cooking

[Amandistan]

Does anyone enjoy cooking or do you have a gift of knowing how to prepare very good food?

It's one of my few talents.  I can make a dish i have never made or even tried. I may look at a recipie once for guide lines but do not use them. If you can read instructions then it doesnt make you a good cook as you are not creating anything.
There are people who read recipes and will put garlic in at the same time as onions or other vegetables that take longer to cook. 
Also people who don't know how to cook grains without instructions.
This is not what I mean. I mean real cooking?  As in person who realize preparing food is an art form.

I am actually doing it now in exchange for a place to sleep.
I created a pretty good Mexican pasta last night. A variation of a Thai coconut soup , a french potato dish that I know by heart and tonight somthing easy which is a version of fried rice that I will add some sort of indonesian twist to.
whatever feels right. I have to cook for an entire hippy commune. It must be organic and have no meat.
It's a challenge that I gladly accept. Not vegan luckily.

I very much enjoy combining flavors from completely different regions.


Anyone else enjoy this? If so please share detailed posts of what you create.

[Pol]

I'm more of a heat it up kinda person I can made the odd thing and do enjoy it though i tend to buy the sauce, pasta dishes curry etc. I find it really satisfying when you have made it yourself though Gordon Ramsay need not worry.

[Master Ray]

That is a talent I wish I had... I can cook, kind-of, but it's all a bit basic...

[cthulhu]

I think anybody can cook. What most people don't like and which keeps them from cooking is that cooking has a lot to do with organizing. The preparation before the cooking. If you keep that in mind and take it as a part of the cooking, its easy to do.
First you should know what you want to do.
Then get all the ingredients, which is the least fun part of the job for me, and sometimes it just depends on that one, little special thing which makes a meal special. Coconut milk, or a fruit or special spice. Thise things you normally don't have at  home.
Then you have to prepare everything that you are going to need before you start. Put everything in bowls or what you have, for instance measure the 300g flour you need later, before you begin and have it ready. And then you can start cooking.

Anybody has their own sense of taste and thats the point for improvising. Add everything you like to that standard recipie and see what happens. Add orange juice to the tomatosauce you normally do, add a bit of white wine to vegetables you frie in a pan with butter. Put a sour or sweet apple in your spicy salad.

(can i insert images directly from my pc here?)

[Ron B]

 I love to Grill since that is cooking I would say this is one of my favorite things to do in summer and now that the weather is better here in New York. Just Yesterday I started my 1st BBQ of the summer threw some Brazilian Lobster tails , Bay Scallops and Jumbo Shrimp on skewers  chicken and beef shish kabobs a thick sirloin steak and some hot dogs on the grill for my birthday and since that happens to fall on Memorial day holiday I have the day off to cleanup the mess.

Like someone said it takes a lot of prep work before you eat. I have to clean the grill both the bottom of the kettle and the cover  use a steel brush to scrape off the left over and burn parts of the past cooking on the grill then whatever meats you get the seasonings and spices to marinate and using a charcoal grill ( Gas is for w**ps) you have to get the fire going then using your experience gauge the tempertaure on when to put your meats on and how much you want it to cook for I do that in my head.

There is something just Primal about cooking meat over a flame plus it taste good too.

[BlackCountryMaggiD]

I love to cook and often think I could do better than some of the offerings you get from so called profesionals!

[Amandistan]

But the prep work is enjoyable for me. Cooking for people at home is always easier than doing it in a restaurant as quick as possible.

What i hate and is when i go to a cafe and they don't season the food correctly. or overcook steak. I ate the so-called best burger in Manchester and it was over-cooked! The meat was dry!  I would never serve a paying customer something  like that.

I get what you mean MaggiD. 

[Wessexy Witch]

Love cooking and baking.
 
I run the cooking club at school for the kids aged 5 - 7 getting them to prepare/cook/try new foods. All easy cheap meals that are healthy.
Leek and bacon pasta, veggie chilli, Moroccan stew, bean burritos, tomato pasta, sweet sticky orange chicken...loads of scrummy stuff the kids all say they don't like but manage to eat all of it !

Baking a carrot cake now for Mark's birthday.

 

[Tony S]

sweet sticky orange chicken

Cor, that sounds good !!   Actually, so does the rest you mentioned 

[ruckedout]

I am about to purchase some Le Creuset cookware and a couple of Global knives along with a potato ricer i have my eye on. I doubt i will use them but that kind of stuff looks good.

The very best cooking utensils attract me somewhat but i cant cook for shit!

FIFA sounds like an organisation that like cooking, especially the books.

 

[Heno]

it would never happen in rugby

[Wessexy Witch]

sweet sticky orange chicken

Cor, that sounds good !!   Actually, so does the rest you mentioned 

Here you go.
Enjoy !

http://letsgetcookingathome.org.uk/recipe/citrus-sticky-chicken

 

[c]

I like cooking. But I am more of a one pot kind of guy - timing dishes is harder for me.

I have a reasonable feel with spices as to what goes with what and can invent as I go along. Marinating chicken in five spice powder, soy, ginger, and rice wine vinegar makes a great dish but not much use for Amandistan's hippy commune!

[Shush]

I like cooking. But I am more of a one pot kind of guy -

Me to. Did myself a Pot Noodle last Sunday. 

[Pol]

Who needs cooking when you live above a Chinese n your boss and landlord owns a chippy lol