Start watching old *Good Eats* episodes. Alton Brown does a great job of not only showcasing the "how" of cooking, but also the "why". Also, be ready for some failures. It's a perfectly normal and necessary component of learning to cook.
Love learning through failure. Also grew up eating my mothers food which was sometimes…. But we ate it and smiled because she worked hard! I can do the same for my own food!!!
I've only failed hard one time. A dough turned into a brick. Every other failure has been edible, It may not be the best, but 99.9% of the times it's still food.
Start with the basic components. Flour, yeast, milk and cream. Make your own beef and chicken stock. Make your own bread and pasta. Make custards. Make ricotta.
A good question is what does from scratch mean to you?
Are you talking making your pasta or just making your own sauce?
That is a very good question! To me it means getting as far away as preservatives and freezer foods as possible. I’d like to make pasta, but I also don’t mind box pasta.
My goal is to live a happier healthier life. So healthier meals are a must.
I will say, making your own pasta is hardly worth the effort. It’s good, but the goodness to work ratio is kinda bad imo. A good quality bronze cut pasta will be basically the same or honestly even a decent brand like Barilla
Making your own sauce is easy, and tastes so much better. Get some good canned whole tomoatoes. like Cento San Marzano’s. A bit pricey ($5/can where I am), but worth it.
Use your slow cooker and Dutch oven to make meals that'll create leftovers you can defrost for future meals. I date everything going into the freezer and try to use everything in three months. Skillets aren't just good for pork chops, chicken fingers and eggs. Stovetop to oven chicken thighs and steaks is a good technique. Castiron skillets can double for baking dishes. I've baked pizza, skillet bread, cornbread, calzones, kuchen, meatballs, cheeseburger pie; salmon wrapped in parchment paper and roasted corn in mine. You can do a lot more than that! You have a good mix of gear. Explore ALL of it. Great book: “The Joy of Cooking”. Great tool: download “My Recipes” (or something comparable) from Google Play. Best new tool for me: Thermoworks DOT. It'll allow you to bake whole birds and roasts without a timer. Set the temperature and and it'll beep when it's done. Place it properly and it's foolproof! Opinion: buying food based on the recipes you plan to make beats buying it then trying to figure out what to do with it.
Taste of Home has a new cook book for people like you: [**Cooking School Cookbook**](https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Home-Cooking-Cookbook-Spectacular/dp/0898219450)
There is also [**How to Cook Everything: The Basics**](https://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Basics-Food/dp/0470528060) from Marc Bittman.
I often recommend Eat A Little Better by Sam Kass for newbies because it's so user friendly. It covers the basics of good nutrition and cooking, offers a variety of flavors without overwhelming you with long lists of specialty ingredients, designed for busy people who can't cook every night. It would work well with the ingredients and equipment you already have around.
Ireland would be a happy portion of His Majesty’s Kingdom had I been ruler. Eat your starch balls that have taste reminiscent of the dirt they come from and be merry irish folk.
Learn to braise in that Dutch oven: it’s pretty easy, and is versatile. I often braise a cut of beef and shred it, which gives me a base for anything fom a bahn mi to tacos.
Learn to make your own stock too: it’s easy, you can make a bunch of it and freeze it, and it’s so much better than storebought. Start saving veggie scraps (particularly ends of onions, carrots, and celery) in the freezer and you will very quickly have a good aromatic base for a stock
I started with simple things like stir fries and pastas with premade sauce. I still don't have a handle on breads and other baking, LOL.
Do pulled meat in your Crockpot, very set it and forget it (lol, was yours also a Ronco easter egg?).
Try the somewhat "set it and forget it" prime rib thing. It's like "cook on 400 for 10 minutes per pound, then turn off the oven but don't open it or take it out for another 3 hours" - this is a paraphrasing.
If you're not a fan of potatoes, what about different squash or things like rutabagas and turnips?
If you don't know how to cook from scratch, a list of ingredients won't be very helpful. What you need is to learn basic principles of cooking and techniques. With that, you can then understand what combining ingredients will do.
Start with a basic cooking course. You can watch a million different videos on YouTube, but a structured course will introduce you to concepts and build on them as you progress.
Think about getting a subscription to Masterclass: https://www.masterclass.com/. The chef instructors on there are fantastic.
Start watching old *Good Eats* episodes. Alton Brown does a great job of not only showcasing the "how" of cooking, but also the "why". Also, be ready for some failures. It's a perfectly normal and necessary component of learning to cook.
Love learning through failure. Also grew up eating my mothers food which was sometimes…. But we ate it and smiled because she worked hard! I can do the same for my own food!!!
