Who here loves to cook?

[Valigarmander]

I consider myself a gourmet chef-in-the-making, in the sense that I like throwing crap together in a cooking pot and hoping it comes out edible. I'm not the wealthiest man in the world, so in between paychecks I often find my kitchen lacking easy to prepare meals like ramen noodles or frozen French fries, so I've found myself having to piece together meals from whatever sundries I have lying around. I prefer to work from a recipe, but sometimes I'll go in blind, and more often than not it comes out pretty, leaving me with a stomach full of self-satisfaction as well as food.

Anyone else here like to cook? Have any stories, tips, or recipes to share? I don't usually write down recipes when I come up with something new, though I do have those Mario Christmas cookies I made a couple years ago.

[Bomby]

Trying to teach myself Korean cooking. Or at least I was a few months ago. My favorite dishes all take hours to prepare though and ain't nobody got time for that most days.

[Calamity Panfan]

I like cooking but I don't do it nearly as much as I would like to. :/

[Scarecrow]

I love cooking as well and consider myself good.

[CaptHayfever]

I'm a pretty good cook. Inexperienced, though.
I've thrilled my friends with large pasta dinners here & there. :)

My sauce recipe (for 4 lbs of pasta):
1) Simmer a ridiculous amount of extra-virgin olive oil (roughly a pint, I think?) in a small pan. I like to get two different types of oil (a regular & a special flavor) & blend them.
2) Melt a stick of butter into that. (Yes, you can substitute not-butter.) After this point, be sure to stir regularly so the butter & oil don't separate.
3) Add small-diced small onion & small tomato. [size=-3](If you only have large vegetables, then just use half of each.)[/size] Add the onion as early as possible so it cooks down; once, I actually got the onion chunks to clarify along with the butter. :)
4) Sprinkle garlic salt, ground pepper, & parsley.
5) Stir until the olive oil, butter, & seasonings are homogeneous. [size=-3](Except for the parsley. Green flakes won't just vanish.)[/size]
6) Keep warm & circulated until the pasta is done & drained, then pour onto the pasta. Mix well to spread the veggie chunks around.
7) Serve immediately with freshly-grated cheese (I like a blend of domestic romano & imported parmesan).

PROTIP: Once the water for the pasta gets to a boil, add a dash of salt to it, then let it reboil before dropping the noodles.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[spooky scary bearatons]

i cook mean vegi curries.

[Heroine of the Dragon]

PICK MEEEEEEEE!!!! MMMMmmmm home-made cooking. When you have allergies and such, you learn to cook well or eat poorly. And no, there is no nuking our food. ;)

I love baking, to be specific. Biscuits (cookies to you), cakes, slices and muffins. I have many recipe books, two lever-arch files filled with recipes gleaned from the interwebz and notebooks with secret family recipes. I'm spoilt!!!!

I enjoy certain cuisines more than others and I avoid some due to taste.

Recently, I baked a bunch of things for ESSDEE's birthday and she has hinted she'd like something special in the coming days.... (separate thread coming so I can do some comparisons!!)

[Kargath]

Cooking is work. I don't like work.

[monstrman]

I am really good at making steak and rice.

Also pasta.

My mom has this awesome manicotti she makes from scratch that I have the recipe for but it takes like 2 days to make because of all the preparation.

[Jere]

I love the concept of Broke cooking with taking what you have in the fridge/on the stove and turn it into something ediable.

I usally go with some guidelines but it most of it goes with: make sure everything is cooked and don't ever again pour Watersoaked noodles into oil, It burns like heck!

[The Missing Link]

I like cooking but I don't do it nearly as much as I would like to. :/

That is exactly my situation. Though also, cooking for one is also pretty tough.

[spooky scary bearatons]

just made a tomato and herb pasta dish, and it is LOVELY.

[b l a n k]

I can make anything related to breakfast, especially scrambled eggs.

[Booyakasha]

I enjoy certain food preparation-related activities. Peeling, chopping and slicing produce is fun---once, up at camp, I saved Christmas-in-July by chopping a watermelon in half with the kitchen cleaver. I got to give a mighty warrior yell and everything.

As far as actual cooking goes, I'm in fine fettle as long as I'm making something that's impossible to screw up. Like chili, or pizza. Boiling things? Easy peasy. Anything too involved or time-consuming, though, I'm not really there.

I remember a Gallagher routine where he posited there's two kinds of people in the kitchen---those with the patience and dedication to make a really nice quiche, and those who get as far in as cracking the eggs and then go 'heck, let's just scramble 'em---what, are you kiddin me? I got teevee to watch, here, guy!' Guess I'm the latter.

[Apollo the Just]

I like cooking every now and then because my roommate cooks almost everything so sometimes I feel guilty and will make something.

I actually rather enjoy it but it takes a while so it's hard for me to force myself to do. I've come up with some p kickass chicken recipes, and I'm learning how to be creative with noodle sauces and toppings. It's just very satisfying to make something completely by yourself and have it turn out amazing, especially if you get to feed it to someone else and they think it's delicious too. That's the best. :{DD

[CaptHayfever]

Mix this up for yourself sometime:
Two parts hot cocoa (you can use an instant mix)
One part egg nog (I use non-alcoholic, but that is up to you)
Two tbsp of chocolate frosting (if none is available, use a generous squirt of chocolate syrup)
One tsp of cinnamon sugar.
Stir until the frosting/syrup & cinnamon are fully dissolved.
Drink warm. (It should be warm anyway from the hot cocoa.)
You're welcome. :)

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Valigarmander]

Today I made spaghetti and meatballs... except instead of meatballs, I used sliced jalapenos.

Yum.

[Apollo the Just]

I'm trying to use up all of the leftover turkey we have. Yesterday I cooked it in a sauce pan with gravy, tomatoes, and spinach [w/salt, garlic, and olive oil of course] and shoved that **** over pasta.

white people food. aww ye.

[CaptHayfever]

^My dad just made a pasta with our leftover turkey too! :lol:

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Heroine of the Dragon]

I just put on crumbed chicken to fry and a pan of potatoes to roast!!! WOOOOT