Understanding cooking

My culinary skills have barely moved on since my early student days and this has led to me having a fairly monotonous diet.

I would really like to learn a bit more about cooking to add variety to things, however I really get turned off by recipe books that are just lists of ingredients and what to do accompanied by pretty pictures. MY INTJ brain wants to know HOW cooking works - why certain flavours go together, why do we prepare things in certain ways. I might be more inclined to try stuff out if I knew more about the bigger picture of cooking.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good books (or blogs or podcasts) that actually explain and help you to understand about cooking and food?

shiny5437 said:

My culinary skills have barely moved on since my early student days and this has led to me having a fairly monotonous diet.

I would really like to learn a bit more about cooking to add variety to things, however I really get turned off by recipe books that are just lists of ingredients and what to do accompanied by pretty pictures. MY INTJ brain wants to know HOW cooking works - why certain flavours go together, why do we prepare things in certain ways. I might be more inclined to try stuff out if I knew more about the bigger picture of cooking.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good books (or blogs or podcasts) that actually explain and help you to understand about cooking and food?

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You may find these books interesting, many of which explains the science and basics of cooking.

Culinary Reactions: The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking

On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen

Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (I often like to flip through this one)

The Science of Cooking

It does take some hunting, but there are recipe books that also explains why two flavours go together - you tend to find this in spice/barbecue recipe books, and also kinds of recipe books that explains how to create your own - and why they work. The titles, however, escapes me and they are packed away so I can't hunt them. So I do suggest that you head on to your local bookstore and just browse. They are out there, I promise!

That said, cooking is often called an art whereas baking is the science. With cooking, sometimes unusual flavours just go together and no amount of science can explain it. With baking, on the other hand, which requires the ratio-balance, is considerably dependent on precision whereas cooking is (usually) not so finicky. I get the desire to know how things work, but sometimes you just need to experiment and get out there and try. From what you have described, you may want to read up on molecular gastronomy.

One tip: smell your food as your cooking as well as taste it. Often the scent will tell you what's missing. I can't explain it, but if something is missing, my mind just tells me "aha! you need this" - and my tastebuds agree. It's bizarre.

Watch American test kitchen. They deal in the why's quite a bit.

My son is a Chef, and the thing he has taught is how to use salt.

I don't really like my food to taste salty, so I always avoided.

He taught me that seasoning meat and veg with salt before cooking brings out the natural flavour of foods.

Thank you fire_breeze, I'll have a look at those. They seem just like what I'm after. Maybe not the 900 page beast of 'on food and cooking' in the first instance though!

The capsule kitchen idea over at project333 looks really interesting and something I'd ultimately like to work towards but first to master the basics!

Alton Brown always satisfies my need to know the science of cooking. I'm sure he has a website, if you can't find his show on Food Network.

I do all my own cooking though I certainly wouldn't claim to be a chef of any renown. Some of the more straight forward but delicious meals have come through the BBC web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes

Certainly worth a look, there's always something to satisfy the culinary itch.

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is a great way to learn about cooking as well as get recipes.

Heston Blumenthal is pretty good at explaining how things work.

I'm an INTJ - or was last I took the test anyway. I've been moving in a somewhat P direction over the past several years. But anyway, I'll share some of my observations that I've learned about how cooking works:

Brownies + extra eggs = chocolate cake. In more general terms, adding eggs to most baked foods adds fluffiness. Breads are a great place to study ingredient interactions, because you can make a delicious bread with such a simple basic recipe: flour, yeast, water, salt, and optionally a source of sweetness like sugar or honey. That recipe is hundreds of years old. With that basic recipe you can learn about the differences rising time, kneading, and baking temperature can have on the texture of the bread. Then you can try one ingredient addition at a time to see what happens - brushing egg or oil on the outside of the bread before baking, for example. There are hundreds of bread recipes available, not to mention scones, biscuits, and quickbreads. You can compare them to your basic one to see the differences - some use eggs, butter, milk, sour cream, pudding mix, baking soda or powder, sourdough starter, etc.

Instead of using all of one kind of ingredient (e.g. all butter or all margarine in cookies), using half of each creates a "broader" tasting result. Broad tastes are generally more pleasing than narrow ones. The same is true of herbs and spices - it's generally better to use a blend like pumpkin pie spice (mix of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, etc.) rather than a single spice; this is true even for recipes that traditionally use a single spice, like cinnamon rolls. Don't be fooled by the hipster fad for single-origin cocoa and crap like that.

