Not sure if this would be workable but....
As we have some "recipes" which are for things like making a stock ....
I wonder if we could all do a picture step by step guide for some of the basics of cooking that could help others who are learning many things we don't think about anymore ?
Browning onions - how to guide
coating with bread crumbs (ie flour, then egg then rolling in crumbs)..
making croutons for soup
poaching an egg
slicing veg (how to dice, shred etc)
you know those sort of things that the novice/new starter may not have the exact skills for, things we might take for granted but others might be grateful for the advice...
So some good instructions with background as to why you do this or do that, how to cope if it goes wrong etc.. and some good pictures of the stages ?
just a thought?
Steve
I like doing croutons, especially when we rub raw garlic onto them and have them with fish soup or gaspacho. Not exactly advanced cookery, but advanced cookery is not what you're suggesting, Steve. French restaurants here mostly have really poor croutons. I reckon that they can be toast or slices of baguette fried in butter.
Mayonnaise? That's brave! I wouldn't dare, but my wife does it from scratch, and it's remarkable. There is so much poor quality commercial mayonnaise around.
Which brings me to the possible distinction between aioli and rouille. Usage of these terms varies in French parlance. Which is a kind of mayonnaise? That is the question.
I did my first French fish soup two years ago with rouille and croutons: it was better than in many restaurants around here (not surprising, given some of the trickery I've seen behind-the-scenes in a French friend's restaurant here).
Phil
Well I'm up for doing any bits and bobs... I won't be going out of my way but the next time I'm making something that I feel could help others who are learning, I'll take pics and write it up as long as its ok with Mamta who has to sort it all out and put them on.. maybe it will need a new section ???
Steve
It is fine with me, it is a great idea. But how are we going to do it, a separate section of General Tips/Trouble Shooting/Techniques? Someone needs to put some thought into it, so we know what we are doing.
You and Steve decide, as chances are the two of you will make biggest contribution and then Pete and I can work it out.
It could be as simple as adding another tag (like starters etc) to the relevant recipe pages, and we can easily add a tickbox for it to the search.
I'd say adding them like any other recipe would work as long as they could be found as a group like "techniques" so someone wanting to browse them could get them all up in one hit.
If they could be tagged like you say in the search so a tick box for "technique" can pull them all up, would work well.. !
Anything that is more about skills and ways of doing things could be added then.
eg
sharpening a knife?
removing tomato/chilli/pepper skins ?
freezing herbs ?
drying herbs ?
browning onions ? (this seems to be well worth doing as we see many questions about browning onions and how brown etc)
filletting fish/meat ?
making a roux ?
creating fancy place holders ??
seasoning a pan ?
making ghee ?
dry roasting spices ?
etc
Steve
Next time I make crumbed chicken schnitzels (i.e. with flour, egg then crumbs) I will take some pics. We make them often.
Cheers
Steve
I have finally had a chance to give this a little thought. It will be a wonderful source, if we can do it.
To just to get the ball rolling, how about starting with a title, something like Basic Cooking Techniques and Tips? This will have to be a joint efforts, where people add (via me) their own tips and reasons behind them. So suggestions for a simple and small title please.
Then list the things you would want to see here, in an alphabetical order, and make it so that newer topics can be added easily by me. I don?t think I would like to increase Pete?s load to anymore than he already does.
There are a few things already on site, which can either be added here or linked to it, things with titles like ?How to?? or ?Making?? or ?Selections of recipes?..?. Perhaps Step by step pictures will be great. Also, ?some good instructions with background as to why you do this or do that, how to cope if it goes wrong?, as Steve suggested. Perhaps Lapis could add a brief ?why, or the scientific reason behind using a certain technique, within these titles?
Here is a list of what you have suggested so far;
Basics of a salad dressing
Basics of soup making, not specific recipes, which have to go under recipe titles.
Browning onions for a curry, how to?
Browning onions for garnish on Indian dishes, how to?
Creating fancy place holders ?? Perhaps we should stick to cooking instructions to start with?
Croutons, how to make them at home?
