Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cook

My Goose Is (not) Cooked!

np312 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:52:22 -0800

Newbie cook seeks fool-proof recipe for roast goose, for a dinner party tomorrow night. The details:
--It's a 12 pound goose, frozen (but currently defrosting in the fridge.)
--Needs to be ready for a party tomorrow evening.
--We'd ideally like to keep the excess goose fat to render for future dishes.

Neither my boyfriend or I have ever cooked a goose, and all the recipes we're finding online seem to wildly differ on technique. We are looking for the safest, most delicious and straight-forward roasted goose recipe you've got!

(Please don't post a recipe unless you've actually used that exact recipe. I can google goose recipes to my heart's content, but I need to feel assured that this is the most fool-proof one.) Please save my dinner from disaster!

Thank you!

Max Weber

fixedgear — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:08:13 -0800

Big Green Egg. Worth it? I'm a Weber guy, cowboy charcoal. My Weber has rusted through. I need to replace it, probably with a 22.5" Gold or Silver. I'm sort of idly considering a Green Egg of similar size, but they are pricey.

Yes, the old one died because it was stored outdoors. It did have a cover, but the cover eventually got sunstruck and died and I never replaced it. I think what killed it is not emptying the ashes, which soak up moisture from the air and then rust the bottom. The cowboy coals also burn hotter than briquettes. One of the sockets that the legs fit into has rusted where it was spot welded.

So?

Many, many delicious calories

Captain Rayford Steele, Tribulation Force — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:12:40 -0800

Please give me your best long-distance hiking / bicycle touring / <insert other adventurous endurance activity> food recipes! The watchwords here: densely caloric, easy to prepare (ideally in a single pot over a white gas cookstove), delicious and made from ingredients that are readily available in small, out-of-the-way groceries. Bonus points for recipes featuring lightweight, easily luggable ingredients.

25 and TRYING to COOK

designbyme — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:48:54 -0800

I'm 25 and starting to cook - What? Where do I get it? Why? I'm 25 and me and my roommate are just starting to cook on our own. Our add water and microwave days of college are over. Plus we like to have friends over sometimes, and ordering a pizza makes for a lame dinner party.

Basically this just feels like something we should be doing, it's fun to try new things and in general, it saves money!

Some things I always liked growing up:

• Big Mac 'N Cheese fan
• Anything with Cool Whip...
• Mom makes this breaded chicken that got baked...
• Love salads, been trying to broaden my horizon in terms of dressing

I also always struggle with whether to buy the brand names or the store labels. Does it make a difference?!?! What do you guys buy and why?

Anyway.... I'd love to hear your ideas. I'd love some new easy recipes, but I'm really curious about the art of grocery shopping too. Discount store? Upscale store?

Thanks in advance!! If your ideas are really good, I'll have you all over for dinner. ;)

sensitve lotions for hardcore mofos

Infernarl — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:16:59 -0800

This one goes out to all you dish dogs and pearl divers out there: how do you keep your hands in good condition when working in a restaurant? Especially as a dishwasher. My hands are wet all day. They are covered with burns, cuts, pokes, calluses, etc. What do I need to do to fix dishpan hands? I want to be able to give someone a massage or shake someone's hand without them knowing instantly that I am either a street fighter or I cut fish all day. I live in Japan so more than specific product names types of products would me more help.

Looking for nonfiction books about exploration-type stuff

mudpuppie — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:18:04 -0800

YABRT (Yet Another Book Recommendation Thread): Please recommend some nonfiction camping-trip reading along the lines of True North, Endurance, and In the Heart of the Sea. The above are all engagingly written nonfiction books about exploration and/or loooooooong sea journeys that I myself would never even consider making. There were hardships: Frostbite, shipwreck, cannibalism. You know, the usual.

Can you recommend other books in a similar vein? Bonus points for seafaring tales, but that's not a strict requirement. Also, I'm not really into historical autobiographies; I prefer 20th-century accounts that provide added context and use multiple fascinating primary sources.

How's that for specific?

What do I do with this ghee?

odinsdream — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:47:10 -0800

So I made ghee. Now what? I've made ghee as described in that link. I'd like to know what I could do with it now. I already plan on using it in place of butter when frying eggs or pancakes. What other recipes can I use it in?

How to master ________ cooking on a tight budget?

