The secret to good cooking ?

[tp4tissue]

Is just Lots-of-Oil,  No ?

I mean, 9/10 cooking videos,  you can pretty much see that the Oil makes the biggest difference..

And almost all restaurant foods are quite greasy..

[fohat.digs]

Butter, not oil.

[Elth]

Or the Paula Dean method, butter & oil

[Waateva]

Salt

[demik]

Don't **** up

[scubaste]

Effort and Knowledge, which might be the secret to nearly everything.

[alexjd99]

Sriracha, garlic salt, butter. Done and done.

[demik]

Mushrooms.

When you're tripping balls everything tastes good

[mobbo]

It totally depends on what you're cooking. Basic things that help immensely are: fresh ingredients, seasoning, butter , fresh herbs and spices. onions, garlic...shallots.

One of the best things you can do though, is taste as you go. don't just whip **** together and hope it turns out for the best (unless you're baking - or are following a very specific recipe). but often times, if you're like me, you're just making do with what you have in the fridge or sitting around. if you decide to add something, taste it after. repeat per ingredient added.  it's very hard to make something that tastes bad if you are constantly tasting and adjusting during the cooking process.

[pr0ximity]

Ingredients and less of everything else. Buy fresh, local ingredients and the end result will taste better, no question.

Aside from that, practice. It took me a while to get used to controlling heat in pans, taking them off the heat if they're too hot, not over-heating cast iron, etc. I'm still learning a lot but I burn much less than I did in the past.

Also, branch out to other cooking aside from pan searing. Broil stuff in the oven, make your own bread, grill things other than meat (vegetables, fruits, fish).

[rowdy]

My secret to good cooking is to get someone else to do it.

Preferably someone who knows what they are doing.

[dgneo]

Salt (in moderation).

Brings out the flavors of almost everything you put it on.

[lolpes]

In restaurants you may see abuse in salt and butter, things taste better that way normally, but not so good for you.

At home, just practice and that is the secret too good cooking, learn techniques instead of memorizing entire recipes

[Jokrik]

No fat no flavor

[iLLucionist]

Enough oil, enough seasoning. Like REALLY season them f**kers in the pan. Also, TASTE. taste taste taste in the process.

And don't throw everything in the pan at once. First, get the pan to heat up warm enough. THEN add oil. THEN add veggies, simmer them down a bit if you want them glazed or if you want them sealed burn them f**kers down immediately.

I love cooking... secret to good cooking is practice practice practice. And learning how to cut. Buy a goood kitchen knife.

When I have a new recipe, I cook it at least 5 times in a week to get it into my muscle memory. Like typing basically. Get those steps ingrained in them gray matter.

[chyros]

Have the highest possible meat content and as few as possible veg.

[Findecanor]

* Seasoning with the right amounts of salt and black pepper. Restaurant chefs often overdo it.
* A splash of red wine.
* Use Pecorino Romano where you would otherwise have used regular parmesan cheese.
* MSG ... from meat, broth, by using sundried tomatoes, cooked tomatoes, yeast flakes or msg powder.

Or the Paula Dean method, butter & oil

Butter and olive oil. If you use flavourless oil then you could just as well use only butter.

Learn which herbs and spices that to go with which ingredients.

[xtrafrood]

Bacon. Forget moderation, just Baconize everything and your cooking will jump to 10/10

[munch]

Enough oil, enough seasoning. Like REALLY season them f**kers in the pan. Also, TASTE. taste taste taste in the process.

And don't throw everything in the pan at once. First, get the pan to heat up warm enough. THEN add oil. THEN add veggies, simmer them down a bit if you want them glazed or if you want them sealed burn them f**kers down immediately.

I love cooking... secret to good cooking is practice practice practice. And learning how to cut. Buy a goood kitchen knife.

When I have a new recipe, I cook it at least 5 times in a week to get it into my muscle memory. Like typing basically. Get those steps ingrained in them gray matter.

better to add oil before heating up, that way you won't have too much smoking if your pan is too hot when you add the oil.

