Learning to Cook

[Kyoung05]

Originally Posted by ashpool

Make pasta casserole. Easy, last for a long time, tastes good, can use any ingredients as long as the core ingredients are there (pasta, cheese some kind of wet things that bind stuff together).

Also, many big law firms have their own cafeteria and chefs that make food for you and even bring them to you, so you don't have to leave your office and can continue to bill $1000/hr. for your firm.

Looking forward to that when I finish Law school.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

lol

Seriously. The reality is more likely to be you making/eating those pasta casseroles at home because (i) you'll be unemployed, and (ii) between rent, student loan payments, etc. making $5 meals that last several days is going to be your only option.

 

[nopants]

Originally Posted by Teger

a loaf of whole grain bread + peanut butter = food for a week

Currently living on this, feels bad

As far as casseroles go, a slow cooker is pretty handy for making those...just throw some cans of soup in with some filler and etc. and leave it on low while you go to work? Or you can do it on the weekends if you're paranoid about fires

 

[Mr T]

I laughed at the OP as I go through a similar thought process every few months. I enjoy cooking, but just haven't devoted the time to really understand what I am doing.

I actually skipped dinner twice last week and ate subway takeout three other nights. I can't recall what I did the other nights.

 

[CDFS]

Originally Posted by StephenHero

The biggest obstacle that prevents me from learning how to cook well is the wastefulness of cooking alone. I have a hard time finding recipes that use up fresh ingredients in the same quantity as I'm forced to buy them in. It's a headache to buy $8 worth of tarragon or gouda cheese for some wimpy ass salad and then have to search online for recipes to use the other 75% of each. I need to get better at improvisational cooking by learning flavors and ratios.
One needs: One sandwich (Gouda) cheese Butter, to taste. (recipe feeds one for lunch)

 

[mkarim]

Originally Posted by Teger

my issue with cooking is time. it takes time to go to the store, to plan **** out and to cook it. time i'd rather spend dicking around online/watching tv

+1

 

[ashpool]

I just mastered beef and broccoli after watching this youtube video. I urge you to try it out. It is delicious! http://www.youtube.com/user/divinech...35/LJnGswNPkXw The good thing with most chinese recipes is that it requires a lot of sauces, which you can buy and they will last a long time, and are super cheap in Asian grocery stores. I'm inspired to make more asian dishes now! Screw eating for free at the cafeteria of my future law firm!

 

[randallr]

Originally Posted by ashpool

I just mastered beef and broccoli after watching this youtube video. I urge you to try it out. It is delicious!

http://www.youtube.com/user/divinech...35/LJnGswNPkXw

The good thing with most chinese recipes is that it requires a lot of sauces, which you can buy and they will last a long time, and are super cheap in Asian grocery stores.

I'm inspired to make more asian dishes now! Screw eating for free at the cafeteria of my future law firm!

Great link! I'll definitely be trying some of those.

 

[phaseshift]

I learned to cook when I had someone to cook for, now that I'm single once again, I rarely cook anything good. Just steaks and veggies all the time now heh, meat thermometer is all you need to cook a badass steak

 

[ashpool]

For those of you who rarely cook, what do you do for lunch? Do you just buy stuff? Seems like a waste of $. I'm trying to get to a point where I can completely eliminate buying prepared food.

 

[impolyt_one]

Originally Posted by ashpool

For those of you who rarely cook, what do you do for lunch? Do you just buy stuff? Seems like a waste of $. I'm trying to get to a point where I can completely eliminate buying prepared food.

I'd imagine they'd up spending a lot, or not eating well. If you don't cook for yourself, those are your options really.

 

[mkarim]

Originally Posted by ashpool

For those of you who rarely cook, what do you do for lunch? Do you just buy stuff? Seems like a waste of $. I'm trying to get to a point where I can completely eliminate buying prepared food.

Me too.

 

[impolyt_one]

Another way I learned some basic but solid technique was via Japanese cookbooks - not for Japanese food per se, but for Japanese western-style food. The techniques for stewing, sautes, etc are essentially basic French cooking, but simplified. Usually those Japanese western food cookbooks are all about the same, but they do picture step by steps, have solid measurements and times, and little 'one-point' tips, like rolling a bouquet garni, knife cuts, making various sauces like ketchup and tartare, vinaigrettes, etc. Usually you get through one of those books, and you can make yourself a very solid beef stew, pot au feu, a hamburger steak, a basted steak frites, omelette, pilafs, salads, some basic demiglace and bechamel sauces, gratins, rillettes, cutlets, salads, vegetable glacee and other sides, etc. All of which would make a good foundation for cooking. This is a book I have, and I bought it maybe 7 years ago; the photos are great and it has all of the above, plus step by steps. My Japanese reading was non existent when I bought this book and I still found it interesting. It obviously helps a lot to be able to read some kana, though.

It's very a solid little cookbook worth checking out if you find yourself in Kinokuniya.

 

[iamrobertjulius]

Mirepoix Poached Chicken with hummus Im going to tell you what you need to do. Its so simple. Mirepoix poached chicken i make a few times a week. When you go to the grocery store actually writing a list helps. what you need to buy is a red onion, a bunch (a few stalks together) of celery, fresh basil leaves (comes in a plastic box in the chilled herbs section), a bag of medium carrots (not big ones, not small), salt, pepper, hummus (find the good stuff), olive oil and chicken breasts. so how you make it. take a stock pot (like this) add olive oil first and put the chicken in. wash a few basil leaves and throw them in. wash and break 1 carrot and 1 stalk of celery in half and throw them in. you dont need to wash the onion cause you have to peel the skin off before putting it in. using a chefs knife cut the onion across the bottom to give it a flat base, then cut in towards the center all the way through and repeat and then break off half. cut or break that in half and throw it in. turn stove on low (3). run sink water as hot as you can get it. fill stock pot so that the water covers everything. add salt and pepper. let cook for like... 30 minutes max. take off heat and cover, leave for 10 minutes. take the chicken out and store in refrigerator but take 2 pieces for yourself and put them on a plate to serve. using pairing knife cut into bite size pieces. Add salt and a huge side of hummus and it's ready to eat. you dont need to reheat the chicken, it tastes just as good cold IMO. so now you'll have as many pieces of chicken as you cooked in the fridge and all you need to do is cut them, salt and add hummus. also you can store the leftover onion half in the bag of celery. hope this helped. another quick eat is hardboiled eggs. put eggs in a saucepan, fill with hot water, light boil for 15 minutes, in sink run cold water into the pot, then using your fingers break off the shell while running water over the egg... refrigerate what you dont eat and you have a lot of protein ready to go. add salt. the key to making them taste great is not having the water too hot. you want the egg to cook evenly.

 

[iamrobertjulius]

Originally Posted by randallr

Great link! I'll definitely be trying some of those.
F yea this is such a baller youtube channel. look at the chicken lo mein mang. using sriracha instead of chili sauce im gonna try this.

 

[otc]

Originally Posted by ashpool

I just mastered beef and broccoli after watching this youtube video. I urge you to try it out. It is delicious!

http://www.youtube.com/user/divinech...35/LJnGswNPkXw

The good thing with most chinese recipes is that it requires a lot of sauces, which you can buy and they will last a long time, and are super cheap in Asian grocery stores.

I'm inspired to make more asian dishes now! Screw eating for free at the cafeteria of my future law firm!

Made this tonight...pretty tasty

I went with a skirt steak and sliced it pretty tight across the grain but it was still damn chewy...would use another cut next time.