Come all ye self-styled chefs and kitchen users, we must talk.

Dr.Ghastly wrote:

That is a lot of chili.

(I laugh and get so sad at the same time when watching this.)

That video: D: D: D: D: D: Noooo.

I'd just like to point out that while that is indeed a lot, chili is a dish that there's no such thing as too much of.

AnimeJ wrote:

I'd just like to point out that while that is indeed a lot, chili is a dish that there's no such thing as too much of.

Troof.

The only incorrect amount of chilli to have in my freezer is no chilli.

I find the correct amount of chilli to make is so much that there is no longer space in the freezer.

AnimeJ wrote:

I'd just like to point out that while that is indeed a lot, chili is a dish that there's no such thing as too much of.

Agreed.
IMAGE(http://www.artstormfineart.com/Fox/Simpsons/SL19XL.jpg)

One of my favorite episodes!

sometimesdee wrote:

One of my favorite episodes!

+1 - I love doing the 'We're missing the chillliiiiii' pee dance before the Cookoff each year.

Just remember that the talking fox is just a talking dog and you'll be fine.

I am, like, deliriously excited about this.

IMAGE(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BmZ6zA4MR-s/VqbDqsjPz3I/AAAAAAAAA-o/_Hb9RwHYqzU/s2048-Ic42/IMG_20160125_193145987_HDR.jpg)

4 lbs of slow-smoked goodness plus a whole aged 15.7 lb ham. Mmmmmmm....Benton's....

I made the Alton Brown Beef Jerky recipe using my dehydrator and then made his Alton Brownies. OMG. The beef jerky was the first time I'd made it and it is so good. Too bad flank steak is so expensive or I would make it alllllllllllll the time. Gotta find a wholesale supplier. As for the brownies, I've made them before and if you haven't, you need to try them. They're so good.

Alright, new to this thread, so I apologize if we're past intros.

I am the cook of the house, my wife bakes. Though I am not opposed to baking, she is just better/put more time into it. She has a phobia of raw meat, so that's partially why I do all the cooking. The other reason is because she could survive off of chicken tenders and buttered noodles if she wanted. I feel like it's not a proper meal without some sort of meat involved.

I am completely self taught and actually quite an amateur. I would love to learn to cook professionally or even just cook and make it look professional. It's mainly my own fault I haven't yet because I am lazy about learning or more interested in playing games than putting in the time. But I am making strides to be more active in expanding my cooking knowledge base this year. If I am honest, my favorite dishes besides the ones I learned from my mom are the dishes I completely improvised. I really don't know what goes good with what most of the time, I just go "I bet this would taste good mixed with this" and hope for the best. It usually turns out, but there are exceptions.

Full confession though, I do have a small (19"-26" range) flatscreen in the kitchen with a Amazon Fire Stick, so that also encourages me to spend more time in the kitchen. Makes doing the dishes actually enjoyable too, though I find washing dished therapeutic anyways. That's probably due to managing a BBQ restaraunt for 5 years and using the dishes pile as an escape from dealing with customers.

So that's me. Just wanted to say Hi!

Min - what is your plan for the ham? That bacon looks delicious.

For what it's worth, it's possible to make beef jerky in the oven as well. Not as convenient as a dehydrator, but it works.

@Minarchist, totally jealous. I have had Benton's a handful of times here in Nashville and LOVE IT. County ham is incredible in all it's salty glory.

Non-related, but me and my gf went to Williams Sonoma at the Green Hills Mall for a knife handling/care class and both of us cannot wait to get into a house with a nice kitchen so we can get some great Henkel knives.

MikeHaegaman wrote:

I am completely self taught and actually quite an amateur. I would love to learn to cook professionally or even just cook and make it look professional. It's mainly my own fault I haven't yet because I am lazy about learning or more interested in playing games than putting in the time. But I am making strides to be more active in expanding my cooking knowledge base this year.

Cook a lot. Learn from your mistakes. Be critical of your dishes and encourage feedback. Read a lot about cooking - not recipe books, but books like Ruhlman's Twenty, oriented more on concepts and techniques. Set a long-term in-depth goal (cooking whole Julia Child might get boring, but e.g. learning Italian/Asian/Mexican cuisine really well is useful). If you find cooking and learning satisfying, you will have a hell of a time.

MikeHaegaman wrote:

I find washing dishes therapeutic anyways. That's probably due to managing a BBQ restaraunt for 5 years and using the dishes pile as an escape from dealing with customers.

I am totally with you there. I love doing dishes even though we have a dishwasher. I love love love the part where I am able to fit dishwashing into the whole cooking process, so when I'm done cooking, the dishes are already clean.

