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Tuesday, January 24, 2006What I've Learned About CookingSo I've known the basics since I was young:
And somewhere along the way I learned the difference between Dry and Wet measuring cups. From Mom I believe. Although, when I was young Dad taught me how to make pancakes over a gas flame while camping up north. But other than that, I used to know nothing about cooking. It's not that I couldn't cook, I simply didn't know how. I could follow a recipe, pretty much any one put before me, but that was extent of my cooking skills. I could not alter a recipe nor cook without one. I couldn't even stir-fry! (The jury's still out on whether I can do that even now.) It was always, "I can boil water. I can take something from the freezer and heat it in the oven or microwave. That's about it." In college, or shortly thereafter, I learned that home cooking is much better than boxed, canned, or frozen food. Last year I wrote this: Saturday, March 12, 2005 Cooking Tip I've been slowly braving my way into the world of cooking. VERY slowly. But I've managed to learn a few tricks in the last couple of months. Such as if your noodles are sticking to the bottom of the pan it's much easier to get them up if you move all the noodles and stuff above them so that the sauce can get to the bottom of the pan, for some reason that loosens the noodles off the bottom. Today I learned that if you put too much liquid in and you get the brilliant idea of dealing with that by turning up the heat so the sauce boils faster and hence boiling off the extra water before the noodles are done cooking, well... you have to stand there and keep stirring or you will burn your noodles. Bummer! Since then I've learned more tips and tricks. Such as, Easter day 2005 I went to a buffet dinner at my friend's parents' country club. One of the wings had food you ordered and watched being made while you stood there. I ordered an omelet of some variety. This is how I discovered that in order to cook eggs, you have to put oil in the pan first! (I assume melting butter would work as well.) I went home and tried it, and sure enough I can now make eggs over-easy and omelets without issue. I also discovered a few months ago that Olive Oil, Corn Oil and Vegtable Oil are distinctly different! It's like when I discovered in High School during a science project that basking soda and baking power are distinctly different. One works for some things, but not others, and vice versa. Well Olive Oil, Corn Oil, and Vegtable Oil all have different tastes to them, and affect the taste of food differently. What a concept! So be careful what your recipe calls for, and don't substitute. On to pans. I've learned not too recently that different pans cook things differently. Now, yes, that sounds like an obvious thing. But when you have a 9" skillet with a non-stick surface and a plain metal 9" skillet, which are you going to use? Aht aht aht! Before you reach for the non-stick one consider if easy cleanup is worth the difference in cooking. Turns out some things, like Thai noodles, don't cook as well in non-stick pans and in fact take on a different taste to them! It also turns out, we discovered this past Christmas, that even a slight variation in the darkness of cookie sheets can mean a needed temperature change when cooking on different ones in an electric oven. I also discovered three weekends ago when my friend Jessi came to cook for me not only that a Zester exists, but what the heck it is for! Zest is the term for what comes off lemons, oranges, and the like when you scrape the top of the peel (with a zester). Rind is when you cut up the whole depth of the peel into pieces. Weird! Side Note: I recently realized why gas is better than electric. Because gas gives a constant temperature while electric turns on and off trying to maintain a constant temperature which actually causes food to cool and heat in cycles as it cooks instead of staying at just one temperature. Lastly, what I've learned about cooking is that the more I learn the more I realize I don't like to cook. |
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