Cook Career Guide and Counseling

Question: Cook???????? Do any of you watch or know Rachel Ray or any pro chefs? Do you like to cook? Do you like to watch Food Network? Do you like The Next Food Network Star? What are some of your favorite things to cook? Oh yeah and how do you change how many questions you can ask per day? What do you guys like to do? How old are you all? do you have websites? Where do you guys live? Im sooooo bored!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer: Thats 10 questions in one. e 1. No, I dont like pro-chefs 2. I love to cook 3. I don't watch TV 4. " " 5. I like to cook cereal. 6-10.....That's a bit too personal.

Question: Cooking utensils or method that we can use to cook without/less oil? I've watched a tv programme(Spore) some years ago....The couple shows how to cook food by using only the fat from the meat. Is it b'cos of the cooking utensils or the method that allows cooking without adding oil? Any idea who is the cook also?

Answer: You only need to use oil if you are frying or sauteing meat (chicken, pork or red meat). If you use a grill pan, you do not add oil. You would just season or marinate the meat- red meat, pork or chicken before cooking. Even seasoning with just salt and pepper is good. The key is to not over cook the meat, then it is nice and juicy. You also do not use oil if you roast or broil meats in the oven. Cooking spray is another way to cut down on the use of oil. Before cooking any meat on the stove top, you always must make sure your pan is hot enough. Pans should be preheated on medium-high to high heat. Once you can sprinkle it with water and the droplets dance and sizzle, then it is ready.

Question: How to cook good, soft,fully cooked chapatis on a coil gas? I recently came to USA where V have coil gases mostly instead of the normal flame gas in India. I face a lot of problem while cooking chapatis as I cannot understand how to make them soft & nicely cooked on the coil gas. I do have a TAWA but still the chapatis either remain half cooked from some places or they get overcooked n hard. I cant figure out how long to keep it on the gas. Also if i cook it with the same method as i did in India to get good, soft n fully cooked chapatis, i always fail. Please suggest what i can do.

Answer: It sounds like you need to replace your tawa with a solid, heavy-duty cast iron griddle, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Logic-Pre-Se… As you've discovered, electric stoves don't heat pans consistently. The good thing about a heavy cast iron pan is that it'll absorb heat & distribute it evenly. Next time you want to make chapatis, put your cast iron griddle on the stove & start heating it (at your normal chapati-cooking temperature) before you start rolling out the dough. Once you have all your chapatis rolled out, check to make sure the griddle is hot enough...if so, you should be able to cook them with no problems. Just make sure you never wash your cast iron griddle with soap & water...just rub it clean with a paper towel & let it cool. If you have stubborn, stuck-on food, pour some kosher salt on the griddle & then rub it clean with a paper towel. Good luck!

Question: What can i cook for my boyfriends birthday? Im an ok cook, and im pretty sure I could cook a few things if i were following recipes, My boyfriend has asked me to cook a meal for me and him for his 22nd birthday, and I agreed. The problem is, i have a month to decide what to cook and i want to do a practice run just so i know it tastes good. this is the first time i will have cooked properly for him. I want to do a starter and a main meal, no desert. He likes most things chicken, an example of a meal he likes is chicken wrapped in bacon with cheese melted on it, or just different spicy sauces with chicken. but i dont know what to put on the side of these meals. He isnt too experimental with different veggies. I have no idea what starter to make, but i dont want to just buy meals and cook them, i want to actually make them for him. Any ideas would be great. thanks guys!

Answer: Starter. Bacon Wrap Arounds. Mix together 6 ozs minced cold cooked meat. 4 ozs cottage cheese. 1/2 stuffing mix. 1 medium finely chopped onion. Salt and pepper. 1/2 chopped red Bell pepper. 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley. Spread the mixture on the strips of bacon and secure with a cocktail stick. Place on a greased oven tray and bake for 20 minutes at 180C (350F) Main Chicken Kebabs. 4 Chicken Breasts. 2T Soy Sauce. 2T Dry White Wine. 1 Clove Garlic Crushed. 1t Fresh Grated Ginger. Chop chicken into 2cm (¾�) cubes. Mix in a bowl with soy, wine garlic and ginger and marinade for 1-2 hours. Prepare vegetables for kebabs. Mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers (bell), onions, pineapple, baby corn. Thread onto skewers and cook on the grill. Sides Mashed potatoes and mash carrots and parsnips together with plenty off cracked black pepper.

Question: How do you cook bacon and sausage in the microwave without it exploding? I want to cook a big breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, mushroom, tomato but want to cook it quickly. I had heard you can cook sausages in the microwave as well as bacon but im afraid it might explode if I cook it, particularly the sausage. Plus if you microwave it wont it stay pink and not turn brown? It might be cooked but look very unappertising

Answer: I personally would cook it like this: get a nice big cast iron skillet, cook off the bacon and sausages and hold them in a warm oven, then pour off the grease into a heatproof container, and use some of it to cook your scrambled eggs! As for microwaving....Ew. I suppose you *could* cook your meat in a microwave, but kiss any browning (i.e. flavor) you'd get from pan-cooking goodbye. Just yuck. If you *must* mic it and you don't want your sausage to explode, make sure you prick some holes in the casing, but you can still expect both the bacon and sausage to spatter fat all over the inside of your microwave during the cooking process. My mother used to cook such things in a bowl with a piece of paper towel laid across the top - this absorbed most of the flying grease. Don't expect it to taste very good, though. Due to the nature of microwave cooking, it'll be more steamed than fried.

