[ SECRET POST #2080 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2080 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 034 secrets from Secret Submission Post #297.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 3 4 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 2 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

cooking

[partialsatyr]

hey F!S, guess who's learning how to cook? hint: it's me
i moved out 3 or 4 months ago, and it's become apparent that living off of microwave dinners is a one way ticket to feeling like crap all the time. so i'm trying to expand my diet a little bit. tonight i'm making steak tacos (read: steak in a tortilla).

any of you guys have any beginner recipes you'd like to share? bonus points if it involves chicken or eggs, because for some reason i have... just a shitload of both this week.

i can share my primitive take on steak tacos, hashbrowns (from scratch), or something called "salsa chicken" (crockpot/slow cooker required) if anyone's interested

Re: cooking

[dethtoll]

the first thing i ever learned to cook was grilled cheese, and that's been a staple food for me for 20 years.

Re: cooking

[mekkio]

No recipes but if you can find it at your local library or buy it at a bookstore, get your hands on Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Recipes (Super Fun Food For Everyday). The book has been a goldmine for me.

Re: cooking

[brightblueink]

I've been learning how to cook recently, too--I think I'm a liiittle bit more advanced than you, but probably not much more. I've found that two places I really enjoy going is allrecipes.com and http://www.goonswithspoons.com/Welcome_to_Goons_With_Spoons. (Goons With Spoons is in particular handy because they have definitions of common cooking terms and an "easy" category an the like!)

Also, do you have a crockpot or a slow cooker? Because those are a godsend. Last night I made some creamy chipotle chicken (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-chipotle-chicken/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=creamy%20chipotle%20chicken&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe%20List) and it was super easy, basically just dumping all of the ingredients into the crockpot and letting it cook for six hours. I didn't even have to defrost the chicken!

Re: cooking

[riddian]

For chicken, you can never go wrong with lemongrass and rosemary. I am horribad at cooking, but mixing liberal amounts of lemongrass and rosemary with olive oil and a bit of lemon juice to slap on chicken breasts and bake has never gone wrong for me.

Re: cooking

[szarburus]

I'm not much of a cook, but my go-to is baked mac & cheese. Any pasta I've got around, some shredded cheese, and the cheese sauce from this recipe: http://southernfood.about.com/od/cheeserecipes/r/bl30103x.htm
Pop it in the oven for 30 - 45 minutes at about 375 and you're good to go.

Re: cooking

[oroburos69]

Macaroni and milk. Cook and drain macaroni, throw it back in the pot, add milk, salt, pepper and butter, and heat until butter melts. Eat.

Garlic-Chili Spaghetti. Saute a couple of chopped cloves of garlic in olive oil (how much depends on how much spaghetti you're making--generally about a tablespoon) with about a teaspoon of crushed red pepper, and a dash of salt until the garlic is golden and it smells fantastic (v. specific cooking instructions!). Cook spaghetti, drain, and drop it in the sauce pan with the garlic oil, toss, and add a splash of lemon or lime juice if you have it. (Alternatively, you can pan fry chicken in the same mix).

Egg sammich. Cook egg. Put on an english muffin spread with mayo and a slice of cheddar or swiss cheese. Add whatever veggies you have that can be flat (the side of a red pepper, pan fried for a bit with the egg, is good) The ketchup is optional.

Re: cooking

[elaminator]

Not a recipe, but I personally find Salmon finger licking good and it's not all that expensive if you find it in a grocery store. And of course it's healthy too, and it can be super simple to make (depending on how you want to season it, I guess; I spice it up myself, but I'm sure there's lots of suggestions out there on how to 'liven it up').

Re: cooking

[agentcthulhu]

Breakfast Bagel with Cream Cheese Egg and Salsa

This is amazing.

