Cooking :)

[Sass]

Anyone else like to cook?

I don't get the chance to be as creative as I'd like anymore as I have two kids who both like their food less experimental, but I do love to cook, and to watch cooking shows.

Tonight I'm making pulled chicken tacos, which I'm hoping are delicious

 

[Nitro]

The kitchen is a bastion of creativity

Good luck on your taco adventure...sounds like a winner...

 

[Peace]

Yes! I have heard it said that men love to cook because men love to eat. I think it's more like "Those Who Love To Eat, Love To Cook". I spent a lot of time with my grandma when I was young, and she cooked everyday from scratch. In an Italian family, it was a great smelling kitchen everyday.
I have to admit that your Taco's sound good.

 

[Judge]

I was making tacos weekly....but I've come to the conclusion it's cheaper to buy them as fast food. Take them home and add to them. I like to eat a bit more than I like to cook. But I'd also say this year I've probably cooked more than ever before.

Tonight I'll be making beef alfredo. Pretty simple stuff....but tasty. Won't need to use the oven since it's so hot right now.

 

[Sass]

Well the tacos were delicious! I used left over roast chicken and slowly cooked it in a spice blend I concocted, basically until it 'pulled' itself.

Has anyone tried anything really complicated? I'd like to have a go at Beef Wellington one day, but it just seems so fiddly!

 

[toothless]

sass,
what does 'pulled' actualy mean? have wondered that for ages as it seems to be getting very popular now.

am unable to cook/prepare food and relie on support staff to do it but like passing them some things when baking,love the smells [and tastes!] of things like cinamon welsh cakes,theyre amazing and woud recommend everyone give them a go [homemade not shop bought].

 

[Sass]

Pulled means cooked until tender enough that you can pull the meat apart, at least that's what I think it means LOL Just a fancy way to say slow-cooked and shredded I think!

 

[toothless]

Pulled means cooked until tender enough that you can pull the meat apart, at least that's what I think it means LOL Just a fancy way to say slow-cooked and shredded I think!

is that all? they make it sound so mysterious.
have had a pack of 'pulled beef burgers' before from asda and they didnt taste much different.

 

[Mattymatt]

I hate cooking. I have significant problems following recipes and judging how much ingredients to use. I have trouble with motor skills of chopping and dicing. However, I love to bake and I'm good at it. I wish I could find someone patient enough to teach me.

 

[Arcturus]

Anyone else like to cook?

I don't get the chance to be as creative as I'd like anymore as I have two kids who both like their food less experimental, but I do love to cook, and to watch cooking shows.

Tonight I'm making pulled chicken tacos, which I'm hoping are delicious

I LOVE to cook! It's one of the best anxiety relieving escape routes for me. I am sure the tacos were irresistible

 

[Arcturus]

I hate cooking. I have significant problems following recipes and judging how much ingredients to use. I have trouble with motor skills of chopping and dicing. However, I love to bake and I'm good at it. I wish I could find someone patient enough to teach me.

I have a giant problem following recipes and I always oversalt and burn things. But I accepted it and cook for fun, often experiment. When it doesn't burn, it normally tastes delicious. And I only know how to bake one cake without messing it up. Anything else I bake burns on the outside and is undercooked on the inside. Do you know why, by chance? The temperature seems fine....just like in the recipe. Maybe it's a curse.

 

[Peace]

It sounds as though the heat is too high. Do you use electric or gas. If it is electric, you should turn the heat WAY down after it starts to get hot.

 

[Mattymatt]

I have a giant problem following recipes and I always oversalt and burn things. But I accepted it and cook for fun, often experiment. When it doesn't burn, it normally tastes delicious. And I only know how to bake one cake without messing it up. Anything else I bake burns on the outside and is undercooked on the inside. Do you know why, by chance? The temperature seems fine....just like in the recipe. Maybe it's a curse.

I might hazard a guess and say that you might not have put enough shortening on the bottom of the pan if you don't have teflon baking pans. It could also be that the oven rack is too close to the heating element. I don't really know though because it was something I just kind of picked up. I'm a disaster at cooking however. I think cooking is usually multitasking whereas baking is one thing at a time.

 

[Judge]

I have a giant problem following recipes and I always oversalt and burn things. But I accepted it and cook for fun, often experiment. When it doesn't burn, it normally tastes delicious. And I only know how to bake one cake without messing it up. Anything else I bake burns on the outside and is undercooked on the inside. Do you know why, by chance? The temperature seems fine....just like in the recipe. Maybe it's a curse.

Yeah, use a pan that's coated as Mattymatt pointed out. What might seem to be an odd question. What altitude are you cooking at?

Moving to a mile high location taught me the hard way that most baked goods require considerably LESS time in the oven. Learned it the first time I baked cookies....using instructions citing about nine minutes, when optimally baking them took only six and no more.

 

[Arcturus]

It sounds as though the heat is too high. Do you use electric or gas. If it is electric, you should turn the heat WAY down after it starts to get hot.

Thank you! It's an older electric stove. My favourite apple cake I make in a teflon or glass pan at 350F (175 C). And even that manages to burn on both sides sometimes, bottom and top, but mostly bottom. I will play with lowering the temperature even more.

 

[Sass]

So today I'm making slow cooked soup, vegetables with a big old smoked ham hock bubbling away with it

 

[Grumpy Cat]

I don't know if it's because I'm NT or a girl, but the reason I love to cook is being able to use new gadgets and cookware. I have two really nice "girly" aprons (that match my bakeware, of course.) I have a couple of good knife sets that I love to slice and dice with. Several recipe books - I really like the Campbell's recipes because they're not real difficult and are good "comfort foods". I really wish I had a bigger kitchen so I could get a Kitchen Aid mixer (in the cinnamon color). When I cook, I have to have a recipe and follow it to a "T". I enjoy the prep work the most - if a recipe says prep time is 10 min, you can be assured it will take me double or triple the time to prepare whatever it is I'm cooking. I love to watch "In the kitchen with David" on QVC (where I get most of my kitchen stuff.) My favorite cooking movie is "Julie and Julia".

I ended up getting a new range a little over a year ago with a convection oven, but have been unable to really use it - everything comes out undone and I'm thinking it might be the bakeware I'm using. I'd appreciate if someone could give tips on how to use a convection oven properly, what bakeware is best and give an example of a recipe using a convection oven that they themselves have made so I might have a really good example to learn from.

And I really hate the cleanup!

 

[Sass]

Ah, see that's where I'm different. I use a recipe once to get the idea (and even then I'll often tweak it), but I never forget it once I've read it, and I prefer to go by taste and feel than the recipe!

As far as convection ovens, I've never used one, is that the same as fan-forced?

 

[Grumpy Cat]

From what I've gathered, there's a fan in the back that turns on and of continuously through cooking to move the heat around so all sides of the dish cook evenly. It's supposed to cook food faster, as well, except for people who have the name 'Angie'. (I bet that last sentence can be found in microscopic print on all of my convection oven recipes and probably even on the ovens user manual!)

 

[Peace]

Convection ovens are great for reducing the cooking time of things like potatoes, and yes it is the fan "Forced" cooking concept. Bake ware may be a factor, but should not leave a dish undone. You may try reducing the temperature and increasing the baking time.