SuperChef

How do you become a great cook? Seriously, I want to know. I really suck in this area. I feel like I am finally getting a grip on organization, keeping the house clean, keeping up with the laundry (well, just wait until DH has a tough week and/or the girls get sick, though) but when it comes to "What is for dinner?" . . . I am like a scared deer staring into the headlights. Can we go out? again?

So what are tips? Do you plan a menu every week? HOW DO YOU DO IT??? TELL ME! I end up buying miscellaneous stuff at the grocery store and sometimes we end up eating it and sometimes it sits in the freezer for weeks. and months.

Annie, you started this! I read your pork tenderloin post and thought how does she do this?! I imagine that you place a wonderful meal on the table every evening, music is playing softly in the background, lights are warm. . .

[Vanquisher]

I consider myself to be a fairly decent cook. I have come a long way. When I first go married, I literally sucked ass in this area.

I just decided to try. So, I bought cookbooks. The Better Homes and Gardens ones in the red checker print is a good one because it includes all kinds of information on basics of cooking. This is really good info to know. I started watching the Food Network, and I gleaned pieces of information here and there.

I picked out recipes to try, and I tried them. I started learning what worked for me, what I liked, and what didn't work. I started understanding the different flavors of spices, and I have become more and more brave.

Look at allrecipes.com. It's a good place to try some recipes that a lot of people have already tried. Think, "what sounds good for dinner?" Find a recipe for it, buy the ingredients you need, and make it.

I make a menu of six meals for everytime I go to the store, changing it up a bit, and I *try* to have at least one new meal in the set. Six meals lasts us anywhere from 6-10 days depending on amounts of leftovers and days when we eat out or just go easy. A lot of ingredients can overlap, and I spend less money and waste less this way.

Good luck! I know you can do it!

I found Cooks Illustrated to be very helpful. It helped me understand why certain things work / need to happen, and the roles of certain ingredients.

Like Heidi - I used to be an AWFUL cook. I'm pretty good these days - when I try.

[Meenah]

I also used to be awful. If you can read and you want to cook, you can. It just takes practice. Buy or go to the library for some cookbooks and watch the Food Network. I think I just repeated what Annie, Jenn, & Heidi said.Follow the recipes and soon you'll find yourself tweaking the recipes because you learn from experience what works for you. Start simple!!!!!

[samssugarmomma]

I don't know if I count as a "great cook" - I'm nowwhere near the gourmet cook as the other ladies here - but we prefer simpler fare.

I get a lot of ideas from cooking light and from the websites of products I like - kraftfoods.com (all of their recipes use 5-8 ingredients are the recipes are really, really easy - and they have a free magazine), bisquick.com, mrsdash.com, etc. When I find a recipe that we like, I copy it and put it in a notebook which we've dubbed "Our Favorites". I have it divided into "quick weeknight meals" and "weekend meals" which take a bit longer to cook.

I choose five recipes to make each week (most from the notebook and a new recipe or two) and only buy the ingredients that I need to make those recipes. I also keep the ingredients for tried and true favorites on hand - the stuff to make homemade pizza (I keep the crust in the freezer), homemade mac & cheese, a jambalaya recipe (I freeze the sausage and have a bag of frozen green pepper and frozen onion), and spaghetti.

I have this thing where I try to make one new recipe per week. Since starting my new job 3 months ago this has gone down the tubes, but I do try to do at least one new one per month. It doesn't always have to be food food, but one new recipe is one new recipe you know? Slowly but surely you end up building up your own collection.

My absolute favorite cookbook is Lauren Groveman's Kitchen. She is a cooking teacher and explains everything really well. I appreciate her focus on fresh ingredients and she never drops brand names.

