Cooking for beginners

Dave Jones said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would
like to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does
anyone know of any websites or books which explain cooking right from
the basics please.

I'd be happy to help but you'd have to tell me what sort of things your
mother used to cook in order to recommend books or web sites.

Jill

Dave Jones said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would like
to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does anyone know of
any websites or books which explain cooking right from the basics please.

You can't do better than _Joy of Cooking_, still in print and available
everywhere.

Can you remember a favorite meal that your mother used to make? It will
be easier to search for recipes than for cooking basics.

The trouble with trying to learn cooking conceptually (like you're
asking) is that there are too many places to start that don't offer
edible results.

For example, a basic cooking method is boiling, and if you wanted to
start there, you could start with understanding the different ways of
boiling water (different sorts of containers, different heat sources),
what happens to different sorts of foods when they're boiled, the effect
of altitude on boiling water, the effects of hard and soft water, etc.
All of that would be basic; none of that would be important to making a
meal like mother used to, and none of that would bring you any closer to
dinner.

Better to start with a recipe.

--Lia

Julia Altshuler said:

Dave Jones said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would like
to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does anyone know of
any websites or books which explain cooking right from the basics please.

You can't do better than _Joy of Cooking_, still in print and available
everywhere.

Wouldn't watching cooking shows be a better
place to start?

You certainly wouldn't suggest learning to
ride a bike from a book. Cookbooks are
mostly for people who already know how
to cook. A cooking show demonstrates the
techniques -- and that's really what you
need to get down first.

I'd start with frying. Eggs, potatoes,
and bacon would be good foods to start with.
There's a remarkable amount of non-obvious
stuff to learn.

For example, one of the first questions
that anyone would ask about frying an egg
is why it's done on medium (or even low)
heat. Wouldn't cooking it on high get it
done faster? And the best way to learn
that is to do it both ways, and see the
difference. You'd pick up a lot of insight
from that, and not just about frying.

Dave Jones said...

Quoted message said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would
like to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does
anyone know of any websites or books which explain cooking right from
the basics please.

Join www.allrecipes.com Free.

Search for Mom's recipes or ingredients search. Select seasonal, holiday,
ethnic recipe lists, etc.

Save favorites to a recipe box, print recipe lists for them, etc.

Andy

Mark Thorson said:

Julia Altshuler said:

Dave Jones said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I
would like to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do).
Does anyone know of any websites or books which explain cooking
right from the basics please.

You can't do better than _Joy of Cooking_, still in print and
available everywhere.

Wouldn't watching cooking shows be a better
place to start?

You certainly wouldn't suggest learning to
ride a bike from a book. Cookbooks are
mostly for people who already know how
to cook. A cooking show demonstrates the
techniques -- and that's really what you
need to get down first.

I'd start with frying. Eggs, potatoes,
and bacon would be good foods to start with.
There's a remarkable amount of non-obvious
stuff to learn.

For example, one of the first questions
that anyone would ask about frying an egg
is why it's done on medium (or even low)
heat. Wouldn't cooking it on high get it
done faster? And the best way to learn
that is to do it both ways, and see the
difference. You'd pick up a lot of insight
from that, and not just about frying.

It depends on a couple of factors. First of all, we don't know if the OP
cares a whit about frying eggs (or potatoes or anything else, for that
matter). He gave us no idea what his mother used to cook for him. Maybe he
wants meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Maybe he wants lasagna. You get my
drift 🙂

Secondly, if he doesn't have Cable or Satellite TV, do his local television
channels have cooking shows that would help him with the types of meals his
mother made?

It seems to me he's trying to learn "basics" but at least to start with
those specifically geared towards meals he's familiar with from his past.

And I applaud him for trying to get away from living on convenience foods.

Jill

Mark Thorson said:

Wouldn't watching cooking shows be a better
place to start?

Maybe. I find cooking shows annoying so I don't watch them. Since I
don't watch them, I can't recommend one. What little I do know about
them (and remember, that's very little) is that they tend to show people
how to make fairly complicated dishes. Is there really a cooking show
that demonstrates how to make a plain broiled steak, steamed broccoli
and a baked potato? (I chose that example out of the air. I don't know
if that's the sort of meal the original poster's mother made.)

(I wouldn't try to learn how to ride a bike from a book, but I wouldn't
try to learn that from a biking show either. Besides, that's a motor
skill where cooking isn't. )

For the original poster-- Your mother's not still alive is she? If she
is, you're in big trouble for not going straight to her and asking.

--Lia

"Dave Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and
I would like to start cooking proper meals (like mother used
to do). Does anyone know of any websites or books which
explain cooking right from the basics please.

Cooking basics?
http://www.google.com/search?q=cooking+%2Bbasics&btnG=Search

"Dave Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would like
to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does anyone know
of any websites or books which explain cooking right from the basics
please.

It'll be nice for you to be able to make your own food. I like the
America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook ... not only does it have
a lot of good recipes for food your mother used to make (and more),
it has plenty of pictures showing how-to. I don't think you'd be
disappointed with that book.

Like everyone else, I'd love to know what kind of food you'd like
to make.

nancy

Mark Thorson said:

For example, one of the first questions
that anyone would ask about frying an egg
is why it's done on medium (or even low)
heat. Wouldn't cooking it on high get it
done faster?

I don't cook my fried eggs like that. I like medium-high heat, because
I want it over easy and with some color on it.

Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)

Dave Jones said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would like to
start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does anyone know of any
websites or books which explain cooking right from the basics please.

One cookbook I have starts with the very basics for your situation. It talks
about tools you would need, staples you would need, how to go shopping, etc. It
is written in a very easygoing style.

