First time cooking...

[iGas]

4 ingredients or less

 

[alfa147x]

I skipped to the bottom:

I'm in college and this is what I make:
Wraps, pasta, pizza, steak (cast iron), sandwiches, and tacos

Get the bagged / boxed greens they last longer and are less work

 

[nageov3t]

step 1: acquire meat
step 2: acquire fire
step 3: combine steps 1 and 2 until the meat has been cooked to a temperature where it will no longer kill you

congradulations, now you can cook.

alternatively, New Best Recipes is the greatest basic cookbook in all of existence and absolutely worth the $20. I've never made a single thing from the book and had it turn out badly.

 

[nerp]

Learn to saute, learn to broil, do not forget to season your food. The reason food tastes good at restaurants is because it is seasoned. (Unless you go to Olive Garden. )

 

[GuitarDaddy]

All you need to be a great cook is
1. Great ingredients (never skimp on quality or used preprepared crap if at all possible)
2. Great tools (1 great pan > a whole set of cheap crap) Never go cheap on grills, pots and pans, knives or utensils. Buy the good stuff and take care of it and it will last a lifetime
3. Knowledge/experience - weither you learn from cookbooks/recepies or a great cook in the family, pay attention to detail and practice, practice, practice, and practice some more

 

[disappoint]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_place

 

[nageov3t]

All you need to be a great cook is
1. Great ingredients (never skimp on quality or used preprepared crap if at all possible)
2. Great tools (1 great pan > a whole set of cheap crap) Never go cheap on grills, pots and pans, knives or utensils. Buy the good stuff and take care of it and it will last a lifetime
3. Knowledge/experience - weither you learn from cookbooks/recepies or a great cook in the family, pay attention to detail and practice, practice, practice, and practice some more

jeez, so all the OP needs to do to learn how to cook is know how to cook?

 

[TwinsenTacquito]

I think he said it pretty well. It's a lot of trying things out to find out what works.

Follow all the little details of recipes, even if they sound stupid. "Add slowly" means seriously, add slowly. A lot of cooking is just doing things with the right amount of heat and doing things in the right order. But in time, you'll do it without even thinking about it.

For breakfast today, fresh rolls from the bakery, and two burgers. I put in very finely diced onion and just a splash of worchester. I hadn't done it in forever, but typing about it made me want it. Oooo, they were good. It's rare to get anything that good in a restaurant.

Only use knives on a surface that they can cut into. Even touching the side of the edge of a blade with your finger will dull it. Use wood cutting boards, and clean the board when you're done. One great cutting board will last you many years. I'm only on my second one and I've cooked for a household of 3 of 10 years. If you wanna be quick and lazy, paper plates work too.

When you get better, you can try fun stuff like stir fry.

Look into crock pot recipes. Chop up some potatoes and carrots, wash off a beef roast, and put all 3 into a crock pot for a few hours. Yum.

 

[SLCentral]

Updated first post with first-time cooking results!

 

[SandEagle]

i guess i'm one of the lucky ones that has NEVER cooked a meal in my entire life. i have never touched raw fish, meat, chicken either. disgusting.

 

[nageov3t]

i guess i'm one of the lucky ones that has NEVER cooked a meal in my entire life. i have never touched raw fish, meat, chicken either. disgusting.

what do you do when you want to eat?

I'm not sure I'd call an inability to survive on your own "lucky"

 

[SandEagle]

what do you do when you want to eat?

I'm not sure I'd call an inability to survive on your own "lucky"

momz cooked for me up until i was about 30. wifey has been cookn for the last 10+ years. lulz. if she's away sometimes, i just order pizza. i dont even prepare ready-made-shit like mac/cheese or cheese/bread sammiches. fuck, i'm a lazy bastard it seems.

 

[Jesusthewererabbit]

Do like I did and get a job as a line cook. You will learn, or you will die.

 

[gophins72]

So I'm 20, just finished my sophomore year of college, and need to learn how to cook
....


UPDATE 1: So I cooked my first meal ever yesterday. Followed a recipe for breaded chicken parm and a blueberry crumbcake-like dessert. I also threw together a salad with a lemon vinagrette and mashed potatoes (not from scratch though, so it doesn't count).

if you find you are enjoying cooking maybe you should look into taking a cooking class, preferably one at the college with lots of single girls in it, that's something i wish i had done when i was in college

 

[TwinsenTacquito]

The difference between how you made your chicken parm and how restaurants do it is that they hammer out their chicken so it is flat and wide. And they use breasts instead of breast tenders. Just so you know.

I do it how you did it, as I'm not trying to impress anybody but my tongue.

 

[nerp]

i guess i'm one of the lucky ones that has NEVER cooked a meal in my entire life. i have never touched raw fish, meat, chicken either. disgusting.

You sound like a pussy. A frail, bland pussy.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Dude ... your in college ... get a foreman grill .... and just put meat on it, and when it looks done it's done .... all you need to do in college