Question: How come when I cook chicken the bread crumbs burn but the chicken doesn't cook enough? I am cooking a recipe from Betty Crocker, the Ranch Chicken, and when I cook it on Medium-High heat, the (store bought) bread crumbs burn but the chicken isn't cooked through. Being a *really* novice cook, I'm freaking out because the crumbs are black, but the chicken inside isn't cooked at all! What gives? What am I doing wrong? Do I need to flatten the chicken?

Answer: well, your burner may cook too hot, each ranges 'medium high' cooks a little differently. Try cooking med or med low, you can cook the meat then turn it up to brown, just keep an eye on it. The thing about cooking, it's trial and error, keep it going you'll get the hang of it, happy cooking :-)

Question: What to cook for a guy that is a full time cook, by a girl that can't cook at all? So my boyfriend is an amazing cook and he's too good to me. Our first date he cooked for me and it was amazing. He works way too much at a local resturant and never wants to come home and cook cause he has to cook all day long. I really want to cook him a great dinner but I have a cooking handicap. I don't know how to cook! Please I need pointers or great, easy recipes. He cooks pretty gormet italian so he's amazing and I don't want him to fiercly critque me. Help!!!

Answer: i am a cook too ... honestly, i just appreciate the fact that someone else is cooking, let alone trying to make an extra effort just for me . anyone can cook.. it just takes time and preperation. keep it simple i say. fajitas are a good choice....simple..colorful, fast and of course delicious! warm tortillas just before serving.. nuke if you like saute ( fry) strips of beef or chicken until browned and simmer in "fajita seasoning" until cooked through shred cheese/lettuce , saute mushrooms/onions/and peppers strips until tendercrisp. arrange on a nice platter.. and bowl some salsa and sour cream on the side. you can make your own and customise what you want on them . it makes the meal fun and interactive. for dessert.... roll a tortilla ( ends tucked in .careful not to overfill) filled with cherry or apple pie filling...and bake till golden brown.. and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. very simple, yummy and the meal is not just food... but entertainment !

Question: How do I cook thick pieces of meat without burning the outside? Whenever I try to cook a thick chicken breast or sausage, I end up burning the outside and not cooking the inside through. What am I doing wrong? I would try cooking with a lower flame (my stove is gas), but I want to make sure that I cook at a high enough temperature so as to kill all the bacteria. Furthermore, I cook a lot with the George Foreman grill where you can't regulate heat or anything. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Answer: You actually run more risk by eating the undercooked center than by cooking at low temperatures. The way that I cook chicken on a stove is by first cooking it at a high temperature to brown the outside, about 5 minutes a side, and then reducing the temperature and covering it and cooking it for about 15 minutes to ensure the inside is cooked completely. Before removing from the heat I usually check the fattest section and ensure that it is still not pink in the middle. The temperature required for killing the bacteria is not necessarily that high, but time has a lot to do with it. I work in the biotech industry. To sterilize things we only reach a temperature of 250 F, but have to keep it at this temperature for 30 minutes. The same does not exactly apply to foods, but you get the idea about how time is a factor not always high heat. For sausages I do it the opposite way from chicken when frying. I first put the sausage in a boiling bath of water and cook thoroughly (again testing the center to ensure it is cooked through). Then I brown them in oil at high temperature. I do not have a foreman grill. But I have found a link that has recommended cooking times using one. http://www.grillmeats.com/foreman_grill.… Generally if I am unsure about how long to cook something, I check out epicurious.com for cooking times. Personally I prefer to cook chicken in the oven, since it is more straightforward, less messy, and healthier than frying. Use a little wine, chicken broth, or water for the slow cooking piece.

Question: Best way to cook a steak with no grill? I really want to make a strip steak tonight, but I have never made it without a grill before. I was going to try to cook it in a pan on the stove, but I don't know exactly how to do that. I could really appreciate some tips, like how long to cook it, if I cook it in oil, if I marinate it and what tempature to cook it at. (I like it medium/ medium-rare) Is there a better way to cook it? Thanks, I really appreciate the answers!

Answer: Season steak as you normally would. Set your oven to 350. Heat a skillet over med high to high heat until it gets really hot. Put the steak on for 1-2 minutes on each side to sear in the juices. Then, put the steak in the oven until desired doneness. The searing process keeps the juices in so when you bake it, it doesn't dry out.

Question: Can you cook shrimp and chicken together or do you need to cook them separate and mix afterwards? If so, do you cook the chicken first and then add the shrimp? How long do you cook each of these meats for anyway (the chicken is sliced VERY thin)? And just how long does fresh shrimp keep in the fridge? How long do these items keep AFTER you've cooked them?

Answer: If you are cooking this for yourself and not for a group, you can cook the chicken and then add the shrimp after the chicken has cooked for a few minutes. If the chicken is very thin, and you don't specify how thin it is, cook it until the pink is gone. Some chefs won't brown chicken chunks, if adding to a dish like chicken fetachini. Parboiled chicken can be finished in under five minutes. For the shrimp, watch for the color change, also under five minutes. So you will want to stay on watch at the stove while cooking these. Sautee'ing is the way I would do it. If you are cooking this for a group and are unsure if everyone is able to eat shrimp, keep them separated, from storage to prep to cooking. Some people have a very strong allergic reaction to shellfish. If kept on ice, in the coldest part of the cooler, the shrimp would be good for about three days, but I'd cook them before that time to get the maximum flavor and quality. After cooking, about two days, covered in the cooler and they would need to be tossed out.