Cooking!

I'm off to Cleveland in a week and plotting cooking for myself. I'm seeing lots of stir-fry and awesome sandwiches in my future. I'm pretty solid at cooking anything I have a recipe for, but I have almost no experience with meats. I won't have a grill, so stove and oven methods are preferred. Anyone have any good resources and easy food ideas?

What do you guys like to cook?

The always fun:
http://www.whatthefuckshouldimakefordinn.../index.php
I like making No-bakes and my own applesauce

Usually I live off fast food and TV dinners. I can't really cook.

Usually I live off fast food and TV dinners. I can't really cook.

Can you make grilled cheese? Grill up any sandwich and you will become your own god. Grilled BBQ pulled pork sandwich with sauteed red peppers and cheese and bacon and stuff. Nomnomnom.

I'm pretty good at cooking on a stove and grilling anything with meat. My specialty is hamburgers and fries made from scratch. I also make some pretty cool tacos and I've made awesome spaghetti. I'm starting to make milanesas now.

 Spoiler

They look so damn happy!

I like making noodles. Pot o' chicken broth+whatever noodles I have around+My own blend of spices= Some awesome stuffs going on in mah belly. I also add a little bit of meat (Chicken, turkey, sausage etc.) if I'm feeling especially hungry/cooking for more.

I like making noodles. Pot o' chicken broth+whatever noodles I have around+My own blend of spices= Some awesome stuffs going on in mah belly. I also add a little bit of meat (Chicken, turkey, sausage etc.) if I'm feeling especially hungry/cooking for more.

Mostly Italian noodles? I want to get some good Asian noodles going for my stir-fry. Rice noodles, udon, soba, etc.

@Loose
I like sweet potato spears. A friend of mine once stated "anything you can do with a potato can be done better with a sweet potato" and I see no reason to argue with that.
http://recipeeps4us.blogspot.com/2007/09...pears.html
Just olive oil, salt, and pepper. Hold the rest. Dip in Sweet Baby Ray's. Goes well with aforementioned pulled pork sandwich.

Stove-top burgers are another thing I should try.
+1 unintentional suggestion points for Loose.

Best. Thing. Ever.

I cook all day at work and my dad is usually the boss in the kitchen, so I take to baking more than cooking at home. Cakes, cookies, brownies, you name it and I'll bake it. If I had to I love making spaghetti and various chicken dishes.

Pasta. Super easy and quick.
I usually boil up a bunch of chicken, cut it up and store it in the freezer.
I get those steam-in-bags of veggies to add in for a quick meal when ever I get hungry.

If you can bar-b-que it, consider me there ;D Easiest best thing to make, though you smell like it the rest of the night (but if what you're cooking is friggin good, who cares? you smell like the best thing since sliced bread xD)

I'm also adept at re-cooking or adaptive cooking: find leftovers and making it into a new dish. Quite interesting what you can come up with.

Soy sauce and oyster sauce makes the whole world go round XD

Soup-based cooking is the easiest and most convenient way to go. If you want your soup to be very flavourful, drop in meat bones (chicken bone, pork bone, fish bone - choose one but not all) and let it cook for a good long time, then use that stock to cook your noodles. You can make the stock in bulk in advance to save time since I'm short of time usually, 1 hour lunches where I cook myself... err... no I didn't mean I put myself in the pot...

Stir fry is good for most poultry and pork. Just dice the meat, stir-fry it with whatever vegetable you like. Oh do marinate your meat. Makes a world of a difference.

Hadriel

Mostly Italian noodles? I want to get some good Asian noodles going for my stir-fry. Rice noodles, udon, soba, etc.

@Loose
I like sweet potato spears. A friend of mine once stated "anything you can do with a potato can be done better with a sweet potato" and I see no reason to argue with that.
http://recipeeps4us.blogspot.com/2007/09...pears.html
Just olive oil, salt, and pepper. Hold the rest. Dip in Sweet Baby Ray's. Goes well with aforementioned pulled pork sandwich.

Stove-top burgers are another thing I should try.
+1 unintentional suggestion points for Loose.