Dry roasting spices ?
Drying herbs ?
Egg, various cooking techniques, like how to boil an egg to perfection?
Filletting fish/meat? - Won?t this be too much?, Who will write it?
Freezing herbs?
How to cut vegetables/herbs the correct way?
Making a roux? Most site users from India won?t know what rue is Steve, :)!
Making ghee ? Already there, but can be linked
Removing tomato/chilli/pepper skins?
Seasoning a pan!!
Sharpening a knife
Stock, how to make it?
We will have to enlist help from people we know, who are good at certain techniques, which means all of you regulars here and some more that you guys know! It is nice to see that some of you are already here to help, thank you for that. I could try to enlist some of my Indian relatives too. But bear in mind that many people are good at things but , generally speaking, they find writing things down too time consuming and make promises they never keep ;-). I KNOW!
Lapis, we have a Salad Dressings Selection, A Collection of Recipes, I would love to add your step by step guide to mayonnaise making now please, not many people can make it well.
?I?d say adding them like any other recipe would work as long as they could be found as a group like "techniques" so someone wanting to browse them could get them all up in one hit.?. How will people know that we have a title called ?techniques? How will they know to look for it under recipes? For example, not many people realize that I have a ?Selection of?? series, ?recipe collections? of a few types. Put ?selection? in search window and see for yourself. How many of you knew about it already? I think that it will have to be a clickable title at the top of the page, under something like you suggest, ?Cooking Techniques & Tips?, easily visible.
Before we embark upon it, let?s see how many of you can/would like to realistically provide written instructions and pictures on some of these titles. We can start small, but it has to have some titles under the heading and that is where all the work comes.
Many thanks
Mamta
Great idea but a lot of work - however I'd be prepared to play my part.
Just some thoughts - I think we would need to set a framework for the techniques under sub-sections, otherwise we could just end up with an eclectic mix of useful but random entries.
Perhaps we should confine ourselves to techniques that are necessary for the recipes on-site (that is more than enough to be getting on with! ) For instance I could happily write about opening and preparing oysters but that is not a skill needed for any of Mamta's recipes so energy would be better spent on something like peeling and deveining prawns which is.
A separate 'techniques' button would be useful for highlighting some existing pages already for instance 'how to cook rice.' Other techniques are already lurking within recipes. For instance there is an explanation on preparing crab within a curry recipe, a few extra sentences and you could have 'How to cook, prepare and dress a crab.'
However when does a technique become a recipe in its own right?! Should a technique be 'a common procedure this is often required to follow the recipes'. So for instance making stock, chopping an onion are techniques, poaching fruit a recipe.
Just food for thought!
Winton
I didn't see this as being a chore, more of sharing things that you are good at. So if you have a great technique for filleting salmon then you could share it. I was just making suggestions of the sort of things that people might be able to add, not a specific list.
I'm sure over time it will build into a great big basic guide to cooking !
Your title looks fine to me.. "basics and techniques", "Basics, Techniques and Learning", "Starter Guide to Cookery", "Building blocks of cookery"... ??
If everyone just shares what they are good at, sends it into you, any extra notes or ideas can be added, Lapis (if willing) can add to the science as well... should be fantastic !
Steve
Yes I was thinking more of a how to sort out a prawn for this recipe rather than a recipe itself.. we take it for granted when writing a recipe that the reader can do these things simply because we can...It may be that they are looking and thinking I'd like to make it but have no idea how to sort a crab out or what deveining a prawn is...
So they could search/click on techniques - Deveining prawns (the step by step picture guide)
types of thing...
Other things then come into play like storing food when you've made too much, freezing and drying etc...
Steve
Hi Steve
Yes, I just meant it will take a lot of time to properly (i.e. up to the usual high standards of the website!) but a labour of love and would create a great resource. Also having to explain something makes you think 'why do I do it this way?' and double check 'is this the best way?'
Perhaps a trawl back through the forums would identify common skills that readers have difficulty with.
Such a project would also act as a spur for me to get my 'photo technology working.