It's called "The Working Stiff Cookbook" by Bob Sloan. Here's a link to it on
Amazon.com:

http://tinyurl.com/3cryls

It is available for as low as $0.25 used or $4.94 new plus $3.99 shipping.

Take a look at the various reviews that are on that page.

There's a slim chance you might be able to find it at your local library.

--
wff_ng_7 (at) verizon (dot) net

Julia Altshuler said:

Mark Thorson said:

Wouldn't watching cooking shows be a better
place to start?

Maybe. I find cooking shows annoying so I don't watch them.

I used to like cooking shows and I learned a lot from them over the years.
I learned to cook from watching the Galloping Gourmet and Celebrity Cooks
and a few others. I still enjoy the Urban Peasant (James Barber). I got
fed up with the stuff on Food TV. It got to the point where it was just the
same obnoxious people over and over.

wff_ng_7 said:

One cookbook I have starts with the very basics for your situation. It
talks about tools you would need, staples you would need, how to go
shopping, etc. It is written in a very easygoing style.

It's called "The Working Stiff Cookbook" by Bob Sloan. Here's a link to
it on Amazon.com:

http://tinyurl.com/3cryls

It is available for as low as $0.25 used or $4.94 new plus $3.99 shipping.

Bob Sloan was helpful to me on another usenet group. I haven't seen his
cookbook so I can't recommend it, but I can recommend him. Great guy.

--Lia

Julia Altshuler said:

Dave Jones said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would like
to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does anyone know of
any websites or books which explain cooking right from the basics please.

You can't do better than _Joy of Cooking_, still in print and available
everywhere.

One of my favorite books is Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham.

She doesn't assume you know anything, and her recipes work. She will
take you step by step through recipes and what you need to become a
good beginning cook.

She learned how to teach real beginning cooks, and discovered that
certain terms that we use in cooking are completely baffling to new
cooks.

Christine

Christine wrote on Sun, 13 May 2007 17:02:37 -0400:

??>> Dave Jones wrote:
??>>> Hi
??>>> I am a single male living on convenience meals at present
??>>> and I would like to start cooking proper meals (like
??>>> mother used to do). Does anyone know of any websites or
??>>> books which explain cooking right from the basics please.

??>> You can't do better than _Joy of Cooking_, still in print
??>> and available everywhere.

CD> One of my favorite books is Learning to Cook with Marion
CD> Cunningham.

CD> She doesn't assume you know anything, and her recipes
CD> work. She will take you step by step through recipes and
CD> what you need to become a good beginning cook.

CD> She learned how to teach real beginning cooks, and
CD> discovered that certain terms that we use in cooking are
CD> completely baffling to new cooks.

There is a title "Cooking Basics for Dummies". I don't get
insulted by Dummies books. They are often a good start tho' the
"humor" may be hard to take!

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Christine Dabney said:

One of my favorite books is Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham.

She doesn't assume you know anything, and her recipes work. She will
take you step by step through recipes and what you need to become a
good beginning cook.

I love JoC, but this is a good one too. I have given it as a gift
myself. Nice pictures.

Dave Jones said:

I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would like
to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does anyone know of
any websites or books which explain cooking right from the basics please.

See

* <http://www.azcentral.com/home/food/cooking101/>
Cooking 101.

and

* <http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/>
Cooking guide for beginner cooks.

Victor

Dave Jones said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would like
to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does anyone know of
any websites or books which explain cooking right from the basics please.

This really depends on just how ignorant you are 🙂 I think there are
books like "Cooking for dummies" which are great if you really don't
have any knowledge of how to cook. N.B "Cooking for the student male "
in Google turns up too many dubious references to my alma mater to be
correct ) Or so I hope!

An alternative is to see if your local community college has something
like "Survival cooking for students". My old boss taught one such
course and it sounded very useful. He even taught cracking eggs ( a
useful but neglected subject) .

Stepping up, have a look at Julia Child's books on French cooking.
Most of what she says is just plain good cooking, French or otherwise.
She also provides some excellent photos that help.

A step above this, in some ways is "The Joy of Cooking" if you are
interested in North American cooking (and English language cooking
more generally). It is an excellent reference text and guide once you
know how to do the basics. In my opinion it is not a beginner's
text.
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Christine Dabney said:

On Sun, 13 May 2007 15:55:58 -0400, Julia Altshuler

Quoted message said:

Dave Jones said:

Hi
I am a single male living on convenience meals at present and I would like
to start cooking proper meals (like mother used to do). Does anyone know of
any websites or books which explain cooking right from the basics please.

Quoted message said:

You can't do better than _Joy of Cooking_, still in print and available
everywhere.

One of my favorite books is Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham.

She doesn't assume you know anything, and her recipes work. She will
take you step by step through recipes and what you need to become a
good beginning cook.

She learned how to teach real beginning cooks, and discovered that
certain terms that we use in cooking are completely baffling to new
cooks.

Christine

I have never seen that one. I'll add it to the reference list. It
sounds very useful since most cooking books seem to assume that one
knows what a spatula is, etc. I once had someone work for me who at
the age of 35 had just cracked his first egg!

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Goomba38 said:

Christine Dabney said:

One of my favorite books is Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham.

Quoted message said:

She doesn't assume you know anything, and her recipes work. She will
take you step by step through recipes and what you need to become a
good beginning cook.

I love JoC, but this is a good one too. I have given it as a gift
myself. Nice pictures.

JoC assumes that you have some knowledge of cooking. 🙁 A great
reference work for many thing but not a beginner's book. Mind you it
is very American. No recipe for butter [censored] in the last edition I
owned.
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada