Today, I cooked!

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For dinner today, I peeled and sliced up a potato, put some of my roommate's vegetable oil on a pan, fried the potato and melted some cheese on top. I know it sounds like nothing, but its truly the first time I ever cooked something that didn't come pre-packaged, like Kraft macaroni and cheese, or pasta with bottled sauce, or top ramen. It was pretty yummy, and I spent the rest of the evening beaming with pride. I am an adult now!

What was the first thing you ever cooked?

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 13 September 2003 07:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh... and did it taste good? was it worth the trouble? did it lead to a life of cooking or did you regress to peanut butter sandwiches and chinese delivery?

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 13 September 2003 07:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm very excited about this.

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 13 September 2003 07:57 (twenty-two years ago)

It's 5am. I'm going to stay up all nite so maybe I can try making breakfast!

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 13 September 2003 08:02 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, have a big fry-up!

I'm an ok cook, but I don't usually bother. I like cooking for other ppl so if I'm going out with someone (I'm not at the mo) then I enjoy cooking for them. I don't cook in the week for myself as there is a more than adequate, subsidised staff restaurant at work, so I tend to have my main meal at lunchtime and just have something insubstantial like toast in the evening.

― MarkH (MarkH), Saturday, 13 September 2003 09:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Pancakes, aged 4, winnie the pooh cook book.

― Ed (dali), Saturday, 13 September 2003 09:18 (twenty-two years ago)

prolly the first think I cooked was mince pies at Christmas. I think I was a bit older than 4...7 or something.

― MarkH (MarkH), Saturday, 13 September 2003 09:20 (twenty-two years ago)

The first thing I can remember cooking was scones, when I was three or four. Yes, it did lead to a life of cooking, indirectly.

― Matt (Matt), Saturday, 13 September 2003 10:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, and well done Phil!

― Matt (Matt), Saturday, 13 September 2003 10:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Scones would be a good thing to make today.

― Ed (dali), Saturday, 13 September 2003 10:44 (twenty-two years ago)

For the sunshine and jam factor or the comforting baking on glum day factor?

― Matt (Matt), Saturday, 13 September 2003 10:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Scones would be a good thing to make today

followed by the inevitable pronunciation FITE!

― MarkH (MarkH), Saturday, 13 September 2003 10:52 (twenty-two years ago)

while you all fight about how to pronounce it I'll eat nice warm fresh from the oven scones or Bonochs

― Ed (dali), Saturday, 13 September 2003 10:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I shall go to work, and then bake scones tomorrow instead (I pronounce it both ways depending on whose company I'm in as my South-North relocation leaves me with a variety of accents as the situation should demand. Therefore I am the Switzerland of this debate).

― Matt (Matt), Saturday, 13 September 2003 11:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Pineapple upside-down cake, I think. From the Mr Men cookbook.

― Mark C (Mark C), Saturday, 13 September 2003 12:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Congratulations phil!

― David. (Cozen), Saturday, 13 September 2003 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Yay phil. Try making some fried aggs and cheese sandwiches next. Or cook rice and beans Those are easy and cheap. Or baked ziti.

I have been cooking and baking the past week or two. The cookies and breads are good. I like what I cook, but I'm not sure if anyone else would.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Saturday, 13 September 2003 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I look on in envy.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Saturday, 13 September 2003 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Probably A La Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwiches, from the Sesame Street Cookbook, but the first thing I remember making by myself was a cake. I used to bake a lot of cakes. I'd take the mix, right, and mostly follow the instructions, and then I'd add things from the cabinets.

Dehydrated apples + those red not-really-cinnamon candies in a cake, that was fine.

But one of the first times I did this, the cake came out purple. I don't remember what it tasted like, just that it was purple, and sort of a purplish-greyish-brown at the top. I hadn't added anything purple, or anything red or blue. My mother was disturbed. Me, I had cake, it was all good.

― Tep (ktepi), Saturday, 13 September 2003 15:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I made jam tarts at school!!

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 13 September 2003 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Bread. It would be another oh +20years before I cooked again.

― nathalie (nathalie), Saturday, 13 September 2003 16:44 (twenty-two years ago)

The first thing I ACTUALLY cooked by mysel, without adult supervision with nothing but a celebrity chef to guide me, was Jamie Oliver's American-style pancakes. They were absolutly gorgeous.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Saturday, 13 September 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

What are British-style pancakes like??