Picklegnome — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:52:52 -0800

I need to eat cheaply. Can I do so while extending my cooking ability in a specific direction? What cuisines, categories, or focuses can my home cooking pinpoint while living on a budget? Just in case this isn't clear: are there types of foods, foods from specific regions, etc., that are generally low-cost while having a fair amount of breadth? Or is this a dumb question - do all cuisines have consistent scales that more or less overlap of low to high cost food?

Whats you best Italian recipe?

knockoutking — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:54:35 -0800

italiancookingfilter: give me your best Italian recipe - can be authentic Italian or Italian-American...doesn't matter one way or another! just looking for good Italian recipes -- already have some in my repitore but as much as i enjoy cooking and enjoy Italian food i want to expand my horizons -- so hit me with your best recipe!

side note, can include just about anything (located in DC so i can find it) -- also i do cook a fair amount so pretty much anything you can think of, and that you enjoy, i can make and enjoy myself!

Help me pick a new Foreman Grill.

snoelle — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:54:06 -0800

Old Foreman Grill finally gave up the ghost. Endless Foreman grills available....Which one do you have and recommend? I have the original Foreman grill, but it is finally going to be replaced. It was useful, but the non-stick coating is coming off, and now everything is sticking. So time to replace...look at web site, and I'm overwhelmed with the different types of Foreman grills and other grills. Mainly I use mine for cooking chicken, steaks, and hamburgers for the family. Any suggestions on a grill that you use now and really enjoy. I think the removable plates is a plus, but let me know what you think!!

Is it worth the trouble to vent our range hood outside?

odinsdream — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:55:50 -0800

Is it worth the trouble to vent our range hood outside? We are replacing our old range hood with an above-range convection microwave which can either vent outside or back into the room. Is there a good reason I should go to the trouble to vent it outside?

There is a pathway above the cabinets and it's a short distance to an outside wall, which I'd have to cut a hole in from the outside. I cannot easily reach the exterior wall from inside. I'd have to do most of the cutting work from the outside and fish the vent pipe over to the hole.

What benefits would I gain from venting outside?

Cooking=Marriageable in Spanish?

ShadePlant — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:01:46 -0800

Does anyone know the wording or the history behind a Spanish proverb that roughly says, "if you can cook, you can get married?". I work with Spanish speakers, mostly Mexicans and Latin Americans, and one of them was ribbing me about learning to cook. He said, in English, "Now you can get married because you can cook." My friend who lived in Ecuador also said this notion/proverb floated around down there. I'm curious to see if there is a (probably funny) quote or "saying" behind this.

Recipe for truly succulent, traditional Jewish brisket?

roxie110 — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:01:41 -0800

How do you make truly tender, succulent Jewish-style brisket? I've had a craving for brisket-like-my-grandmother-used-to-make for about a year now. I finally got the meat and my mother's recipe and cooked it today. The taste is great and the thin end of the meat turned out close to what I was hoping for; the thick end is cooked through but not moist and falling apart like brisket in my world should be, and when I stick a fork in it gives a lot of resistance. I don't know if I over- or undercooked it. I should mention that my "dutch oven" (really a stockpot) was too narrow so I used a Calphalon deep covered 13" nonstick skillet instead--maybe a big mistake? I am such a brisket novice.

Below is a quick recap of how I cooked it. I've looked up a ton of recipes but each one is slightly different, and life's too short to try every one. My question is this: who has a foolproof (mostly) recipe for truly tender, traditional Jewish brisket!? And just as important, how do you know how long to cook it and when it's done? (Can you overcook a brisket, as long as there's still liquid in the pan?)

Recipe I used for half a first-cut brisket, about 3 pounds, fat trimmed:
Preheat oven to 350. Place thickly sliced onions, carrots, and a couple chopped garlic cloves in bottom of Dutch oven. Rub ketchup, ground pepper, paprika, and one envelope onion soup mix on all surfaces of brisket. Add liquid to 3/4 inches deep (I used 1.5 cans low-sodium beef broth; most of liquid was absorbed by the end of cooking). Place chunks of potato around meat. Cover tightly and roast for 2.5 hours. Baste two or three times during cooking. Remove from heat, cool meat, and slice across the grain.

Help! And thank you!

What to do with a brisket?

tavegyl — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:02:39 -0800

Went to market, came back with a brisket. Now what? I have a 1.5 kilo beef brisket sitting in the fridge, asking to be cooked for dinner tomorrow. It's now nearly 9pm and I won't have time to go get additional supplies. What can I do with a brisket to have it ready by 7pm tomorrow?

When buying it I'd thought vaguely of searing it like a steak, but it looks like this is a more demanding cut of meat than that.

