Cooking amateurs

[Web0r]

Been reading different board for some time, but hope there might be any help for me on this one.

On lockdown, I've been spending a lot more time with my wife. I already tried almost everything to keep boredom away (go, movies, sports), and just now starting kind of cooking competition with her. Can anybody advise some good and easy recipes for me to win? I'll share what I've found as well (just in case anyone needs it). Any participation will be appreciated.

[tchan001]

Homemade udon noodles
https://www.chopstickchronicles.com/udon-noodles/

[Bill Spight]

Cooking amateurs:

The dan players need less salt.

[sorin]

Cooking amateurs:

The dan players need less salt.

Ha-ha, I was thinking along the same lines when I saw the "Cooking amateurs" thread name: I like my amateurs medium-rare

[Web0r]

Homemade udon noodles
https://www.chopstickchronicles.com/udon-noodles/

Thanks, that looks really easy to do - and what's more important - tasty!

I've found a recipe containing 4 ways of cooking Cauliflower rice (was amazed that such thing even exists- but it is tasty:razz:!)Cooked it last night and we both enjoyed it.
https://mykitchenadvisor.com/how-to-mak ... ower-rice/

Will share my experience of cooking noodles soon.

[Web0r]

Homemade udon noodles
https://www.chopstickchronicles.com/udon-noodles/

So, I finally tried to cook these noodles- and saying in advance, they were good! (Though I lost yesterday round to my wife's ramen soup) Was a little confused about maintaining the required percentage of salt - and got a little bit carried away while stepping on dough, so had to cook it a little longer, but the result was worthy of it. Now I'm thinking of cooking this :

https://www.chopstickchronicles.com/mat ... ice-cream/

with some techniques from like here:

https://mykitchenadvisor.com/how-to-mak ... a-blender/

Will write about the result soon.

[Web0r]

Hey everyone!
Just wanted to show off something I've been doing last weekend - BBQ!
Though it is not something special- I still think that it is a wholesome tradition to go grilling with your family on weekends.

What do you guys think about BBQ?

[Bill Spight]

What do you guys think about BBQ?

Dry rub and cook slow, turning every 2½ minutes. Let sit for at least 12, I think.

My wife was a great cook and an engineer. Cooking can be a science.

[Web0r]

What do you guys think about BBQ?

Dry rub and cook slow, turning every 2½ minutes. Let sit for at least 12, I think.

My wife was a great cook and an engineer. Cooking can be a science.

Cooking IS a science! I'm new to casual cooking- but I've been grilling for so long, that I can't imagine myself without it. Still, there is plenty of space for experiments and improvisation!

[Bill Spight]

Cooking IS a science! I'm new to casual cooking- but I've been grilling for so long, that I can't imagine myself without it. Still, there is plenty of space for experiments and improvisation!

When I was growing up in Mississippi, there were roadside barbecue joints everywhere, but I didn't like barbecue. But as an adult, at a bridge tournament in Albuquerque I went to eat with some friends and we ended up at a barbecue place. It was fantastic! Powdrell's is the name of the place. Mr. Powdrell died a while back, but his family is carrying on the tradition. They have a couple of restaurants now. I think the family recipe goes back to slavery days. They went west after the Civil War. Something like 25% of cowboys then were former slaves, something you don't pick up from Hopalong Cassidy films.

Some years ago my wife and I chanced across a great breakfast place in Jackson, Wyoming, called Bubba's. Pure D American fare, scrambled eggs, pancakes, etc. But amazing! Who'd a thunk that food could be so good? OC, they may have changed chefs, so I don't know how it is these days, but probably worth checking out.

