What is your BEST cooking tip?
Mine is, take almost any type of leftovers, throw them in the frying pan, crack an egg on top, season egg, toss in pan until the egg is cooked. Or, fry the egg separately and place it on top of the leftovers. Both great!!
Buy the Americas Test Kitchen Cookbook. It has made me the overfed white guy I am today……..
I’ll second that Jimski, adding Cook’s Country. They both formulate recipes so that the home foodie can prepare restaurant quality grub, with an eye open for frugal folk. Both affiliated outfits appear weekly over-the-air on MD Public TV.
Never fry bacon in the nude.
That is a ‘HOT’ tip
don’t know about anyone else’s cooking but my best cooking tip is to make sure the fire extinguisher is charged and keep it handy.
A fried egg didn’t improve the leftover chocolate pudding I had. Just sayin’.
My best tip is to simply do it often, it saves money, youll get better at it, youll know wclxactly what you are eating and all the while be more satisfied overall.
No fuckin way, harryp. Cookin’s for bachelors and queers.
Easy, Mike. Just fuckin around.
1. Buy better beer.
2. Bacon makes every meal better.
3. Broaden your tastes in cheeses.
Just spread this on anything:
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Make enough for leftovers. If I’m making pasta, I make enough to have some a second night or at least provide packed lunches for the family the next day. I grilled steak last night, so tonight it’s steak tacos.
Have the right tool for the job.
We love to camp, and we love breakfast. I have a 20″ Lodge cast iron skillet. I’ve cooked many a breakfast for many people over the years in that pan, great memories. It took three of us to flip a 24 egg omelet once.
Everybody raves about my breakfast, I know it’s not how or what I cook, it’s just that I’m cooking it.
For steaks on the grill, buy Angus
Freshly grated parmesan cheese.
For those going paleo or trying to go without gluten, buy a Spiralizer and some small zucchini squash. Spiralize the sqaush, salt it and let it sit to get out moisture and press in towel. Use as substitute for pasta. Much healthier and it tastes great.
That’s an easy one. Stay out of Mrs. Marions’s way and don’t be late.
Don’t choke the chicken while cooking, unless you like special sauce.
Stucky you’re in a queer mood today!
Use cast iron. Don’t know why, it just lends itself well to reheating/leftovers.
My key to success in the kitchen is to get my wife to do the cooking.
If I have to cook for the kids, it’s Ramen Noodles, cold cereal, or a sandwich.
Also, I expect a lot in the bedroom. Which puts me in the same category as Fred Flintstone.
The best gravy recipe ever:
Save the drippings from whatever you roast- chicken, beef, lamb, doesn’t matter.
Pour drippings through cheesecloth discard solids. Heat the drippings in a pan until it comes to a boil, add 1/3 cup wine (red for red meats, white for poultry) 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar 1/3 cup maple syrup, reduce. As the gravy begins to thicken add 1/2 stick of butter then slowly whisk in white flour/corn starch roux until desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.
Thanks HSF; aside from bacon, there’s nothing that whets my palate more than homemade gravy, especially on freedom fries. Do you think (ever tried) substituting a lager for the wine would work? And if so, with what protein? Seriously no sarcasm.
That gravy sounds wonderful. I’ll add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and call it good.
My tip: Get an Air Fryer.
Fry, grill, stir-fry, bake and steam in the same appliance. Even bb’s cat could be a 5 star cook with an Air Fryer.
Fried and grilled food without the fat…..Yum! We have really enjoyed ours and this time of year it’s great as it does not heat up the kitchen.
http://www.evine.com/Product/453-520
Fat ain’t bad for you, as long as we’re talking animal fats, not those shitty seed oils (olive, avocado and coconut oils are okay).
Processed food and added sugar; particularly high fructose corn syrup is the killer.
Rdawg
You spray olive or coconut oil on the food in a Air Fryer so you do use fats and oils, just better than deep frying.
Mustard and Beer
Rob
What do you put the mustard on? Or did you mean in the beer?Or did you mean we should cook with beer and mustard?
1) I put mustard on everything including comments. Mustard is my favourite condiment.
2) If putting it on hot dogs and drinking a couple of brews counts then yes.
3) Sure why not…
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/220206/beer-mustard/
Any kind of mustard, but a horseradish based mustard is especially good on french fries. Mustard good, Ketchup no bueno.
nkit
horseradish mustard on fries! I got to try that tonight.
cheers
rt
bon appetite….
