Cooking

[elderberrysyrup]

Interesting.

 

But IMHO, missing a lot. Seriously, butter not mentioned as being complimentary to crab and lobster? Orange not matched with duck, when half the ducks I see for sale in the supermarket come with a packet of a l'orange sauce included?

 

Still, it's a good starting point. I'm going to have to check out the pairings for brussels sprouts, lol, since I got a package of them in my last food co-op order and I've never cooked them before.

I've never eaten ducks with orange. The idea just doesn't sound that great. Then again, anything so... fruity.. with any meat makes me feel apprehensive.

[Kestra15]

I've never eaten ducks with orange. The idea just doesn't sound that great. Then again, anything so... fruity.. with any meat makes me feel apprehensive.

Works quite nicely - as does pineapple and gammon.

[elderberrysyrup]

Works quite nicely - as does pineapple and gammon.

Guh, I don't like pineapple with anything. Even by itself.

[TikindiDragon]

Works quite nicely - as does pineapple and gammon.

Apricot and pork works well too. As does the classic staple of apple and pork.

[Wookieinmashoo]

Cooking...I can do this now. A little bit. I have this habit of adding cabbage to everything though. I blame skyrim for the cabbage love.

[xhunter]

i like to cook new things using everything i got half the time though i hate recipes. i most of all like to use other people as the test subjects though.

i really do love home made spaghetti with meat, spice, and all sauce... O now i want some spaghetti.

[blazingstar22]

oh man i am IN LOVE with this thread!!!!! if i could i would post all the time here i love cooking! besides gardening its my awesomesauce! hehe im 26 and have been cooking since i was probly 10 or 11! i was cooking dinners for my family at a young age as my parent were working all day and diddnt want to cook much when they got home yup so i learned cooking cleaning and laundry at a fairly young age but cooking is awesome for me i can be as creative with food as i want to be and GARLIC and ONION is a staple in my house ^^ i get some of my recipes off the internet or cookbooks if i dont know how to makes something. but normally i just make it up as i go and i watch food network and other cooking shows and websites cooking is the bomb when your in a creative mood. litterally the world is at your fingertips when cooking. oh and another uncommon food in deserts is zuchinni ^^ my friend makes it and its awesome yumminess. if its ok with peeps can we share recipes in this thread too? it would be really cool if we could. ^^

[lulubelle00]

One word- Desserts.

[blazingstar22]

It's funny - I've gotten a reputation as a good cook among my friends. Actually it's just because I've practiced two or three recipes until I've gotten really good at them.

 

Recently I got tired of eating the same old thing for lunch every day, so I bought myself a little bento box and a copy of the Just Bento cookbook, and spent Sunday afternoon rattling around in the kitchen making approximately-Japanese food. Everything was delicious and surprisingly easy to make!

i would love to learn how to make sushi... but i would be too afraid to do fish... (yes i know it is cold smoked for sushi and sushimi is raw) but i wouldnt want to fiddle around with it yet. im thinking fruit and veggie sushi and fully cooked meat sushi's ^^ for right now untill i get the hang of things

[blazingstar22]

Interesting.

 

But IMHO, missing a lot. Seriously, butter not mentioned as being complimentary to crab and lobster? Orange not matched with duck, when half the ducks I see for sale in the supermarket come with a packet of a l'orange sauce included?

 

Still, it's a good starting point. I'm going to have to check out the pairings for brussels sprouts, lol, since I got a package of them in my last food co-op order and I've never cooked them before.

have you tried butter and lemon pepper with brussells sprouts? its yummy with just butter but im thinking they would go really well with citrus too ^^

[elderberrysyrup]

I'm going to ask because I don't know where else to ask.

 

I'm going to try and swap to a healthier way of living. However, I'm cautious about whole wheat as a flour. I make homemade noodles, dumplings, wontons, bao zi and steamed buns (I'm not sure of this term because I call 'em mu mu). How well does whole wheat flour work as compared to white? Does it hold together, stretch, knead, etc. as well as white flour? I don't want to spend an hour making dumplings only to find that they'll break when I prepare them.

[LostLove]

i like cooking...

[Wookieinmashoo]

I'm going to ask because I don't know where else to ask.

 

I'm going to try and swap to a healthier way of living. However, I'm cautious about whole wheat as a flour. I make homemade noodles, dumplings, wontons, bao zi and steamed buns (I'm not sure of this term because I call 'em mu mu). How well does whole wheat flour work as compared to white? Does it hold together, stretch, knead, etc. as well as white flour? I don't want to spend an hour making dumplings only to find that they'll break when I prepare them.

I don't know about the dough itself, but I did try some whole wheat noodles once. I really could not get past the texture. It was hard to finish my food because the coarse texture of the pasta. I would try some of the dried whole wheat pastas if you haven't yet.