Re: cooking

[partialsatyr]

alright well i've just successfully made the best steak of my life so i figured i'd share my process. keep in mind that here i'm using an electric skillet, but i guess this also applies to pans.

first of all, bring your steaks to room temperature. they heat up and cook through faster this way. heat your pan/skillet to medium high heat (~375 F). you know it's hot enough when you can flick water onto the pan and the drops dance around before evaporating. prep the steaks by patting them down with a paper towel to remove moisture, and rub with your seasonings of choice to taste (i use cavander's greek seasoning, it's pretty neat). at no point during prep should you puncture your meat for any reason. not only does that let the juices out, but apparently that can change the flavour (and in my experience, it does)

for medium rare, heat one side for around 7 minutes, then flip and heat the other side for another 5 minutes. only flip once, and don't flip prematurely. this messes with the heating process. also, flip the steaks using either tongs or a spatula to prevent puncturing.

after cooking, let the meat sit for 5-10 minutes. this will seal in the juices or something like that. i dunno, but it's just a good idea.

i ended up with medium rare steaks that were slightly crisp on the outside, and very tender inside. they were somehow as good as when my dad grills them (and he's a man with ~30 years of grilling experience). so yeah, would recommend.
(goes well in tacos)

Re: cooking

[escapedsnake911]

My default food is always vegetarian fried rice.

Cut up onions, garlic, then whatever other veggies you want (carrots, mushrooms and green beans are my choice). Saute the onions first in olive oil, then add in all the other veggies.

In a separate pot, boil water, dump in rice, and cook for eight minutes, then drain it.

Add the rice to the veggies and keep sauteing.

Push the rice and veggies to the sides of the pan so you have a blank spot in the middle. Crack 1-3 eggs directly into the middle of the pan. Stir them so that the yolks break and all parts get to touch the bottom of the pan. Once all the egg is cooked, stir it into the rest of the stuff.

Stir in soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Bask in deliciousness.

If you want to be lazier, do it without rice.

Re: cooking

[cyren2132]

This video does a fried rice with shrimp, but I replace the shrimp with chicken (and it also uses egg). If you're worried about some of the ingredients, I skipped the bacon and just used regular oil and some soy sauce, because that's all I had and it turned out great. Also, these guys have a ton of great, easy video recipes on their website (sortedfood.com). I also really like biggirlssmallkitchen.com, which has an amazing index of recipes sorted not just by cuisine or meal but by ingredient, skill level and cash level.

Also, I make a Spanish rice that's just as good if not better than anything out of a box. It took about five minutes of prep and about 20 minutes of me mostly leaving it alone to cook:
Ingredients
1 chicken breast (Mine was huge — I think about a pound)
1 cup of rice
~1 cup of salsa
2 cups water
1 Tbsp. of butter
Frozen corn and peas (I think I had about a half-cup of each)
Onion (Mine was red)
Red bell pepper
seasonings (I used dried minced garlic, chipotle chili powder, salt and pepper)

Prep
1. Dice up the onion and the red bell pepper. I DID NOT use a full onion or a full bell pepper — it was just what was leftover in the fridge. I didn’t measure either, but I’d say it started as one or two slices of onion and just a few length-wise strips of the bell pepper.

2. Dice your chicken into bite-sized pieces. I trimmed off the fat. I also pounded on mine first, not because I think it really needed it, just because it was fun.

Cook
Add your butter and the onion and bell pepper to the skillet. Stir them up for a minute or so just so the butter starts to get all melty and the veggies start to cook.

Add the diced chicken. I kept everything moving for a minute or so until the chicken mostly looked more white than pink on the outside. Add the rice. Keep it moving until the rice starts to change color a little bit (it’ll go from white to kind of…buttery off-white). Add your salsa (really I just glugged from the jar and am guessing it was about a cup) and your two cups of water (this, I measured).

This will be very liquidy. Stir it all up and add your seasoning while it’s heating to a boil. I did a shake of the garlic, a few shakes of the chili powder and a couple shakes of the salt and pepper. Give it one final stir to mix in the seasoning. Once it’s boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover it and leave it alone for 15 minutes.

When you come back, the liquid will all be absorbed and it will look like, well, a pseudo-mexican chicken rice bowl. At this point, I added the frozen peas and corn — which I had taken out of the freezer when I started getting everything else ready — mixed it all up and let it heat through. I also put some cheese on top, but I don’t think it made much difference.

Happy cooking!

Re: cooking

[escapedsnake911]

Ooh, I forgot my favorite! Crab Stuffed Mushrooms!

Get 6-8 large mushrooms and pop out the stems. Put them top-down in a muffin tin, so they each get a little cup. Brush them with olive oil, and let them bake for a few minutes so they start releasing their juice.

In a pan, saute crab meat, onions, garlic, the chopped mushroom stems, mustard powder, and whatever other spices you want.

