don't know how to cook

[shorti]

hey all,
im 23 years old and can't cook. i have attemted it before but im really slow. i would love to start to learn. i have never had anyone in my life that can show me how to do it properly. i wouldnt know where to buy good meat and i dont think frozen stuff is all that healthy. i just want to get some advice on where to start from the basics. thanks in advance! :)

[AnthonyStanley11]

Welcome to the site...What kind of food do you like? We can start from there, so you will be able to cook foods you love to eat!

[mcnerd]

Start with just one (1) meal......maybe a box of hamburger helper or tuna helper and follow the directions on the box. Learning takes time. I'll bet you didn't learn to walk in one day. It takes practice and each time you will find you can do more without realizing it.

[Drama Queen]

Don't worry McNerd, I didn't know how to make a pot of coffee when I got married at 20. We lived on steaks and baked potatoes since that was the only thing I knew how to make. I realized I had to learn more or starve. All it takes is motivation. I LOVE a man who can cook and so do many other women.

Start with a good beginners' cookbook. The book stores are full of them, or get a couple from the library til you find one you'd like to buy. Start slowly and work your way up. If you truly want to learn how to cook, you will.
Good luck to you.

P.S. Get a copy of Martha Stewart's Cooking School at your library or bookstore. It's filled with tons of valuable information for the beginning cook. Keep at least 4 cookbooks on hand to begin with and READ them. :D
Call me when dinner's ready.

[mcnerd]

Drama Queen, what is it I'm not supposed to be worried about??

[Drama Queen]

Drama Queen, what is it I'm not supposed to be worried about??

:D ROFLMAO: Sorry McNerd, that post was meant for Shorti who originated this thread. Sorry I guess I just wasn't paying attention. Hey, I'm old. :rolleyes:

[SamiCooks]

Hey Shorti,

I can totally relate to what your saying, Im 22 recent college grad and I used to burn water. My mom has the cooking gene but for me its more of a struggle. A couple of months ago I was wandering around the market one day looking at all the different fresh meats (I had no idea what the difference was between ground beef and a chicken breast!) But there were these small packets hanging all over that department. The company is called Amazing Taste, and the whole thing is that it makes cooking easy and just about fool proof. You get your fresh meat and then you sprinkle the seasoning on and then you cook them the way you want to.

I know a lot of people like to blend their own seasonings but when you dont know how to or you cant tell the difference between paprika and saffron (i certainly cant) than they are really really convienent. You can look them up on their website www.amazingtaste.com

Hope you enjoy and get better at cooking.

[RecipeRiver]

Hi Shorti,
That's cool you're interested in learning how to cook. Essential skill for life in my opinion.

I think you should start really simple to build confidence and basic skills with things like grilled cheese, spaghetti, cheeseburgers, taco salad, etc. I'm not sure what you like to eat, but you get the idea. Find yourself a decent beginner's cookbook and read the info about food before you look at the recipes. You'll learn all kinds of things about selecting meats, veggies, what equipment you need, and various techniques.

Good luck.

[johnnyreno13]

Hi Shorti. The best place to start is to get yourself a really good cook book for beginners.
There's no big secret to good home cooking - as long as you follow the recipes and have a bit of organisational skill and common sense, you should be cooking great meals in no time. Sometimes it takes a couple of tried to get the recipe right, but practice makes perfect. And remember to TASTE your food as you're cooking it! Enjoy

[simrnz]

yeah, I too started my learning from buying cookbooks for dummies ... and now I'm very good at cooking. The generic cookbooks won't do you any good coz they contain expert level recipes which you can't try as a beginner. Also develop a habit to read cooking tips and cooknig FAQs regularly.

[kastal]

You should start cooking from scratch and for this you have to try some basic recipes like pancakes, mashed potatoes, some easy desserts then you can do little more cooking like veggies. here i m trying to give you some on easy recipes that you can try:)

Pancake:
Take a cup of plain flour and add 1 tspn baking powder, 1 egg, 1 tbspn of sugar and water just to make normal consistency batter. To check the right density drop the batter from a spoon and it would drop easily. Grease the non-stick pan and from a ladle drop the batter on the pan and cook it on low heat. when bubbles come out on the top of the batter and batter starts to dry then turn it and cook from other side. It will take 3 mins to cook completely.

French Fries:
In a boil water, dip the potato pieces for just 3 mins and after that drain put all the water. Leave the potato pieces to dry and after become dry shake them in cornflour and using strainer dust the extra cornflour. In a preheated oil, put the potato pieces and fry until crispy. It takes 5 mins approx.

[monamona]

You can begin with simple cook books and then progress to more advanced ones. Forums like this help a lot as well.