Many spices don't 'work' properly without being heated along with some source of moisture (water, melted butter, oil, or milk). Spices can even burn if they aren't wet enough while cooking (though sugary spices are hazardously prone to burning no matter how wet they are; microwaves can be used to avoid this). Finely chopped or ground spices require less time or moisture to release their flavor (thus, spice rubs). On the other hand, you can't effectively put spices into something that you are going to drain, such as ground meat, because the spices mostly get lost when draining. Similarly it's difficult to use spices in a slow-cooker if the slow-cooker contains too much water to dilute the spices. Spices will not penetrate into a cut of meat that is more than about 3/4 of an inch thick, marinaded or not.

Look at some "My Drunk Kitchen" episodes on Youtube by Hannah "Harto" Hart. It won't teach you to cook, but it will make you less afraid of just throwing things together and taking a bite ... And you'll rofl.

If you want to learn the how and why.. you might consider a subscription to Cooks Illustrated.
Also, Knives Cooks Love is a great book

you'll also find that certain chefs use ingredient lists that can intimidate new cooks. find a couple of chefs or publishers that you enjoy and stick to them for a bit.. then pick someone new. If you're attempting a particular style of eating, explore that style making small changes at a time.

I really like the Salad a Day cookbook from williams-sonoma (cheaper at Amazon) because it gives you a different salad every day of the year using ingredients that will be seasonally available.

have fun.. don't be afraid to fail.. I've never met a chef who didn't burn a meal, burn a body part, or end up drinking wine for dinner at least once.

To echo a few comments already made:

America's Test Kitchen
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

I also recommend checking out interesting and diverse cookbooks from your local library and perusing them.

Think Like a Chef - Tom Colicchio

I think this one gives a good balance between recipes and technique. A good read.

Don't be afraid to experiment. I learned to cook by watching my grandmother. Lots of trial and error and when you have success make sure to write down the recipe and your notes so you can repeat it .

SweetSam42 said:

Alton Brown always satisfies my need to know the science of cooking. I'm sure he has a website, if you can't find his show on Food Network.

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Yes, Alton Brown is exactly the sort of think the OP is asking about. He was a filmmaker (maybe only a cameraman) went to culinary school because he thought he could do much better at making a cooking show.

Not only does he explain why and how, he makes it fun so that it "sticks." His techniques and recipes are fool proof. I have never had anything but success following his recipes. Many "Why didn't I think to do it that way?" moments.

Binge watch some of that on netflicks and within an episode or two you will want to make something, and it will turn out. Unless you suck. Then you should kill yourself because life without cooking is not worth living.

Update

1. Science of good cooking - cooks illustrated / American test kitchen is awesome! I cannot recommend it enough. I'm about halfway through, have learnt loads and started incorporating it into my cooking. Check it out folks!

2. Thanks for the recommendation of My Drunk Kitchen.

I have a number of the Cooks Illustrated collections and aside from their scientific methodology, I like that the emphasize what is practical for a home cook.

I also enjoyed Marcus Wareing's Cook The Perfect cookbook.

shiny5437 said:

Update

1. Science of good cooking - cooks illustrated / American test kitchen is awesome! I cannot recommend it enough. I'm about halfway through, have learnt loads and started incorporating it into my cooking. Check it out folks!

2. Thanks for the recommendation of My Drunk Kitchen.

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I am glad you are finding your way in the kitchen (cooking food that is, I assume you knew where the stove and the fridge were already) and I am glad you liked "My Drunk Kitchen"!

Thanks to those who posted here. I am hopeless in the kitchen but very concerned about health and of course, nutrition is a big part of that. So, I think I have to learn to cook and enjoy it. I am very intimidated by long, complicated recipes -- the shopping alone wears me out.

Does anyone have a suggestion for really simple recipes with fresh, healthy ingredients? I don't want to use pre-packaged anything, but I am immediately scared of anything with too many and too exotic ingredients.

Bonafide_Blonde said:

Thanks to those who posted here. I am hopeless in the kitchen but very concerned about health and of course, nutrition is a big part of that. So, I think I have to learn to cook and enjoy it. I am very intimidated by long, complicated recipes -- the shopping alone wears me out.

Does anyone have a suggestion for really simple recipes with fresh, healthy ingredients? I don't want to use pre-packaged anything, but I am immediately scared of anything with too many and too exotic ingredients.

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I am like you - I prefer healthy food but don't like the prep to be complicated or take a long time. So one thing I like to do is get some boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins, and sautee them up with vegetables, usually onion and bell peppers plus anything else that looks good at the store. From there, you can season to taste and take the dish in a variety of ways. Add Mexican seasonings and you can turn it into fajitas. Soy sauce makes it an Asian-inspired stir fry. Throw in some pasta and spaghetti sauce to make it a yummy Italian dish. Quick, easy, and delicious.

