Basic cooking

suki1964

I just want to say, that at the age of 14 I was more then competent at cooking a roast for up to 12, but didn't have a clue how to make a cheesecake

Unless you are taught you don't know, simple as that

And in this day and age we aren't taught

We can all give you our methods but written down I find they mean diddly squat

I think I was 16 before I saw a competent cook make an omelette , and now I show others

My advice, watch the cookery programmes on tv aimed for the home cook. Or the YouTube footage. No recipe in the world will make sense less you can see the steps, understand terms and see how the finished dish should look like

jackomdj

Poach pods are fantastic http://www.lakeland.co.uk/12116/Green-poachpod

We do a lot of food, tend to follow recipes initially then change them to suit our preferences. Practice practice practice.

Sally_A

I've never made a cheesecake in my life!

But doing cookery at school has been a life skill that I am grateful for.

I seem to recall that Week 1 was a basic sandwich, Week 2 was blancmange......gradually progressing to casseroles and every type of pastry (never done choux).

There are lots of things we never cooked, but the lessons gave me the confidence to have a go at any recipe.

I still cannot fathom a light fluffy sponge - they come out like paving slabs.

suki1964

Sally_A wrote: »

I still cannot fathom a light fluffy sponge - they come out like paving slabs.

You need to cream your sugar and cream till near white, slowly beat in the eggs, then fold the sieved flour in Although Mary Berry admits she don't sieve flour any more

Sally_A

suki1964 wrote: »

You need to cream your sugar and cream till near white, slowly beat in the eggs, then fold the sieved flour in Although Mary Berry admits she don't sieve flour any more

Yep! done all that...but the boggers will not play ball.

But I can make brilliant pastry.

Maybe it's an either/or thing.

Fruit cakes - nil problemo, cookies - a doddle, rock cakes - yep, no trading standards issues there; but a victoria sandwich......no chance.

aliama

RAS wrote: »

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This is nothing to do with your cooking. it is to do with the quality of most shop bought eggs.

A newly laid egg has a tight little white mound topped by a yellow yolk.

It has probably been in the packing line/store etc for a month or more by the time it hits the shops. By which timethe egg white has started to thin out, perhaps even run completely and the yolk has sunken into the white.

For fried eggs or anything with whisked egg-white, buy the most newly laid you can get you mitts on. For baking etc, it matters less. In fact kept very cold, they can last months.

I thought it was better to use slightly older eggs for whisking, as newer eggs are harder to whisk. It is vital to use very fresh eggs for poaching and frying though.

suki1964

Sally_A wrote: »

Yep! done all that...but the boggers will not play ball.

But I can make brilliant pastry.

Maybe it's an either/or thing.

Fruit cakes - nil problemo, cookies - a doddle, rock cakes - yep, no trading standards issues there; but a victoria sandwich......no chance.

Me mum makes great cakes but can't make pastry at all

My sister makes great cakes and pastry, can't make bread

I make not so great cakes, but manage to make good pastry and passable bread

craigywv

and may i add i can cook anything for quite large numbers if needed but i cant crack and fry an egg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im afraid of it.

Ruby789

Thanks for all the response, very grateful!

I’ll be eating a lot of eggs this week J

Sorry I missed you off my earlier thank you post Meadows. Having a trawl round all the charity shops for Delia and Jamie books before I try amazon. Thanks for suggesting it.

littlegreenparrot, you make it sound easy! Will give it a go though. Have decided we are going to have an egg fuelled weekend, poached on Saturday and scrambled on Sunday J.

liliesnlace85, I had forgotten all about salads and couscous, that’s a great idea, sure I can make those. Will check out recipes on line.

RAS, I’m glad you’ve said it’s not just me! I only have one fridge shelf so often the eggs are the first thing to be taken out if I need the space. Need to keep them in there then.

squeakysue, ahhh rice. My family have always had it overboiled and soggy, I thought this was normal! I also can’t cook it the way most people want to eat it. Have taken to microwaving it as it is nearly impossible to get it into mush that way, lol. Glad to know the simple stuff like eggs and rice trip others up too J

sonastin, spot on, having people to compare yourself too does not help! I have been tempted to buy either a slow cooker or a pressure cooker actually so you’ve helped persuade me it’ll be useful. Going to attempt a roast this weekend, keeping it really simple though. Will do this the night I’m not seeing him so its not stressful.


Nargleblast, thanks nargleblast. Looks like a few of you have found these books helpful.

Sally A, a countdown looks like a really good idea.


Chris25, another vote for microwaved then. I think I’ll try both ways and see what comes out best. Thanks for including your method. Will have a look in poundland at the weekend for the pockets. I do like a poached egg.

meritaten, lol, glad poached foxes other people too. I usually just get eggy water! Thanks for your scrambled method. Will try them all till I get it spot on J

cutestkids, I see. Never thought to turn them off a bit early, sounds like a good idea.

MrsE, definite trend on votes for Jamie and Delia. I’ll try planning a meal with countdown this week.

suki1964, yes I really wish I had been taught how to do the basics. Have found a few videos on line and I think it does help to see, especially when it says to a rolling boil or something, and I’m never sure if mine is doing that!

jackomdj, they look good! Would be very well presented too! Thanks for replying.

craigywv, lol, so feeding a large number of people fried eggs would break you out in a cold sweat! I honestly thought it was just me who struggled to get eggs to behave well!

daisiegg

suki1964 wrote: »

Me mum makes great cakes but can't make pastry at all

My sister makes great cakes and pastry, can't make bread

I make not so great cakes, but manage to make good pastry and passable bread

I make great cakes, pastry and bread...... But I am allergic to eggs so have never even attempted to cook one, so not having the egg problem to contend with probably frees up some of my skills! :rotfl: