I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get to amateur chef level.

On May 11, 7:11*am, azngi16 >
wrote:
> I'm learning how to cook. *How should I start cooking? *I want to get to
> amateur chef level.
>
> --
> azngi16

Start by learning how to measure without devices. Pour one cup into a
two cup measuring cup until you know how much a cup is.
Buy a cookbook. Make some items you like. Throw away the cookbook and
make items others like.
I consider myself to be a great cook but I think formal school would
make me a chef.

Remember...A watched pot never boils but if you don't watch it, it
will burn.

"azngi16" > wrote in message
...
>
> I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get to
> amateur chef level.
>

First, get a cuisinart electric can opener. The stainless steel model is
best, because it is cool looking.

"azngi16" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
>
> I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get to
> amateur chef level.

Most YWCA and extension learning systems offer cookery and it's a good place
to start.

azngi16 wrote:

>
> I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get
> to amateur chef level.

Depends where you're starting from. The simplest cookbooks I've seen
are for college students who're cooking for themselves for the very
first time.

Cookbooks for children aren't as simple, but have better pictures.
(No, I'm not being snarky; cookbooks for college students really more
elementary than those for children.)

--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com, insanejournal.com)

On Tue, 11 May 2010 07:11:10 -0400, azngi16
> wrote:

>
> I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get to
> amateur chef level.

If you know absolutely nothing, there is a visual cooking series by
Anne Willan called Look & Cook. You can find it at Barnes and Noble,
for starters.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

"cybercat" > wrote in message
...
>
> "azngi16" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get to
>> amateur chef level.
>>
>
> First, get a cuisinart electric can opener. The stainless steel model is
> best, because it is cool looking.

cat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you are baddddddddddd!

--
--
https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

On 2010-05-11 04:11:10 -0700, azngi16 said:

> I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get to
> amateur chef level.

To accomplish a goal, it is important to define it. What does "amateur
chef" mean to you? Generally a "chef" is thought of as a professional
job. If you cook for your family, you're a cook. if you cook at a
restaurant, you're a chef. Admittedly the former may be vastly better
than the latter. For instance, my mom versus a short-order cook at
Denny's: Mom wins! So, until corrected, I'll assume your intent is to
become a very good home cook.

How to go about it? Do it. Do it a lot, make plenty of mistakes, and
don't let that get you down. Every screw-up is an opportunity for
learning. Read books on techniques you want to acquire, practice these
techniques. Watch TV shows. Find recipes that interest you, then try
them out and you'll find things you can do right and things you can't
do right. Learn the latter.

Once you've done a bunch of that, you'll have questions. Find people
to answer them. Frequently you'll get answers to questions you haven't
yet asked; the next time you encounter the question, you'll already
have the answer ready. Find mentors. Take classes. You may learn many
things you *don't* want to through your class--that's incredibly
valuable too!

I'm a musician and have spent many thousands of hours practicing my
instruments. You have to learn your chords, arpeggios, scales, forms
and all the rest. But at the end of the day you then have to perform.
So it's not solely about knife-skills, being able to measure
accurately, multi-tasking in monitoring two things while prepping a
third, or seamlessly substituting for an element you discover you don't
have at the last minute. All of those are critical skills, but in the
end it is about what winds up on the plate. So SMELL and TASTE things
endlessly. Eating is as important a skill in cooking as anything else.

The more you put on a plate the more you learn.

To this end, I've started making smaller dishes so I could do more of
them. I make dishes with scant, inexpensive or no protein so I can
experiment a lot without throwing money down the drain when the dish
sucks.

Get outside vewipoints. If you're cooking only for yourself, you're
getting a skewed viewpoint. Cook for others and don't punish them for
negative evaluations.

And have fun! If you get anxious and nervous about cooking for your
family and that becomes a default response, you'll make the whole
process a big fat obligational bummer. Don't let the audience screw up
your tune! On the other hand don't dismiss their views either. Temper
all.

And so forth.
--
If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can possibly
find fault with, you will not do much. -- Lewis Carroll

On Tue, 11 May 2010 12:06:12 -0700, gtr > wrote:

>.... if you cook at a restaurant, you're a chef....

Ummm, not quite. Line cooks are not chefs.

-- Larry

On 5/11/2010 7:11 AM, azngi16 wrote:
> I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get to
> amateur chef level.

The best thing to do is cook and pay attention to what you're doing. Be
fearless--if it looks interesting try it--if it turns out horrible try
to figure out why.

Recognize that there are a few basic recipes and techniques that once
learned allow vast amounts of variation. Always be looking for the
basic formula or technique in any recipe.

If you're totally lost in the kitchen "Martha Stewart's Cooking School"
covers a lot of very basic stuff in ad nauseum detail with lots of very
high quality illustrations and some somewhat exotic dishes to
demonstrate the techniques she shows. Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here For
the Food" would be a good next step. Martha herself says she learned by
working her way through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French
Cooking". "On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee will tell you an awful
lot about what's really going on in the food. When you understand that
then recipes make a lot more sense. Note that McGee is not a
cookbook--you can start reading it right off and learn useful things. If
you work diligently through all of those you should be at a very decent
"amateur chef" level.

On 2010-05-11, pltrgyst > wrote:
>
> Ummm, not quite. Line cooks are not chefs.

What are they?

On May 11, 2:45*pm, notbob > wrote:
> On 2010-05-11, pltrgyst > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Ummm, not quite. Line cooks are not chefs.
>
> What are they?

Cooks...

Subject

What do you llike to eat?

Start learning how to cook by learning how to prepare what you like to
eat.

Then venture out.

Lew

> On May 11, 7:11 am, azngi16 >
> wrote:
>> I'm learning how to cook. How should I start cooking? I want to get to
>> amateur chef level.
>>
>> --
>> azngi16
>



What's "amateur chef level"?

Learn how to follow recipes
Learn how to vary recipes
Master the various techniques
Learn about ingredients, menu planning, nutrition
Learn about meat and the various cuts
Learn about herbs and spices
Learn about baking

How do you learn all that? Read, shop, and COOK.

Like getting to Carnegie Hall, it takes practice, practice, practice.

gloria p

On 2010-05-11 15:00:38 -0700, merryb said:

> On May 11, 2:45*pm, notbob > wrote:
>> On 2010-05-11, pltrgyst > wrote:
>>
>>> Ummm, not quite. Line cooks are not chefs.
>>
>> What are they?
>
> Cooks...

Professional cooks.
--
If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can possibly
find fault with, you will not do much. -- Lewis Carroll