I don't agree with almost anything in the book. From what I know, he didn't even write it, it was ghost written by somebody who now works for Emeril Lagasse (for whom she also ghost writes for). It was just an attempt for him to cash in on his fame on being the play by play guy on Iron Chef. He knows very little about food or cooking and I don't think he has any right to author a book on the subject. Also, it doesn't teach you much. Some basics, but not really anything that you can't learn in other lesser known books. It's simplistic, even for a complete novice. You might as well have recommended "Cooking for Dummies" instead, because that's basically what Brown's book is in comparison. Colicchio's book teaches very simple techniques that will make the novice cook a lot better. How to puree' simple vegetables, how to braise, how to grill, sautee', etc. It also teaches people what to look for when they are shopping (which most novice cooks don't know how to do), what they should have in their pantry and what simple tools are needed to achieve the best results. Look, I've worked with Brown, and personally can't stand him. He's a bit of a know it all who doesn't really know anything. When he won the Beard award, it was the laughing stock of that award season. He knows bits and pieces about cooking, but not enough that would warrant him to give expert advice. Ted Allen has probably forgotten more about food then Brown knows, yet Ted doesn't try and give expert advice to novice cooks. I've felt that Brown has used his status to have a couple of books written that were basically just a rehashing of a bunch of other books that were already in circulation. It's funny that you mentioned "The Joy of Cooking", because that's pretty much what I felt Brown used as a reference point when authoring his book. You can learn more from better books from lesser known chefs then you could from Brown's book.
While not a chef by any stretch, I like to think I can cook. I've taken a couple years of courses at the local culinary school, along the lines of "Professional Cooking for Amateurs". All my friends/family make me cook when we get together. And I'm a semi-professional wine snob. And I love Alton Brown. He teaches you the simplistic science behind some of the key cooking techniques, in a light-hearted and fun way. I have every one of his "Good Eats" shows, and a few of his books. He provides a nice little base that provides the amateur with the information and understanding required to step out of a recipe and just following a process or concept and explore and create. Sure, he's not going to provide you with the artistry and sophistication that a large number of chefs can, but he does do a good job at providing a base of information upon which to grow. $0.02
It's been a couple of days since you requested this and someone already posted a recipe, but this one is terrific. I don't buy BBQ sauce anymore, I just make this one in big batches and keep it in the fridge. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bourbon-Wh ... etail.aspx Also it gives you an excuse to drink, excuse me, cook with bourbon.
This is an old (1950's) Home and Garden recipe thats been around in our family for awhile. These are absolutely terrible for you, but damn good burgers Ground beef, grated sharp cheddar cheese, grated onion, freshly ground pepper, Worcestershire sauce, sliced bacon. For every lb of ground beer add 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and 1 grated onion. add a bit of pepper to season and form into burgers. wrap them up in a slice of bacon and grill normally. they're especially good with hot mustard on top. enjoy!
Some things actually are better than sex: BLT Dip 1 cup sour cream 1 cup mayo 1 lbs crumbled bacon 1 cup cheese 1 cup iceberg lettuce 1 tsp garlic powder 1 chopped tomato serve cold Easiest shit in the world to remember, tastes awesome. I go without the tomato, add more bacon and cheese than the recipe calls for. Most of it is to taste though, and this gives a pretty good guideline.
Found this recipe one night when we were trying to think of something interesting to do with a ham steak. Opted out of the optional instant coffee. It was surprisingly good. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ham-Steak-with-Bourbon-Cream-Sauce-240274
This the Meta Cannoli. It's a large cannoli that is filled with smaller cannolis. If I ever get cancer, I'm going to buy and eat this monster and die of a cholesterol poisoning induced heart attack. Because fuck you cancer, that's why, I'm going out on my own terms.
I mainly bake - cakes, muffins, tarts, pies etc. - however since moving out of home, I have gotten better at cooking main meals. My favourite cooking website is http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au Everything I have cooked off here is amazing. The triple choc brownies are to die for. My brother insists I cook them for him weekly so he can take it to work.
This is good information, but if you have cast iron, use that. If you don't have a cast iron pan, get one. Food tastes better cooked in it, and I am sure there is someone out there who will back me up on this.
If you're going to sear something like a steak or scallops, yes. Cast iron will achieve and keep a higher temperature then it's teflon counterpart. This will allow meats and fishes that are seared on it a much crisper texture and a much browner color. It's also best to braise in cast iron because the heat defuses and retains much better. Also, always cook your eggs on cast iron to avoid the egg from becoming rubbery. If you are going to sautee', never use cast iron, you'll most likely burn any liquid you put in there.
I'll second the suggestion for Cook's Illustrated. It does a great job of guiding a relative novice through a new technique. Once you cut your teeth on a few of those, try Jacques Pepin. His "Everyday Cooking with Jacques Pepin" has a lot of pretty homey satisfying dishes, that teach basic techniques, along with some more sophisticated approaches. The book has many small pictures of each step, so you don't go wrong. Pepin's "Simple & Healthy Cooking" is a next step up, with some more sophisticated dishes. "La Technique" and "La Methode" are great, but they are more professional textbooks.