Mmm. Last minute fajitas last night were delicious.

LeapingGnome wrote:

Min - what is your plan for the ham? That bacon looks delicious.

Slice it super-thin and serve it raw like prosciutto, for the most part. I'll probably quick-fry a few slices in red-eye gravy too, but for the most part I'm going to try the more high-end route.

wanderingtaoist wrote:

I love love love the part where I am able to fit dishwashing into the whole cooking process, so when I'm done cooking, the dishes are already clean.

Yes! One of our favorite meals involves 2 casseroles (people may frown upon them, I dunno, but we love them) and I pride myself with only having to use a cutting board, knife, spoon, one small glass bowl, and one mixing bowl to make everything. It feels so good to put the casseroles in the oven, then wash 5 dishes and be done!

Also thanks for the advice on reading, I'll have to look that up.

What are the casseroles? I like them because leftovers are easy.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole and the other is a Green-bean Corn casserole. They are super easy to make.

Chicken Casserole:

2.5-3 lbs of chicken tenderloins
16 oz of sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
Italian Dressing
meat Tenderizer
Lemon pepper seasoning
Poppy seeds
Mrs. Dash (light blue/teal top. I think it is either Italian garlic and herb or something along those lines)
1 stick of butter
1 T of butter
2 tubes of Ritz Crackers

Preparation

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Put 1 T of butter into frying pan. Place chicken in pan. Sprinkle Meat tenderizer and lemon pepper seasoning onto chicken as desired. (I go easy on the tenderizer, medium on the lemon pepper.) Then pour Italian dressing over chicken. (Again, it's preference but I use a good bit. sorry, I make it so much I just eyeball it.) Cook on med-high heat until chicken is done to your standards. Probably 10-20 minutes. (I've never timed it) Right before you take the chicken off, take a fork and smash the chicken. The goal is to get it almost shredded in consistency. Let chicken cool.

Once chicken is cool, in a large bowl, combine chicken, 16 oz of sour cream, and can of cream of chicken soup. Sprinkle Mrs. Dash (1-2 teaspoons is fine, I just eyeball it myself.) and Poppy-seeds. Mix together. The amount of poppy seeds is up to you. I just sprinkle and mix till it looks well distributed. Once everything is well mixed, spread mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan/casserole dish.

Rinse out Large Bowl. Dry. Take a small glass bowl and melt stick of butter. While that is melting, crush two tubes of crackers (easiest to do while still in tube) and pour in mixing bowl. Pour melted butter over crackers. Mix with spoon. Pour crackers over the chicken casserole, make sure to cover the top evenly, but do not mix in with casserole.

Green Bean Corn Casserole

1 8-12oz can of White Shoe-peg Corn
2 regular size cans of French Style Green Beans or 1 large size can
1 small bag of slivered almonds
2 tubes of crackers
1 stick of butter
16 oz of sour cream
1 block of cheddar cheese
1/2 Onion chopped fine
Preperation

Open cans of green beans and corn, drain excess liquid. I drain the green beans over a strainer, then kinda squeeze them a bit more. Just make sure to really drain those suckers as best as possible. Place green beans and corn in bowl and mix. Then distribute evenly into a 9 x 13 casserole/baking pan. Rinse mixing bowl and dry.

Place 16 oz of sour cream in mixing bowl. Grate whole block of cheese over sour cream. Add chopped onion. Mix well. Spread mixture evenly on top of green bean corn mixture. Rinse mixing bowl and dry.

Melt 1 stick of butter. While that is melting, crush two tubes of crackers and pour into mixing bowl. Add slivered almonds to bowl. (You can use the whole bag or half) Pour butter over crackers and almonds and mix well with a spoon.

Spread the mixture over the top of the sour cream cheese mixture.

Cooking Directions

Cook both casseroles in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Casseroles will be kinda bubbling when they are ready and crackers will be golden-brown.

We like to pair this with a box or two of Uncle Ben's or Zatarain's Broccoli & Cheese Rice.

Sorry this is super long. One note on the chicken, you can also boil 3-5 Chicken Breasts and just pinch that up when it cools. That is how my mom does it and how I grew up eating it, but I got the idea to try and use my Italian chicken recipe as the chicken for the casserole and now my sister asks me to make the chicken casserole whenever we have family gatherings, so you know. I win. lol.

Asterith wrote:

Too bad flank steak is so expensive or I would make it alllllllllllll the time.