[SPQR]

I love cooking! Currently making falafel for my family :3

My favourite thing to make would have to be cake pops. They look so complicated and fussy, but they're the easiest thing in the world to make. I used this recipe/guide to make them.

Edited June 1, 2012 by SPQR

[Kila]

I'm going to ask because I don't know where else to ask.

 

I'm going to try and swap to a healthier way of living. However, I'm cautious about whole wheat as a flour. I make homemade noodles, dumplings, wontons, bao zi and steamed buns (I'm not sure of this term because I call 'em mu mu). How well does whole wheat flour work as compared to white? Does it hold together, stretch, knead, etc. as well as white flour? I don't want to spend an hour making dumplings only to find that they'll break when I prepare them.

Whole wheat flour produces a coarser texture in your food and a different taste. I'd ease into it, because not everyone likes whole grain right from the get-go. I love the stuff, personally.

 

If you're looking for other alternatives that aren't traditional wheat, try buckwheat flour, rice flour, etc. Rice and soba noodles are really delicious, and I have some good steam bun recipes floating around. whole wheat products tend to be chewy because of all the fiber, which is what fills you up fast.

 

On the subject of pineapple and duck above, be incredibly careful when cooking any kind of meat with pineapple. The enzymes in the pineapple breaks down the protein in the meat, giving whatever you've just made a really mushy, unpleasant texture.

 

This entire thread is literally my life. I mean, I go to school for this and I'm like the ultimate foodie <3

 

Whoops, typo

Edited June 1, 2012 by Kila

[Rosedamai]

On the subject of pineapple and duck above, be incredibly careful when cooking any kind of meat with pineapple. The enzymes in the pineapple breaks down the protein in the meat, giving whatever you've just made a really mushy, unpleasant texture.

Yeah, I remember this I couldn't eat solid foods at the time (I think I had pulled out a tooth or something) but I desperately wanted to eat meat, so my mom cooked some beef with pineapples. It became like....mush. Like...a slushie made with meat.

Edited June 1, 2012 by ylangylang

[Kila]

Ick, a meat smoothie? D: gross.

 

Pork and pineapple go really well together. The trick is to keep your meat and pineapple separate (pineapple juice in marinades should be used sparingly) until the last possible minute and to avoid storing them together.

 

It's wonderful for tenderizing tougher cuts, though

[TikindiDragon]

Whole wheat flour produces a coarser texture in your food and a different taste. I'd ease into it, because not everyone likes whole grain right from the get-go. I love the stuff, personally.

 

If you're looking for other alternatives that aren't traditional wheat, try buckwheat flour, rice flour, etc. Rice and soba noodles are really delicious, and I have some good steam bun recipes floating around. whole wheat products tend to be chewy because of all the fiber, which is what fills you up fast.

 

On the subject of pineapple and duck above, be incredibly careful when cooking any kind of meat with pineapple. The enzymes in the pineapple breaks down the protein in the meat, giving whatever you've just made a really mushy, unpleasant texture.

 

This entire thread is literally my life. I mean, I go to school for this and I'm like the ultimate foodie <3

 

Whoops, typo

Although depending on exactly what it is you are baking you may find that you require Xantham Gum in order to be able to use rice flour or buckwheat flour.

 

<- does a bit of gluten-free baking and found this out.

[Rosedamai]

I've a question... Can you use a bamboo cutting board for meat? I know you have to wash every cutting board after cutting neat if you're going to cut fruits/vegetables afterwards. But I've always been told to never use wood cutting boards to cut meat. So... Is bamboo safe to use, or not?

Info I've found was a traditional-type of cutting board made from bamboo, where they used this traditional method to lacquer the board, and then it was safe to use, apparently. But if not, it was recommended that you use different boards for veggies, meat and fish.

Edited June 2, 2012 by ylangylang

[Kila]

Although depending on exactly what it is you are baking you may find that you require Xantham Gum in order to be able to use rice flour or buckwheat flour.

 

<- does a bit of gluten-free baking and found this out.

Ah, yeah. I was strictly speaking from the culinary aspect, not baking I'm not well versed enough in gluten-free baking to answer questions.

 

On the topic of cutting boards, it's usually best to keep them for different things. In the industry we have color coded boards, and they're plastic (for sanitation purposes).

 

Blue = fish

Yellow/Tan = poultry

Red = beef and pork

Green = fruits and veggies

White = finishing/fruits and veggies

 

BUT, if you're going to use wood cutting boards at home, sanitize extremely well. Use bleach water (the directions are on the back of the bottle) to wash your boards, but don't let them soak, because that will swell the wood and ruin it. And always use bleach water to wash everything after dealing with chicken (just because chicken is loaded with salmonella).

 

It's generally better to have different cutting boards for red meat/pork/fish, chicken/poultry, and fruits and veggies, but not everyone has room for three cutting boards. Just be sure to sanitize really well and you'll avoid cross contamination.

