OT: I'm Learning To Cook

[Hooper]

I'm talkin gourmet here, not eggs, bbq, etc.

I'm making 2-3 gourmet meals a week, suffice it to say my wife is happy to get out of the kitchen and i've been getting a lot more sex :)

However the primary thing i'm learning here is that it's very anti-climactic.

For example, i just made a Pan-roasted striped bass with wild shitake mushrooms, potato gnocchi, and tarragon-reggiano cream sauce out of Emeril's book with a fine pino gris.

It took me 3 hours and 10 minutes from start to finish. It took my wife and i 15 minutes to eat it. It will take at least an hour to clean up.

The *ACT* of cooking is the fun part for me, severe mutli-tasking, learning something new, creating at the same time, it's so much fun!!

I guess what i'm asking is, is anybody else here learning/learned to cook gourmet cuisine, do you do it often? do you have books that you like a lot? What do you do to extend the pleasure after the meal?

[XXXPhoto]

Hooper,

Place a call to Dave at Holio on Monday... he has ALL the information you
will need complete with exceptional talent for the culinary arts...

[Hell Puppy]

Originally posted by Hooper@Nov 8 2003, 09:42 PM
I'm talkin gourmet here, not eggs, bbq, etc.

I'm making 2-3 gourmet meals a week, suffice it to say my wife is happy to get out of the kitchen and i've been getting a lot more sex :)

However the primary thing i'm learning here is that it's very anti-climactic.

For example, i just made a Pan-roasted striped bass with wild shitake mushrooms, potato gnocchi, and tarragon-reggiano cream sauce out of Emeril's book with a fine pino gris.

It took me 3 hours and 10 minutes from start to finish. It took my wife and i 15 minutes to eat it. It will take at least an hour to clean up.

The *ACT* of cooking is the fun part for me, severe mutli-tasking, learning something new, creating at the same time, it's so much fun!!

I guess what i'm asking is, is anybody else here learning/learned to cook gourmet cuisine, do you do it often? do you have books that you like a lot? What do you do to extend the pleasure after the meal?
All that and 12-18 hours later it's nothing but a big ole stinking turd...

[gonzo]

And thats Hell Puppy's sensative side....
aint it purty?

[Mike AI]

Cooking is fun, which I had the time to do it.

We have a chef here in Tampa who prepare meals for us 5 nights a week. IT is working out well. Good meals, fit our diets, and are cost effective. I will miss it when we are back in NO.... but when we will get with them back in January!

[Peaches]

Hooper - I've been looking for you all my life! Leave the wife and kid and come live with me. :awinky: I have a tiny kitchen and only about 4 pots and pans, but we'll find a way for you to cook for me. :inlove:

Heck, bring the wife and kid - it's a small house but we'll figure out a way for everyone to squeeze in! :okthumb:




Last edited by Peaches at Nov 8 2003, 11:42 PM

[Peaches]

Originally posted by Mike AI@Nov 8 2003, 11:29 PM
Cooking is fun, which I had the time to do it.

We have a chef here in Tampa who prepare meals for us 5 nights a week. IT is working out well. Good meals, fit our diets, and are cost effective. I will miss it when we are back in NO.... but when we will get with them back in January!
I had a lady when we lived in Marietta who came once a month and cooked 4 servings each of 5 different main dishes, a couple of sides and a dessert in freezable containers. I couldn't afford to have her more than that, but damn, it was GREAT. :bjump:

(eventually I'll make an entire post without leaving out or adding words and not have to edit it)



Last edited by Peaches at Nov 8 2003, 11:43 PM

[gonzo]

Originally posted by Mike AI@Nov 8 2003, 10:29 PM
Cooking is fun, which I had the time to do it.

We have a chef here in Tampa who prepare meals for us 5 nights a week. IT is working out well. Good meals, fit our diets, and are cost effective. I will miss it when we are back in NO.... but when we will get with them back in January!
There goes my fantasy of seeing Katie in the kitchen barefooted and just an apron on....somehow I knew she didnt cook.