Round steak is great for jerky (and cheaper). Eye of round is best, but you can easily trim the fat cap of a bottom or top round. The only thing you need is a very lean cut of beef (the fat turns rancid).

complexmath wrote:

For what it's worth, it's possible to make beef jerky in the oven as well. Not as convenient as a dehydrator, but it works.

Yup. I use my oven whenever I make jerky.

OG_slinger wrote:
Asterith wrote:

Too bad flank steak is so expensive or I would make it alllllllllllll the time.

Round steak is great for jerky (and cheaper). Eye of round is best, but you can easily trim the fat cap of a bottom or top round. The only thing you need is a very lean cut of beef (the fat turns rancid).

complexmath wrote:

For what it's worth, it's possible to make beef jerky in the oven as well. Not as convenient as a dehydrator, but it works.

Yup. I use my oven whenever I make jerky.

What.... Have you done... BRB, gotta buy all the round steak!

MikeHaegaman wrote:

The other reason is because she could survive off of chicken tenders and buttered noodles if she wanted.

How dare you marry my wife!

MikeHaegaman wrote:

I am completely self taught and actually quite an amateur. I would love to learn to cook professionally or even just cook and make it look professional.

If you know your way around a kitchen and can cook, you're doing better than most people out there. I have the same advice about cooking as for anything else: don't take anyone's advice as gospel and just learn and try until you find something that works for you. I've actually been getting a little annoyed with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's most recent because of the surety with which he voices what are clearly very much opinions (maybe I'm just reading things into the text which aren't there). I'm not that far into it though.

Anyway, if you have a TV in your kitchen, it doesn't hurt to watch TV programs that not only show you how to cook something, but teach you a concept as well. Make it through all of Alton Brown's Good Eats and you'll be incredibly knowledgeable. What strikes me most of all about him is not just how grounded he is in science or his lack of pretention, but how great a teacher he is. Shows by the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen folks always teach a concept as well. Seriouseats.com for a website I like.

If you want conceptual books you've already been recommended Ruhlman's twenty. Personally, I consider Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking to be the bible of food -- both knowing about it and cooking it. It's almost entirely concept-based though so can be a bit dry without context.

I went through a period recently where I realized I wasn't having any fun cooking any more until I started branching out to new ideas and ingredients (much to the wife's chagrin). I think people will always continue to learn so long as they are having fun. So, um, have fun.

St. Hillary graciously gave me the Baking Bible for Christmas, and I've been working my way through the recipes. They're wonderfully detailed and elaborate, and the author goes into detail about all of the choices she makes (cold eggs vs. room temperature; various ratios of flour, etc.), and also includes common pitfalls for every one. They're not easy, and a few of them (through my own fault) didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped, but they are amazing. I made the honey cake tonight, which includes cold black coffee, orange juice, and some other surprising ingredients, and my girls are going berserk over it. I have a wife and two girls, I have yet to eat a piece, and the entire cake is nearly gone.

We need that recipe

stupidhaiku wrote:

If you want conceptual books you've already been recommended Ruhlman's twenty. Personally, I consider Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking to be the bible of food -- both knowing about it and cooking it. It's almost entirely concept-based though so can be a bit dry without context.

I didn't want to wade directly into the deep end but yes, McGee has answer to everything. He has detailed answers to both hows and whys. He taught me mayonnaise (super easy, by the way) and I still use it as a reference when I'm not sure about how to approach certain food.
As to its dryness, I read it on vacation on an iPhone (it's a huge tome) and couldn't put it down. At that time I was pretty obsessed with food, that helps a lot. Depends on whether you learn best from books or something more visual.

If you want an inspiration for cooking improvisation, The Flavor Bible proved a favorite for me. It basically lists which ingredients fit well together, you can find classic combinations of stuff from throughout the world (think tomato+basil or avocado+lime) and has ideas from famous chefs. Worth it when you're stuck in a rut or need to finally get rid of that ripe avocado in your fridge.

stupidhaiku wrote:

Personally, I consider Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking to be the bible of food -- both knowing about it and cooking it. It's almost entirely concept-based though so can be a bit dry without context.

+1. Phenomenal text. If you want a similar thing but with more recipe backup, allow me to strongly recommend Cookwise by Shirley O Corriher.

wanderingtaoist wrote:

If you want an inspiration for cooking improvisation, The Flavor Bible proved a favorite for me.

Also +1.

Asterith wrote:

What.... Have you done... BRB, gotta buy all the round steak!

Ha! Enjoy!

One last thing. Round steak is much thicker than flank steak so you're going to need a lot longer in the freezer to get it hard enough to slice. Start with about five or six hours.

Anymore I just put the meat in the freezer overnight and then let it sit on the counter for an hour or so to soften up when I'm ready to make jerky.