I know Tyler Florence kind of comes off like a douche, but he's the only guy off of the food network who's recipes I've used actually come out great (I'm told Ina Garten's do as well, but I haven't tried any of hers) I had been wanting to try to make Indian food for a while, but was a little apprehensive about it. I saw an episode of Tyler's Ultimate where he made an Indian Dinner, and it couldn't have been any easier. I've made this at least 3 times for people and I've gotten really great reviews. The samosas are awesome. I substitute ground lamb when I can't find ground chicken and it works great either way. I've also used pigeon peas instead of chick peas as well. For the lamb curry, I've never been able to find curry leaves, so I just leave them out. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyle ... index.html http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyle ... index.html
Some of you guys love food, so I figured... I don't know what kind of fetishes you sick fucks have, so I'll just throw this out there: http://foodporndaily.com/ (SFW) It's a website that shows you pictures of dishes that look amazing. I'm one of those college kids who wishes he had the budget/utilities/patience to cook, because it actually looks like a good outlet, and a lot of fun. Hopefully I start to use this thread in the future.
I wholeheartedly concur. I love my cast iron skillets. Pan searing / oven roasting steaks in a cast iron skillet is the best. It's also really good for baking things like cornbread. It distributes the heat and makes it slightly crusty without drying it out or burning it. I bought the "Top Chef: Quick Fire Cookbook" yesterday and tried out some of the recipes today. It's got a pretty good glossary of cooking terms and a lot of helpful hints on how to masterfully prepare certain elements of a dish. However, if you don't know how to make gnocchi for a recipe where that's the base, it'll tell you how to make the complex creation elements of the dish, but not how to make gnocchi. So that's kind of a pain, but other than that it seems to be a pretty good cookbook. It has some pretty non-traditional dishes as well as some clever takes on classic combos. I put together a surf and turf tonight from different recipes. I made the cauliflower puree with some butter seared scallops and mashed sweet potatoes with grill seared / cast iron skillet roasted rib eye. The cauliflower puree was AWESOME. I didn't tell anyone what it was at first. It looked and tasted pretty much like really creamy mashed potatoes. No one could believe it was really cauliflower when I told them. If you want the specific recipe, PM me.
I just want to say how glad I am that this thread exists. This is my second semester of school without a meal plan, and in the last 6 months I've been doing a shit-ton of cooking for myself and my roommates (for anybody who's just moving in with new kids, cooking meals is a great way to get in good with the roomies and also get them to buy you drinks and stuff). Today I made the barbecue sauce recipe from the link somebody posted and tomorrow I have 3 girls coming over to eat pulled pork with me (found a crockpot recipe because we can't afford to build a pit yet). Cooking is a fantastic habit for college kids to get into. All I've been making is fairly basic beginner-cook stuff, but I plan to get into the fancier side of it when my loans come through and I can afford fancy cooking ingredients and cuts of meat. I guess I should contribute something though, so here's a pork tenderloin recipe (shamelessly stolen from the internet but I lost the site) that my roommate's girlfriend said tasted like PF Chang's: 12 oz marmalade 4 tablespoons cider vinegar 2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon Sriracha (I assume any Thai garlic/chili sauce works, but Rooster sauce is the fucking shit) 1/2 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt a bit of ground black pepper Combine the marmalade, vinegar, honey, Sriracha, salt in a skillet and simmer until it's reduced to about 2/3 Cut the tenderloin into 1" medallions, coat in flour, salt, and pepper mixture. Sear the pork in olive oil on medium-high for a couple minutes, flipping after a minute or two until the outside is done. Add sauce to pork, cover, and simmer until it seems ready (not too professional, but I can't say how long I usually do it - anywhere from 20 minutes to like 45) Serve it over rice with whatever seems appropriate, it's always gone over pretty well for me. Also as far as pasta and meat sauces are concerned, it is a college student's best friend. You can make meat sauce on Monday and eat it through the week, replenishing it with canned tomatoes until it's mostly veggies on Saturday, and then re-add the meat and start over. It also gives you plenty of opportunity to experiment with ingredients through the course of the week. I've found that adding some balsamic vinegar to the sauce gives it a really interesting flavor that people seem to appreciate. Like I said, I am no culinary expert. But I'm glad that those of you who are are here and willing to give us noobs tips and stuff. So thanks to all of you fancy types who are contributing.
I'd like to recommend "The Healthy College Cookbook" to this board. Little in the book is mind-blowingly good and there aren't any pictures, but for simple, quick, healthy and decently tasty recipes for the average 20-something year old person who doesn't have a ton of time or patience to struggle through complicated recipes, this book really can't be beat. Most recipes have 5-10 pretty standard ingredients and only 3-5 steps till you are eating a finished meal. It's a seriously great book to start with. With that said, tonight I'll be eating Salsa Chicken--simple, easy, cheap, tasty. This recipe is pretty much what I do: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/salsa-chicken/detail.aspx
The Georgia Martini: Spicy peach barbequed shrimp on top of cheddar grits garnished with shaved grilled pickled okra.
This thread is making me extremely hungry. And that's a problem, because I'm a college student who's too lazy to cook good food for myself. But looking at the $400 I spent last month just on eating on campus, makes me realize that my habits will have to change sooner or later. I finally had to cave in and went grocery shopping for the first time in a long while. I plan on using this thread a lot.