Disclaimer: I suck at cooking

Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
out this knife and a few techniques.

alan wrote:
> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> out this knife and a few techniques.


Stir-Fry. This isn't a recipe with exact amounts, just something to
give you the general idea. You need some of the following vegetables:

onion
carrot
snow peas
cabbage
zucchini.


Really nearly any vegetable can be stir-fried. Prep everything with
appropriate peeling and chopping. Then stir-fry over high heat until
the vegetables start to let out a bit of moisture but keep their crunch.


When they're done, throw in a sauce of vinegar, ginger, mustard, soy
sauce with a little corn starch stirred in.


--Lia

alan wrote:

> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> out this knife and a few techniques.

Learn to stir fry. Everything needs to be chopped up into small pieces so
they cook quickly. Get yourself a decent wok and have some chicken stock,
soya sauce , and some cornstarch (to be mixed with cold water to thicken
sauces). Get the wok nice and hot and start tossing the ingredients in,
hardest things first, move them around a lot and watch for the colours to
intensify to signal that they are almost done then push them to the sides
and toss in the next softer ingredients. When it's just about done, pour in
some chicken stock and the cornstarch mixed with cold water, stir it around
till it thickens then toss everything together. For variations, get some
peppers, garlic, ginger, hoisin sauce, fish sauce. Experiment.

alan wrote:

> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> out this knife and a few techniques.

Learn to stir fry. Everything needs to be chopped up into small pieces so
they cook quickly. Get yourself a decent wok and have some chicken stock,
soya sauce , and some cornstarch (to be mixed with cold water to thicken
sauces). Get the wok nice and hot and start tossing the ingredients in,
hardest things first, move them around a lot and watch for the colours to
intensify to signal that they are almost done then push them to the sides
and toss in the next softer ingredients. When it's just about done, pour in
some chicken stock and the cornstarch mixed with cold water, stir it around
till it thickens then toss everything together. For variations, get some
peppers, garlic, ginger, hoisin sauce, fish sauce. Experiment.

In article >,
alan > wrote:

> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> out this knife and a few techniques.

Any cole slaw recipe would fit that description.

In article >,
alan > wrote:

> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> out this knife and a few techniques.

Any cole slaw recipe would fit that description.

In article >,
Shawn Hearn > wrote:

> In article >,
> alan > wrote:
>
> > Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
> >
> > Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> > recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> > out this knife and a few techniques.
>
> Any cole slaw recipe would fit that description.

So would stir fry. :-)

K.

In article >,
Shawn Hearn > wrote:

> In article >,
> alan > wrote:
>
> > Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
> >
> > Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> > recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> > out this knife and a few techniques.
>
> Any cole slaw recipe would fit that description.

So would stir fry. :-)

K.

"alan" > wrote in message
...
> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple recipe
> that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try out this
> knife and a few techniques.

Like all the rest: Stir Fry. Just make all the pieces the same size.

"alan" > wrote in message
...
> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple recipe
> that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try out this
> knife and a few techniques.

Like all the rest: Stir Fry. Just make all the pieces the same size.

alan wrote:
> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> out this knife and a few techniques.

http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/turducken.html

Oh, wait, you said simple. Well, now you have a goal to work up to.
;-)

BOB

alan wrote:
> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
>
> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> out this knife and a few techniques.

http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/turducken.html

Oh, wait, you said simple. Well, now you have a goal to work up to.
;-)

BOB

In article >,
" BOB" > wrote:

> alan wrote:
> > Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
> >
> > Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> > recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> > out this knife and a few techniques.
>
> http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/turducken.html
>
> Oh, wait, you said simple. Well, now you have a goal to work up to.
> ;-)
>
> BOB
>
>

You are evil... <snicker>

Damn that looks good!!!

I have deboned chickens before when I got ambitious to make sort of a
chicken roast, (and have loved the results!) but have only deboned
turkeys in pieces for later small meals. Grilled boneless turkey thighs
are wonderful, and I've cut up the breasts to make stir fry meat. There
are just the two of us now that my sister has moved to Arizona, so there
is no point in cooking an entire turkey anymore. <sigh>

I still take advantage of the turkey sales tho' around the holidays, but
I cut them up instead of leaving them whole.