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 13 September 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

American style pancakes are thicker, no? (They are used for making Japanese doorayakis= pancakes with red bean paste slapped in between.)

― nathalie (nathalie), Saturday, 13 September 2003 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

British pancakes are unleavened thinner and unsweetened

― Ed (dali), Saturday, 13 September 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I put table spoons of sugar on my pancakes. I have bad teeth.

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 13 September 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

or did you regress to peanut butter sandwiches and chinese delivery?

exactly

― Eriik, Sunday, 14 September 2003 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't remember, but tonight me and my best friend made massive fucking giant yummy hamburgers, they were yummy. Egg! Bacon! Mince pattie! Cheese x2! Lettuce! Tomato! ETC. Actually it might have been a stroganoff meal for the whole family when I was 13 or so, in fact I'm sure it was. It was approved of by all.

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Sunday, 14 September 2003 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Oat cookies. i was about 8ish! they were soooooo yummy!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 15 September 2003 10:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Good work Phil! I too am struggling up the 'proper' cooking ladder. Yesterday I cooked salmon in a green sauce. The sauce was meant to be green anyway, though it wasn't in real life. It was delicious though, one of the two nicest things I've ever cooked and it was also the first time I mixed/ground/grated etc all the spices myself. Including GINGER!

This was also the first weekend since I moved in with Isabel that I cooked for us both nights! (Sausage and mustard hotpot yesterday, bit too o.t.t. on the paprika though).

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 15 September 2003 10:47 (twenty-two years ago)

To answer the question the first thing I cooked with help were chocolate krispy cakes. The first thing I cooked without help (i.e. having sole charge of the oven) was lasagne when I was 13 I think.

Also I love the potato slices and cheese recipe too! Num num! You are only a sausage and a few herbs away from tartuflette (sp?) - ask Carsmile about this heavenly foodstuff.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 15 September 2003 10:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Carsmile, what is this heavenly foodstuff?

― phil-two (phil-two), Monday, 15 September 2003 15:17 (twenty-two years ago)

This is what you want, the numminess of Tartiflette:

http://www.vfth.com/stories/storyReader$764

― chris (chris), Monday, 15 September 2003 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)

That's cool, Phil, but just one potato? Your enthusiasm about it is great.

I used to cook for myself every night, but since moving into my latest aparment, this practice has fallen by the wayside since my kitchen has NO counters. I do cook somtimes, but there's a lot of cheap take-out in the neighborhood. Actually, I think I'm eating less overall, which can't be a good thing.

― Sean (Sean), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 05:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Eating clothes is not a wise thing to do.

― nathalie (nathalie), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 06:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I so need to start cooking properly again. I just seem to go blank when i get into the kitchen!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 06:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Last night I cooked some lambchops, with sea salt and rosemary, and some mushrooms, and I made mashed potato. I was pretty happy with it.

First thing I ever cooked, maybe some dessert type thing as a child. First dinner, I think lasagne aswell. I love cooking and my parents are always away so I get to do it alot. I make a mean home-made burger. It's a Jamie Oliver recipe which I've bastardised a bit.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 07:55 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

Or cook rice and beans Those are easy and cheap

how do i do this? im running out of money and my local grocery stores seem to stock nothing but Goya products - so I guess I can try making rice & beans

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

phil can you make cereal?

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

can you pump your own gas?

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

tie shoelaces?

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Rice to water ratio 1:2. Boil then simmer in a pot for about 20 minutes or until all the water evaporates. Better yet: have your parents buy you a rice cooker for Christmas. Heat beans. Sprinkle liberally with hot sauce. Voila! (Tastes good with a beer.) Extra credit: add bread and butter.

― Mary (Mary), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

3 pounds red beans
2 quarts water, plus 2 cups
6 beef bouillon cubes
5 medium onions, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups chopped celery, including leaves
3 ham hocks tied in cheesecloth
4 ounces tomato sauce
6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons plus 6 dashes hot sauce
1 tablespoon horseradish
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 pinches dried sage
Salt
3 pounds smoked sausage, sliced
4 to 6 cups cooked white or brown rice

Wash beans and put in 2 quarts of water in heavy stockpot. In a separate container, dissolve bouillon cubes in 2 cups of hot water and then add to beans. Place over low heat and cook for about 3 hours.
In a saute pan, combine onions, bell pepper, garlic, and celery. Saute until tender and add to the beans. Add the ham hocks, and tomato sauce.