I've looked through recipes online, but as a novice brisketeer would appreciate tried and trusted or wildly experimental advice.

Some limitors:

1. I work from home, so can dash to the kitchen when needed.

2. Available implements: an oven, a small roasting pan, shallow casserole dishes, and cooking pots of various sizes. No grill, barbeque, crock pot, pressure cooker or Dutch oven.

3. Available condiments: Soy sauce, worcester sauce, brown sugar, basil, star anise, 5-spice powder, crushed chillies, black pepper, garlic, ginger, onions, white wine, chicken stock cube, vegetable stock cube, miso, lemon, fortnight old rosemary, maple syrup, honey. No coffee, but could be arranged in the morning. Cardamom, mustard seeds, cinnamon, fennel seeds.

4. Available vegetables: peas, carrots, new potatoes, chinese broccoli, spinach, 3-4 mushrooms, 1/4 leek

5. Preferences: I'm a total novice. That said, this searing thang that many of the recipes recommended sounds like fun. As did one recipe which recommended a layer of caramelised onions on top. I'm not a fan of hearty stews, gravies or excess sweetness with my meat. I like pink in my meat. Red too.

6. The Brisket: Must be used tomorrow so that a grain fed Devonshire cow should not have died in vain. Rolled into a little cylinder, with a layer of fat about 1/2 cm thick. Gently oozing.

7. Added bonus if any marinading tips come before I go to bed.

Save my dinner! (and, judging by the size of this animal, several dinners to come.)

Best message board for Cooking Questions?

TigerCrane — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:55:19 -0800

Best message board for an aspiring cook? I'm looking for a message board that's a good place to ask newbie questions about cooking.

These would be food science type questions. A few examples:

Why does Alton Brown always use kosher salt?

Should you salt before or after sauteing? Whats the difference?

Why does Julia Child use wax paper when poaching?

If you leave meat in a brine too long, what happens?

Any suggestions?

What can I do with Xanthan Gum?

woebot — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:53:33 -0800

What can I do with two pounds of Xanthan Gum? I've come into a couple pounds of xanthan gum. I know it's traditionally used as a thickener, but as a non-cooker I'm not really sure what exactly I can make with it. Any recipes or other secret uses for this stuff?

Where's the best place to keep up-to-date on amateur cooking competitions around the United States?

nitsuj — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:03:12 -0800

Where's the best place to keep up-to-date on amateur cooking competitions around the United States? Specifically, I'd love to find an online resource that lists upcoming amateur cooking competitions sorted by region.

The first couple of pages for various related Google searches didn't yield anything central or useful.

Fix tomato sauce indigestion.

zeek321 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:12:25 -0800

Cooking puzzle: Help me nullify the acidity of tomato sauce (and heartburn) in this recipe I've concocted. 1. 2lb browned ground bison
2. bag of frozen blueberries
3. 2 3/4 cups of no-salt tomato sauce
4. 1/2 cup of flax seed
5. Mix all the above together.
(6. topped with a bunch of stuff)
7. Bake on low heat.

The above has slowly started giving me uncomfortable burping-up and heartburn. I took out the tomato sauce and the symptoms went away immediately and completely. However, the tomato sauce makes it taste even better (heh) and it kind of holds everything together. And it's really nutritious.

I'm allergic to eggs, wheat, dairy, and corn.

*Is there anything binding and nutritious that I could replace the tomato sauce with?

*I'd like to get my tomato sauce in a can or something super-easy, but google says there are ways to prepare tomato sauce that are less acidic. Personal experiences and/or store-buyable suggestions?

****Even better, mega bonus points, does anyone have ideas for basic/alkaline ingredients to nullify the acid and add even more nutrition to my crazy recipe? The ingredients should start out basic and should probably stay net basic after they're metabolized. I'm a terrible cook, so I don't know where to start, beyond that.

Besides the indigestion, this recipe really, really works for my body, so thank you!

I'd like to Cook a non english breakfast

Baud — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:31:33 -0800

help me find some healthy *and* cooked breakfast possibilities. Dear hive, I would like to start my day with a real cooked meal (meat, vegetables, etc.). It seems that in my case hot food sends positive signals that cold food (non toasted bread) does not.

Traditionnal english breakfast (eggs, sausage, bacon, etc.) feels a bit fatty to me. I'm looking for something hot on my plate, healthy and balanced.

What do you suggest I cook myself while waiting for the first coffee of the day to kick in ?

