Ok. I admit it. I suck at cooking. Just curious if there's anyone here good at cooking? If so, how or when did you start messing around in the kitchen?

 

I wouldn't say I'm a good chef, but I wouldn't say I'm bad.

The need arose after I moved out, I guess. Eating out all the time was getting expensive and unhealthy.

But just start out following simple recipes. Just pick 2 or 3 to start, until you can do it from memory. Then after that, start mixing things up, throw in stuff you think that might be good. Salmon is incredibly easy to prepare (and healthy). Stir fry is a basic, easy skill that makes tasty food, too.

Pretty much just trial and error will teach you. I used to overcook all my meat just out of paranoia, but I'm getting the timing down. That's about the extent of my knowledge. If you want to be some crazy chef that can create signature dishes... I knew someone like that, and he admitted he'd spend hours before cooking time thinking about what he was going to do. Way too hardcore for me.

 

Both my wife and I are quite good at cooking; we made a tangerine beef stir-fry for dinner tonight.

I started messing about in the kitchen when I was seven or eight years old.

Cooking's not much different from any other skill; practice, practice, practice.

I've never read it, but I'd be willing to bet that Cooking for Dummies is a good book to get you started.

Bon app

 

I'm not too bad in the kitchen.

Started cooking when I moved away to University ... I liked what I considered "proper" food, and would have been far too expensive to eat takeaway all the time, so I learnt to cook there.

As the others say, start with some simple recipes, keep doing simple ones 'til you find them easy, then move on ... then start experimenting ...

Have fun in the kitchen

 

I watched a lot of the Food Network (seriously). Tried some dishes I thought looked good and I can now say I'm at least a competent chef.

 

I'm good at eating....

 

I would not say I am an expert but like to try different things and ditto on the food network.

If you want easy stuff thats pretty good I would say try to catch "Guy's Big Bite"

The wife and I made his Spicy Tangerine Beef over the weekend and it was really good and super easy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_35792,00.html

 

While we're on this subject, I highly recommend buying decent tools for cooking. A small investment will last a lifetime and make cooking much more enjoyable.

 

Good point. It makes some aspects of cooking much easier (like one of those mincers/choppers, a good ladle and spatula, olive oil brush, pepper grinder, etc.).

 

Having good sharp knives was the most surprising thing I found with cooking!

Weird, two of you had tangerine beef? Any chance you two fellas are husband and wi--husband?

I actually have that Cooking for Dummies, given to me by my mom when I moved out to make sure I had quick reference to a lot of simple kitchen tasks and recipes. It actually goes so far as to explain how to hard boil eggs. You do, however, have to FOLLOW DIRECTIONS the first few times.

Mom was unimpressed when I told her I screwed up a batch of hard boiled eggs while talking on the phone. I went to make a sandwich, peeled a couple eggs and discovered runny yolks in the middle Shouldn't have been on the phone when I was boiling them, doofus mistake!!