[Sinister-by-Nature]

The first time I tried to cook out of school I so very nearly caused a gas explosion.

 

Though when I do cook I make an epic pasta! I can also make toast, haha!

 

All joking aside I can't cook at all. Nether can my mum.

 

The first time I tried to make a baked potato, it went awful. It was only few weeks ago, and I still shiver at it:

 

My mum was out the house and I decided I was hungry so I texted every one asking them how to make a baked potato. Everyone ether ignored me or said just stick it in the microwave. My mum on the other hand told me to put it in a dish of water and then put i int the microwave for 6 mins and turn. I didn't catch the turn part, so I put it in water in the microwave for 3 mins then turned for an additional 3 mins. Only once I had cut it up I realized it was still raw, so I put the cut open potato back in the water and then in the microwave for 2 mins. The open bits of the potato went like a skin thing, so I had to take it out. I put it back in without the water for a min and it came out with hard inside bits where it was cut. I removed it again thinking it was cooked, but inside it was still very much raw I then couldn't open the mayonnaise jar so had it with plain tuna instead. 3 bites, the rest went to the bin.

 

Like I said, I can't cook.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Sinister-by-Nature

[TikindiDragon]

It's generally better to have different cutting boards for red meat/pork/fish, chicken/poultry, and fruits and veggies, but not everyone has room for three cutting boards. Just be sure to sanitize really well and you'll avoid cross contamination.

We've got... six chopping boards I think. A red one for red meat, grey for poultry, blue for fish, green for uncooked veg, white for already-cooked foods and a glass one that's only used for chopping things like onions and chillis. Actually make that two glass ones, because we've got a second glass one that's used for slicing bread.

[DustyBelle]

The first time I tried to cook out of school I so very nearly caused a gas explosion.

 

Though when I do cook I make an epic pasta! I can also make toast, haha!

 

All joking aside I can't cook at all. Nether can my mum.

 

The first time I tried to make a baked potato, it went awful. It was only few weeks ago, and I still shiver at it:

 

My mum was out the house and I decided I was hungry so I texted every one asking them how to make a baked potato. Everyone ether ignored me or said just stick it in the microwave. My mum on the other hand told me to put it in a dish of water and then put i int the microwave for 6 mins and turn. I didn't catch the turn part, so I put it in water in the microwave for 3 mins then turned for an additional 3 mins. Only once I had cut it up I realized it was still raw, so I put the cut open potato back in the water and then in the microwave for 2 mins. The open bits of the potato went like a skin thing, so I had to take it out. I put it back in without the water for a min and it came out with hard inside bits where it was cut. I removed it again thinking it was cooked, but inside it was still very much raw I then couldn't open the mayonnaise jar so had it with plain tuna instead. 3 bites, the rest went to the bin.

 

Like I said, I can't cook.

The first time I tried to make a baked potato, it went awful. It was only few weeks ago, and I still shiver at it:

 

You can bake potatos in the regular oven or in the microwave or a combo. I always feel like I am playing a spin a chance wheel although most of the time my potatoescome out fine now. Check them before you pull them out of the oven. With an oven mitt or pot holder GENTLY squeeze the sides in. If the give easily your potato is done.

 

Directions for doing it:

1. find a potato or several potatoes of the same size.

2. Wash them in running water with a veggie scrub brush and then

3. Pierce them with fork tines several times on the top side.

4. Place a paper towel in the microwave and position the potatoes for evenly distributed heat distribution. Balance them, holes side up. 4 medium to large (not huge) potatoes.

5. cook on high 5 minutes and

6. place in a 400 degree Farenheit oven for 15 to 30 minutes. This makes the potatoe skin crackly for those who eat it like me. ( I check the potatoes after 15 minutes for give.)

 

If you cook totally in the microwave lots of cookbooks and ovens tell you to wrap the cooked potato in foil and place under an inverted bowl for 5 minutes after removing from the microwave. The time for cooking varies greatly on the wattage of your microwave and the size and number of potatoes.

 

Good Luck!

[DarkVoodoo]

Im not much of a cook, but I would love to learn

[blazingstar22]

I'm going to ask because I don't know where else to ask.

 

I'm going to try and swap to a healthier way of living. However, I'm cautious about whole wheat as a flour. I make homemade noodles, dumplings, wontons, bao zi and steamed buns (I'm not sure of this term because I call 'em mu mu). How well does whole wheat flour work as compared to white? Does it hold together, stretch, knead, etc. as well as white flour? I don't want to spend an hour making dumplings only to find that they'll break when I prepare them.

have you tried whole wheat pastry flour? i just learned of this and havent tried it myself yet. but if its pastry flour im thinking it might be finer grained and less course more like white flour in texture try that. ^^ im going to try it as soon as i can get some myself