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Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 3:49:00 PM   
Leathersandals


Posts: 39
Joined: 1/20/2009
Status: offline 		I love to eat, I love food, I love to cook.. but I'm not that good at it. I'm not terrible, but I'm only good at guy food. Bacon wrapped hot dogs with jalapenos and velveta on a lightly toasted bun, fried pork chops, steak, etc etc..

I do know my way around a kitchen, I've been a sushi chef for about 7 years. But the whole point of sushi is that we don't actually cook much.

So I ask you CM citizens. Are good cooks made or are they born?


(I feel like you could replace "cook" with "dom" and get a nice heated discussion going)
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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 3:53:04 PM   
housesub4you


Posts: 1879
Joined: 4/2/2008
Status: offline 		They are made, take your time; pratice and read.  If you can read you can become a good cook. 

It just takes time...

Don't compare yourself to some TV Chef unless you have a production crew, just relax, think about the food you like and look for recipes and follow them.  You will learn what you do and don't like and will adjust your cooking to fit your desires

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 3:53:47 PM   
Vendaval


Posts: 10297
Joined: 1/15/2005
Status: offline 		Enroll in a cooking class from your local college or adult ed or park & rec.  It is a great way to learn and meet single women.  You can also try finding some singles groups that host dinner parties and wine tasting clubs.  Have fun!
 


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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:07:07 PM   
MsFlutter


Posts: 1305
Joined: 11/12/2008
From: East Coast
Status: offline 		They are made BUT I've never been able to rule out a positive influence from DNA :)
 
Chicken stock should be your best friend in the kitchen. Use it to keep meats, etc moist while cooking them. Sea salt is another 'must have'
 
Here are some more ideas from another thread involving food

< Message edited by MsFlutter -- 2/11/2009 4:12:53 PM >

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:20:47 PM   
MichiganHeadmast


Posts: 726
Joined: 8/13/2006
Status: offline 		Thanks.  Now I got a craving for bacon wrapped hot dogs with jalapenos and velveta.

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:24:42 PM   
BigSi2009


Posts: 80
Joined: 12/14/2008
From: Sussex, UK
Status: offline 		I don't class myself as a really good cook, but the skills I do have I think are down to my natural creativity (so born would apply) and the influence of my parents (so made would also apply).  I do however have a rubbish memory for recipes so I either have to refer to books or just do what I know, which is usually something I've made up and like.  I'm particularly useful with Stir Fries.  I love getting my wok out, frying some chicken breasts with garlic, then adding some pepper, broccoli and then maybe some cashews.  However, I then tend to finish it off with some BBQ Sauce which whilst being far from traditional, gives it a nice glaze and taste.  My advice would be as others have hinted at, to just do your own thing.  Cook stuff that you like and add things til you work out what goes with what.  Cooking is actually really fun (until it comes to ashing the pots after!!).


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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:25:18 PM   
Leathersandals


Posts: 39
Joined: 1/20/2009
Status: offline 		Thanks for the responses guys.

Something funny I just found out, In Los Angeles bacon hot dogs are illegal to sell on the street.



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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:29:40 PM   
hizgeorgiapeach


Posts: 1672
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: MsFlutter
Here are some more ideas from another thread involving food


(You just Had to go dig that thread up right as I'm scrounging in the kitchen trying to decide what to make for dinner, didn't you, Flutter? PPPPfffffffttttttttttttt)
 
To the OP : Good cooks are BOTH.  We develop a love for the kitchen, and an incessant desire to experiment therein, both by trial and error and by training.  Cooking is something that's easily learned, impossible to perfect.

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:30:18 PM   
sub4hire


Posts: 6775
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Status: offline 		Made of course

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:30:59 PM   
aravain


Posts: 1211
Joined: 8/26/2008
Status: offline 		Definitely made.

One of the best ways to get experience with spices, and things that aren't main ingredients (but used to add taste) is to take/make something that doesn't really have much of its own taste and spice it different each time. A good cook is a good food-taster; getting an idea how different spices and such work together or alone is essential to creating your own 'flavor' on dishes that are otherwise bland or blase (or, even, cliche).

If you can take a class, that's even better, since you'll learn techniques that are otherwise *very* difficult to do so at home (trust me, I know from experience)

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:38:28 PM   
housesub4you


Posts: 1879
Joined: 4/2/2008
Status: offline 		There is a recipe for good cooks of course.  They are made, take class, jon a group, open a recipe book and read.  It is not as hard as people make it seem.  Anyone can cook, it is just our culture telling you, you do not have time.


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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:38:42 PM   
BigSi2009


Posts: 80
Joined: 12/14/2008
From: Sussex, UK
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: aravain

Definitely made.

One of the best ways to get experience with spices, and things that aren't main ingredients (but used to add taste) is to take/make something that doesn't really have much of its own taste and spice it different each time. A good cook is a good food-taster; getting an idea how different spices and such work together or alone is essential to creating your own 'flavor' on dishes that are otherwise bland or blase (or, even, cliche).