In central South Cacalacky they make mustard BBQ that kicks ass. My wife and I make it as well and add beer.
In northern SC they make a vinegar BBQ that is outstanding as well. We haven’t mastered that one yet but I’ll be trying a version with sour beer which should compliment the vinegar perfectly!
Personally I hate sweet BBQ sauce so these two are excellent aleternatives. Matter of fact I don’t care for anything that is sweet with meat.It’s just wrong.
Being a SC native now living in Texas I can tell you hands down the best bbq is from SC / NC.
I took my girlfriend (Texan) to SC last year and she’d never had real bbq before, she loved it.
Crock pot chicken bbq:
Chicken (thigh, wings, legs, quarters, whatever you’ve got on hand)
In a bowl mix ketchup, mustard, about 3 spoons of apple vinegar, and a little bit of A1.
Put it all in a crock pot set on low and come back to it about 6-8 hours later.
The implication being that SC bbq beats Texas bbq. HERESY.
Admin, can you declare a Fatwa against Ticky?
I hope he gets a tick invasion real soon.
TickyToc, I’m a SC native too, but with the opposite opinion of Texas BBQ. I never liked BBQ until I moved to Texas. Pittsburgh hot links, brisket, smoked turkey, all served with just a slice of sweet onion and a basket of crackers, is what I liked in Texas.
In Texas they say, “You can’t barbecue a pig or a chicken”. That’s true, and it’s why I never liked Carolina barbecue, because it’s usually pork or chicken.
Yeah, northern SC stole that vinegar recipe from North Carolina – my home state…It’s been a staple of North Carolina since Hector was a pup….
I do! Every year! I can them as well so I can eat them all year long!
I don’t know who stole what from who but we transferred the deliciousness to WA state! Everyone we’ve shared it with has loved it!
The food from the southern states is exquisite IMO. I can live without chitlins though!
I/S
I was raised on vinegar BBQ. That flavor really appeals to me and like Rob from N S, I also love mustard. Mixing the traditional vinegar sauce with mustard is damn good stuff. Trader Joe’s sells a BBQ sauce called Carolina Gold that I think you might take a liking to. It ain’t bad fer store bought and it blends the vinegar with just the right balance of mustard.
Thanks for the Ideas Bea. I am not much of a cook but I am BBQ ing tomorrow and will give it a try.
cheers
rt
I stopped and grabbed a bottle on the way home from Costco. It sounds like it will be too sweet for my tastes but I’ll give it a try.
One tip: spend a few bucks on a crock pot; they were made with leftovers in mind. Slow cooking can tenderize even flank steak, although they tend to weaken flavors.
A crock pot was going to be my suggestion. There are tons of recipes and cook books for crock pot meals.
If you have trouble cooking / shopping like I do check this out:
http://www.makedinnereasy.com/dinnermenus.html
The special sauce is optional
Combining two good suggestions, BBQ and crock pots:
Pulled Pork BBQ
Take crock pot and use a liner (saves cleanup time). Put whole pork shoulder in crock pot, as large as will fit or trim into pieces so it WILL fit, goddammit; you may need to remove hide / skin. Turn on low, cover and wait 6 – 7 hours. Remove from crock onto ginormous cutting board; using two forks or similar, pull pork into shreds while discarding fat, bones, cartilage. Put pulled pork shreds into fridge until wanted. Can make several pounds at once.
Cheap and tasty BBQ sauce: 1 cup tomato catsup, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, some pepper or whatever other spices turn you on. Mix and pour over shreds on top of hamburger buns / sliced rolls / whatever bread makes you happy.
Pulled pork shreds make good tacos, mo shu pork, or just eat from refrigerator when no one is looking. If multiple people in household, leftovers will not last long.
Cook Books: The James Beard Cookbook
(Dell Publishing Co., 1959. Revised in 1961, 1970, 1987 (paperback), and 1996.)
New York Times Cookbook / New York Times International Cookbook – Craig Claiborne
Preparation is everything. I have a dozen, small glass custard cups. They are great for holding ingredients you have chopped, and liquid ingredients. When all is preped, I clean up the kitchen, all that remains is to cook the meal.
Same with meat. We get steaks / chops from Costco. I will trim the meat, put them in portion control bags (much like plastic bags) lay them on a cookie sheet in the freezer. Freeze nice and flat for storage. Sometimes I’ll cut up a chicken like this, and I save the backs / necks. Two or three backs make great stock.
