Recipes, how to cook etc.

[citanul]

"how to cook anything"

c

[Cancer Merchant]

The Fannie Farmer cookbook. Dumb name, great book. It has both the basics and fancy meals.

[SmileyEH]

Just buy some olive oil and cook things in it. Seriously, when you're starting out you don't need cookbooks. It's more fun to experiement with simple stuff.

-SmileyEH

[jaydub]

[ QUOTE ]
"how to cook anything"

c

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Do you mean "how to cook everything" by Mark Bittman? Great book.

[Reqtech]

If you're serious about learning how to cook, I suggest finding a cooking class to get you founded on the basics (paring, chopping, slicing, etc) down properly. I had the good forture to be a cook for a local family run restaurant, so I got to learn on the job. Learning how to properly use knives is probably not something that you'll get clearly from a book.

Once you got the basics down, there have already been some quality books listed, though allrecipes.com is EXCELLENT to find recipe ideas.

Buy a nicer set of knives, look to spend around 100-150 for a decent set. Nice sharp knives both make cooking easier and safer.

Try to make a new recipe every couple weeks. If it turns out good, get it on a big notecard and save it for later. Before long, you'll have a nice stable of recipes to impress the honeys with (hardly any woman younger than 30 knows how to cook worth a damn).

Good cooking takes practice, and the trial and error part to find out what you like is the fun part.

Another suggestion since it's that time of year for those of us with four seasons is to get a crockpot. Crockpot recipes are probably the easiest in cooking, and can be quite good.

[BottlesOf]

I got a few books, they're giving me decent resutls so far. If you go to amazon and search for things like "cooking for one" or 5 ingredients in less than 10 minutes, there shoudl be some stuff for you.

[Blarg]

Another crockpot endorsement. Crockpots are great stuff.

a day late.. but..

I used to find myself going to the grocery store with the intention of getting a lot of healthy stuff (meaning lots of produce).. then when it came around to it, the stuff would rot in my fridge. Especially true when it's just you or you and someone else.

So now, my fiance and I make a menu for the week. We shop for exactly what we need.. and there's no waste. Typically, we'll make a big batch of soup some time in the week, and freeze the leftovers (for lunch). Soup is great, because it's typically healthy - and it's good to start with - if you're just learning to cook. But the whole menu-making is great.. it encourages you to stick to a plan - you eat better, and it's much cheaper, since there's little waste. If you have the stuff in the fridge waiting for you, you're not encouraged to say, "screw it" and grab a burger down the street.

[ QUOTE ]
a day late.. but..

I used to find myself going to the grocery store with the intention of getting a lot of healthy stuff (meaning lots of produce).. then when it came around to it, the stuff would rot in my fridge. Especially true when it's just you or you and someone else.

So now, my fiance and I make a menu for the week. We shop for exactly what we need.. and there's no waste. Typically, we'll make a big batch of soup some time in the week, and freeze the leftovers (for lunch). Soup is great, because it's typically healthy - and it's good to start with - if you're just learning to cook. But the whole menu-making is great.. it encourages you to stick to a plan - you eat better, and it's much cheaper, since there's little waste. If you have the stuff in the fridge waiting for you, you're not encouraged to say, "screw it" and grab a burger down the street.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is exactly what I do. There is a nice little formatted Excel sheet on microsofts website, that plans a menu out.