[tj86430]

BBQ is great (and from April to October I prepare most of my dinners on fire)

For amateur cooks who want to excel (esp. when cooking meat, but also other ingredients: fish, vegetables, eggs etc) I have two words: sous vide

(and, you can also combine sous vide with bbq)

[Web0r]

BBQ is great (and from April to October I prepare most of my dinners on fire)

For amateur cooks who want to excel (esp. when cooking meat, but also other ingredients: fish, vegetables, eggs etc) I have two words: sous vide

(and, you can also combine sous vide with bbq)

I heard about using this method, but it's quite complicated from how it looks... Any advice or resources where I can read more on how I can do it?

[tj86430]

BBQ is great (and from April to October I prepare most of my dinners on fire)

For amateur cooks who want to excel (esp. when cooking meat, but also other ingredients: fish, vegetables, eggs etc) I have two words: sous vide

(and, you can also combine sous vide with bbq)

I heard about using this method, but it's quite complicated from how it looks... Any advice or resources where I can read more on how I can do it?

It is actually much simpler than you might think. The downside is that you need two pieces of equipment, which you might not need otherwise:
- vacuum packager (I don't know the correct term in English, but this is the machine you use to suck air out of a plastic bag with food in it and then seal it)
- circulator (of course you can also purchase a sous vide cooker, but that is an overkill for most users)

For vacuum packager there are other uses, e.g. if you tend to store food in freezer (as I do, since I hunt)

The process is simple: you put the food to be prepared in a vacuum bag using the vacuum packager. Then you fill a large kettle (or bucket or any container) with water, stick the bag with food in, put the circulator in and program temperature and time (depending on the food, can be found in recipe or guide book). Once the food is cooked, some post-processing (seasoning, searing, barbequeing etc) may be required.

I know of one extremely good resource, but it is in Finnish. I will check if I can find some in English.

e: it seems that the correct term is vacuum sealer

e2: the resource in Finnish is largely based on this: http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html Based on a quick look it contains everything you will need to know about the subject (and much more)

[Holly Miller]

German potato salad could be? who knows

Ingredients:
6 medium potatoes,
6 eggs
1 onion,
½ stack. vegetable oil
salt, black pepper, 70% vinegar - to taste.

Cooking:
Boil the potatoes in their skins and let cool. Hard-boiled eggs. Dice the peeled eggs and potatoes, mix, add the onion, chopped into small cubes, sprinkle with black pepper, salt, and drizzle with acetic acid. Do not overdo it with vinegar - the salad should taste sour, but not sharp. Boil the vegetable oil and fill the salad. Stir and let it brew in the cold for 1-2 hours. if you want to find more interesting recipes and tips check my blog https://mykitchenadvisor.com/blog/

[Web0r]

BBQ is great (and from April to October I prepare most of my dinners on fire)

For amateur cooks who want to excel (esp. when cooking meat, but also other ingredients: fish, vegetables, eggs etc) I have two words: sous vide

(and, you can also combine sous vide with bbq)

I heard about using this method, but it's quite complicated from how it looks... Any advice or resources where I can read more on how I can do it?

It is actually much simpler than you might think. The downside is that you need two pieces of equipment, which you might not need otherwise:
- vacuum packager (I don't know the correct term in English, but this is the machine you use to suck air out of a plastic bag with food in it and then seal it)
- circulator (of course you can also purchase a sous vide cooker, but that is an overkill for most users)

For vacuum packager there are other uses, e.g. if you tend to store food in freezer (as I do, since I hunt)

The process is simple: you put the food to be prepared in a vacuum bag using the vacuum packager. Then you fill a large kettle (or bucket or any container) with water, stick the bag with food in, put the circulator in and program temperature and time (depending on the food, can be found in recipe or guide book). Once the food is cooked, some post-processing (seasoning, searing, barbequeing etc) may be required.

I know of one extremely good resource, but it is in Finnish. I will check if I can find some in English.

e: it seems that the correct term is vacuum sealer

e2: the resource in Finnish is largely based on this: http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html Based on a quick look it contains everything you will need to know about the subject (and much more)

Thank you very much, I'll dig into details, and I'm sure I will be trying sous vide in no time!