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Help me learn to cook dinner

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DonInKansas:

--- Quote from: allison on 10 Mar 2009, 10:05 --- Bring to boil again, reduce heat, let simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

--- End quote ---

I know of no chili that requires less than  6-8 hours to simmer. 

Crock pots are a great idea.  You can dang near throw any mix of stuff in one and in a few hours BANG!  Instant meal.

Darkbluerabbit:
Garlic will dry out and it can rot.  This doesn't happen right away though.  The internet says that garlic will last 7-10 days once the bulb has been broken.  I don't usually have any trouble going through a head in that time period, but I really really like garlic.  Bulb garlic weighs so little that by the pound it is very cheap.  Probably cheap enough that it costs less to use most of a head and have a little go bad than to shell out several times the price for some powder that is of much lower quality.  Nothing compares to fresh garlic.

Protip:  Cooking can destroy some of the healthy compounds in garlic.  Letting garlic sit for 15 minutes after mincing it will prevent some of the nutrient loss.  It will taste delicious either way, of course.

KvP:
We're not working at a fuckin' restaurant here. We're students. We have maybe an hour tops most days to prepare and eat our food.

I put up a quick and cheap veg chili recipe in yon cooking thread.

Also garlic will last for awhile but it will start to sprout a few weeks after purchase (the core of the garlic will turn green and a stem will start to poke out of the end) and in my opinion at least it loses a lot of its flavor at that point. If you squeeze a clove and it's soft you can probably do with better garlic.

BrittanyMarie:
I have this garlic that is pre-peeled and then they put them in single clove airtight plastic things. It keeps forever... probably not quite as good as fresh fresh garlic, but the "quasi-fresh" is still better than powder or flakes.

Also! I like roasts for the same reason a lot of other people in here have--you can toss all the ingredients together in the morning, and at night you come home to something really good. I like to take a beef roast with potatoes and carrots and onions. So peel and cut potatoes into quarters, throw in a pot. Cut carrots into big chunks. Throw into pot. Put the roast on top and add water to about halfway up the roast's side. NOW, I like to add some bourbon or whiskey (nothing tastes better with red meat than the woody taste of whiskey) over the meat and add Worcestershire to the water and veggies. When it's close to being done, add four or five Earl Grey tea bags and let them steep. You may need to add more water if the roast is dry and I almost always turn my roast over once while cooking. It goes on low and you have to cover it.

You can make gravy with the juice too, add salt and pepper and a little flour.

mberan42:
One of the greatest by one of the greatest: I'm Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown. This book explains how cooking works, rather than just giving you a recipe and saying "go".

When Achewood's shop reopens, pick up the Achewood cookbook. Sounds corny, but it's actually a great cookbook with tons of quick, easy recipies.

Other than cookbooks, there are endless ways of cooking great meals for yourself in a short amount of time. I cook for myself 4 nights of the week and have leftovers the rest. Here are a few tips:
[*]Buy meat in bulk, split it up into individual portions in zip lock bags and freeze. Before you go to bed, take one portion out of the freezer and place in the fridge to defrost. 20 hours is typically enough time for something individual portion-sized to thaw. Costco or Sam's Club sells giant quantities of meat, but if you don't have a membership, your local supermarket will work out just fine. (Like a pack of 4 bonkeless, skinless chicken breasts - put one breast in one zip lock bag and freeze.)
[*]For the above meat, if you don't have a grill, use your oven. Set to broil, 400oF or whatever. If you really hate doing dishes, take a metal baking sheet and cover it in foil. Place meat on top, give it a nice dose of olive oil, season with salt, pepper, and any variety of stuff (herbs, chili powder / cayenne pepper, onion+garlic+lemon... be creative!) and cook until desired temperature.
[*]Will reiterate this - buy a digital meat thermometer. In the interim if you're cooking a cut of beef: place your index finger and thumb together. Now, with the opposite hand, press the flesh on your palm directly below your thumb. That is what a rare cut of beef feels like. Now place your middle finger and thumb together. Repeat pressing with your opposite hand. That is medium rare. Ring finger & thumb = medium, pinkie & thumb = well done.
[*]Buy frozen vegetables (broccoli, califlower, peas, carrots, corn, etc.). They're quick to cook - put your desired amount in a tupperware, place a small amount of water in with it, salt (if desired) and put in microwave for 3-4 minutes.
[*]Follow the rice recipes that allison and snalin wrote out above.
[*]Experiment!

Don't buy tv dinners, lean cuisine, frozen pizza, etc. Processed food is so bad for you. My typical night's dinner is a grilled/broiled pork chop, chicken breast or fish (salmon, sword, tuna, etc), a half-cup of rice made in a rice maker and a handful of steamed vegetables. It's filling, it's tasty, and above all, it's good for me.

Happy to help with any questions, etc. I love cooking.

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