The Home Cooking Thread

[Samilktray]

What is your favourite style of food?

Not sure really.

I enjoy Italian, Chinese and Indian food, although I suppose there the obvious choices, always open to new foods.

[Tommy G]

Not sure really.

I enjoy Italian, Chinese and Indian food, although I suppose there the obvious choices, always open to new foods.

Steer clear of indian cooking until you have a bit more confidence, because it can be a bit of a ball ache with all the spices and different cooking techniques than say to English?

I mean are you completely retarded like you cant boil an egg or are you beyond that stage?

Try chicken stir frys, healthy and petty easy to cook.

[Guest]

I don't have any cookery books, but I do browse the ones in Borders. They have a large selection of budget books, aimed at different themes, such as one pot cooking, classic British, pasta etc. If you can be bothered, it would be worth a look.

I have learned most of my cookery skills from watching and helping my mum, and my grandmothers. I also get inspiration from tv shows. Something for the Weekend is good viewing if ordinary cookery shows are boring/crap/mumsy.

Waitrose also produce free recipe cards each month. Sainsbury do recipe cards for quick and easy meals, but it tends to use ready made ingredients, rather than cooking from scratch.

[Samilktray]

I'll keep all that in mind, think I might pop down the library in a bit n see what they have

Im religiously watching cooking programs on tele, part of the reason I want to get into cooking more and start cooking meals for the household I reckon.

Edit: And I know the basics Tommy but I've never cooked a whole meal from fresh ingredients, and its something I'd really love to be able to do on a regular basis.

[Guest]

Ignore Tommy, and experiment. Things will go wrong, but it's all part of the learning process. But when it goes right

Indian cooking is easy. If you don't want to fry up your spices early (tricky, as it is easy to burn and stick to the pan), just marinade your meat instead. I make a simple curry by mixing cumin, ginger, coriander, cardamom (about a spoon of each) and chilli powder to taste. I then dice my meat, put into a bowl, add the spices, and mix by hand. Cover the bowl, and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours. I then heat a pan with some oil, brown some chopped onions and garlic, add some chopped peppers, then I add the meat. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes (small tin if it's for 2, large for 4 or more), and then leave to simmer for about 20-30 mins. I might add some green beans to the curry, or some chick peas or lentils, but it's all about having what you like, and you can adjust the blend of spices to taste.

[Guest]

Buy a copy of the BBC's Good Food magazine - it has all sorts from quick simple recipes involving only a few bits and bobs through to masterclasses by Gordon Ramsey - hundreds of recipes every month and only about 3.95 - worth getting one and testing a few things from there rather than getting a whole cookery book as they tend to only have a few things you really fancy and can be arsed to make each

[Tommy G]

Ignore Tommy, and experiment. Things will go wrong, but it's all part of the learning process. But when it goes right

Indian cooking is easy. If you don't want to fry up your spices early (tricky, as it is easy to burn and stick to the pan), just marinade your meat instead. I make a simple curry by mixing cumin, ginger, coriander, cardamom (about a spoon of each) and chilli powder to taste. I then dice my meat, put into a bowl, add the spices, and mix by hand. Cover the bowl, and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours. I then heat a pan with some oil, brown some chopped onions and garlic, add some chopped peppers, then I add the meat. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes (small tin if it's for 2, large for 4 or more), and then leave to simmer for about 20-30 mins. I might add some green beans to the curry, or some chick peas or lentils, but it's all about having what you like, and you can adjust the blend of spices to taste.

Right, so your advice would be to experiment with complex indian recepies (if it involves chicken then you are looking at about £5-£10 for a meal. Which is an expensive experiment Lisa. Start basic and build up. When you have a semi decent culinery skills then experiment. Cook things which involve some kind of pastry because that can be tricky to get right and isnt expensive.

If not ignore completely what I say and cook the curry above and your wallet at the same time

[Samilktray]

Ive been looking through the kitchen, theres all the ingredients to make a basic Korma, so I might give that a blast tonight, see how it turns out for me. If I fall flat on my arse I'll tone it down a bit

[Unabomber]

Can anyone recommend a cooking book for someone like me who has only just started cooking?

Just want it to have recipes for simple meals, but nothing too boring? And hopefully can be picked up from a library.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jamies-Ministry-Fo...5542&sr=1-2

Get this.