[iLLucionist]

Enough oil, enough seasoning. Like REALLY season them f**kers in the pan. Also, TASTE. taste taste taste in the process.

And don't throw everything in the pan at once. First, get the pan to heat up warm enough. THEN add oil. THEN add veggies, simmer them down a bit if you want them glazed or if you want them sealed burn them f**kers down immediately.

I love cooking... secret to good cooking is practice practice practice. And learning how to cut. Buy a goood kitchen knife.

When I have a new recipe, I cook it at least 5 times in a week to get it into my muscle memory. Like typing basically. Get those steps ingrained in them gray matter.

better to add oil before heating up, that way you won't have too much smoking if your pan is too hot when you add the oil.

Good point.

[jacobolus]

Have the highest possible meat content and as few as possible veg.

Chyros’s ideal meal: a big heap of lean ground beef, raw.

[xtrafrood]

Have the highest possible meat content and as few as possible veg.

Chyros’s ideal meal: a big heap of lean ground beef, raw.

Mmmmm MM! My grandfather ate raw ground beef sandwiches. This was before all the mad cow stuff though

[Waateva]

Have the highest possible meat content and as few as possible veg.

Chyros’s ideal meal: a big heap of lean ground beef, raw.

Mmmmm MM! My grandfather ate raw ground beef sandwiches. This was before all the mad cow stuff though

My wife's aunt and grandma did as well, they called them cannibal sandwiches.  Just white bread, red onion, and raw ground beef 

[xtrafrood]

Have the highest possible meat content and as few as possible veg.

Chyros’s ideal meal: a big heap of lean ground beef, raw.

Mmmmm MM! My grandfather ate raw ground beef sandwiches. This was before all the mad cow stuff though

My wife's aunt and grandma did as well, they called them cannibal sandwiches.  Just white bread, red onion, and raw ground beef 

Hehe, cannibal sandwiches

[tp4tissue]

Have the highest possible meat content and as few as possible veg.

Chyros’s ideal meal: a big heap of lean ground beef, raw.

Mmmmm MM! My grandfather ate raw ground beef sandwiches. This was before all the mad cow stuff though

My wife's aunt and grandma did as well, they called them cannibal sandwiches.  Just white bread, red onion, and raw ground beef 

Hehe, cannibal sandwiches

I've had raw beef sashimi..

It's alrite.. imho.. raw beef is too chewy and not really that great mouth-mechanically...

[jacobolus]

Raw beef can be delicious: beef carpaccio, steak tartare, kitfo, crudos, etc.

[absyrd]

Restraint.

[tp4tissue]

Restraint.

from.... ? 

[whmeltonjr]

Proper seasoning goes a long way. So does not overlooking things.

[noisyturtle]

It's really simple: The secret to good cooking starts with good ingredients.

This is the main reason I do not usually cook at home, having worked in 4-star kitchens I know how much the yummy ingredients cost + the time to prep and it's usually cheaper to just have someone prepare it for you if you.

[jacobolus]

The secret to good cooking starts with good ingredients. This is the main reason I do not usually cook at home [...] I know how much the yummy ingredients cost [...]

This doesn’t really follow IMO. You can always buy ingredients for dramatically less than restaurant meals which use the same quality (because the restaurant has other costs beyond ingredients). It’s also generally easier to prepare food matching your own tastes and dietary needs at home than to find it at a restaurant.

For many types of food, I find there’s even time savings in preparing something at home vs. transporting myself to a restaurant, ordering, waiting for someone to prepare the meal, eating, and then transporting myself home.

Of course, if you only want to eat food which takes many hours to prepare, then sure, doing that at home would be a big commitment. But a wide variety of tasty meals can be fully prepared in 15–60m.

I find that my friends who mostly eat at restaurants tend to be relatively wealthy, and either unskilled at cooking and afraid to learn, or working demanding jobs and not willing to spend the mental energy making choices involved in cooking. Many of them are also single, so the prep time isn’t amortized over several diners the way a family meal would be, and there’s nobody to cook with (cooking and eating with other people is a lot more fun than cooking and eating alone).