Yeah, mainly Italian. Only asian noodle around my house is ramen. All I do for that is crack an egg in once the noodles are ready, and let it boil for an extra few minutes. Or I just boil an egg before hand and dice it up once its in the bowl.

I'm thinking about using that George Foreman we have lying around one day though...

FFFF-

Make fried rice! :3
Just cook rice normally, but instead of water use some sort of broth. Then transfer the rice to a frying/saute pan with a light layer of oil, mix in veggies, meat or even an egg, mix until complete!

wish I could cook, sadly i'm still traumatized from getting sick for a month from not cooking meat properly lol colourblind SO GUD

and also in grade 6 i nearly burnt my arm alive LOL, cooking eggs, but the scars are gone, thank god for aloe vera


*jealous*

Make fried rice! :3
Just cook rice normally, but instead of water use some sort of broth. Then transfer the rice to a frying/saute pan with a light layer of oil, mix in veggies, meat or even an egg, mix until complete!

+1 intentional suggestion points.

I can make fried rice and curry-lamb, I recommend that if you do decide to make curry, highly recommending a lot of Paprika and multiple types of curry powders. Definitely tons of bay leaves and sage.

Can you make grilled cheese? Grill up any sandwich and you will become your own god. Grilled BBQ pulled pork sandwich with sauteed red peppers and cheese and bacon and stuff. Nomnomnom.

I could probably do that if I had a griller. I need to learn to cook; would be better for my health anyways. Therefore I will be following this thread closely.

I could probably do that if I had a griller any old pan and some butter, bread, and cheese. I need to learn to cook; would be better for my health anyways. Therefore I will be following this thread closely.

1)Pick bread and cheese you like. American melts very easily and looks pretty, but is pretty crappy in the cheese department (although still rather tasty). If it's just grilled cheese you're making, I like strong cheese like Cheddar or Colby Jack. If we're talking some other sort of sandwich, something less strong like Swiss or Provolone.
2) Put a little butter in a little sandwich sized pan. Enough to coat the bottom a little when it melts. Medium-ish heat

 Pan

2.5) Butter one side of each of your bread pieces while your butter melts a bit. Butter thoroughly and thinly, to the very edges.
3) Place a piece of bread butter-side-down on the pan. Place 1-3 slices of your cheese(s) on the piece of bread. Place second piece of bread butter-side-up on cheese.
4) Let it cook for a few minutes (3-5 maybe?). Use a spatula to peek under the corner and check for tasty-looking toasting of the bread.
5) Flip when brown to your liking. Repeat on other side. 2nd side usually cooks faster because I don't let the pan heat up all the way before throwing down my sandwich.
6) Eat when both sides brown to liking. If cheese did not melt well, use a lower temperature for slowing toasting or try a more melty cheese.

Next up in bachelor cooking: plain pasta and scrambled eggs.

My brother and I were home along yesterday, with a bunch of chicken thighs in the freezer. Coated them in random spices, olive oil, salt and pepper, and threw them in the oven. And they turned out great!

@above: Why would you make plain pasta when you could at least throw in some cheese, or make a simple alfredo sauce?

Because I operate on a tight budget, I regularly buy food that are reduced to clear (i.e. expiring very soon). I can't afford sauces too, so what I try to do is that with what I have, I let the natural taste of the food come out. It doesn't have to be rich, but it doesn't have to be bland either. With some simple combinations and a little experimentation, you can make food that's pretty tasty and not too difficult to prepare (I'm short of time too, like I said). Soup's the easiest. Try not to overcook food, especially vegetable else you lose all the nutrients. But likewise, don't undercook food unless you know what you are doing, especially meat.

I'm hardly a great cook, but I do try my best to cook nice stuff for others. But when I'm cooking for myself, as long as it's edible that's fine.

^Chicken thighs are great in the oven! They won't come out too dry, and most of the unhealthy fat would melt and flow out but still retaining enough to make the meat juicy. Experiment more with spices! Too bad my college doesn't have an oven. I have to make do with 2 hobs...

Hadriel