OT: Cooking for you guys!

After I was divorced, I managed to burn boiled chicken! I've since tried reading cookbooks, but don't quite "get it"...

Anyway I thought there must be at least one cookbook out there which explains things in "scientific" terms???

Actually there are several! The book I found starts out by comparing chemical processes with an automotive engine!

And it goes on to explain what goes on with cooking in "alt.home.repair guy" language (most women I know would hate this book!). Anyway explains chemical reactions, atoms, molecules, amino acids, etc.

Then goes into starches and what heating (or not heating) does on the molecular level. And this all has to do with making gravy! And specifically the cause of lumpy gravy. This was never explained in the other cookbooks, but now I understand!

Anyway this book is... The Science of Cooking by Peter Barham

And in the back of this book is a list of more scientific cooking books... Food Science by H. Charley Foods: Experimental Perspectives by McWilliams Food Chemistry by Belitz The Curious Cook by McGee The Epicurean Laboratory by Seelig Etc.

Reply to
Bill
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easier to eat out or get girlfriends:)

frozen dinners are actually very good today, and a single portion too:)

Reply to
hallerb

I'm a retired chemist who does some cooking. A lot of laboratory techniques can be carried over to the kitchen but like driving a car, you don't need to know what goes on under the hood to be a good cook. My wife, who is not a chemist, is a far better cook than me and is self taught.

Reply to
Frank

Alton Brown, who has a cooking show on the food channel has some excellent books. He explains a lot from the chemistry/how it really works perspective. I think the title is "I'm Just Here for the Food." Master the basics, then go on to more elaborate stuff. Anything with more than 5 ingredients is suspect!

Also, my favorite for basic stuff is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.. The one with the red and white plaid cover. I think it also come in a loose leaf version, which opens flat. The New York Times cookbook is also excellent. Again, all the standard stuff. Do some reading. Talk to experienced cooks. Watch some of the cooking shows... You can download their recipes from their web site. Ina Garten is especially good, IMHO.

Google is also your friend. Put in the name of the dish, print it out, and keep what you especially like, with notes, in a three ring binder.

Generally, the first time through, follow the recipe, then feel free to experiment a bit.

The right tools are important... knives, pots and pans, etc. Stove doesn't have to be fancy, just check the oven calibration. The modern convection/microwave ovens are especially nice. A rice steamer takes the pain out of steaming rice and vegetables, for example. An electric fry pan is handy for cooking for one or two. Doubles as a griddle for pancakes, etc.

/paul

Reply to
professorpaul

"Bill" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

I'm no cook and couldn't even pretend to be. Only thing I ever cooked was ants with a magnifying glass. They didn't approve of my cooking either. But my Main Squeeze use to watch this show Good Eats with Alton Brown. Every show had such info as you describe. He has books out and a web site.

Reply to
Red Green

...

...

Where the science really comes to the fore is in commercial applications for processing, manufacturing, packaging, preservation, etc., etc., etc., ...

Milling science for something seemingly as simple as making flour is a whole discipline in itself.

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Reply to
dpb

"You guys" ???

Reply to
HeyBub

'Nuke until hot' takes a cookbook?

Living alone, cooking actual dishes is sorta pointless. Lots of soup, lots of sandwiches, lots of Big Salads. A pot of chili once in a while.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

lot's of samiches...

Reply to
Rick Samuel

It all depends on what you like. For example if the person living at home bakes several loaves of bread, you can freeze them and use the good bread for your sandwiches. While the bread is rising you can make a pot of spaghetti or perhaps bake a ham for something to make those sandwiches.

Reply to
Roger Shoaf

-snip-

I disagree. That's when I do my best work. Cook exactly what *I* want; cook for four- and eat it for 4 days.

I've done the bulk of the cooking for our family for 23 years. As a result my daughter is a great baker & my son is an excellent main-dish cook. [and adult beverage maker]

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

y what *I*

=EF=BF=BDAs a

or buy bob evans prepared meals.

its prepared in a same plant that makes bob evans food in the restaurant.

restaurant food is frozen. cause its cheaper this way.....

Reply to
hallerb

As the saying goes "Cooking is an Art, Baking is a science."

Reply to
Tony

Good chance he is from PA. You can imagine the looks I got when I said "you guys" to a small group of men and women in Tennessee. Here in these parts they say what sounds like "You Inns". The local dialect in the town I'm close to changed "you inns" to "yunns". And it's "see yunns", never ever "see yunns later". I'll call you = I'll hollar at cha or I'll give you a hollar, to which I reply, "I already have a hollar on each side of my house, I don't need another one. They really didn't believe me that "hollar" comes from "hollow" up north until I told them to think of "Sleepy Hollow". I haven't heard anyone say "sleepy hollar" .... yet.

Reply to
Tony

Ya'll jest ain't been there long if y'uns ain't heerd of "sleepy holler" ye-ut... (30-yr E TN vet) :)

On the "you guys", I had a boss way back when (in piedmont VA) who was from south Philly and had this opinion that his technical writing was the epitome of perfection. As such, he mandated that everything in the entire department had to be reviewed by him and he would make the most asinine and incorrect "corrections" to English, often such that the meaning would be changed to actually become wrong or at best, ambiguous.

Trying to satisfy him was a major pita given that this preceded the days of word processors so everything had to be retyped from scratch including setting technical formulae,etc. I finally figured out that if simply kept the original, gave him a copy to scribble on and waited a few days and resubmitted the original, it would be approved.

Anyway, I argued regularly w/ the guy over the subject and finally simply told him I wasn't about to take correction on English usage from a guy who, despite MIT MS, etc., couldn't quit w/ the "you'se guys" even in formal speech. :)

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Reply to
dpb

re: While the bread is rising you can make a pot of spaghetti or perhaps bake a ham for something to make those sandwiches.

Ahh...spaghetti sandwiches...my favorite.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Without all the science...

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

Tony wrote in news:7lr03sF3epskvU1 @mid.individual.net:

Where I originate from it was "Youze Guys".

Reply to
Red Green

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

Ugh. No prefab meals. Down that road lies bad blood numbers and excess tonnage. BTDT, still heavier than I should be, but at least not getting any worse, any more.

I hate spending more time cooking than eating. I also hate eating the same dish multiple days in a row. Salads are safe, quick, and if made with tofu or boneless chicken breast (and only a dab of vinegar and olive oil for dressing), fairly sin-free from a dietary aspect.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

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