If you use fresh mozzarella, you can slice it with an egg slicer (the kind with the wires).
Use a plastic bag to marinade. You don’t need as much marinade, the food is completely immersed, don’t have to wash the bowl. Be sure to squeeze all the air out of the bag.
Have large enough pans, and have the pan at temp. If you put too much meat in the pan, the temperature will drop, the juices will come out of the meat, and it will boil in the juices, rather than sear in the juices.
Truffle butter. Buy it at wegmans. Melt it on meat or fish. Blackened cajum chicken with truffle butter. I just fried turkey with bacon and with melted swiss over it in truffle butter for brunch. Baklouti olive oil with tangerine vinaigrette for salad dressing. Saratoga olive oil company sells the good stuff.
Just do it! Cooking is easy. Good cooking is easy.
We only cook about three days per week but we make enough to take to work for our lunch/dinner during the week.
“Take almost any type of leftovers, throw them in the frying pan, crack an egg on top, season egg, toss in pan until the egg is cooked.”
—-Back in PA Mike’s best cooking tip
That tip sucks. Eggs suck. I hate eggs.
“Make enough for leftovers.”
—-Crimson Avenger
Correct. Best tip in the thread. I always make enough for leftovers. I love leftovers and never fuck them up by adding eggs.
Reading all this just made me hungry! Gravy, yum yum! You can call me anything you want, just don’t call me “late for dinner”.
who knew? You all know what it is all about!!
Quick meal? Stir fry…any vegetables, meat, seasoning, a handful of carbs…finis
Fried egg and parm ch. optional
A couple of quick meals:
Take a little white wine, olive oil, shallots, garlic, crushed red pepper and bring to a raging boil in a large stock pot. Throw in a pound or two of cleaned and de-bearded mussels and cover. Cook for a minute or two then shake and cook for another minute….shake and repeat one more time. We just stand right over the stove with some slices of crusty bread and a cold beer eating mussels and soaking up the sauce with the bread!
This next one requires that grow the peppers but is even simpler than the one above. Grow some Padron peppers. They’re a little smaller than jalapenos. Harvest when they are fully formed and green. Once you have your peppers you want to heat a little oil in a skillet or pot you can cover……you definitely want to cover it! Heat the oil until just smoking. Throw the peppers in and cover. Shake the skillet or pot several times over a few minutes or so then remove from the heat. Sprinkle with your favorite sea salt, grab some slices of crusty bread and a cold beer (or two) and chow down. You eat them whole discarding the stems. The nice thing about Padron peppers is that about one in ten are hot………not jalapeno hot but warm and there is no way to tell which ones are hot and which are not and they have an excellent pepper flavor! The Spaniards liken eating them to playing Russian Roulette! Again, we just stand over the stove and mow through them!
The peppers freeze well so you can grow a bunch of them and eat as often as you like.
Try out a few recipes using saffron. We make a saffron onion soup with almonds and saffron rice is an excellent side to many dishes. If your ever looking for a delicious soup to go with a steak or salmon you cannot go wrong with Sopa de Ajo Castellana. It’s a garlic soup with a beef broth base made with saffron and you crack a raw egg into it and bake for a few minutes until lightly set and top with a slice of toasted day old crusty bread. Mmm! Mmm! That shit will make a nigger baby slap his pappy!
Use a cast iron skillet. Use butter. Get the butter from a local who doesn’t treat it if possible.Onions and garlic for health and good taste.
When boiling peanuts always slice up 4 or 5 fresh jalapenos, use a generous amount of Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning, sea salt, fresh onion and lots of crushed red pepper…..Always boil fresh GREEN peanuts!! Enjoy with massive quantities of beer….uuuuummmm
Who boils peanuts???
Dude
You ask ” who boils peanuts”?
Just about the entire population of the deep south…….Jeebus.
Isn’t it bolled peanuts?
I boil peanuts pert ner evry weekend….damn son…..Jeebus – is right Bea…Dang, what number do you call when you want the PO-lice? uuuuummmm
Not that i ever heard FR. Boiled peanuts will cure what ails ya.
Do Mexicans eat hot nuts?
The mexicanos don’t fuck with the boiled peanuts here….maybe if I could come up with Boiled Beans….with bacon…and a Porta-Potty…