It has some great recipes covering most areas. There are recipes for curry pastes so you can make them from scratch, asian meals, and family favourites.

Very easy to follow and it you are just starting out you could easily follow one of the recipes and cook for your family. A lot of other cookbooks are pretentious whereas this one assumes you can't cook at all so it is well written.

I also agree about Good Food mag, there are some good ideas in that too.

[Dr The Singh]

Right, so your advice would be to experiment with complex indian recepies (if it involves chicken then you are looking at about £5-£10 for a meal. Which is an expensive experiment Lisa. Start basic and build up. When you have a semi decent culinery skills then experiment. Cook things which involve some kind of pastry because that can be tricky to get right and isnt expensive.

If not ignore completely what I say and cook the curry above and your wallet at the same time

if your cooking 1 portion for 1 person, then yes it would seem alot of hassle and at no added cost saving!! When we have currys we usually have fresh curry cooked on the day and usually another from the day before, and hence it feeds a family of 5 for 2 days at a cost of a tenner!!

The art of cooking a good punjabi curry is the the curry base, which includes the spices and onions etc!!

[Tommy G]

Well I will be cooking Fillet Steak and Asparagus tips for my tea. Should only take 20 mins

[Guest]

Right, so your advice would be to experiment with complex indian recepies (if it involves chicken then you are looking at about £5-£10 for a meal. Which is an expensive experiment Lisa. Start basic and build up. When you have a semi decent culinery skills then experiment. Cook things which involve some kind of pastry because that can be tricky to get right and isnt expensive.

If not ignore completely what I say and cook the curry above and your wallet at the same time

If you think my curry recipe is complicated, then fair play to you for even having a go in the kitchen!!

A fiver for a meal for two is quite good.

[Guest Bilo]

Ignore Tommy, and experiment. Things will go wrong, but it's all part of the learning process. But when it goes right

Indian cooking is easy. If you don't want to fry up your spices early (tricky, as it is easy to burn and stick to the pan), just marinade your meat instead. I make a simple curry by mixing cumin, ginger, coriander, cardamom (about a spoon of each) and chilli powder to taste. I then dice my meat, put into a bowl, add the spices, and mix by hand. Cover the bowl, and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours. I then heat a pan with some oil, brown some chopped onions and garlic, add some chopped peppers, then I add the meat. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes (small tin if it's for 2, large for 4 or more), and then leave to simmer for about 20-30 mins. I might add some green beans to the curry, or some chick peas or lentils, but it's all about having what you like, and you can adjust the blend of spices to taste.

That sounds gorgeous and simple, even for a lazy arse student such as myself.

[Guest]

That sounds gorgeous and simple, even for a lazy arse student such as myself.

It is, and it can be adapted to taste. For example, I am a fan of mild nutty curries, so I add some ground almonds and a sachet of coconut milk.

[Guest Bilo]

It is, and it can be adapted to taste. For example, I am a fan of mild nutty curries, so I add some ground almonds and a sachet of coconut milk.

I like it really spicy, so a few fresh chillies as well as the obligatory hot chilli powder may be in order. I shouldn't struggle to find the ingredients either, being based just off Narborough Road.

[Guest]

I like it really spicy, so a few fresh chillies as well as the obligatory hot chilli powder may be in order. I shouldn't struggle to find the ingredients either, being based just off Narborough Road.

Trial and error, it's the key.

[Guest]

Forget the hot chilli powder you're just ruining good ingredients!!

In rmuch Indian cookery, although this obviously depends on the region before one of our indian friends puts me right, chilli powder IS used but in many places this is a powder made from dried kashmiri chillis which are deep red but fairly mild in taste and is used as much for it's ability to colour the curry a deep satisfying red as it is for its potency. this idea that heat=spicyness is silly - I used to do the see how hot i could make it trick but lets be honest you dont taste anything and our hot chilli powders just remove everything else from the pallatte - use a little mild chilli powder and real chillis alongside to add flavour with the chilli kick. there are a hundrd bases for the sauce so buy a curry book and test them out - personally i love authentic madras which is actually coconut and chilli based rather than tomato and hails back to a bit of india called Chenai which used to be called Madras. Or something. I believe I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about (ahem)

[Dr The Singh]

Forget the hot chilli powder you're just ruining good ingredients!!