Pull out the mushrooms and fill each cap with the mixture. Grate cheese over the top of each (parmesan or gruyere work well). bake them until the cheese is slightly browned.

Oh my lord, so frickin good.

Re: cooking

[streetcake]

Something I cooked by myself that was easy and has eggs and chicken is omelet rice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTf5EgVY5uU&list=PL10C88EC51DD9C76D&index=6&feature=plpp_video

It's really good and makes about two servings, and they're rather big so you can cut them in half to make two more servings. :)

Re: cooking

[partialsatyr]

wow ok you are all beautiful people with beautiful food suggestions, you have my eternal gratitude

Re: cooking

[(Anonymous)]

If you've got a pressure cooker, OP, tadka dal is awesome:
http://indianfood.about.com/od/vegetarianrecipes/r/tadkadaal.htm

Koshimbir (http://recipecenterforall.blogspot.com.au/2007/11/koshimbir-mix-vegetable-raita.html) is also delicious.

A kadhai is a small steel pot, and you do need it for tadka; not sure what you could replace it with.

Re: cooking

[violettomoe2.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty terrible at directions, but I'll try!

Ham and egg sandwich: heat the pan, spray some nonstick butter (or use regular butter? I've never tried), cook the egg so it's like an omelette (you could probably add some stuff so it's a real omelette), then slide it onto a slice of bread, folding it so it fits on one slice, and slam another slice with ham on top.

Fried instant ramen: cook the noodles, drain the water. You could either take the noodles out to start cooking some scrambled eggs in the same pan to go along with it, if you want. If not, just leave the noodles, add some soy sauce, and start stirring it around.

Chicken with fried onions: I can't remember offhand how to make it, but here's a recipe and it's seriously delicious: http://www.frenchs.com/recipe/frenchs-crunchy-onion-chicken-RE1309

This is a baking recipe but it's pretty easy and delicious: http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2012/08/peetas-stuffed-cheese-buns.html

I hope any of these are helpful!

Re: cooking

[lunabee34]

My advice re: chicken is to forget about the breasts. They become dry so easily if you bake them. Buy chicken thighs instead. They are so cheap, and they stay moist when you bake them.

I like to take a package of chicken thighs, pull off all the skin, and then marinate them in soy, ginger, and garlic for a few hours. Then you bake them.

for side, rice with sesame seeds on top and some broccoli that you have sauteed in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper is perfect.

Re: cooking

[kaileighblue]

My recipes aren't exactly precise since "I'm still learning as well so it's pretty much "Can I eat it? Cool."

Let's see. "Fried rice" with chicken.

Leftover rice. However much you want.
Chicken, however much you plan to eat or store. Cut into chunks.
Vegetables. I use Onions and Carrots cut up small.
Soy sauce
Olive oil
And egg or two.
A decent sized pan as everything is going in it.

Cut up and boil the carrots for a few minutes to get them soft or they will be too hard, unless you like the hard I guess. Oil and pan and put in onions on medium. When the carrots are good drain and throw them in. Add the chicken last and cook until the chicken is done. Put oil and soy sauce in the rice and put in it the pan. Stir that shit. Clear a space and crack the eggs into the pan then stir it into the other stuff make sure it cooks through.

Eat it.

I just did this today and it was pretty good.

A baking dish
Chicken breasts, fingers, nuggets or whatever. If you use breaded chicken it's chicken marinara and you are a fancy chef.
That leftover spaghetti sauce you never end up using.
Mozzerella cheese. Or any cheese if you don't care. Parmesan is good and salty.

Grease a dish and put chicken on it. Season with stuff. I dunno. Salt. I shoved a whole garlic clove in it but that's because we keep a lot of garlic around. Put in Oven at 400 for around 20 minutes.

Remove from oven, Pour sauce over it. Add cheese on top. Put back in over for another 20 minutes or until the cheese is browning.

Re: cooking

[(Anonymous)]

My favorite crockpot recipe:

1 slab'o'cow (never tried it with pig or bird)
1 can French onion soup
Water or chicken stock (to make sure meat is covered by liquid)
Worchestershire to taste
S&P to taste (you won't need much; the soup probably has a lot of salt already)

Cook until the meat can be cut with a spoon. Once the meat has been eaten, you now have beefy onion soup. (My sister claimed to have made an awesome gravy out of the soupy leftover, but I don't know how to do gravies.)

