I Cooked Dinner

[Cynth]

I never ever cook but for reasons I don't quite understand I thought it would be fun to try out a recipe I found for chili made with white beans and chicken. My god! I had three each of three different kinds of peppers, poblanos and Anaheims to chop the size of "chunky salsa" and jalapenos to mince. I had to get the membranes and the seeds out and keep track of them so we wouldn't be accidentally getting them in our eyes or something. Then my cat started getting on the counter right when I was mincing the jalapenos---what a bad time. I didn't want to get the juice on her or me and I didn't want her getting the counter dirty. I had a knife in my hand and, I'll tell you, it took some real concentration not to end up killing both of us. I had to chop big onions and thinly slice green onions. I had to mince cilantro leaves--and I must say I did a darn good job, they looked very minced when I got done. My fingers burned for several hours after chopping all the peppers. I had things to add now and things to add just before serving in little bowls all over the place---everything was green, it was sort of pretty. Then I had to use the food processor to puree part of the beans with the softened vegetables---that was scary. And the food processor was so filthy on the outside so I had to clean that---my husband apparently never has. You had to brown the chicken breasts for exactly 4 minutes without moving them on one side and then two minutes on the other. The oil was supposed to be close to smoking! Well, how scary is that? I mean that's like it is going to catch fire. They were very nice and golden though. Then you had to sort of poach the chicken breasts in the pureed stuff and chicken broth. I was taking their temperature with my husband's new digital instant-read non-submersible thermometer to see if they were done---the instructions said to get them to 160F. It was hard. The breasts were rolling around like little white slippery whales. I was trying to poke them in the plumpest part. Then I dropped the thermometer in the broth. That was sort of the low point. I'd been at it for a solid three hours by then and my feet and back were aching. The thermometer has water in it but has started working again, so maybe it will be okay. Well then I shredded the chicken by hand into bite-sized pieces---which was harder than I thought since those breasts have a very strong grain in one direction----and got it all together. I had been cleaning up as I went so at least when I finished the kitchen wasn't too bad. I worked on it from 10 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon with only one break for a cigarette. It turned out pretty good but I had sort of lost interest in the whole thing by the time we were supposed to eat it. Thank you for listening .

[Nanohedron]

Good lord. I may never want to cook again, now.

You didn't cook dinner so much as have a mind-altering apocalypse. "Little white slippery whales"...nice.

[The Weekenders]

There's this thing called a "return" key...and....oh,,,, never mind.

[chrisoff]

Christ! That's a lot of work if you don't cook. I try and cook a couple of proper meals from scratch every week for myself and I wouldn't be bothered to do all that.

[Wanderer]

chrisoff's right..that's a heck of a recipe if you don't cook. It doesn't really sound much more complicated than the average dinner I make though.

Most of things that were causing you problems though would become second nature pretty quickly if you cooked on a regular basis. Most of your issues sounded like practice issues and/or fear issues. A lot of the prep goes a lot faster once you develop decent knife skills. It sure sounds lik it was an adventure though!

[Whistlin'Dixie]

Congratulations, Cynth! It sounds like you made a good job of it! And for someone who doesn't cook, you seem to have chosen a complex recipe! Wow!

I bet your hubby was impressed! And I bet it tasted great! And you didn't smoke all morning!!!! Good on you!

My husband has been the chief cook around here since I have had my current job, but he has had to work late at a boat show the past 2 weeks, so I have re-assumed my previous role as chief chef at our house...
I had forgotten how much I really really enjoy cooking and baking, and how good I am at it.... I have actually bought myself a new cookbook and a few new pots (I still have the old Revere ware I got when I was 18!!!!!!!!!! )
I figure I am due for new stuff, as I have a few sons who are moving along and can inherit my old stuff for their own kitchens.

Anyway, careful with those chilis, and good thing you didn't rub your eyes!

M

[chas]

I was gonna say the same thing as chrisoff and wanderer.

My wife and I were invited to a fancy 7-course quasi-potluck the day after Christmas. I normally do all the cooking, but she has this cool white lasagna recipe that she had volunteered to bring. She started at 9. She finished assembling the lasagna at 3. It was difficult to watch her doing all this without constantly offering to help, but it was her show. She asked me to chop the veggies and she graciously accepted my offer to cook and lay out the noodles. It was yummy, and she basked in the kudos despite the hours in the kitchen.

Cynth, the recipe sounds delicious, but you can make a chili just as good that's much simpler.

[djm]

__

[djm]

Cynth, I am struck by the fact that you make no mention of whether you thought the chili was any good, nor your husband's impressions. But more to the point, was it worth it? All that effort and toil -- did the ends justify the means?

I often look at recipes and wonder if I should try to learn how to cook, but I can't kid myself -- I am looking at it because I am interested in the end product, not the process of making it.

djm

[chrisoff]

Cynth, I am struck by the fact that you make no mention of whether you thought the chili was any good, nor your husband's impressions. But more to the point, was it worth it? All that effort and toil -- did the ends justify the means?

djm

from the original post:

It turned out pretty good but I had sort of lost interest in the whole thing by the time we were supposed to eat it

Learning to cook is great. I feel so much better for myself now I can actually cook proper food instead of just taking something out of a packet and heating it in the oven for half an hour. You don't have to start with recipes like the one above, in fact I would urge you not to! As Cynth said she'd lost interest by the time she finished, so it's probably best to start with something that you won't be sick of by the time it comes to eat.

Find a couple of recipes with a short ingredients list that you can cook in under an hour (including prep time) and practice them. Once you're confident with those simple recipes you could try something something a bit more complex. By this time you're prep time will drop as you should hopefully be better at chopping/slicing and you'll have a better idea how to organise your preperation.

At least that's what should happen in an ideal world. I still screw up my prep times a lot and end up dishing up dinner a lot later than I intended but the important thing is 90% of the time it tastes a lot better than the ready made crap I was cooking before.

[Congratulations]

I can cook cold cereal. And, if pressed, I can grill a pretty mean cheese.

[chrisoff]

And, if pressed, I can grill a pretty mean cheese.

On toast? Or do you just stick a block of cheddar under the grill?

[djm]

I make a pretty wicked peanut butter sandwich -- toasted and everything. :smug:

djm

[fel bautista]

chrisoff's right..that's a heck of a recipe if you don't cook. It doesn't really sound much more complicated than the average dinner I make though.

Most of things that were causing you problems though would become second nature pretty quickly if you cooked on a regular basis. Most of your issues sounded like practice issues and/or fear issues. A lot of the prep goes a lot faster once you develop decent knife skills. It sure sounds lik it was an adventure though!

I agree; its second nature for me but then I've been cooking for 30+ years and my knife skills are adequate- certainly can't julienne carrot sticks 1/16 x1/16 without a lt of practice.

Its good you tried something that's complicated- you can grow from your experience. Like, let's eat out

edited once- "o" key is not working well

[fearfaoin]

Cynth, are you a chemist by any chance? You remind me of a
roommate of mine in college who was a Chemical Engineering
major. He hated cooking because he had to know the exact
measurements of everything.

"How much salt do I add?" he would ask me.
"Just a pinch," I'd say.
"How much is that in teaspoons?" would be the inevitable reply.

At that point, I'd feel like Dr. Cox in this rant from TV's Scrubs:
"Newbie, you paged me to ask the dosage for asperin? It's regular
asperin. You open the patient's mouth, grab a handfull of pills,
and fling them at her. Whatever gets in, that's the dosage!"

I feel we must revise your mantra, Cynth:
"Relax, it's just chili!"