Most common mistakes in cooking?

Not reading the part of the recipe which says to 'save the juice' or
the 'egg whites' or sumthin' for later use. They need to print this
in mile high letters.

On Nov 16, 11:45*am, Christine Dabney <artis...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:45:32 -0800, Mark Thorson <nos...@sonic.net>
> wrote:
>
> >Pits09 wrote:
>
> >> What are the most common mistakes in cooking among the experts here .
>
> >> Mine appears to be a bit heavy handed with the Garlic *and or chillis
> >> curry pepper pot *etc.
>
> >> Or - Undercooking veggies *when I steam them *(according to she who
> >> must be obeyed) *so now have to use two separate steamers *and start
> >> hers earlier.
>
> >Forgetting to put in an ingredient.
>
> Underseasoning, especially salt. *
>
> Not doing mise en place, which involves more than just setting out
> your ingredients. It also involves reading the whole recipe before you
> even start. * Then you won't get to the middle of it, and discover
> that you need such and such that you don't have, or that you should
> have done this step first, or that you should have started a day
> before. * *
>
> Christine
> --http://nightstirrings.blogspot.com

I have noted some of my fave recipes right down to which size and
number of bowls and other tools to get out, what to pull from the
fridge so I don't have to keep opening the door. Saves time and
frustration. I have completely rewritten some recipes for
streamlining and taped em in the book. I like to put the ingredients
in bold print, esp. in the text. If a recipe says to mix 'next 6
ingregients', I count and bracket them. Yes, my cookbooks are quite
marked up. I also have big notes like "start early in the day". The
'serves 6' notes I find are usually a laugh and cut that number in
half.

On Nov 16, 1:10*am, Pits09 <spamlis...@gmail.com> wrote:
> What are the most common mistakes in cooking among the experts here .
>
> Mine appears to be a bit heavy handed with the Garlic *and or chillis
> curry pepper pot *etc.
>
> Or - Undercooking veggies *when I steam them *(according to she who
> must be obeyed) *so now have to use two separate steamers *and start
> hers earlier.

Mostly using too much of my spices, I made up this great mixture of
spices that I can use on almost everything; sometimes I put a little
too much ..

Becca wrote:
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>> My most common mistake is losing focus while trying to cook too many
>> things at one time. If I am making a big company dinner, I have to
>> make a "game plan" so that I can remember what I'm supposed to be
>> doing at what time.
>
> Janet, I recently started having problems cooking several things at one
> time. When I was younger, I had no problems juggling it, now, I have
> problems cooking 2-3 things at the same time. It is hell getting old. lol

but, as my DH says, it's better than the alternative. <g>
--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

Janet wrote:

> Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>

I thought it was just me. What a comfort to know that I'm in good
company <vbg>

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

"Becca" <becca@hal-pc.org> wrote in message
news:7mbj7kF3e0egbU2@mid.individual.net...
> Pits09 wrote:
>> What are the most common mistakes in cooking among the experts here .
>>
>> Mine appears to be a bit heavy handed with the Garlic and or chillis
>> curry pepper pot etc.
>>
>> Or - Undercooking veggies when I steam them (according to she who
>> must be obeyed) so now have to use two separate steamers and start
>> hers earlier.
>
> Trying to cut back on the salt and not succeeding. :-( Salting at the
> table is really best.
>
>
> Becca

Regarding the salt - if you're not doing so use - put a jar of Kosher salt
by the stove & use it in place of table salt when cooking - the large grains
will take up more space and you'll end up using less salt.


--
Dimitri

Mirepoix

http://kitchenguide.wordpress.com.

Mark Thorson wrote:
> Pits09 wrote:
>
>> What are the most common mistakes in cooking among the experts here .
>>
>> Mine appears to be a bit heavy handed with the Garlic and or chillis
>> curry pepper pot etc.
>>
>> Or - Undercooking veggies when I steam them (according to she who
>> must be obeyed) so now have to use two separate steamers and start
>> hers earlier.
>>
>
> Forgetting to put in an ingredient.
>

Last Christmas I did that; I made date nut bread and I forgot to put in
the dates.


Becca

bulka wrote:
>
> On Nov 15, 7:57 pm, Arri London <biot...@ic.ac.uk> wrote:
> The other common mistake is just
> > not seasoning with any panache.
> >
>
> Panache. I had some in the herb garden, but it failed to thrive.

Try some slyphium/silphium instead

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:24:17 -0600, Becca <becca@hal-pc.org> wrote:

>Last Christmas I did that; I made date nut bread and I forgot to put in
>the dates.

LOL! You're a NUT.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:29:20 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:

> Janet wrote:
>
>> Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>
>
> I thought it was just me. What a comfort to know that I'm in good
> company <vbg>

i thought all you serious cooks had a laptop in the kitchen.

your pal,
blake

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:45:46 -0700, Christine Dabney wrote:
>
> Not doing mise en place, which involves more than just setting out
> your ingredients. It also involves reading the whole recipe before you
> even start. Then you won't get to the middle of it, and discover
> that you need such and such that you don't have, or that you should
> have done this step first, or that you should have started a day
> before.
>
> Christine

maybe i'm just simple, but i do that even with recipes i've made many
times.

your pal,
blake

In article
<2ba1b986-7d61-4532-a930-09b2524b962e@a21g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
Kalmia <tweeny90655@mypacks.net> wrote:

> On Nov 16, 10:51*am, "Janet" <boxh...@maine.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>
>
>
> I learned the hard way - now I don't leave the kitchen without setting
> a timer which will beep incessantly til I turn it off. There are also
> those little attach-to-the-belt timers which you maybe ought to get.