[White Jasmine]

Shorti,
The best advice I can give is don't worry about trial and error. Cooking takes time to get the hang of it as there really is no golden rule in the kitchen. Find out what you like the best by simply trying different things and experimenting. There is nothing wrong with creating a dish and honestly having it not work out. Just figure out what went wrong, and try again :) I usually try a new dish every so often, if it works then great! If not, time to call for plan B; 1-800-ChineseDelivery. :) Good luck!

[keathjohn]

This is one of the best place to discuss about different types of dishes..

[kitchennewbie]

Hi. I didn't learn (still learning actually) how to cook until I was 28 years old. I was forced to since I had gotten married and didn't want to subject my husband to instant stuff forever. Anyway, when I finally started cooking, I found that I really liked the activity. It's another way to be creative and there's really a sense of accomplishment involved. I started with frying (I was that bad) and later started doing easy pasta recipes. You just become more confident, the more you get into it. I've also tried my hand at baking (which I actually prefer). I've had flops and successes, but it's all part of the learning process. You can check out my blog for easy dishes to try (I know they're easy since I was able to do them). Anyway, HTH. :)

[TheAutomaton]

The most important thing I can tell you about cooking is...relax and don't totally freak out because you're trying to follow a recipe and it requires you to do ten things at once. Just read the recipe and proceed calmly without allowing yourself to feel "rushed" and "out of time". I think that is something that happens to cooking n00bs a lot.
I used to think that I was the worst cook ever when I was a teenager. I would get frustrated and loose track of things and then I would just say, "I don't have the 'talent' for cooking." and I would quit.
I actually developed my love for cooking when I got a job in a restaurant. I was not working in the kitchen, but I loved to be there. Watching the cooks. They had it all together. Even when they were in the weeds and screaming profanity at each other the meals came together and went out on time. It was beautiful to watch.
Cooking, even at home, can be stressful. But just start out small and don't be afraid to make mistakes. If you were able to talk to a professional chef, he would tell you that sometimes no matter how much training you have or how much experience you'll screw up and ruin a dish every once in a while.
Don't be scared to try and have fun. If you burn something, who cares?
I remember one time when I was about 17 I made brownies for my boyfriend and I to take with us on a trip and they came out looking solid on the top, but everything under the crust was still completely liquid. We didn't have time to start over so we just poured it into a plastic bag and took some spoons with us. Man, did we have a laugh.

[Semigourmet]

how about crock pot cooking first. it is easy and all you do is add the ingredients to the crock pot and turn it on and walk away until it is done.

Creamy Beef and Potato Stew (this is very thick and very tasty)

Ingredients

12 ounces boneless beef chuck
1 16 ounce package frozen cut green beans, or 2 cans green beans, drained
1 5 ½ ounce package dry au gratin potato mix
½ teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
3 cups water
1 ½ cups half and half or light cream (I used ¾ cup half and half)
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)



1. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into ¾ inch pieces. In a 3 ½ to 4 quart slow cooker combine the meat, frozen green beans, dry potatoes, sauce mix from potatoes, and thyme. Pour the water into the cooker.
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high heat setting 3 ½ to 4 hours.
3. If using high heat setting, turn to low heat setting. Stir half and half into potato mixture. Cover and cook about 15 minutes more or until heated through. To serve, ladle stew into bowls. If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

[Kitchen Ninja]

This reminds me of a few years back, when I first started cooking.

Definitely start small and slow. Pick easy stuff that sounds good, but expect to make a huge mess and take forever at first. Slowly step up your game, try new stuff (always try new stuff, and you'll get better much faster), watch cooking shows when you can, and you'll eventually realize you've gotten better, you're faster and cleaner and cooking more complicated things.

You WILL FAIL from time to time. In my first year of cooking, I tried to make pad thai and it was so bad we couldn't even finish it. It's important to remember that it's OK to fail, and you'll learn just as much from those times. Don't be afraid to try something new or scary because you can always order take-out if it doesn't work :D

Now it's a few years later and I'm very comfortable trying anything in the kitchen. And when my brother and I go out to eat, we make it a game to break down any dish we order into ingredients and cooking techniques. I always had fun cooking, even when I sucked, but now that I'm actually good at it, it's an AWESOME hobby. Just stick with it.

[awesomeapril]

If you can read and know what you like, you can cook! After reading and trying a few different recipes you will begin to be able to put your own ideas together and modify recipes to your taste. Pay attention to what you order when you go out to eat so later on you can do your own variation. Don't be afraid to experiment and sniff your way around the kitchen. To chose spices fallow your nose. Most importantly ENJOY YOURSELF!

