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[SirHoneyBadger]

So, I like to cook, and I've noticed there's quite a few people on these boards who don't seem to know how to.

So this is the thread for you!

If you have any questions, or just want to talk about food and/or food making, go right ahead and post, and I'll try to get back to you--hopefully in time to prevent you from starving to death and/or setting yourself on fire, but I make no guarantees.

I'm also interested in authentic ethnic cuisine from around the world, so if you already know how to cook, and want to talk about that, that's cool too.

[Enzo]

First the beer thread, now this? You're quite the gourmet, ain'tcha SHB? I'm not complaining.
I mostly only cook pasta, stirfry, and curry. But my curry is so good it'll make you indian. Easy too, I don't fully understand people who go on the ramen noodle diet for any reason beside financial...

[Apsu]

Does this cooking include baking? Salty or sweet, bread or cakes.

I enjoy cooking but I'm a bit too lazy to do anything special, making my own bread is more fun because you really don't have to do it. You don't usually start baking bread when you're hungry so baking is mostly for fun.

[SirHoneyBadger]

Yeah, I cook almost every day, and in general I think it's a good thing for everyone to learn atleast the basics.

I brew my own beer (although I'm still just learning), and I also grow my own veggies. 


Baking's great, although my wife's really the baker. The closest I get to baking is pie crust, and the occasional Yorkshire pudding.

I love home made curry, by the way. My "standard" curry is passable, but it used to be a lot better, and I'm not quite sure why... Although, lately I'm more interested in Middle Eastern influenced curries (by way of Thailand), like 'Massaman', than strictly Indian ones (although Punjabi cuisine is a favorite of mine), so maybe it's just a question of passion.

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

I can cook stuff. Not by memory, because I don't really cook enough stuff.
I can make Beer Soup though.
It contains beer along with anything I happen to have in the kitchen.
Generally of a vegetable nature.

[viskaslietuvai]

I mostly only cook pasta, stirfry, and curry. But my curry is so good it'll make you indian. Easy too, I don't fully understand people who go on the ramen noodle diet for any reason beside financial...

Those are my main dishes as well, though sometimes I'll do something that'll have leftovers, scalloped potatoes, meatloaf etc. but I have to plan those ahead of time as I can't make them off the top of my head. I gotta say though that Thai curries beat Indian every day of the week. That's just me though. Sorry, no food questions for you good Sir.
My family breathes food. My dad owned a Japanese restaurant for 20 years, my mom had a small (relatively unsuccessful) cafe for 3 and now my brother just opened a sandwich soup shop in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (drop a line if you're in the area) plus I've worked in restaurant kitchens on the line.

[Yanlin]

Dwarven roast
Pour 5 bottles of liquor into a pot and bring to a boil. Serve warm.

[Rysith]

I mostly only cook pasta, stirfry, and curry.

Ah, my three staples of cooking when I was in college. Well, those and some of the middle eastern stews that you throw a bunch of stuff into a slow cooker in the morning and return after class to have hot stew waiting for you. Mostly Thai curries for me, since coconut milk is delicious.

On questions, I've been trying to find a decent vindaloo recipe for a while, since I have had good vindaloo before but my attempts thus far have come out entirely too acidic. Does anyone have any pointers for that?

[Enzo]

Damnit Yanlin, you forgot to mince the wine! Now the roast is ruined.

Thai curry is good too, but I make the least authentic thai curry ever. It's essentially indian curry with coconut milk. Coconut milk does make things delicious though. In terms of the spices, does anyone know what's in thai green curry? I've been meaning to make my own curry powder for a while...

On questions, I've been trying to find a decent vindaloo recipe for a while, since I have had good vindaloo before but my attempts thus far have come out entirely too acidic. Does anyone have any pointers for that?

Hmm...do you know what's making it so acidic? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that you're using crappy onions. If your onions are super acidic and/or you don't cook them long enough this would happen. I guess some recipes call for vinegar too but that seems pretty obvious. Also, make it spicier. That fixes all indian food.

[Rysith]

Thai curry is good too, but I make the least authentic thai curry ever. It's essentially indian curry with coconut milk. Coconut milk does make things delicious though. In terms of the spices, does anyone know what's in thai green curry? I've been meaning to make my own curry powder for a while...

Though I'm not entirely sure of all of the ingredients, I know that the major source of spicy in green curry is the ground chili seeds. Use Thai ones for the most authentic flavor, of course.

On questions, I've been trying to find a decent vindaloo recipe for a while, since I have had good vindaloo before but my attempts thus far have come out entirely too acidic. Does anyone have any pointers for that?

Hmm...do you know what's making it so acidic? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that you're using crappy onions. If your onions are super acidic and/or you don't cook them long enough this would happen. I guess some recipes call for vinegar too but that seems pretty obvious. Also, make it spicier. That fixes all indian food.

Yeah, it's the vinegar. The recipes I found said you wanted to use vinegar to help the marinade penetrate, but using the ratios of vinegar to water to spices that they recommended made it too acidic, and now that I'm not just cooking for myself I'm a bit hesitant to experiment with things until i get it right without some kind of reasonable base.

[Armok]

I'm not sure if I could describe myself as good at cooking or not, I consider myself decently knowledgeable in the lore and theory, and I have in fact invented some receipt on my own (not many, but including Bearnaise soup. yes, Bearnaise soup, as in the sauce, except its a soup. sadly I don't have the receipt here at the moment. It's actually good), I also do some simple cooking regularly. However, I'm really never cook anything advanced, and I don't really enjoy practice itself, nor the subtilities of eating the result enough to get very good...

Anyway, my tip for you today is this thing I'm not exactly sure what to call in English. According to what I find on wikipedia Toffee, Fudge, or Knäck comes the closest.
To make it is simple: Mix 33% cream, 33% syrup, and 33% sugar (by volume), you may also ad some butter and something (test something: vanilla, spices, cacao, or something other random experimentally) for taste, and boil it (I think it's still called boil even if there is no water involved?) for a while. Depending how you want it, you cook it different amounts of time: short time and you get a sauce-like thing delicious on icecream, a bit longer, and you get a chewy candy, and last you may get a brittle candy, similar to the inside of dime bars, called Knäck, but going that long is risky and hard.
I'm not sure if you can count this as Swedish cosine, but all examples I've seen are Swedish.

[SirHoneyBadger]

Armok, that's the recipe (more or less) for butterscotch.

Which explains why it's so good on icecream. 

Also great in coffee, by the way.

[inaluct]

going that long is risky

Inaluct puts on his sunglasses and cooking hat.

It's go time. This weekend.

[Armok]

risky as in: it's supposed to cook for a really long time, then if you are a minute to slow you'll not be able to distinguish the results from obsidian. You may well attempt it, but at least get a receipt first. I have never tried it, only watched my mum do it, and she never fails, so the accuracy of these horror stories are questionable.

[Enzo]

risky as in: it's supposed to cook for a really long time, then if you are a minute to slow you'll not be able to distinguish the results from obsidian.

I've heard this too. The difference between brittle and a slab of burned sugar is about 45 seconds.

Yeah, it's the vinegar. The recipes I found said you wanted to use vinegar to help the marinade penetrate, but using the ratios of vinegar to water to spices that they recommended made it too acidic, and now that I'm not just cooking for myself I'm a bit hesitant to experiment with things until i get it right without some kind of reasonable base.

Can of diced tomatoes works. Less acidic but still helps break down the meat a bit. Indian food is pretty forgiving towards experimentation Partly why I like it.