What's cookin', good lookin'? Part II

[CoercedAnon]

what would you say is the most important aspect to cooking? i am a terrible cook...no imagination, not good with a knife, lousy timing, etc. i do keep trying, and won't stop. i know experience is gained through trying...
but what was something that helped cooking "click" for you? or were you all just born inherently knowing your way around a kitchen?
i did not learn as a child. i was raised on food that came out of boxes and tins and freezers. lol. (not bagging my family, they made up for the lack of 'real' food in many other ways )
i prefer baking because it is easy, btw, and have no problem with baking (well, not a pastry master but not shabby either)

i love this thread simply to look at what people make.
i cannot get over how good it all looks.

 

[midwestyankee]

@CoercedAnon, others here are far more accomplished than I am but I will offer up one thought. My mother was a very good example of trying out new ideas in the kitchen, but she almost always followed a recipe pretty closely the first time around. After tasting the result - or sometimes when tasting during cooking - she would then make adjustments to the recipe and try again (i.e., could use much less or much more onion or maybe we could add some other ingredient). When i first lived on my own, she gave me the same basic cookbooks that she used most often. That way I could make familiar dishes for myself and make my own adjustments.

Over time, this process helped me develop a sense of taste memory. I could remember how certain combinations of ingredients tasted together when they were roasted or simmered together. This made it easier to begin experimenting with completely new ideas even without a recipe.

I should add that one aspect of savory cooking that makes it somewhat easier than baking is that there is rarely the same degree of chemistry involved. In baking, you need to keep certain ingredients in proportion to each other or the cake won't rise appropriately and so on. This is rarely the case when cooking savory dishes so there's just a lot more room for error or experimentation.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[seela]

To me key to enjoying cooking is cooking for or with someone. When I first moved to live on my own I didn't cook much, even though I'd been cooking and baking with my mom before that. Even now if I cook just for myself I often find it tedious. And when I find cooking tedious, nothing good ever comes out of it.

Besides realizing that, the main thing is just repetition. I don't have good knife skills, I don't understand food on the level I'd like to, but what I cook is usually pretty tasty and that's good enough for me. I'm still often stumped by undeveloped flavors and don't know what to do to fix it. That's something I'd need to work on.

I say follow a recipe until you feel comfortable starting to improvise. And not everything always works out. I screw up in the kitchen a lot.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[seela]

I love reading your cooking. I loved what you did with my recipe

I think the best part about giving somebody a recipe is hearing how it went, so I try to remember to let people know what I ended up with if I use their recipes.

 

[MeekMe]

what would you say is the most important aspect to cooking?

Wanting to do it.

but what was something that helped cooking "click" for you?

Realizing I could make all the tasty food I love to eat.

or were you all just born inherently knowing your way around a kitchen?

Wasn't born with it. I grew up in a household with unhealthy food from boxes and cans. The same meals over and over. I was rather picky because I hadn't been exposed to much variety. The one time I was left instructions for finishing dinner while my mother went out, my father complained that I hadn't done a good job. I told myself I'd never cook again I was so upset. (I tried really hard to do a good job.)

But... I left home and found delicious new food and I wanted all of it. There's no way I could afford nice dinners out all the time, so I started cooking. I read books, found videos and experimented with things. I've made a lot if mediocre food and I think there was one instance of "let's just order pizza." σ^_^;

I have a thing for pretty foods, so even just making a smoothly gets "fancy." I'll put it in a nice glass and add a garnish even if I'm all alone.

 

[CoercedAnon]

wow. thank you!

mwy: solid advice on recipes...my husband is one of those "natural cook" types and loathes recipes lol but they keep me feeling settled...so i will go back to recipes and leave the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants cooking to him. i always feel somewhat ashamed of needing recipes. it's silly, i know. and it is true that with familiarity some improvisation can be added.

gianbattista (elle? ) : liking food is, ironically, an issue. i don't like eating it. ??? i like buying it, i like prepping it...i am amazed at what can be done with it...but i struggle to truly like it. that could be related to the lack of confidence and nervousness i feel when trying to cook something new and REAL.

seela: so true! cooking for someone matters to me...i want my kids to like real food...i try to make the stuff they like in homemade fashion but it usually flops with them and reinforces (not really, lol, i CHOOSE to reinforce it) why cooking is a bad idea. lol. i think maybe trying to work my head around cooking for *me*, might help. i like cooking with my husband, but as in i just prep stuff and hand it to him. we have had too many fights where i am following a recipe like it's my job and he is all "throw it together and see".

meek me: i guess bridging the gap between wanting to want to and really wanting to cook is what i will aim for. i also think learning to fail is a goal.

really appreciated, all. thank you.

 

[CoercedAnon]

meek me: i have a thing for colourful i find the produce section mesmerizing...
i might try arranging things pretty...that is appealing...and i reckon my youngest might get a kick out of arrangement and garnishes and such.
<3

 

[CoercedAnon]

sensual.
i forget that eating is a sensual experience.
i guess with being a "domestic engineer" (;p) it all became drudgery and dreary.

wow. sorry to be a pun-arse, but....

you have all given me some serious food for thought.

 

[MeekMe]

meek me: i have a thing for colourful i find the produce section mesmerizing...
i might try arranging things pretty...that is appealing...and i reckon my youngest might get a kick out of arrangement and garnishes and such.
<3

:nods: Food that looks appetizing is more fun to eat. Also, when I cook I try to use lots of different colors. More colors usually means more nutrition. Unless we're talking colored frosting.

 

[BiBunny]

what would you say is the most important aspect to cooking? i am a terrible cook...no imagination, not good with a knife, lousy timing, etc. i do keep trying, and won't stop. i know experience is gained through trying...
but what was something that helped cooking "click" for you? or were you all just born inherently knowing your way around a kitchen?
i did not learn as a child. i was raised on food that came out of boxes and tins and freezers. lol. (not bagging my family, they made up for the lack of 'real' food in many other ways )
i prefer baking because it is easy, btw, and have no problem with baking (well, not a pastry master but not shabby either)

i love this thread simply to look at what people make.
i cannot get over how good it all looks.

I can relate to almost every bit of this...except I *did* learn as a child, and I'm still awful at it.

Like you, I can deal with baking. It's cooking I detest, and I'm sure that has something to do with how bad I am at it.

So, yeah...just wanted you to know you're not the only one!

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[IrisAlthea]

I think the most important thing is to really enjoy food. Not everyone does.
A healthy dose of courage doesn't hurt either.

Like with most things, I think there is a part of being a good cook that comes from who you are but there are parts that can and need to be learned and experience to be gathered.
Having a good sense of taste is good but you will need experiece to be able to get an idea of how different tastes will mesh without actually trying. Learning how to use a knife and care for it is a good idea.

My mother never cooked much but my father did cook and did it well.
The people who taught me were aunts mostly. I was curious about cooking and had ideas about things I wanted to combine or recipes I had made up and wanted to try. At home it was mostly thought of as something that made a mess but aunts were different, so I got to try and to learn from them.

Any way, I cooked, liked it and did it reasonably well, I think.
Then when I had just had my first child, there was a Der Spiegel special edition concerning our food an how it's produced.
I read, amongst other horrors, that kids who are usually served artificially flavoured puddings prefer it to the real thing.
I used to say that all was good as long as it tasted good and who cares how or grandmothers cooked it but that kind of changed my view on what I buy and what I cook.

 

[CoercedAnon]

I can relate to almost every bit of this...except I *did* learn as a child, and I'm still awful at it.

Like you, I can deal with baking. It's cooking I detest, and I'm sure that has something to do with how bad I am at it.

So, yeah...just wanted you to know you're not the only one!

so can i make you my cooking spirit guide, then?
you can immaterially hover next to my ear, whispering "it's ok. burnt is kind of a flavour".

 

[CoercedAnon]

Yes, Elle. but it's ok to say Gianbattisita. It is us who cause the confusion after all

>i think i read that when G posts, he signs G, so i can always assume it is you unless G is textually stamped

Do you like food when others cook? If so you might be 'satiated' by cooking, that can happen. If it's a universal thing then are you conservative in eating? Maybe some little food adventure might be enticing, nothing to scare you , but to wake you tastebuds? Or inversely, something to retune them, like sugar fast...to taste the wonder of less adulterated foods?

>i do like food when others cook, but i don't have much of an appetite in general. a sugar fast would probably be brilliant. (chocolate. i can usually always eat this. lately, not so much)

It might also be worth reading into the Seven types of hunger, because it's good to try to satisfy them all. .

>looking this up this weekend. thank you.


Ultimately...remember, it's not a sin to not love food or cooking. It is being worshipped in media in a way that Is not to my personal taste. I think it often removes the sensuality from it.

>no sin. i think the sin is in how i (i think) have created a rejection of nurturing...and it may be manifesting, somewhat, in the lack of appetite. totally agree about how food has become creepy, in ways, in our society. i still don't understand how "fun" and "food" can be combined on a package of synthetic junk. oddness. just the idea of food and fun, the way it is presented in north american society, is a little gross.

If food is fuel, Or cooking like does not make someone a bad person, or lesser, or any thing such. .

food as a fuel is about the only positive way i view food and eating. it is sort of funny because i have always pushed my kids to eat well, eat fresh, eat real...despite barely eating myself. the oldest one has been commenting on it lately, and it really hit home that i need to address my food/nurturing blocks.