It's actually taken some time to get used to just cooking for two. :-o

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

In article >,
" BOB" > wrote:

> alan wrote:
> > Disclaimer: I suck at cooking
> >
> > Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple
> > recipe that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try
> > out this knife and a few techniques.
>
> http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/turducken.html
>
> Oh, wait, you said simple. Well, now you have a goal to work up to.
> ;-)
>
> BOB
>
>

You are evil... <snicker>

Damn that looks good!!!

I have deboned chickens before when I got ambitious to make sort of a
chicken roast, (and have loved the results!) but have only deboned
turkeys in pieces for later small meals. Grilled boneless turkey thighs
are wonderful, and I've cut up the breasts to make stir fry meat. There
are just the two of us now that my sister has moved to Arizona, so there
is no point in cooking an entire turkey anymore. <sigh>

I still take advantage of the turkey sales tho' around the holidays, but
I cut them up instead of leaving them whole.

It's actually taken some time to get used to just cooking for two. :-o

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 19:29:20 -0800, alan wrote:
> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking

But you want to wield a KNIFE?

Chant this mantra as you're chopping:
Fingers curled under, thumb behind.

> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple recipe
> that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try out this
> knife and a few techniques.

Jambalaya. Dice onion, green pepper, and celery (2:2:1, or whatever ratio
you prefer). Slice enough sausage, as spicy as you'll like it. Cut enough
chicken (thighs, preferably) in bitesized chunks (or leave them whole,
your choice, It's mildly easier to serve chunked, more fun to eat whole).

Brown the sausage. Reserve.
Brown the chicken in the sausage fat. Reserve.

At this point, I deviate from classic recipe by adding oil to make up
1/4 C and 1/4 flour to the fat to make a dark brown roux. Louisiana roux
really isn't the sort of thing a beginner should tackle yet, so don't.

Fry the vegetables in the fat until they're at least limp, and as much
softer as appeals to you.

Combine chicken, sausage and vegetables in a sufficiently large pot,
with 3/4 C stock per peson to be served (rounded up, if easier). Bring
to boil, stir in half as much rice as you did stock. Add about 1/4
teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (more to
taste) per cup of rice. Return to boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 to 30
minutes, stirring after 10 minutes to redistribute the yummy stuff.

The recipe is simple, tasty, involves a lot of simple prep, and It's
nigh on impossible to get wrong.

If I were you, I'd check a few jambalaya recipes for proportions
before I dug in, but being me, I've never bothered.

Martin
--
Martin Golding | Chop fast, bleed slow,
DoD #236 DBS #1 MAB #2 UB #3 SMTC #3 KotLQ KotSM | and have another beer.
Vancouver, WA

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 19:29:20 -0800, alan wrote:
> Disclaimer: I suck at cooking

But you want to wield a KNIFE?

Chant this mantra as you're chopping:
Fingers curled under, thumb behind.

> Just got a Chef's knife, and so I'm looking for a relatively simple recipe
> that involves doing a lot of chopping, slicing, etc. so I can try out this
> knife and a few techniques.

Jambalaya. Dice onion, green pepper, and celery (2:2:1, or whatever ratio
you prefer). Slice enough sausage, as spicy as you'll like it. Cut enough
chicken (thighs, preferably) in bitesized chunks (or leave them whole,
your choice, It's mildly easier to serve chunked, more fun to eat whole).

Brown the sausage. Reserve.
Brown the chicken in the sausage fat. Reserve.

At this point, I deviate from classic recipe by adding oil to make up
1/4 C and 1/4 flour to the fat to make a dark brown roux. Louisiana roux
really isn't the sort of thing a beginner should tackle yet, so don't.

Fry the vegetables in the fat until they're at least limp, and as much
softer as appeals to you.

Combine chicken, sausage and vegetables in a sufficiently large pot,
with 3/4 C stock per peson to be served (rounded up, if easier). Bring
to boil, stir in half as much rice as you did stock. Add about 1/4
teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (more to
taste) per cup of rice. Return to boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 to 30
minutes, stirring after 10 minutes to redistribute the yummy stuff.

The recipe is simple, tasty, involves a lot of simple prep, and It's
nigh on impossible to get wrong.

If I were you, I'd check a few jambalaya recipes for proportions
before I dug in, but being me, I've never bothered.

Martin
--
Martin Golding | Chop fast, bleed slow,
DoD #236 DBS #1 MAB #2 UB #3 SMTC #3 KotLQ KotSM | and have another beer.
Vancouver, WA