If the beans have soaked up the water, add more to barely cover the beans. Add Worcestershire, hot sauce, horseradish, and parsley. Simmer over medium to high heat for 4 to 5 hours, adding water if necessary during cooking.

When beans are tender, add cumin, thyme, cayenne pepper, sage, salt, and 1 cup water. Allow to simmer for another 2 to 3 hours. 30 minutes prior to serving, add sausage.

Serve beans over rice.

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

from the "strongo cooks america" cookbook, out this winter

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Cook rice. Get a can of black beans. Pour it in a saucepan. Simmer. Add some good stuff, like garlic and peppers and salsa or whatever. When it's the consistency that you like it, pour it on the rice.
From the "NA Has Sex With Your Mom and Steals Recipes From Her Files When She Passes Out" cookbook, out now.

― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:25 (twenty-one years ago)

phil can you make cereal?
lactose-intolerant... hate soy milk.

can you pump your own gas?
expired drivers license. no car. prefer full-service anyways.

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:42 (twenty-one years ago)

...

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

lactose-intolerant... hate soy milk.

Phil, I drink Lactaid. It's milk (not soy) without the lactose. it's saved my life!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

the only way this is acceptable is in jersey or if you are a cartoon billionaire

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Pleased to see jess' recipe includes smoked sausage, a recent discovery for me.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I CONFESS: ~~it was the beating of that hideous heart~~it's not my recipe

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

last night i made french onion soup and it was a total disaster

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

but you put enough cheese on anything and it will taste okay

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The bags of dried beans usually have a recipe on the back, you could try that, phil.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 03:12 (twenty-one years ago)

but you put enough cheese on anything and it will taste okay

note: may not apply to icecream or genitals

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 03:21 (twenty-one years ago)

ok i've officially worn out my sense of humour. time for suicide.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 03:21 (twenty-one years ago)

even suicides taste good with cheese

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 04:01 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

so I've been cooking for the first time in my life this week, I've started off with various casseroles and i made a chilli last night. (mental note: make twice as much rice as needed as most of it ends up elsewhere in the kitchen!)

seriously though i'm quite chuffed with myself as i usually live on chinese take aways, KFC, or assorted microwaved filth.

i fancy attempting a beef stew this weekend, give me some essential tips, please.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:01 (nineteen years ago)

Get one beef.

― C J (C J), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:09 (nineteen years ago)

Use a nice red wine for part (or all) of the liquid. Don't put in salt until the end, because you want the liquid to reduce and that can make it too salty if you salt it up front. I like to brown the meat first, but it's not essential. Don't crowd the pan if you do though. Buy a small chuck or pot roast instead of precut stew meat and cut it up yourself - can be less expensive. Cut in approximately 2" cubes.

Yay you!

― Jaq (Jaq), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:10 (nineteen years ago)

ooh thanks! i think i'd like to cut the meat myself too.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:49 (nineteen years ago)

I didn't know how to cook before my husband and I got together. Now I bake BR34D! I think I learned the basics in a couple of months. I love it.

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:50 (nineteen years ago)

don't get sonned by a wite wine after a AOL beef.

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:53 (nineteen years ago)

I second Jaq on the wine for the stew. If it's not good enough to drink, don't cook with it! And the pot roast you pick to cut up makes a huge difference. Steer clear of top round, even though it's cheap. It's too lean and fine-textured and you can never, never get it falling-apart tender. Pick a nice fatty cut. Chuck, as Jaq said. You'll have to strain off LOTS of fat, but the meat is so divine. Falls apart in lovely juicy strands.
I throw in one of those big cans of diced tomatoes. Lots of wine, some beef broth too, a little bouillon if needed for extra beefiness (sometimes the organic free-range broth is a little flavor-challenged). That "Better than Bouillon" stuff in a jar is good. And instead of using cleesecloth I put parsley, bay leaves, whole cloves, allspice and peppercorns into a stainless steel tea-ball. Not too much of the spices so they don't overwhelm, but as much parsley as I can jam in there and still screw the thing shut.
I parboil white onions, carrots, celery and potatoes before adding them.
Don't be afraid of salt! A caterer friend of mine once told me that the failing of most cooks is timidity with salt.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:54 (nineteen years ago)

Rah for cooking! I've been trying a couple of new recipes -- a tomato sauce (very very nice) and a yellow pear tomato salad (excellent). More are on the way.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:57 (nineteen years ago)

beth that sounds great. i like cooking a limited range of dishes, but i'm still afraid do to anything with real, non-ground, non-chicken meat. i'm afraid that's out of my league.

