Recipes, how to cook etc.

[StevieG]

Cooking for yourself is the best way to monitor your diet, and it's a great life skill. Good luck to you.

1. Buy the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. It has all the classic American fare you might want to cook, simple clear instructions on basic cooking techniques, and lots of photos to help you verify that things look right.

2. Get yourself a notebook or recipe box with index cards to collect the recipes you like making.

3. Here's a link to a recipe for baking fish with no fat added in about 20 minutes. Better yet, it's in the middle of a whole thread on simple recipes for college students.

[RacersEdge]

I got a couple cookbooks called "Going solo in the kitchen" or something like that. I have yet to crack them open. Maybe this post will inspire me to do so.

I'm pretty good around the kitchen. Haven't poisoned anybody yet, at least. And I've got a well-worn Betty Crocker Cookbook. It has a lot of easy to learn recipes for basic dishes.

For a lot of years now when I wanted to know something about a subject, a new software program for instance, I've been buying one of the "For Dummies" books. They get me started and then the manuals make more sense.

A few months ago I found a "Cooking for Dummies" and bought it. It's got a helluva lot of beginner information and recipes. It's become a handy reference for me. Next time in the book store look it over.

[phil_ivey_fan]

[ QUOTE ]
hi dikshits-

i want to start cooking. mostly to improve my health, but also to curb the amount of spending i do on takeout. plus i need a hobby other than gaining weight.

are there any sites for guys like me (young, single, handsome) that can help me cook via recipes etc..

i am talking simple stuff here. mostly chicken, fish, veggie meals.

i did the old google search, but OOt always seems to come thru.

[/ QUOTE ]

get subscription to men's health. 2 birds, one stone.

no thanks necessary

[astroglide]

i never cook, but whfoods.com is one of my favorite food resources and they have tons of recipes

If you really want to start cooking I think the web is a great place to start (there are a few good recommendations in this thread already), but I would recommend that you also get at least one good general cookbook to keep in your kitchen. It will be a handy reference for when you're actually in the kitchen and working at it. Some of the more famous ones are The Joy of Cooking and Betty Crocker's Cookbook. Both are good.

[CardSharpCook]

CIA textbooks

I happen to consider this book to be the only cookbook you need. The CIA does awesome cookbooks. There is also a nutritional cookbook you can find there. As much fun as ti is to do all your cooking from webpages, get a book, bro.

[Brain]

I get most of my stuff from foodnetwork.com. I've been to epicurious.com before and that seems okay too. Enjoy!

[Colonel Kataffy]

Check out Alton Brown's recipes. Better yet, watch his show. He really teaches you how to cook as opposed to just cooking something fancy infront of a camera like most on air chef's. Definitely the best way to get started.

[Blarg]

Cooks.com. Epicurious.com. How to Cook Everything, by Mark Brittman I think his last name is. Joy of Cooking. Lots of great cookbooks out there.

Cookbooks vary widely in quality and appeal. Some slip into assuming you know how to do this or that technique, or can get uncommon ingredients easily. There are lots of things that can seem to make them extra flawed or extra good. So I recommend a trip to the bookstore. It's worth the money to get good recipes and hints on cooking technique and general food preparation. Check the remainders bins, too, at your bigger bookstores. Really good cookbooks are on sale at steep discounts regularly. This is a good way to get exposure to lots of cool recipes without even buying a book, too.

I'd also suggest a nice big crockpot. Throw crap in, pay zero attention to it come back hours later or after work, and it's hot and ready. Very flavorful, too, as the spices stay in the pot flavoring the food instead of vaporizing into the air. Toss the extras in the freezer or fridge. Freezer is ideal, if you have the room, because you can build up a backlog of a wide variety of good meals that only need reheating. Nice to have a variety of good tasting, no effort stuff on hand.

Crockpots are quite cheap, too. For a beginning cook, it's hard to imagine anything either as easy or with as high a payback on effort as a crockpot. Tis the season, too -- getting colder now. Great for soups and stews, chili, slow-cooking meats to make them really tender, casseroles, etc. You can even bake cornbred and cakes in them, etc.