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I am not a good cook


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Back when I first started cooking, I really enjoyed the Taste of Home magazine and cookbooks. They have easy and tasty recipes that basically taught me how to cook. I went from following recipes to modifying them to suit our taste. Now I use them just for ideas, usually combining a couple of recipes to make something new.

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There are a lot of very basic, "how to" recipes on Martha Stewart's website. There is a "cooking school" section and a "cooking 101" section.

 

Alton Brown's Good Eats is also very good. He gives various ideas and reasons why one does things a certain way or what small changes will affect the outcome. I use his method for cooking steak and it is delicious. :) You might be able to find some episodes on dvd at your library. I know a guy who went to culinary school and one of his classes was always watching Good Eats. :lol:

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Betty Crocker International Cookbook, because the recipes are not that hard and they actually work without calling for difficult-to-find ingredients, and it makes you seem all exotic.

Sunset--French Cooking or Country French Cooking (lots of overlap between the two) because these are the easy French recipes, and again, makes you seem so capable.

Martha Stewart Quick Cook because these are fast recipes with flair but no difficulty.

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There are a lot of very basic, "how to" recipes on Martha Stewart's website. There is a "cooking school" section and a "cooking 101" section.

 

Alton Brown's Good Eats is also very good. He gives various ideas and reasons why one does things a certain way or what small changes will affect the outcome. I use his method for cooking steak and it is delicious. :) You might be able to find some episodes on dvd at your library. I know a guy who went to culinary school and one of his classes was always watching Good Eats. :lol:

 

I second the Martha recomendation (but you should know that I stalk her like a maniac and want to be her -- well, her tv self, I should say).

 

Go to your library and grab a bunch of her magazines. Doesn't matter what year or month. Every issue has this little page of four recipe cards that make a meal. It's always very interesting stuff. You don't have to make the actual recipes, they are so inspiring, but they are good recipes, if slightly unusual at times. If you want to stretch your culinary horizons a bit, that's a good place to start.

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I second the recommendation for the America's Test Kitchen books. The ATK Family cookbook (red cover) is my most used cookbook. Most of the recipes turn out perfectly the first time with no/only minor tweaks. The same company publishes Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, which I browse for new ideas. I also like Paula Deen's magazine. I'm not fond of her show and its constant over-the-top butterfests, but I've found that the mag has a better variety.

 

My favorite cooking site is Mel's Kitchen Cafe --very family-friendly. I also like to collect web recipes via Pinterest.

 

Maybe you could set a goal of trying a set number of new recipes a month. Another idea is to give yourself "theme" challenges. Choose a type of food (meatless, soups, small bites, etc) or from a certain culture/ethnicity (Greek, Mexican, Cuban, etc), search out a new recipe and then make sure to try it out. Another fun idea is to try to replicate restaurant dishes at home. There are many copycat recipes online, as well as cookbooks in print (Top Secret Recipe series).

 

The best thing for me has been trial and error (lots of error!). I get bored making and eating the same things over and over, and the more I've tried different recipes the better my overall cooking techniques have become.

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There are a lot of very basic, "how to" recipes on Martha Stewart's website. There is a "cooking school" section and a "cooking 101" section.

 

Alton Brown's Good Eats is also very good. He gives various ideas and reasons why one does things a certain way or what small changes will affect the outcome. I use his method for cooking steak and it is delicious. :) You might be able to find some episodes on dvd at your library. I know a guy who went to culinary school and one of his classes was always watching Good Eats. :lol:

 

I second the recommendation for good eats. It comes on at eleven on the food network. Sadly, the show is on hiatus. Alton said it was getting to be too much for him.

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Get some of those kids to cook! My mom is not a great cook. I adore her, but the kitchen is not her favorite place to be. However, all of us kids love to cook and do it well. She says it was self defence :rofl: She might be on to something.

 

When I was 12 I was planning dinners for the family.

 

They do cook sometimes :)

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I know the basics and cook simple meals, but I am not a good cook. I don't want to cook fancy meals every night but our meals definitely could use some flair and variety.