In rmuch Indian cookery, although this obviously depends on the region before one of our indian friends puts me right, chilli powder IS used but in many places this is a powder made from dried kashmiri chillis which are deep red but fairly mild in taste and is used as much for it's ability to colour the curry a deep satisfying red as it is for its potency. this idea that heat=spicyness is silly - I used to do the see how hot i could make it trick but lets be honest you dont taste anything and our hot chilli powders just remove everything else from the pallatte - use a little mild chilli powder and real chillis alongside to add flavour with the chilli kick. there are a hundrd bases for the sauce so buy a curry book and test them out - personally i love authentic madras which is actually coconut and chilli based rather than tomato and hails back to a bit of india called Chenai which used to be called Madras. Or something. I believe I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about (ahem)

Toddy is right, you don't have to use chilli powder, whenever I cook curry, I tend to fresh ingredients, and use fresh chillies instead. The best thing to do if ur not sure is not to add chilli's or salt until you've cooked the curry, then you just add the chilli and salt in small amounts untill you've got the taste you want. Salt and chilli usually balance each other out!!

[Ric Flair]

I about killed myself with an unreal chicken jambalaya the other night. Scotch bonnets are the future, forget bombs and knives, kids. Just spike yer enemies with the bonnet.

[Guest]

To be honest, I struggle to cope with a chicken tikka masala, and wouldn't use chilli at all.

[Wycombe Fox]

Scotch bonnets are the future...

I love chillies! Dorset Naga's are the way forward (and keep you regular!).

Scoville Heat Units (SHU);

Tabasco Sauce 2500 - 5000SHU

Jalapeno Chillies 2500 - 8000SHU

Scotch Bonnets 100000 - 350000SHU

Dorset Naga 850000 - 941000SHU (also tested at Warwick Uni at 1.6 million SHU but not ratified)

Dorset Naga - apparently the only food product that Tesco won't sell to children!

Ric, you weren't too far off about the bombs! From Wikipedia;

The pepper is used as a spice in food or eaten alone. One seed from a Naga Jolokia can produce sustained intense pain sensations in the mouth for up to 30 minutes before subsiding. Extreme care should be taken when ingesting the pepper and its seeds, so as to not get it in the eyes. It is used as a cure for stomach ailments. It is also used as a remedy to summer heat, presumably by inducing perspiration. In northeastern India the peppers are smeared on fences or used in smoke bombs as a safety precaution to keep wild elephants at a distance.

In 2009, Indian defense scientists claimed to have found a new place to use the chiles — in hand grenades. The scientists aim to use the chiles to control rioters to immobilize people without killing them.

[Alexikokopops]

If you think my curry recipe is complicated, then fair play to you for even having a go in the kitchen!!

A fiver for a meal for two is quite good.

If you've never cooked a meal from scratch (as in Samilktray's case) then I imagine it's complicated!

I like the sound of it, I'm going to give it a go. I have a lot of random spices at home, KEEN

[Guest]

If you've never cooked a meal from scratch (as in Samilktray's case) then I imagine it's complicated!

Hmm, I guess, but it is my own recipe, created all by myself!!

[Guest]

If you want a curry sensation but don't mind moving further east then, bizarrely (I say this as they appear to me the cheapest but their food is generally crap) Asda sell for about 99p a green thai curry thing which has galangal (like ginger but sort of mentholly), challots, lemon grass, chilli etc in - in the thurmaston store it's found at the end of one of the fruit and veg rows - if you have a blender or pestle and mortar whack it together with a handful of coriander, a hundful of basil (unless you can get thai basil), some fish sauce or soy sauce and some oil and you have a wicked green curry paste - wok some chicken, whack in the paste then chuck in some coconut milk, cook through (maybe whacking in some green beans and peas?) and it's good stuff - simple for a beginner as its all there and theres no spicing to mess around with. could even impress you mates with it.

[cecchini]

hi

you guys make me jealous.

No decent curry houses or ingredients in Lux.

Make a mean aglio, olio e pepperonciono though

thats a pasta dish with olive oil, garlic and chilli - nothing else

Fan bleddy tastic.