What kind of a cook are you?

[Tortuga]

That is the way I do my burgers.  Here it is called a cheese skirt.  After frying the HB patty cover with grated cheese where the cheese goes off the patty onto the pan then cover with a lid and steam the cheese--it melts on the patty nicely while making a crisp skirt around the patty.  Never thought of doing that to the grilled cheese.  I can see we will be fast friends!!!

 

There is a hamburger place near here that puts a big ball of cheese on the patty and makes a huge cheese skirt

 

[LeslieDean]

There is a hamburger place near here that puts a big ball of cheese on the patty and makes a huge cheese skirt

 

Squeeze Inn Hamburger.JPG

 

 

Yes--just like that!

[carribbeangrl01]

I love cooking.

A non witness friend refuses to cook. He burnt dirt and figured his cooking days were over.... Yes.... You saw that right- he burnt dirt... He was trying to bake the dirt to get impurities out or some such thing, dirt caught on fire and burnt.... After that he won't go near a stove, not even the range I don't think....it was really funny when he told me this story... Who burns dirt??? Lol

[tekmantwo]

I cook rather than starve, and even then sometimes I'd rather just starve.

Yeah, thats pretty much me. I'm waiting for the "AllDayPill'

There was an old commercial for Carls Jr hamburgers of a man standing in a grocery store looking totally confused. The commercial said that if it wasn't for Carls Jr, some people would starve.

I don't like fast food but if I had to cook for myself it would either be fast food or starving to death. I'm such a bad cook that I can't remember the ingredients for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...

Richard, that guy in the commercial, I know we hadn't seen each other for a while but shirly you recognize your big brudduh..?

My life on the road during much of my misguided youth made me appreciate 'food?'found on any corner..hardest thing to figure out is if my service truck would fit through the drive thru. ..watched way too many sunrises, and sunsets, through the windshield.

Having my first wife go alcoholic and drugged up most of the time, I would many times make dinner for the kids, after a12 hour shift and an hour and a half drive.

I can do ok in the kitchen, but would much rather not. I did get LeslieDean whisky roast once, and it really was a nice surprise for Denise. It came out so good the first time I never wanted to spoil my record. I know when to stop. ...lol

[Sunflower]

I think I am a great cook when all the resources are in alignment? (Time, energy, ingredients, enthusiasm)

I love to cook, but not all the time. I am really good at it. I love to cook for friends because they really appreciate it. There is a family at the hall that I cook for from time to time. I will make for them, Lasagna, Merliton Casserole, Shrimp and Okra Gumbo and sometimes Stuffed Shrimp. This weekend for a shower I am making chicken salad sandwiches. If anyone ever comes to New Orleans, I will cook for you too,,....

Hi April.

Are you moving to Northern California any time soon? I would love the recipe for the shrimp and okra gumbo. I love to cook too but sometimes not well enough to cook. I make great breakfast and lunch but by dinner I am worn out. . I make sure my hubby always has a great lunch so he doesn't eat fast food.

[MzT]

I love to cook. It's a good thing because we recently switched to a low carb diet so I keep looking for new ideas and recipes to try. I love the summer time simply because of the large variety of fresh, local grown fruits and veggies. So many combinations, DH is loving all of the foods.

[Qapla]

We have a "NuWave Oven". I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts at WalMart for $1.99 lb. I freeze them in sandwich bags, one to a bag. With the NuWave you can cook it frozen.

 

I just change how I season it and what I eat with it.

 

Tonight I seasoned it with a combination of pre-made seasonings and ate it with fresh tomato slices.

[LeslieDean]

I really like the nuwave too.  I have so many small kitchen appliances though that I had to take a bedroom and make a storage pantry out of it to contain all the junk.  When it is out of sight--it is ture--it is out of mind. Last year I purchased the deep fryer for turkeys off QVC or HSN--one if the shopping channels I wish did nt exist.  It works extremely well.  It is one that you use indoors and not outside,  Frys a 22# turkey although I did not buy it for that.  I maintains a constant temperature which the small counter top models do not do nearly as good a job.  By maintaining the temperature of the oil it does not allow for as much saturation of fat either.  I also got the Wolf Gang Puck pressure over which has been well used since I burned my oven up and have not replaced it yet.  You may remember I had it on a self cleaning cycle and it quit.  I have been looking at replacment ovens that our comparable to the electric builtin convection oven too but they are just over $4000.00.  Hope to replace that soon because the pressure oven, while it works well, is just so small--about the size of a large toaster oven.