Winton
well one thing without trawling is onion browning... !
I'm just wondering which is more enjoyable and worth while in approach though...
Do a regimented search of the site, asking questions, looking at posts, compiling data, creating lists of needed instructions, asking which people are better skilled in that field and asking them do produce those things.... taking a lot of time and effort that isn't actually producing the end product (much like a lot of company management seems to have gone down the lines of these days)
or just get started writing out things each person is willing to share? Sending them in and compiling what there is... then we get a big data base of techniques and tips which we could carry on adding to as and when...?
Steve
Here are a few suggestions in alphabetical order, to get everyone started;
How and why is meat ?sealed?? What does it mean? Does it have a purpose?
How to add yoghurt/sour cream to food during cooking How to avoid discolouration in certain fruits like apples?
How to avoid discolouration in vegetables after cutting, like potatoes, aubergines?
How to blanch almonds and pistachios? Soaking, microwaving
How to blanch and peel tomatoes? Boiling water/on flame.
How to boil potatoes? Boil in a pan/pressure cooker/microwave. Indian style, with their skin. Western style, peeled
How to caramelize onions?
How to chop chillies/herbs finely and easily? Use kitchen scissors.
How to chop dry fruits? Freeze them first to make them hard and then chop with a sharp knife on a chopping board
How to chop onions without crying
How to chop onions without tears?
How to cook dals, dal to water proportions? 1 cup dal to 3 cups of after generally. Less in pressure cooker.
How to cook noodles/pasta and stop them from sticking after boiling?
How to cooking rice (already on site)
How to cut a mango?
How to dry roast the spices. Whole spices. Ground spices
How to fry bacon? Sprinkle a little amount of salt in the frying pan before adding bacon to fry. That way it will not splatter all over.
How to fry Onions; For Indian style cooking - Browning the onions. For Western style cooking.
How to fry sausages?
How to fry spices in oil? How to know when they are done? By changing colour and rising aroma.
How to grind Poppy seeds? Soak them in warm water first for 15 minutes, then grind.
How to keep fruits and vegetables fresh for longer in a fridge?
How to make a good batter to get ?crisp? results? Add a little baking powder or make batter in drinking soda water.
How to make a good gravy for a Western style of meat/chicken?
How to make meat/poultry/seafood stock
How to make a Stock- vegetarian. Poultry. Seafood.
How to make parathas and Poories crisp? Add oil/ghee to the dough. See individual recipes
How to make vegetarian stock
How to make curry gravy naturally red? Don?t use green tomatoes. Add red pepper or capsicum, fresh or powdered (sweet paprika powder).
How to peel a pomegranate
How to peel and slice an onion?
How to peel/chop garlic?
How to remedy too much salt in a curry? Add some mashed potato/yoghurt/sour cream/make some more curry, without salt, and add.
How to slice blanched almonds and pistachios? Use a clean garlic/ginger slicer.
How to slice meat thinly? Freeze it partly and then slice
How to store bananas?
How to store fresh chillies
How to store fresh coriander leaves and other herbs for longer. (Already on site)
How to store spices?
How to store surplus tomatoes? Blend and sieve tomatoes to remove seeds. Freeze in ice trays and keep cubes in plastic bags.
How to strip corn kernels?
How to tenderize the tougher cuts of meat
How to thicken a curry sauce
How to use a chopping board for cutting vegetables. Which chopping board is best? How to keep knives sharp?
How to use mustard oil? Heat it until it smokes and then cool. This will remove some of the ?pungency?. Modern mustard oil may not require this.
It is easier to cook even small portions in larger pans than you think you need. It gives you more room to stir.
Tricks of making curry sauce.
What does ?until oil separates? means in a recipe? How much oil should be used? If your spice mix/masala/sauce sticks to the pan during frying, it means that you need to add a little more oil.
What is Dum-Pukht or Dum Cooking
What is Tandoori, how to get similar results in an oven or grill
What is Tarka or Tempering or Chaunk or Chonk or Baghar or Phoran? What are different methods? Mustard seeds splutter all over, so keep them covered during tarka.