I took a knife skills class that I really enjoyed. That doesn't teach you how to cook but maybe you would feel like you are channeling a little bit of your favorite Food TV person. :huh:

Heidi has some great suggestions. Another good book to try, a la JP's suggestion, is the Quick Cook Illustrated book (or 30 minutes or something like that). Their recipes are well-tested and successful. You could shoot for one or two a week and then keep your favorites in rotation and bring in new stuff. The Real Simple has some nice recipes too that are straightforward. Same with Ina Garten -- usually a reasonable number of ingredients and well explained steps and not a lot of last minute prep or cooking.

I love it when I get a good groove with a week's worth of menu's and shopping done. I do best planning this out the night before.

[DCJenn]

I grew up at the elbow of a great cook. I had no idea that boxed meals existed before I had to start fending for myself.

Oh, and aforementioned great cook? daughter of a butcher/Navy cook.

Food IS how my family proves love and acceptance.

But to the first question you need the following:

Very sharp:
Butcher's knives
bread knives
paring knives

One cutting board w/ rim for meat juices.

A cheese grater, a GOOD blender, a juicer, at least two sets of measuring cups and spoons, baggies of all sizes, foil. You don't need pots and pans of all sizes until you know what a family of your size uses. (i.e. we rarely use 9 X 13 pans but 8 X 8? definitely.

educational resources
Larousse Gastronomique (if everyone bought this and read it the world would be a happier and tastier place.)
Joy of Cooking
and Mastering the Art of French Cooking or whatever it's called.

The freedom of utter failure

and finally- a decent source for meat, fish and veggies.

it's NOT any more scary than medicine. and you probably won't kill
people if you screw up.

Jenn

[Stella]

I didn't have time to read everyone else's posts so sorry if this doesn't go with the flow. It's gonna be quick...

I taught myself. Learn the basics first and try to understand WHY things go together the way they do and what tastes good with what. After a little bit of trial and error, you will start to understand the art of it all - and that's when you worry about creating your own recipes or trying something really difficult.

When looking for a cookbook to guide you into the culinary realm, find one that has LOTS of pictures and lots and lots of explanations - everything from different types of cheeses to what the different knives are used for. I have a great one but it is packed away somewhere. I'll try and unpack those boxes tomorrow so I can give you a better recommendation.

Anyway, don't get frustrated at first. Learn the combinations of the flavors and what each spice smells and tastes like alone. Google everything. You can teach yourself. I started teaching myself about 7 years ago and now, as my SO says, everything I "throw together is just damn delicious." I rarely even use recipes anymore. So don't get discouraged. You'll learn!! And remember, it's FUN.

[Tenacious_D]

I decided to recently make an effort to learn how to cook since DH will be a little busier in 3rd year and I didn't want to go hungry (though some hunger wouldn't hurt my need to lose weight... )

Anyway, I started getting cooking lessons from DH and my mom and I try to recreated the dishes we practiced within a weeks time. So far so good. I think everyone has a little chef in them...some are just more deeply hidden than others.

[planet]

I grew up at the elbow of a great cook. I had no idea that boxed meals existed before I had to start fending for myself.

Oh, and aforementioned great cook? daughter of a butcher/Navy cook.

Food IS how my family proves love and acceptance.

But to the first question you need the following:

Very sharp:
Butcher's knives
bread knives
paring knives

One cutting board w/ rim for meat juices.

A cheese grater, a GOOD blender, a juicer, at least two sets of measuring cups and spoons, baggies of all sizes, foil. You don't need pots and pans of all sizes until you know what a family of your size uses. (i.e. we rarely use 9 X 13 pans but 8 X 8? definitely.

educational resources
Larousse Gastronomique (if everyone bought this and read it the world would be a happier and tastier place.)
Joy of Cooking
and Mastering the Art of French Cooking or whatever it's called.

The freedom of utter failure

and finally- a decent source for meat, fish and veggies.

it's NOT any more scary than medicine. and you probably won't kill
people if you screw up.

Jenn

*sigh* I have three of the needs....

[Tenacious_D]

and I really love Mark Bitman's How to Cook Everything...saved me when I was on my own for a week (the book and lean cuisine)!