 

One of my treats is buying Temptations cook ware off QVC in sets.  I can not believe how reasonalbe AND beautiful the dishes are and NOTHING sticks to them.  They always look brand spanking new. I buy these gorgeous sets--usualy ruffeled pie plates, casserole dishes, muffin pans and soup and sandwich platters and when I went to so something specai for one of the friends or familes I will taper it around whatever dish I want to give them.  I have taken covered plastic containers of homemade soup with some really unique combinations of sandwiches and deliver them to someone who has been sick.  All they have to do, or I do it before I leave, is warm the soup and put it in the bowl and ;ay the sandwich on the platter with it.  Or I may run some homemade mufins and jam I have canned over on a early morning before service to someone I know who has been feeling down and needs a visit.  The casserole dishes I reserve for the families of the small loaf pans for couples.  EVERYTIME they tell me how useful the dish has been and now they are buying them for their beauty and ease of cooking.

[Qapla]

When we got the electric stove to go along with the gas one we converted half the dining room to kitchen

[LeslieDean]

  It is not possible to have too big of a kitchen!  I would love to have gas cooking but living out in the boonies the new homes are total electric.  it would have been impossible to lay gas lines to connect to city utilites and too expensive to lay gas/propane lines and install a propane tank, and refit to accomadate those lines.  Plus have to order propane every time you get low.  Just had to suck it up and be happy with the electric stove and oven.  The rest of the house is perfect.  Just wish I would have really considered the electric cooking more.  When I saw the house and Rick oited it out to me I said, "Oh, it doesn't matter.  Look at this, look at that"  The electric stove top always looks dirty/dull no matter what cleaners I have used--even the vinegar and baking soda does not bring it to clean and glossy looking again.  It was hard going from Woff and Viking stoves and ovens to Kitchen Aide electric models.  I hate how they leave the circular scars on the stove tops.

[Qapla]

We use a 20lb BBQ cylinder for our lp

[Allabord4Jah]

Some people say that "cooking" is an art.  Well, my chef was an Italian old school mistress, she cooked everything as fresh as it came out of her garden or someone else's.   She made her own pasta.   Am not that eager, since I can't stand on my legs for more then 20 minutes, sitting is hard to kneed the dough! So I cook, but only so that I don't starve.   I've learned to make more and freeze.   Sunday's after meeting and service, its my downtime and cooking meals to last.  Cooking is not a passion of mine either!

Edited August 22, 2015 by allabord4jah

[hatcheckgirl]

I was hoping the cooking art is in the genes - I'm from Italian/Greek stock.  Alas, it does need some impetus on my part too.  But although my cooking is quite tasty and I'm quite a capable cook, I find my enthusiasm wanes with no family to cook for except my youngest "very fussy" daughter.  We tend to eat the same limited menu, as healthy as I can make it, but without the variety you can get when you can buy more when you have a family to cook for.  The fresh food goes off before I can cook it, so I have to buy just limited amounts for the week.

 

But, some tv shows, such as the Nigella series or Jamie Oliver do impart that spark to want to cook luscious meals again.  They imbue a sense of what cooking and eating is - it's a voluptuous journey through the picking of produce from your own garden and food cooked with love and appreciated by the eaters.  It reminds me how this will be in the paradise:

 

Isaiah 30:23 "And he will give the rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground produces will be abundant and rich."

Isaiah 25:6 "A banquet of rich dishes, A banquet of fine wine, Of rich dishes filled with marrow, Of fine, filtered wine."

[Iksplorer]

I like cooking about as much as I like washing the dishes.  I can cook though, and I'm always looking for new recipes online to try.  Right now I'm trying to learn what spices go good together so that I can make some things without a recipe.  Maybe after I begin experimenting with different spices, I'll start to enjoy cooking.

[LeslieDean]

I like cooking about as much as I like washing the dishes.  I can cook though, and I'm always looking for new recipes online to try.  Right now I'm trying to learn what spices go good together so that I can make some things without a recipe.  Maybe after I begin experimenting with different spices, I'll start to enjoy cooking.

 

There is a good website called Flavor map, I think that is the name, where it tells you what herbs compliment each other and various foods--or look under herbs that compliment each other---and go from there!  Happy cooking/experimenting!

[Jewelz]

I love cooking and baking but now my diet is so restricted it's only fun when I get to cook for others.

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[New World Explorer]

I am a pretty capable cook. Given a recipe I can make anything and have it come out the way it is supposed to be flavor and presentation-wise. I don't like prepared foods so everything I make is from scratch where possible, you won't find anything in my freezer. 

Do you want recipe for ice cubes since your freezer is empty ..  

[surfergirl]

Do you want recipe for ice cubes since your freezer is empty ..  

All he needs is a paperclip. ;)

[bagwell1987]

I love cooking. Mainly from fresh, organic, home grown sources. It's taken a couple years but I have gone almost all organic. I get fresh unpasteurized milk and will be making butter soon and mozzarella. Home 'can' all I find available during the growing season. Buy 1/2 beef and 1/2 pork once a year and free range chicken too.