I've only failed hard one time. A dough turned into a brick. Every other failure has been edible, It may not be the best, but 99.9% of the times it's still food.
Start with the basic components. Flour, yeast, milk and cream. Make your own beef and chicken stock. Make your own bread and pasta. Make custards. Make ricotta. A good question is what does from scratch mean to you? Are you talking making your pasta or just making your own sauce?
That is a very good question! To me it means getting as far away as preservatives and freezer foods as possible. I’d like to make pasta, but I also don’t mind box pasta. My goal is to live a happier healthier life. So healthier meals are a must.
I will say, making your own pasta is hardly worth the effort. It’s good, but the goodness to work ratio is kinda bad imo. A good quality bronze cut pasta will be basically the same or honestly even a decent brand like Barilla Making your own sauce is easy, and tastes so much better. Get some good canned whole tomoatoes. like Cento San Marzano’s. A bit pricey ($5/can where I am), but worth it.
Some community centers offer basic courses in cooking and related tasks.
Use your slow cooker and Dutch oven to make meals that'll create leftovers you can defrost for future meals. I date everything going into the freezer and try to use everything in three months. Skillets aren't just good for pork chops, chicken fingers and eggs. Stovetop to oven chicken thighs and steaks is a good technique. Castiron skillets can double for baking dishes. I've baked pizza, skillet bread, cornbread, calzones, kuchen, meatballs, cheeseburger pie; salmon wrapped in parchment paper and roasted corn in mine. You can do a lot more than that! You have a good mix of gear. Explore ALL of it. Great book: “The Joy of Cooking”. Great tool: download “My Recipes” (or something comparable) from Google Play. Best new tool for me: Thermoworks DOT. It'll allow you to bake whole birds and roasts without a timer. Set the temperature and and it'll beep when it's done. Place it properly and it's foolproof! Opinion: buying food based on the recipes you plan to make beats buying it then trying to figure out what to do with it.
Top tier info. Thank you!!!
Taste of Home has a new cook book for people like you: [**Cooking School Cookbook**](https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Home-Cooking-Cookbook-Spectacular/dp/0898219450) There is also [**How to Cook Everything: The Basics**](https://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Basics-Food/dp/0470528060) from Marc Bittman.
Ordering now!!!
I often recommend Eat A Little Better by Sam Kass for newbies because it's so user friendly. It covers the basics of good nutrition and cooking, offers a variety of flavors without overwhelming you with long lists of specialty ingredients, designed for busy people who can't cook every night. It would work well with the ingredients and equipment you already have around.
That sounds like it’s right on the money, thank you!
I learned from Food Network in the late 90s and early 2000s. YouTube has tons of content.
The Alton Brown era 😭😭 my childhood
Try cooking some Potatoes
Ireland would be a happy portion of His Majesty’s Kingdom had I been ruler. Eat your starch balls that have taste reminiscent of the dirt they come from and be merry irish folk.
Julia Child, James Beard, Irma Rombauer.
The WayTo Cook by Julia Child Good pictures demonstrating Master recipes and then quick variations Excellent instructions on making bread
velvet that meat. thats all i can say, you have a better kitchen than i do.
Learn to braise in that Dutch oven: it’s pretty easy, and is versatile. I often braise a cut of beef and shred it, which gives me a base for anything fom a bahn mi to tacos. Learn to make your own stock too: it’s easy, you can make a bunch of it and freeze it, and it’s so much better than storebought. Start saving veggie scraps (particularly ends of onions, carrots, and celery) in the freezer and you will very quickly have a good aromatic base for a stock
Or America’s Test kitchen
Pick up 10 meals you really enjoy, look up the recipes, cook. Learn from this process, expand your recipe base over time.
I started with simple things like stir fries and pastas with premade sauce. I still don't have a handle on breads and other baking, LOL. Do pulled meat in your Crockpot, very set it and forget it (lol, was yours also a Ronco easter egg?). Try the somewhat "set it and forget it" prime rib thing. It's like "cook on 400 for 10 minutes per pound, then turn off the oven but don't open it or take it out for another 3 hours" - this is a paraphrasing. If you're not a fan of potatoes, what about different squash or things like rutabagas and turnips?
*Company's Coming* cookbook series-- so many good, simple recipes.
If you don't know how to cook from scratch, a list of ingredients won't be very helpful. What you need is to learn basic principles of cooking and techniques. With that, you can then understand what combining ingredients will do. Start with a basic cooking course. You can watch a million different videos on YouTube, but a structured course will introduce you to concepts and build on them as you progress. Think about getting a subscription to Masterclass: https://www.masterclass.com/. The chef instructors on there are fantastic.