makes a fun project. It's dead of winter here, and I have fresh lettuce every day from pots on my south-facing windowsill. Go for it.

 

[kis123]

Well, wait a minute here.........

When I heard Paula Deen had diabetes, I haven't been as shocked since I heard the Marlboro Man had lung cancer.

Paula Deen is nearly 70 years old. How many people her age aren't struggling with some sort of health issue? She's an old southern cook and you simply can't eat what she cooks everyday. But hell, she's right.......it is better with butter!

I heard no complaints when Emeril Legassi talks about pork and lard, but Paula Deen talks about butter and just got diagnosed as diabetic? Now the world will fall off its axis........

Oh, and Bourdain is a pig IMO! I've never seen him cook anything and what he eats on his program I wouldn't feed to my cat! He's just hating on Paula Deen and Rachael Ray because they're popular and loved by the masses and he just goes to remote areas and eats what the inhabitants/residents themselves don't even want to eat. So what!!

He did do one show I liked with Sean Penn that reminded us that Haiti is still in trouble long after the earthquake. Other than that I think Bourdain is a self-inflated egotistical pig!

Sorry for the mini-hijack.....returning this thread back to its OP...........

 

[kis123]

As a grad student, you should be able to get into this as something of an academic exercise, no?

For just flat out being healthier, read the packages closely. Sugar and especially fructose are in everything, and that is bad news (basically same effect on your liver as alcohol) Eat at least ONE raw plant item every day,... a salad, an apple, whatever. And while I'm far from being a vegan, I've come to accept that we require a lot less meat than we would often prefer to eat,.... about three or four ounces per day is plenty, provided you're getting protein from other sources, too.

Saving time and money when cooking for one: Cook for two days at a time,.... engineer that large pan of pasta fazool or rice & lentils,... and stash the leftovers for the next day,.... steaming some sort of veggie for accompaniment when you do. (Prepared foods from the supermarket cost a lot more per serving than home cooking)

Getting psyched up: Have a small garden,.... 4x4, w/peas, spinach and a tomato & pepper plant is all it takes to help focus more of your awareness on how you're eating. Makes a fun project. It's dead of winter here, and I have fresh lettuce every day from pots on my south-facing windowsill. Go for it.

I'd personally would like to hear more about your windowsill garden. I've been trying to figure out how to grow veggies indoors year round. I'm not sure if the OP wants this direction, but if he doesn't, please feel free to PM me......I am very interested.

Thanks

 

[Jagermeistered]

I can cook for other people, but doesn't mean I will join in on the festivities.