 

My daughter will open my frig and complain all I have is 'ingredients'. Those ingredients make fabulous meals, in minutes. Not big on pasta, rice a couple times a week, burgers once a week and anything 'mexican' style is a big hit here, been craving beans and rice a lot lately. Tried my hand at jalapeno poppers and corn dogs- NEVER to do again. I guess I prefer fresh made meals.  

 

So what we like- we is MH and I plus 2 other brothers who I feed a lot- fish tacos, tacos, taco salad, BBQ pork over rice, sweet-n-sour meatballs with Greek rice (tonight's meal) pan fried salmon with butter, lemon and dill with green beans, breakfast bowls for dinner- potatoes/onions/bacon/eggs topped with lo-fat cheese, Asian spice marinated 1/2 chicken on the grill served with asparagus, lasagna with eggplant, beef stew or split pea soup with homemade bread. Just a sample of stuff. 

[Qapla]

Foods claiming to be organic must be free of artificial food additives, and are often processed with fewer artificial methods, materials and conditions, such as chemical ripening, food irradiation, and genetically modified ingredients. Pesticides are allowed as long as they are not synthetic. However, under US federal organic standards, if pests and weeds are not controllable through management practices, nor via organic pesticides and herbicides, "a substance included on the National List of synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production may be applied to prevent, suppress, or control pests, weeds, or diseases

 

There is insufficient evidence in the medical literature to support claims that organic food is safer or healthier than conventional food. While there may be some differences in the nutrient and anti-nutrient contents of organically and conventionally produced food, the variable nature of food production and handling makes it difficult to generalize results. Claims that organic food tastes better are generally not supported by evidence.

 

 

Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, thereby technically making this an enclosure, however, free range systems usually offer the opportunity for extensive locomotion and sunlight prevented by indoor housing systems. Free range may apply to meat, eggs or dairy farming.

 

In the United States, USDA free range regulations currently apply only to poultry and indicate that the animal has been allowed access to the outside. The USDA regulations do not specify the quality or size of the outside range nor the duration of time an animal must have access to the outside.

 

 

We have our own free-range chickens

[bagwell1987]

Hmmm, USDA. Nope, no confidence in what they do nor their opinions. So I'll stick with the long held farming techniques of animals raised on loving farms, grass fed, devoid of antibiotics and steroids and hormones. Free to roam at their leisure and when time, killed humanely.

 

Sorry to open the door to a lesson in USDA vs organic grable-de-gook. Not my intent. 

[shali]

Everyone tells me I'm a good cook (baking especially) but I feel like I'm a bad one because I DON'T like it.  I hate grocery shopping, I hate putting it all away and I hate dragging it all back out again and I don't particularly like cooking it no matter how good it tastes so I always classify myself as a "bad" cook.  A good cook loves what they are doing and enjoy's all aspects.

[Qapla]

Hmmm, USDA. Nope, no confidence in what they do nor their opinions. So I'll stick with the long held farming techniques of animals raised on loving farms, grass fed, devoid of antibiotics and steroids and hormones. Free to roam at their leisure and when time, killed humanely.

 

Sorry to open the door to a lesson in USDA vs organic grable-de-gook. Not my intent. 

 

Doesn't matter if a person has confidence in the USDA - they are the ones who get to "define" the meaning of "Organic" and "free-range" - therefore, just because something is labeled as such, it does not guarantee that the produce or animals are/were "raised on loving farms, grass fed, devoid of antibiotics and steroids and hormones. Free to roam at their leisure and when time, killed humanely" - it only means that the products met the minimal, legal requirement to have the labels.

 

Now, if you are raising the animals/produce yourself and know exactly how things were done, that is different.

 

And, yes, we raise our own chickens.

 

Now, back to the actual thread ..... our abilities/style as a cook, not the labeling of our ingredients.

[bagwell1987]

Now, if you are raising the animals/produce yourself and know exactly how things were done, that is different.

Yes, extended family, that's why I described it as such. And USDA doesn't have that much influence, I deal locally with farmers. And it isn't regulated by USDA. 

 

I agree with you Brigette, cooking for some is a chore. Just like doing book work is a chore for me, I pull my hair out whenever I have to sit down and do it. But some relish (see staying on topic!) digging into a big pile of paperwork and making it into something others would understand. That's why Jah made all of us different- I'll come cook for you and you can do something for me!

[Qapla]

And it isn't regulated by USDA.

 

 

If it carries a label that says "Organic" or "Free-range" then, yes, the USDA regulates it. If it is just being sold locally without such labeling, then it is true the USDA has no say.

 

 

 

 

 

I was raised with "home grown" food. We raised our own beef and chickens - rarely had pork because my Dad didn't want to raise pigs. He slaughtered and butchered our animals.

 

We made our own butter. We had fresh eggs. We had two gardens a year. We canned. We froze stuff. We had fresh milk (whole indeed) and fresh whipped cream if we needed some for desert.

 

My Mom still had severe health issues.