― Maria (Maria), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 13:06 (nineteen years ago)

Getting away from beef stew, I want to recommend flank steak again. Foolproof prep, foolproof cooking, zero waste, leftovers make great sandwiches. Unfortunately the butchers are waking up to this, as the price of this cut has gone up about 125% in the last five years or so.

― Danny Aioli (Rock Hardy), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 13:10 (nineteen years ago)

I've only been properly cooking for about a year now, I could do pasta and stuff before, but nothing fancy. It really is surprisingly easy; if you use good ingrediants there's hardly any chance of you fucking it up. I now do a mean paella and a pretty good chilli.

― chap who would dare to start Raaatpackin (chap), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 13:19 (nineteen years ago)

i was totally surprised at how easy it is. one of my main excuses for not cooking was always that I couldn't be arsed but now i realise all these years I'VE BEEN AN IDIOT.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 13:26 (nineteen years ago)

Last year we were at a party and someone had OVERCOOKED the broccoli (and other veggies). I was really tempted to call her out for this. It was just plain ghastly.
I'm turning into a food snob. heh

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 13:29 (nineteen years ago)

fried monkfish and rice, *heavens*, i kid not, sir ;)

― -- (688), Thursday, 17 August 2006 11:05 (nineteen years ago)

"I'm cooking an egg... for the very first time..."

― i am teh_kit! (g-kit), Thursday, 17 August 2006 11:06 (nineteen years ago)

It's easy to overcook broccoli if your timer isn't working and your attention wanders. That's what compost heaps are for! Heave it!

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Thursday, 17 August 2006 12:12 (nineteen years ago)

Overcooked broccoli can be turned into a tasty soup! Broccoli and stilton cheese soup, mmmm.

― C J (C J), Thursday, 17 August 2006 12:36 (nineteen years ago)

But one of the first times I did this, the cake came out purple. I don't remember what it tasted like, just that it was purple, and sort of a purplish-greyish-brown at the top.

I beat myself to answering this thread I didn't remember, apparently. This may have been back when I answered every single cooking/food thread.

I don't really think of baking as cooking anymore, though -- a square's a rectangle but it isn't what I mean when I say rectangle -- so won't count it, and the first things I cooked were therefore ... very teenage:

1: "Look, you can microwave a marshmallow and it EXPANDS. Don't let it get bigger than a baseball. Now put some chocolate chips in there."

(A quarter of you have just decided to try this, haven't you?)

2: "Yeah, no, put some butter on those MicroMagic motherfuckers, there is nothing like butter on French fries, nothing, no I didn't do my math homework either. Yeah, I'm free tonight. Yeah, I can get some pot."

3: "If you freeze homemade frosting, it wicked kicks the ass of fucking pansy-ass ice cream, I'm serious."

4: Burgers and chili. For years of "being a wicked good cook," I just made burgers and chili. It's kind of the teen guy equivalent of being told you're hot because you flashed a tit once.

And at some point around then -- must've been 11, 12, because my parents weren't divorced yet -- I discovered hot roast beef sandwiches, and had many adventures with Kaiser rolls and hard salami and mustards of all persuasions.

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 17 August 2006 17:27 (nineteen years ago)

I think the first thing I came up with on my own was a Buffalo wings variation that used more or less equal amounts of butter and peanut butter. This is actually tricky to get just right, if you still want it to be hotwings-like, and not just "wings with peanut sauce."

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 17 August 2006 17:30 (nineteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

July 2007: cooked my first ever curry - a vegetable balti.

I (belatedly) share Phil's ridiculous sense of pride.

― Bob Six, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 21:42 (eighteen years ago)

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