I'd start out with salads and sandwiches; they are quick, tasty and don't have to be boring. Here is my favorite sandwich recipe that I have broken down, so there is no room for error. If you do something wrong it will probably taste fine. Think of it as your own variation! Or remember that you want to try it differently next time. If my directions just confuse you, look at the ingredients and think, "How can I make this work in a sandwich?" and assemble. Not quite as easy as pb and j, but doable. work on it.

- thin avocado slices, Don't know how to prep an avocado? Google it!, you should have enough cover the bread

-bacon, you can get precooked bacon and microwave it, or fry it yourself, the amount is up to you I recommend around 2 or 3 pieces depending on the size of the bread, but if you like bacon a lot put more on.

-some sprouts, a small hand full will do

-balsamic vinaigrette, a tablespoon or 2 for drizzling will do

-Your choice of cheese. For this I prefer provolone, how ever much you like, but I recommend 2 or 3 slices

-2 slices of your favorite bread, I like fresh, crusty and chewy types of breads.

Toast the bread.
While it is toasting start preparing your other ingredients.
I would start with the cheese if it is not presliced. This way you can put the cheese on one of the slices of toast while it is still warm so the cheese will melt.

Put a few slices of your precooked bacon in the microwave following the instructions on the box.
Rinse the sprouts in cold water and put them on a paper towel to absorb their water.

Slice the avocado into long thin slices

After the toast is done lay the slices of cheese on one of the slices of bread.

on the other piece of bread lay down the slices of avocado.

Put your sprouts on top of the avocado.

Drizzle the balsamic dressing on top of the sprouts

lay the bacon on top of the sprout

finally put the other slice of bread on top with the cheese facing down.

enjoy!

I hope my hastily written response helps!

[mastercooker]

Hi shorti, I would suggest you to check out this cookbook which is the Fannie Farmer Cookbook as the best place to start learning how to cook.The Fannie Farmer Cookbook is the only recipe book a home cook will need for both basic cooking and more advanced meal preparation.

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook has been teaching home cooks the basics of food preparation since 1896. This classic kitchen reference is filled with tips and instructions that are useful to both new and seasoned cooks. All kitchens need a basic cookbook, and this one encompasses everything from ingredients to techniques.



Read more: http://homedecorcookbooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_fannie_farmer_cookbook


Good luck and hope that you become a better cook from this cookbook!

[Hang0ver]

I'm improve my cooking skill form internet, there are more food recipes & cooking forums which can teach you How to cooking. :)

[Dough Boy]

FWIW, this guy posts this same post on every cooking site that will grant him access. He usually does the great disappearing act like he has done here, or he posts such ridiculous questions that he ultimately gets banned from the sites. He'll play you like a fiddle if you let him, so it's best to just ignore his posts.

[Big Daddy's House]

FWIW, this guy posts this same post on every cooking site that will grant him access. He usually does the great disappearing act like he has done here, or he posts such ridiculous questions that he ultimately gets banned from the sites. He'll play you like a fiddle if you let him, so it's best to just ignore his posts.



According to his number of posts, he's only posted one so far.

But I'll be keeping an eye on him to make sure that he doesn't get out of line.

[JasonOne]

It is easier to learn cooking if you have an inspiration ( someone close to your heart).

You know what, cooking is a passion. Putting your heart to it will make a powerful ingredient. Try to learn the basics from cooking school then practice at home.

[Big Daddy's House]

And it usually begins at home.

After doing it for so long before any of us left the nest, it became apparent that I wanted to do it as a profession. For a living.

[barryjtaylor]

I can't cook but I just made a really simple soup.
These guys have an interactive video that helps you cook practically any soup you like!! ( http://tiny.cc/f3o6Y )

[Big Daddy's House]

There's a very similar thread I read that was just started over at CookingJunkies.com like this one, but the member's name is different.

Wonder if it's the same person who posted it here.

[Big Daddy's House]

I think that this is the same person (who started this thread) who is spamming the boards, I think you're right Dough Boy, with sympathy-seeking.

There is no excuse for this. Even a nine-year-old kid knows how to cook SOMETHING. I've been cooking since I was nine years old.

Quite similar to the one at CookingJunkies.com. Closed that one as well. What does that tell you? That this person wants sympathy and understanding for something that he can do if he puts his mind to it.

One of the many things that we all learn at home IS cooking, and if he didn't learn how to do it back then, well, that is HIS own fault.
Cooking bacon, eggs, French Fries or a hot dog or even a hamburger is not difficult at all. A child can do it with supervision, then, in time, he masters it and it soon becomes a piece of cake for him to do.

So sorry, but I just don't believe for one second that this individual can't cook at all. It's just plain horsefeathers.


Thread is closed.