I make a mean omelette. And pretty much everything else too. Except sweet things, I don't eat them so I don't have any experience making them. My mom is a really awesome pastry chef though. I even had a bit of a Japanese phase where I made a bunch of onigiri, sushi, nikkodon, etc., etc. Fun fact: Did you know that cooking is considered an extroverted activity? The more you know... :derpe:
Huh. I don't mind cooking, but I do find it easier to just pickup food from Subway or where ever though.
My greatest culinary accomplishment to date was a fantastic Upside-Down Pineapple Cake. But I'll mess up something easy like an omelette. I'm not particularly picky about my food so I tend to be very, very lazy about preparation. If I don't need to balance my diet for a meal then I'd be satisfied throwing some chili or a can of Chunky soup/stew over some white rice.
I've always stored potatoes and onions just in cabinets, but there's this weird thing my roommate seems to do where he skins potatoes and then keeps them in the fridge in a bowl of water. I don't know how long they keep that way, but it's not something I'm willing to try. I mean, potatoes keep perfectly fine almost anywhere. They grow underground for crying out loud. Their skin will protect them from everything, you don't need to baby them. 'Course, I would also never skin a potato for any reason. I consider it a sin to not eat potato skin. I couldn't make an omelette. I hate eggs. XD Some of my first dishes were Japanese-inspired, actually. Since I was living on ramen, I decided I'd start adding shrimp and mushrooms to the noodles instead of those horrendous flavor packets. After that came pepper and green onions, and then I started doing scampi with vegetables or rice instead of noodles. I still do, every now and then. Scampi is quick and easy. After that I started doing curry. I did chicken curry a couple of times on my own (with varying levels of success), but my favorite was the time I did beef with potatoes. Though I learned that one from a book instead of by experimenting on my own, I still consider it one of the best dishes I've made.
Peeled in a bowl of water? I don't see the point but if it makes him happy. I like to keep the skins on too, it started from laziness, but now I just like it that way. Care to share your scampi recipe? It sounds like something I'd like.
Wish I could give a straight answer, but I never did stop to measure the ingredients. I just dropped them in to taste. XD I start with cooking the shrimp in butter, olive oil, and lemon juice, then adding the garlic later. Tonight though I'm gonna try using minced garlic instead of powder. Should turn out even better.
Well.. i cook a lot. From small and simple dishes (Spaghetti with some Sauce) to huge 3 Course Dinners i have done everything. I often use recipes but i also do a lot of improvising. So for example a 3 Course Menu i did for my BF: Course 1: Tomatoe and Mozzarella on little skewers with olive oil vingear and stuff, Shrimp Cocktail with Baguette Course 2: Spareribs with Au Gratin Potatoes and mixed Salad with 1000 Island Dressing (was it that name? Simon suggested it) Course 3: Mouse au Chocolate And i love to Bake
Just did my beef stir-fry again. It's coming out incrementally better each time. Tried out a flank steak for the meat, and it's come out the best so far. Using this from now on. Marinated the animal in a mixture of peanut oil, sesame oil, salt and pepper, soy sauce, ground ginger, and minced garlic. Used carrots, broccoli, green beans, and green onions for the plants. And of course, mushrooms. Everything's better with mushrooms. Sauteed them briefly in peanut oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and a touch more garlic, then added the animal. The green onions went in last as a garnish. Overall I'm happy with this turnout, but what I really need is a full-size wok. Then I'll be able to cook all my ingredients in the same pan at the same time, as they should be. I also wanna try spicing it up with chili peppers... Kelly does love spicy.
Sounds like you're on the right track, but if you want some minor tips... Sounds like a lot of oil, you really only need one. Unless of course you ran out of one and had to improvise. Been there. I prolly also would have added in either some vinegar or lemon juice (small bit) for acidity. The acids in vinegar/lemon juice help to break down the connective tissue in the meat and make it more tender. You could also try adding in some sugar (preferably brown) which helps the meat to caramelize once it hits the heat. If you want spicy, try adding in some red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper powder, chili powder, anything spicy really. I like to saute my mushrooms in just butter and garlic or oil and garlic (I find that butter works better for sauteing) especially considering all the other spices going into the marinade and/or sauce. Not really. Stir fries are best done quickly, adding in one ingredient at a time according to density. This ensures that the thicker stuff (carrots) is equally cooked with the flimsier stuff (mushrooms) and that the meat and veggies retain their individual flavors. Eventually they do all end up in the same pan, but only at the end. For the flank steak... to keep it tender you want to sear it really fast, and really hot - like 2 minutes a side tops - then set it aside and cut it into strips. Then throw the veggies in the pan -the denser stuff first- and keep adding in one ingredient at a time until you get to the flimsiest stuff like the mushrooms. (Sauteing the mushrooms separately first is fine) Once the veggies are almost done, add the meat back in for like a minute. Then take it off the heat, quickly add in your stir fry sauce and you're done. The whole cooking time should barely take ten minutes. You can find sauce recipes for stir fry all over the web, depending on whether you want sweet and sour, spicy, whatever. Oh yeah, and definitely cut the flank steak across the grain, as flank meat is a rather tough cut.