If there’s a top secret to good cooking, it’s having good company. A nearly inedible food disaster is more fun with someone to laugh about it than the best five-star restaurant dish alone.

[noisyturtle]

Meh, I used to love to cook and experiment in the kitchen but after working in a few restaurants it really turned me off cooking at home. Now it just feels like work

[jacobolus]

Well, fair enough. :-)

My work is staring at a computer screen, so preparing food is a fun diversion.

[rowdy]

Well, fair enough. :-)

My work is staring at a computer screen, so preparing food is a fun diversion.

I think you're doing it wrong - for me food preparation is a distraction from staring at a screen.

[iLLucionist]

Well, fair enough. :-)

My work is staring at a computer screen, so preparing food is a fun diversion.

I think you're doing it wrong - for me food preparation is a distraction from staring at a screen.

Aren't you both saying the exact same thing or am I reading it wrong?

[LunarisDream]

The secret (ingredient) is love.

[Signature]

msg

[iLLucionist]

The secret (ingredient) is love.

Massage the meat. Lick them veggies a little before cooking them. Show em you appreciate them.

[rowdy]

Well, fair enough. :-)

My work is staring at a computer screen, so preparing food is a fun diversion.

I think you're doing it wrong - for me food preparation is a distraction from staring at a screen.

Aren't you both saying the exact same thing or am I reading it wrong?

Nope.

jacobolus said preparing food is a "fun diversion".

Rowdy said preparing food is a "distraction from staring at a screen".

A diversion is generally something welcomed, a distraction is a temporary affliction that stops you from what you were originally doing.

The implication being that jacobolus seems to like getting away from the computer screen to prepare food, while for Rowdy it is a temporary distraction that prevents Rowdy from staring at a computer screen.

[chyros]

Have the highest possible meat content and as few as possible veg.

Chyros’s ideal meal: a big heap of lean ground beef, raw.

One of my favourite meals is indeed steak. Just steak. Rare. With nothing else.

Raw meat can also be great. A good steak tartare or filet americain or ox sausage, yummy.

[iLLucionist]

Have the highest possible meat content and as few as possible veg.

Chyros’s ideal meal: a big heap of lean ground beef, raw.

One of my favourite meals is indeed steak. Just steak. Rare. With nothing else.

Raw meat can also be great. A good steak tartare or filet americain or ox sausage, yummy.

Do you cook it even?

[whentheclouds]

It's really simple: The secret to good cooking starts with good ingredients.

yep, this is rule #1 in any italian cookbook

[Dernubenfrieken]

Alcohol. A good bottle of wine/beer/cider can add to the flavor of the dish and pair well, adding to the experience.

[iLLucionist]

Alcohol. A good bottle of wine/beer/cider can add to the flavor of the dish and pair well, adding to the experience.

I put cognac in my onion soup. It's that little touch between tasty and great.

[xtrafrood]

I agree with good ingredients. One mustn't make a peanut butter sandwich out of ordinary peanut butter. Also, don't forget the bread! Quality of bread is also very important.

If I could order a rare steak at a restaurant I would still eat my steak rare. Seems like a lot of American restaurants won't serve rare steaks because it is a health code violation. (or to shield people from the sight of blood)

[henz]

just taste it, easy

[tp4tissue]

Alcohol. A good bottle of wine/beer/cider can add to the flavor of the dish and pair well, adding to the experience.

That's the same as saying.. yea cocaine makes everything better.. 

Of course it does ....

[xtrafrood]

I've used flavored vodka to caramelize certain meats. Beautiful flavor, but I try not to do it too often because I'm lazy and people seem to love it )

[Signature]

Alcohol. A good bottle of wine/beer/cider can add to the flavor of the dish and pair well, adding to the experience.

That's the same as saying.. yea cocaine makes everything better.. 

Of course it does ....

Only good if sniffing food

[Dernubenfrieken]

I've used flavored vodka to caramelize certain meats. Beautiful flavor, but I try not to do it too often because I'm lazy and people seem to love it )

Whiskey is perfect for this, a bit of bourbon added to a burger opens it up while its in the pan.