 

[CoercedAnon]

I think the most important thing is to really enjoy food. Not everyone does.
A healthy dose of courage doesn't hurt either.

Like with most things, I think there is a part of being a good cook that comes from who you are but there are parts that can and need to be learned and experience to be gathered.
Having a good sense of taste is good but you will need experiece to be able to get an idea of how different tastes will mesh without actually trying. Learning how to use a knife and care for it is a good idea.

My mother never cooked much but my father did cook and did it well.
The people who taught me were aunts mostly. I was curious about cooking and had ideas about things I wanted to combine or recipes I had made up and wanted to try. At home it was mostly thought of as something that made a mess but aunts were different, so I got to try and to learn from them.

Any way, I cooked, liked it and did it reasonably well, I think.
Then when I had just had my first child, there was a Der Spiegel special edition concerning our food an how it's produced.
I read, amongst other horrors, that kids who are usually served artificially flavoured puddings prefer it to the real thing.
I used to say that all was good as long as it tasted good and who cares how or grandmothers cooked it but that kind of changed my view on what I buy and what I cook.

yes, my attitude toward food is looking to be more of an impediment than actual skills or aptitudes for cooking. darn it.
that der spiegel special edition must have been awful. i *know* how the taste buds can get used to and prefer artificial...my attempts to make home made, real chicken nuggets (can i just say how much i loathe chicken nuggets? i want to ban them from the planet. ugh) are constantly rebuffed. my eldest son is an aspie and has always been very sensitive to texture...he also didn't get his first teeth until he was one so missed a vital brain developmental stage of food transitioning (breast milk to purees to solids, or so it should have gone). the youngest is a bit more open, but not by much.

i couldn't stop thinking about some of the suggestions all of you have given here. i am seeing this from a different angle than i was when i first asked the question.
blessings to you all.
happy friday.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Late to the party as usual

I would say one of the most important aspects of cooking for me would be enjoyment by those I cook for, and enjoyment by me. Feeding into that heavily would be the fact that I want specific foods a lot, and the most convenient and economical way to get what I want is to cook it myself. I can cook steak dinners and roast large cuts of meat and bake whole cakes for less than what you might pay for one of two meals out.

Knowing what goes into the dish is also important to me. I like my food to have all pronounceable ingredients. Lots of those ingredients are already.. iffy (GMO corn, etc.) so I like to keep everything as wholesome as possible.

Another major aspect for me is a sense is accomplishment. *I* made that delectable morsel And on that note, here's some bread I baked today. From scratch. It's..

Dill dough bread

https://36.media.tumblr.com/d3b10f916cd6128f771761ed0bca0aeb/tumblr_o4z70pxYJM1ttoj3bo1_400.jpg

Made from the left over juice in a pickle jar. Good stuff!!

 

[rbijon]

Late to the party as usual

I would say one of the most important aspects of cooking for me would be enjoyment by those I cook for, and enjoyment by me. Feeding into that heavily would be the fact that I want specific foods a lot, and the most convenient and economical way to get what I want is to cook it myself. I can cook steak dinners and roast large cuts of meat and bake whole cakes for less than what you might pay for one of two meals out.

Knowing what goes into the dish is also important to me. I like my food to have all pronounceable ingredients. Lots of those ingredients are already.. iffy (GMO corn, etc.) so I like to keep everything as wholesome as possible.

Another major aspect for me is a sense is accomplishment. *I* made that delectable morsel And on that note, here's some bread I baked today. From scratch. It's..

Dill dough bread

https://36.media.tumblr.com/d3b10f916cd6128f771761ed0bca0aeb/tumblr_o4z70pxYJM1ttoj3bo1_400.jpg

Made from the left over juice in a pickle jar. Good stuff!!

Yummy you....you can cook for me anytime

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Yummy you....you can cook for me anytime

Only on a sailboat headed to the Caribbean!

 

[rbijon]

Only on a sailboat headed to the Caribbean!

Anchors Aweigh.....

 

[MeekMe]

Mister is working today so I made little hand pies for him. I filled them with chicken, broccoli and cheddar. It was the first time I've ever made anything in the hand pie realm. Next time I want to make a more flexible crust. I think these will hold up ok, but the flaky crust seems like it will make things difficult and the point of these was to be convenient and tasty.

 

[MeekMe]

I like zucchini and yellow squash, but I always draw a blank when it comes to using these veggies. I needed to use them up so I made little breakfast pies this morning. I made a quick pie crust and stuffed it into a muffin pan. I sautéed onion, garlic, zucchini and a little tomato with seasoning. Put scoops of the veggies in each dough lined cup and poured whisked egg over top. I baked until done and sprinkled cheddar cheese over half of them and let sit to melt.

I think they turned out great. ( ^ω^ )

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Those look great, Meeks!