Have to agree on this one.  Although I mainly use spices in connection with chicken/meat in a ..... no wait you guessed it Wok.  Sometimes I'll use Cajun, sometimes Chinese 5 Spice, sometimes just some mixed Mediterranean herbs.  Even when cooking fresh pasta, I no longer bother with a sauce, just cook the pasta drain then pour on some good olive oil and add either (a) a garlic herb mix (better fresh garlic but I can never be arsed) or (b) basil or other herbs - in cases when I'm off out to meet someone/expecting a guest.

I've also found that frying meat with garlic and chillies is a great dish to assist with the removal of a cold, particularly if you lean over to take in the aromas during cooking.

Looking back over that, I now wonder when the last time I saw the grill pan was!

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:40:53 PM   
StrictnSaucy


Posts: 363
Joined: 1/6/2005
Status: offline 		I think food lovers make for great cooks.

I think that if  you enjoy eating and love food you will become a great cook. Experimentation and practise makes for perfect. If you think you should omit ingredient 1 in a recipe, for something else do it and see how the dish turns out. If it doesnt work out well try again with new ingredient. If you look at a recipe and think - shit man, no way can I pull that off, try it and be amazed at the results. Soon enough you will be writing your own recipes.

Vendeval gives great advice in suggesting classes and dinner groups. Shared experiences and learning will give you mighty confidence.

Looking forward to the "here is an original Leathersandals recipe" post :-)

Sushi chef - that is an art and must take much patience to get everything together just so. My brother does fine dining foods - the combinations of food and the layering blows my mind!

SnS

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:46:09 PM   
Aylee


Posts: 24103
Joined: 10/14/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Leathersandals

I love to eat, I love food, I love to cook.. but I'm not that good at it. I'm not terrible, but I'm only good at guy food. Bacon wrapped hot dogs with jalapenos and velveta on a lightly toasted bun, fried pork chops, steak, etc etc..

I do know my way around a kitchen, I've been a sushi chef for about 7 years. But the whole point of sushi is that we don't actually cook much.

So I ask you CM citizens. Are good cooks made or are they born?


(I feel like you could replace "cook" with "dom" and get a nice heated discussion going)



You forgot to add rice to your list of things that you are able to cook well.  Don't sushi cfef's spend like the first two years just getting the rice "correct"?

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:52:36 PM   
Leathersandals


Posts: 39
Joined: 1/20/2009
Status: offline 		Aylee:

Yes rice, is a pain to learn. Thankfully there is newer technology that helps with the preparation of rice, larger batches need almost constant attention once they get out of the cooker.

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:53:59 PM   
hizgeorgiapeach


Posts: 1672
Status: offline 		Sushi rice isn't an Art - it's an Impossibility!!!!!!
 
In all the years that I've spent in the kitchen - rice is one of those things that I never Have come close to getting "right" in my own opinion.  (Thank the gods for sealed boil bags when rice is part of a dish around my place - otherwise whatever it's getting served with would get pasta or bulgar wheat instead.)

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 4:57:43 PM   
Leathersandals


Posts: 39
Joined: 1/20/2009
Status: offline 		I'm this close to writing a primer on sushi rice.. but I feel like it'd be useless since its one of those things that needs to be shown in person.

Trial and error is key. Everyone uses different rice, different water, and different rice cookers. Once you find the right combo stick with it.

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 5:05:23 PM   
BKSir


Posts: 4037
Joined: 4/8/2008
From: Salt Lake City, UT
Status: offline 		A bit of both I think.  Some people just seem to have a natural talent for it, just like some have a natural talent for drawing or electronics or dancing.  Anyone can learn, yes ANYONE, but some people will always be better at it than others.  I practically live in a kitchen, but, I also enjoy drawing (which I am getting better at, after two years, but still can't draw eyes worth a damn).  I have a natural aptitude towards cooking, but not drawing.  I have a natural aptitude towards music, but not dancing.

And by the way, isn't being a sushi chef fun!?   I miss doing that... I also miss the money I made doing that.


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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 5:30:00 PM   
aravain


Posts: 1211
Joined: 8/26/2008
Status: offline 		damn you! I love drawing, but I'm only good at eyes!

>.<

Rice is something I'll never understand. It's hard to cook, it's hard to use in dishes, and it tastes horrible.

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RE: Becoming a Good Cook - 2/11/2009 5:40:48 PM   
Leathersandals


Posts: 39
Joined: 1/20/2009
Status: offline 		No more rice hate. With these skilled hands I'll show you the secret technique of ancestral rice making. I won't let you dishonor it.

Anyway..

I love watching Iron chef and Gordon Ramsey and all those other super intense cooking shows. The people just seem to GET food. It might just be experience but I will look into the cooking classes and stuff.

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