Back in the kitchen, what do I do now?

reenum — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:34:15 -0800

CookingFilter: Recipes, books, and blogs dedicated to recipes to beginner cooks or cooks on a budget? I learned how to do basic cooking in college. So, I can chop veggies, cook chicken, make an omelette, etc.

I've gotten away from cooking in recent years. Recently, I've gotten the jones for cooking again. Up until now, I've been living on Morningstar Farms food and Jello pudding.

I'm looking to ease back into it, and I've found that cookbooks and recipes geared towards new cooks the best way to do so. I'd also like suggestions on sites that are geared toward budget cooking or sites that can tell me what I can substitute for more exotic/expensive ingredients.

I've tried Googling for beginner recipes and the amount of results have been overwhelming. I've also checked the old AskMe's, but a lot of those have advice mixed in with suggestions for cookbooks/sites. I'd really just like to know about which books/sites I can go to for easy and hopefully healthy recipes.

I've gotten a few 'college cookbooks'. While these have decent recipes, most are uninspired. I'm looking for good food that I make on a weeknight.

So, I ask you: Where are such recipes to be found?

Thanks!

A basket of Morels and a stick of butter, now what?

Toekneesan — Sun, 11 May 2008 12:51:50 -0800

My girls and I just came across these Morels in the backyard. How should we eat them? I've found and eaten Morels before but they were always much smaller. These are 6 to 8 inches long. I've never found them this large. In the past I've sauteed them in butter and thrown them in pasta or stew. But these are like steaks. Any idea how to maximize this bounty?

Yes, the stem and cap are hollow.

Borscht! Help me make some.

dawson — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:09:42 -0800

Your favorite borscht recipes, share them, please. I've only ever had really good borscht in Ukraine and Russia. Of course there are many kinds, I prefer hot and hearty with cabbage and meat, but will consider any. I'm really lusting after some and figure at this point it would just easier to make my own, as I'm now in the States but don't live in NYC or Chicago. Any recommendations?

Foodies: ID this soup!!

CreativeJuices — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:35:18 -0800

Foodies: Please help me ID this soup!! Also, what are some of your all time best soup recipes? Foodies, help me ID & find a recipe for a pea soup I had in Paris last year. It was the best soup I have EVER had! It was like agreen pea soup with a fried egg and bacon floating on top. It also had some sort of diving nectar (maybe great quality balsamic vinaigrette??) What is this? Just a ritzy French version of pea soup? If you can, point me towards a recipe!! On 2-for, what are you fav soup recipies? Thanks!

How do I contact and arrange a meeting with Ina Garten?

zooropa — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:17:34 -0800

How do I contact and arrange a meeting with Ina Garten? My wife is an amazing woman who is celebrating her 30th birthday this year. While she doesn't call herself a foodie, she loves to cook and puts so much of herself into her creations. As she puts it, "Food is Love".

She clearly admires and adores Ina Garten. In return for all the glorious meals she has made since we met (and eventually got married), I would like to somehow arrange for her to meet Ms. Garten.

Does anyone know how to contact her to try and arrange a meeting? Even if it's for just 15 minutes, I know this would be an amazing memory for her and would be an inspiration for years to come.

I know it's a long-shot, but I'm hoping that a good story and an earnest plea would help make this happen. My wife has made me happy for so many years, it would be a wonderful way to return the favor if she were to meet one of her inspirations and heroes.

Help me find a recipe to knock peoples' socks off!

Kickstart70 — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 20:10:24 -0800

I've had this wish for a long time to have one self-prepared food item that is just extraordinary. Can you help me find a recipe that I can make that will 'wow' anyone I make it for? The requirements are simple...not too hot (I love heat, but my wife doesn't care for it, and we have a toddler who should enjoy this too, if I'm lucky), not too cheesy (I am lactose intolerant but can handle some level of dairy with the help of lactase pills), I don't really want this to be a cook-all-day thing, and I would prefer not to have a monstrously huge number of ingredients (12 would be about the most, I guess), or ones that are impossible to get in western Canada in a smaller city.

Things my wife doesn't care for: eggs (will not eat, at all, if in any way detectable), tomatoes (doesn't like the slimyness but is moderately ok with sauce), peppers (unless hard to detect), onion (ditto)

Things I don't care for: umm...cranberry sauce? I really like just about anything.

If at all possible please post or link to a recipe. Remember though, I want this to be fricking amazing, not just "yeah that's pretty good".

Thanks!