Rainshine said:

Get a Thermomix.

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And then watch the Katering Show's demonstration video.

Bonafide_Blonde said:

Thanks to those who posted here. I am hopeless in the kitchen but very concerned about health and of course, nutrition is a big part of that. So, I think I have to learn to cook and enjoy it. I am very intimidated by long, complicated recipes -- the shopping alone wears me out.

Does anyone have a suggestion for really simple recipes with fresh, healthy ingredients? I don't want to use pre-packaged anything, but I am immediately scared of anything with too many and too exotic ingredients.

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Maybe somebody here has read it but after I've finished what I'm reading now I plan on checking out Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Three good Things book. The blurb sounds like he's presenting a simple meal 'system'.

Bonafide_Blonde said:

Thanks to those who posted here. I am hopeless in the kitchen but very concerned about health and of course, nutrition is a big part of that. So, I think I have to learn to cook and enjoy it. I am very intimidated by long, complicated recipes -- the shopping alone wears me out.

Does anyone have a suggestion for really simple recipes with fresh, healthy ingredients? I don't want to use pre-packaged anything, but I am immediately scared of anything with too many and too exotic ingredients.

Click to expand...

Look at some cooking sites and collect a few recipes, there are a lot of sites which have a special "Quick healthy cooking" kind of thing. Sometimes they also have a "dishes for one" thingy. Some sites announce with stars if a dish is easy to cook, fit for unskilled cooks or more difficult.

You only need to plan more time for shopping the first few times, as soon as you "own" a few recipes you don't have to search the shops for the ingredients.

Miles Long gave you a few great ideas already. Soup is easy too. It just takes some time to start the broth. You need:
A few bones with marrow, a small piece of meat for soup (or a chicken, or a few left over fried chicken wings).

Shall we do the fried chicken wings chicken broth first?
It is really easy. Put the leftover wings in water. Enough to cover them. Bring to the boil. Add an onion, a carrot, some nutmeg, let it simmer for half an hour, maybe an hour. In the meantime you cut up a carrot in nice slices, maybe also a bit of leek, dice a tomato, cut some broccoli in little pieces, chop up some beans. Use fresh ones, or have a look in your fridge and chop up yesterday's left over beans, the half pepper you didn't use for the salad you made day before yesterday. Just take what fancies you at the moment.

Sieve the broth. Chop up the carrot if you want, throw the onion away (or chop it up too, but it will be really soppy) pull the meat from the bones, chop it up.

Put the meat back in, add the raw veggies and let it softly cook for ten minutes and season if necessary, or add the left over veggies and heat it for five minutes. A handful of left over rice is nice in the soup too, or a bit of pasta.

A cheap, healthy meal.

To make a real broth you'll need much more time, but it isn't much more work.
Beef broth: Bones with marrow, some beef if you like.
One or two spoons of oil in a pan, fry the bones, one or two onions, some carrots. Let it get really brown on all sides. Turn the heat down, pull pot from fire.

Add water until the everything is well covered.
Add salt and pepper, sage, thyme, what ever you like. Put the lid on the pot.

Let is simmer for a few hours at least. Five or six or eight would be better.

Sieve the broth. Cut up the meat. Throw the bones and veggies' rests away.
Put the meat back in, or in just one portion of broth, because you'll have made broth for several days. Eat one portion as soup (see above) freeze the other portions. Use one once to cook a delicious risotto. Use one to make a tomato-soup, add some chopped basil leaves at the very last moment. Use one portion to cook some potatoes in and mash them (or mash the potatoes left over from yesterdays dinner). Congratulations, you made a delicious potato soup!

Make broth on a day off. (The whole place will smell delicious!) Make four, five, maybe six quick, healthy, easy and delicious meals whenever you feel like having a real home-cooked dinner would be just the thing you need to have a marvelous end of a day.

If you're interested in creating healthy food that will keep your interest, you may want to start adding fresh herbs.

sprinkle culinary lavender over your cut pineapple and let it set overnight.
add fresh mint or parsley to salads.
roast fresh vegetables with sprigs of thyme and rosemary.

You may find that making the flavors more interesting allows you to feel more creative about your cooking. Also, as was mentioned in the above post, there is this nesting response when your home is filled with flavorful scents. It's comforting and reminds you of all you've accomplishes. Make beautiful food. Much like love, you eat with your eyes first.