Good tips, I'll keep those in mind for next time. About the oils; I didn't use very much sesame oil, only a few drips because it has a very strong flavor. I also drained the beef before cooking it so the rest of the dish didn't end up with all that extra peanut oil in it, because the vegetables get cooked in peanut oil too. It almost occurred to me to add vinegar to the animal's marinade, but I decided against it because I knew I'd be adding vinegar to the vegetables. Didn't realize that thing about tenderizing the meat. I also cut along the grains of the steak because I didn't want to disturb the texture, lol. It came out well enough for me this time, but maybe I'll try a few cuts the other way next time. Just to see how it turns out. Science. And again, the problem with using the skillet I've got is it can't fit all the ingredients as they go--the animals, plants, shrooms, and noodles or rice, as you described--in each step. It's so small that it starts getting impossible to stir without spilling things.
Ah, yeah cutting along the grain keeps the long strings of muscle fibers intact, which makes it chewier. Cutting against the grain is pretty much always the way to go because you cut those fibers into smaller pieces, making it much more tender. Or something like that, I'm sure Alton Brown could explain it better. I know that feel, I had like nothing to cook in when I was in college. But now that I'm home we've got a wok and all that good stuff. Of course, it would prolly be cheaper to just buy one than to pay rent, but meh. :derpe:
Just did scampi again, and tried to sorta measure the ingredients this time. XD 4 tbsp. butter 2 tbsp. olive oil 1/2 lemon 1 tbsp. minced garlic ??? Salt and pepper Amounts may be off, but I swear I paid more attention to them than usual, lol. And it came out with deliciousness to match. I used minced garlic this time instead of the garlic powder I used to, and it ended up another case of fresher ingredients always being better. Spoiler: image #slowlyturningthreadintoinstagram
Hey that looks pretty bangin', good job. And minced garlic is definitely better than powdered ha, I was kinda shaking my head at that before. I mean, powdered is ok as a spice, but when the main part of the dish -besides the shrimp - is garlic, powdered just won't cut it. Personally I woulda gone fresh but minced is definitely a step up. As for myself...ugh, I don't even want to describe what I'm eating... Two pre-fab hockey puck burgers with cheese, no buns and a side of canned green beans. This is what laziness tastes like. And I will totally assist with turning this into instagram.
Cool, thanks for the measurements I'll change them around to my own taste anyway, I pretty much only use measurements when first trying a new recipe. I'm ok with this. And in that spirit, here's my usual breakfast, that I'm eating right now. Consists of lightly pan fried vegetables; onion, capsicum and mushrooms with a little bit of salt and pepper to taste and pan fried toast with an egg inside the bread (started doing that watching V for Vendetta lol). Spoiler: image Just a super simple/quick breakfast I can make before work.
Sounds like the reason I took up cooking in the first place. Now that I'm getting used to cooking from fresh, I can't settle for frozen or pre-made food anymore, lol. Which is a good thing 'cause who knows what they put in those pre-made skillet meals I used to eat... ugh. That looks pretty good. The only breakfast I got used to making for myself was buttermilk biscuits and bacon, and that was years ago. After I started work I stopped having time for anything more than a handful of Frosted Mini-Wheats. XD Also V for Vendetta.
I used to cook all the time when I was a filly. But I have since then lost interest, but I do occasionally make something simple every now-and-then.,
I made some black bean burgers earlier today - the recipe is literally just 1 can of black beans (rinsed) 1-2 slices of bread (crumbed) add whatever spices you want (I like paprika and garlic) then you mash it up in a bowl, separate the mix into 3 lumps, and form them into patties *I usually make 2 or 3 times as much at a time for 6 to 9 patties that I can put in the fridge for a good week or two supply. Cook them however you wish, A great option is frying them in a pan with a little vegetable oil (or olive oil) to make them even more delicious. Serve on a roll with your favorite condiments, maybe some cheese, and/or vegetables.
Ooh, ya mean Egg in a Basket? Yarr, gotta love it! I work best with microwaves. And pot-noodles. And Rustlers burgers. Yeah, I really should learn to cook properly. xP I make some mean tortilla chicken wraps though. And jacket potatos. And Egg in a Basket. That's as far as my talents really go though.