 

I use allrecipes.com a lot and have an older Bettey Crocker cookbook, but any other suggestions?

 

Excuse me, but I would beg to differ, Miss Cinnamon Roll Queen!

 

(I do love and have learned a lot from Alton Brown/Good Eats, though!)

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Excuse me, but I would beg to differ, Miss Cinnamon Roll Queen!

 

(I do love and have learned a lot from Alton Brown/Good Eats, though!)

 

:iagree: I'm making your cinnamon rolls right now for tomorrow morning. :drool5:

As far as learning goes, I just subscribed to Bon Appetit (you can find specials out there for $4.99 for the year). I also like the Reddit.com subforums on cooking/chefs/kitchen confidential/etc.

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I know the basics and cook simple meals, but I am not a good cook. I don't want to cook fancy meals every night but our meals definitely could use some flair and variety.

 

I use allrecipes.com a lot and have an older Bettey Crocker cookbook, but any other suggestions?

 

The Joy of Cooking is my go-to book for just about everything. It's like an encyclopedia for cooking. There are not only recipes but detailed explanations as well.

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Anytime the smoke alarm goes off, my kids say with complete seriousness, "DINNER'S READY!!" I am not a good cook either, so I'm loving these suggestions!

 

My dear husband's class made cookbooks when they were in third grade. He titled his "Something is Yummy and Burning." :) MIL's Joy of Cooking book has burn rings on the cover.

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I'm a good cook, but my meal planning skills fell by the wayside some time ago. The Fresh 20 has been responsible for something of a sea change in our diet these past three months. To say I'm happy with their service is a gross understatement.

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My dear husband's class made cookbooks when they were in third grade. He titled his "Something is Yummy and Burning." :) MIL's Joy of Cooking book has burn rings on the cover.

Just the right amount of burn imparts that special, unrepeatable, smokey flavor into the food. :rofl: I'm laughing yet semi-serious! When a sauce or soup burns, don't stir up the burnt part from the bottom and see if it's worthy of serving. The results can be yummier than if the item hadn't burnt at all!
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I consider myself a good cook. If the op is serious about wanting to become a better cook, I suggest she study herbs and spices-- and more importantly--how to combine them! Certain flavors go together well--but certain combinations don't. Play with herbs and spices, starting with one or two per meal. See how they taste and smell to you and your family.

 

Consider flavors of everything served when menu planning. Two recipes or food items might taste wonderful apart but terrible together. Watch out for competing flavors from one dish to another. Foods should compliment the other foods and beverages served.

 

People have raved about your cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon is a strong flavor that compliments many different foods, and serving a good bread can push an ordinary meal into the extraordinary. If you work at learning how to combine flavors, then you're on your way to being a good cook.

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Ok - I want to whole heartedly confirm America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated as my go to source. I have had mixed success with Martha's recipes and I'm a competent cook, so I don't think it's me. Almost everything I've made from the test kitchen turns out SO good. I'm making a French onion tart from them this morning. The smell of bacon and carmelized onions is killing me. It's to make up for needing to eat at MILs later. :drool5:

 

I also like allrecipes.com. Almost every 4 & 5 star recipe (with 20+ reviews) I've tried from there has been great and I chose carefully (I don't use processed foods when I cook).

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I consider myself a good cook. If the op is serious about wanting to become a better cook, I suggest she study herbs and spices-- and more importantly--how to combine them! Certain flavors go together well--but certain combinations don't. Play with herbs and spices, starting with one or two per meal. See how they taste and smell to you and your family.

 

Consider flavors of everything served when menu planning. Two recipes or food items might taste wonderful apart but terrible together. Watch out for competing flavors from one dish to another. Foods should compliment the other foods and beverages served.

 

People have raved about your cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon is a strong flavor that compliments many different foods, and serving a good bread can push an ordinary meal into the extraordinary. If you work at learning how to combine flavors, then you're on your way to being a good cook.

 

I would love to learn more about spices and herbs. I have been afraid to experiment. I think I need to get creative :-)

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