[Carrie]

Hoop, think about this - if you were to go to a restaurant with your wife, it would take you much longer than 15 minutes to eat. Probably more like an hour. (Eating a whole meal in 15 min. isn't good for you anyway!)

So what are you doing differently?
Much of the time in a restaurant is spent eating while having great conversation. But when you're cooking at home, you usually talk *while* you're preparing the meal. So there's nothing left to talk about by the time you sit down to eat. (I'm guessing here.)

Maybe if you made the preparation & cooking time go quicker, the actual enjoyment of it would last longer. Try looking over the recipe the night or morning before and seeing if there's anything you can prepare in advance and stick in the fridge. Then you just whip it out when it's needed and add it to the mix (chopped onions & vegetables, desserts, etc) and the cooking time goes much quicker, leaving more time for conversation over dinner.

Purposefully getting the wife out of the kitchen and giving her something to do might help also, like having her straighten up the dining room, set out the nice plates, turn the lights down and light candles, get the wine ready etc.

I think it's really great that you're doing this, btw! Must be very romantic as well as fun :)

[MissEve]

Hooper,

I am a total foodie and gourmet cook. I cook every day for KC, lol! Last night I deboned a chicken, stuffed it with wild mushroom stuffing, rolled it and roasted it, served with sauteed spinach and mashed potatos. If you havent checked it out already gourmet.com is by far the best place for recipes. Its has all the archives of Gourmet & Bon Appetit magazine plus ratings from people who made the dish.

I love eating but I mostly love the creative process of cooking.
My favorite cookbooks are the Silver Palate series and the Joy of Cooking is great for general knowledge. If you want to go crazy get the Larousse Gastronomique, it is the holy grail of cookbooks, like an encyclopedia really, it weighs about 20 lbs.

I think the more you cook the more you will find recipes that are simple but satisfying. If I know Im making something fancy or having a dinner party I do alot of the prep work the day before etc.

Food processors and other gadgets can also save you time and clean up. I also have a little indoor herb garden, I think most home cooks dont know the importance of fresh herbs and things like the quality of the olive oil they use etc.

I also make things in bulk that I know I can freeze like chicken broth, herb butter, etc. You can also freeze leftover wine if you ever have it and use it for cooking!

Hit me up if you ever need recipes, advice etc :) ICQ 1374650

[Hooper]

Holy Shit Miss Eve.. you sound like a PRO and KC sounds like a lucky man :)

I have been getting a lot of my recipes from epicurious.com, but i will check out gourmet.com tomorrow as we're having company tomorrow night and you know who has been obligated to cook.

One thing I have found to be absolutely amazing is this.. I KNOW wine.. I own a wine distributorship here in Austin and we supply many Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio stores with everything from 7-8 buck wine up to 100 bucks a bottle wine. I can sniff out the berries, dirt and spices in pretty much anything... but I have just realized that i SUCK at pairing wine with food! Most of my wine drinking experience has been where the wine is the focus (which is usually when i do most of my posting ;-)

Peaches, first time my wife says she doesnt like something.. i'm heading to your house ;-))

Mark - Dave sounds like quite an interesting guy. Porno & A Gourmet? Wow!

Then you just whip it out when it's needed and add it to the mix.

Umm carrie. That just sounded dirty but my wife liked it! WTG! :rokk:

[Torone]

Yep! Cooking is among my many talents...my brother us also a great cook; and he lives in OK so we don't compete with each other. :D

[sharky]

Check out the food channel. 30 minute gourmet.

There is a lot of awesome recipes. Crystal made an herbed chicken with a white wine sause and pollent that was amazing. She cooks a few times a week with the recipes she finds there and online on their website.

I also recommend a good BBQ grill. I like to go gourmet on that as well.

Grilled asperigus with grilled prime rib and roasted red potatoes is one of my favorites:-)

[Sharpie]

Damn - you guys are making me hungry...........

They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach...... but, most certainly the way to a woman's heart is - a man in the kitchen! Especially if he cleans up too! :rolleyes:

[princess]

cook? ick! I soo hate to cook!