Re: cooking

[tabaqui]

Needed: Eggs, tortilla chips, butter, cheese, salsa, meat if you like, sour cream.

Heat up your skillet, have your eggs all beaten up with a touch of milk. Put a little butter in the pan, then crush two or three tortilla chips into the pan. Pour the eggs over that, add cheese (either shredded or just chunked up, doesn't matter).

Stir it around until the eggs are nearly cooked, add meat (ground burger or bacon or whatever) at this point, then add some salsa. Stir it around a little more, slide it out onto your plate, add a dollop of sour cream. Yum!

If the meat is cold/leftover, i'd microwave it real quick first, to be sure it's warm all the way through. Don't overcook the eggs! If they kind of weep out a watery fluid on the plate, they're overcooked.

Re: cooking

[tabaqui]

Oh! Wanted to add...if you have an extra twenty or so bucks, get one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-WM-SW2-Dual-Sandwich-Nonstick-Electric/dp/B00006F2MD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347510371&sr=8-1&keywords=sandwich+griller

You can put whatever you like in them - veggies, meat, cheese, sauce - and have a hot sandwich in a couple minutes.

Also never, ever accidentally buy fat-free cream cheese. It tastes like death.

Re: cooking

[yeahscience]

For chicken and eggs, if you can get your hands on mirin, I like oyakodon: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/ricebowl/r/oyakodon.htm

Dashi is also helpful but not mandatory; you can use any kind of stock, or just water.

Re: cooking

[(Anonymous)]

This looks like a useful thread that I'll have to peruse in more detail! (Also just started having to learn how to cook for myself the last several months.)

Crockpots are awesome. When Boston butt (pork shoulder) goes on sale, I like to do like so:
1. Cover the bottom of the pot with sliced (sweet) onions, put the pork on top.
2. Pour in a can of corn and a can of green beans. (Some people recommend draining the cans first, as the pork will also produce its own juices.)
3. A couple of hours in, I ladle out most of the liquid, and pour in a can of cream of mushroom.
4. Pork is done when it's easy to pull with a fork!

Not very exact I'm afraid, but it makes for an easy sandwich filling.


Also, making (Asian) dumplings can take a while, but this recipe (http://glassshard.tumblr.com/post/5814753162/i-transcribed-this-recipe-for-a-fellow-in-vgmc-who) for them has always made me chuckle (seems especially relevant for a new cook!)

Re: cooking

[(Anonymous)]

Eggs are a versatile staple that are always important to have in the house in quantity (especially if you can't afford or can't eat a lot of red meat). Buy them on sale and keep in the fridge, and they will last, er, provided you eat them every day so they don't get rank ha ha.

Hard-boil four of five eggs, and you've got options for a few meals.

1. Ready-made snack. (Add salt or condiment if you can't take it plain.)
--- Add a piece of crispy toast, top with salt and pepper, eat when it's still warm. SUPPER.

2. Mash and add spices and condiment to taste = eggs salad. Slap between two slices of toast - crispy fluffy delicious egg sandwich.

3. If you're ambitious, try deviled eggs.

4. Soft-boiled eggs (or medium if you're not keen on soft-boiling -- 3, 5, 10 minutes, are your cooking times for soft, medium, and hard-boiled BTW).

Other than that, with eggs you can:

- Fry
- Scramble
- Bake (add veggies and pre-cooked diced chicken to make quiche)
- Make custard (need cornstarch, milk, sugar, and patience, for this)
- Use as binder (with breadcrumbs, gently-sauteed onion, and butter) to make chicken meatballs. Optimally you need a food processor for this, and clean all your equipment really well, both before and after --- and cook the chicken until there is NO pink
- Same as above, only flatten the meatballs and stick between a hamburger bun -- chickenburgers..
- Same as above only roll in breadcrumbs and fry, and you've got breaded chicken.
- Coat chicken parts in egg and breadcrumbs = country-style chicken. Can of corn and baked or mashed potato, and you're golden.

- Roast a whole chicken, and you've got leftovers for:
--Soup
--Sandwich
--Stir-fry

Also! http://www.supercook.com -- the recipes aren't the best, but you can at least get some ideas to springboard off of.

HTH