What to substitute for fresh, grated coconut? Soak desiccated coconut in warm.
When making mixes for Kebabs or chops/cutlets, leave the mix in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, for the flavours to mingle/be absorbed.
Thats some starter for ten !!....
Looks like you have been busy... anything that anyone is good at, then if they can take pictures and write up the techniques and reasons will be a fantastic start !
Steve
That's some list!
I'd be happy to do some 'fishy' ones and had already started a page on 'how to match drinks with Indian food' before the 'big idea.'
Regards the others how do we best coordinate their writing up - we don't want five versions of how to peel a tomato! Perhaps if we take a couple each, then once we have completed them come back and pick off another two....?
The best thing might be if you can let me know which ones each of you is going to do, with a couple of pictures where applicable, and let me know by mail. I will keep the master list with your names on it. If any one is taken by two people, i will let you know. It will be easier to do it by mail, rather than here, with endless postings. What do you think?
Mamta
I'm fine with email,
I'd also say that does it matter if we duplicate things a little as I might not skin a tomato like you do ! etc (generally I don't skin them to be honest as I have teeth... lol )
Steve
further to my last post -
Not that I think we need to go as far as peeling potatoes but...
I peel with a Lancashire peeler (not its not a dog) with the potato held in one hand and peeled with the other hand, thumb at back, peeler in fingers and pull towards my thumb much like someone might when using a knife.
My mother uses the same type of peeler ( the left most on this pic http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/Topher/Products/peelers.jpg ) but she holds the potato and peels away in a loose sweep with the other hand.
My other half uses a knife and peels towards here thumb
etc etc
"I peel with a Lancashire peeler (not its not a dog) with the potato held in one hand and peeled with the other hand, thumb at back, peeler in fingers and pull towards my thumb much like someone might when using a knife.
LOL! If one can't peel a potato, one has no business cooking, unless one is a child and just starting out! Laugh!
I am starting with frying the onions today, as I already have a few pictures :)
I know but it was just an example !... lol
actually.. you never know... my grown up children can cook, do some lovely dishes but watching my daughter cut up a pepper the other night was painful !
Steve
Finally got around to doing one of these help files... nothing spectacular...
How to Shred or Thinly Slice Cabbage Greens
as I said, simple and quick things that might just help the novice/young when trying some of the recipes...
Steve
Lapis don't send them in RAW format as the email may get blocked due to size !
Jpeg should be fine (its what I send) anything large enough to see properly but also allowing Mamta to edit and crop should the need arise.(mine are usally around 480x640 or a little bigger but I'm sure Mamta will tell you the best size to send)
Would be great to see a full walk through on Mayo as I've made it a few times but it seems to be a bit hit and miss ...
Steve
thanks Steve, I will wait for Mamta's recommendations.
I had a hit and miss afair with mayo too, until I discovered the secret. A good light! I'll spill the beans soon, it never fails unless I rush it, then it curdles, but one is still able to get it back, and freshly prepared mayo is mmmmmm..
Lapis, I think I deleted your post by mistake this morning, pressed the delete instead of reply. I was in delete mode, there were quite a few SPAM's this morning. I am so sorry :-(.
In your post, you were saying something about writing down your ?How to make Mayonnaise? recipe. Yes please, it will be most welcome.
I usually post JEPG pictures here, in about 600x4-500 size. Send me about 800-1000 size, so that I have room to manoeuvre a bit.
You had something else I had asked to write down for us, but now I have gorgotten. It was probably some Kashmiri dish.
Yes, the concert was good. First it was David Murphy conducting London Philharmonic Orchestra with John Adams' Shaker Loops and then Robert McDuffie performing Philip Glass' First Violin Concerto.
Last was Shankar's Symphony?s world premi?re for his 90th birthday, featuring his daughter Anoushka, with David Murphy conducting the London Philharmonic. The sitart was played by his daughter Anushka, not himself, though he was sitting in the front seats.
Sorry again.
Mamta