Using timers has improved my cooking a lot. I have two 3 channel
timers. I keep one in the kitchen and one next to my computer. <g>
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down."
--Steve Rothstein

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
recfoodrecipes@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: recfoodrecipes-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Omelet wrote:
> In article
> <2ba1b986-7d61-4532-a930-09b2524b962e@a21g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
> Kalmia <tweeny90655@mypacks.net> wrote:
>
>> On Nov 16, 10:51 am, "Janet" <boxh...@maine.rr.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>
>>
>> I learned the hard way - now I don't leave the kitchen without setting
>> a timer which will beep incessantly til I turn it off. There are also
>> those little attach-to-the-belt timers which you maybe ought to get.
>
> Using timers has improved my cooking a lot. I have two 3 channel
> timers. I keep one in the kitchen and one next to my computer. <g>

I use timers like that too--not necessarily because something
needs to be timed, but as a reminder that I need to do something
or other.

--
Jean B.

Jean B. wrote:
> Omelet wrote:
>> In article
>> <2ba1b986-7d61-4532-a930-09b2524b962e@a21g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
>> Kalmia <tweeny90655@mypacks.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On Nov 16, 10:51 am, "Janet" <boxh...@maine.rr.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>
>>>
>>> I learned the hard way - now I don't leave the kitchen without setting
>>> a timer which will beep incessantly til I turn it off. There are also
>>> those little attach-to-the-belt timers which you maybe ought to get.
>>
>> Using timers has improved my cooking a lot. I have two 3 channel
>> timers. I keep one in the kitchen and one next to my computer. <g>
>
> I use timers like that too--not necessarily because something needs to
> be timed, but as a reminder that I need to do something or other.
>


We are still enjoying the 4 item timer that I bought at Lee Valley last
year. It even has a little schematic on it that shows four burner icons
so you can set a timer for a specific burner..... though I have to
wonder if someone who needs that much help could manage to set the
appropriate timer.

Dave Smith wrote:
> Jean B. wrote:
>> Omelet wrote:
>>> In article
>>> <2ba1b986-7d61-4532-a930-09b2524b962e@a21g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
>>> Kalmia <tweeny90655@mypacks.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Nov 16, 10:51 am, "Janet" <boxh...@maine.rr.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>
>>>>
>>>> I learned the hard way - now I don't leave the kitchen without setting
>>>> a timer which will beep incessantly til I turn it off. There are also
>>>> those little attach-to-the-belt timers which you maybe ought to get.
>>>
>>> Using timers has improved my cooking a lot. I have two 3 channel
>>> timers. I keep one in the kitchen and one next to my computer. <g>
>>
>> I use timers like that too--not necessarily because something needs to
>> be timed, but as a reminder that I need to do something or other.
>>
>
>
> We are still enjoying the 4 item timer that I bought at Lee Valley last
> year. It even has a little schematic on it that shows four burner icons
> so you can set a timer for a specific burner..... though I have to
> wonder if someone who needs that much help could manage to set the
> appropriate timer.

LOL! And that does sound potentially useful.

--
Jean B.

blake murphy wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:29:20 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> Janet wrote:
>>
>>> Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>
>>
>> I thought it was just me. What a comfort to know that I'm in good
>> company <vbg>
>
> i thought all you serious cooks had a laptop in the kitchen.
>
> your pal,
> blake

I have a computer in the kitchen. That's the problem! <G>

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:55:22 -0500, Janet wrote:

> blake murphy wrote:
>> On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:29:20 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>
>>> Janet wrote:
>>>
>>>> Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>
>>>
>>> I thought it was just me. What a comfort to know that I'm in good
>>> company <vbg>
>>
>> i thought all you serious cooks had a laptop in the kitchen.
>>
>> your pal,
>> blake
>
> I have a computer in the kitchen. That's the problem! <G>

<snort>

maybe put the computer on the unused burners.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy wrote:
>
> On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:55:22 -0500, Janet wrote:
>
> > blake murphy wrote:
> >> On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:29:20 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
> >>
> >>> Janet wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Burning things when I drift off to the computer while cooking. <G>
> >>>
> >>> I thought it was just me. What a comfort to know that I'm in good
> >>> company <vbg>
> >>
> >> i thought all you serious cooks had a laptop in the kitchen.
> >>
> >> your pal,
> >> blake
> >
> > I have a computer in the kitchen. That's the problem! <G>
>
> <snort>
>
> maybe put the computer on the unused burners.
>
> your pal,
> blake

Given how dirty the counters and cooker can get after a cooking session,
having a computer (or a TV) in the kitchen seems really wrong. Who wants
to keep wiping those things down.

Arri London wrote:

> Given how dirty the counters and cooker can get after a cooking session,
> having a computer (or a TV) in the kitchen seems really wrong. Who wants
> to keep wiping those things down.

<shrug> My kitchen counter with the bar stool is at the end and all the
messy stuff takes place on other areas and counters. I love having my
laptop here at close reach while cooking and hanging out.

Pits09;1404340 Wrote:
> What are the most common mistakes in cooking among the experts here .
>
> Mine appears to be a bit heavy handed with the Garlic and or chillis
> curry pepper pot etc.
>
> Or - Undercooking veggies when I steam them (according to she who
> must be obeyed) so now have to use two separate steamers and start
> hers earlier.

I think a pretty common mistake that most people probably don't realize
they make is they overcrowd the pan when sauteeing, and end up boiling
or steaming rather than getting a true sautee.




--
golfstar2006