Cooking Goals for 2004

[chow guy]

I would like to learn some delicious low carb alternatives to help keep me on my weight loss quest in aught four.

[joiei]

have a ricecooker ( a gift) sits unused.

i live alone, instant rice is easier.

I love the rice cooker, perfect rice every time, no fuss and you can add flavors that instant might not allow. Besides, instant rice?? Why bother. Good rice is a delightful thing.

[KatieLoeb]

I would like to learn some delicious low carb alternatives to help keep me on my weight loss quest in aught four.

I'd also like to put some time and effort into making all of my food more heathful without sacrificing flavor or texture. I mean, it's easy to throw in six sticks of butter to thicken my sauce, but maybe I don't need to.

I'm right there with you two. I need to shop, cook and eat more healthfully. I've just started South Beach Diet and it's a real education and lifestyle change. Hopefully I can learn to eat well and lose a few pounds, lower my cholesterol, and avoid the family penchant for diabetes in later years as well. Right now I'm having a big field greens salad with a large piece of grilled salmon on top for dinner. Pretty good stuff and satisfying too. Last night I had the other half of this salmon filet with some store bought olive tapenade on top and a big stack of steamed asparagus. Also delicious. I need to stop picking at French Fries (tough when I walk through a restaurant kitchen about 40 times per day ) and condition myself to make large pots of vegetable based dishes (cauldrons of Ratatouille, anyone?) to snack on or use as omelet fillings or whatever. I know what I'm supposed to do, I just can't seem to DO it!

[Schielke]

Do more.

[Marlene]

My goal is to be able to consistently roll out pie/tart dough in one nice round disc. Try as I might, I can't seem to manage it.

I'd like to be able to do this too

My other goals include:

making ceasar salad dressing right in the bowl, instead of using my hand mixer

make a souffle. I've never tried

when my son asks at bedtime "what's for dinner tomorrow" be able to answer him with "dinner will be ........" instead of "I don't know, I haven't got that far yet"

Try serving my guests something other than Prime Rib every time

[Kim WB]

Pasta. dammit, I'm making noodles! I've tried, with glompy less than Babbo-like results..the dried Ronzoni would have been better. I know it takes time, and practice, and I got really impatient, stored the pasta attachment to the kitchenaid in the basement pantry...but I need to perservere.

[jrufusj]

Homemade baby food.

I'm with you here. We've got a new baby on the way. We were living in Washington, DC, when number one arrived five years ago and did do about 95% homemade baby food. It was surprisingly easy.

We would steam veggies or stew fruit in large quantities, then puree it and freeze it in ice cube trays. These then went into ziploc bags. Having small portions made ahead for a week or so at a time meant that this could be an easy Satruday or Sunday afternoon job that fit neatly into the weekend routine. We also would grind raw rice in a coffee grinder and store it to make a quick, fresh rice porridge.

I am moving to Tokyo next month, where I can only imagine prepared baby food prices are insane, so this will become important not only for health and flavor reasons, but also for economic ones.

Good luck,

Jim

Edited to correct misleading typo.

Edited January 8, 2004 by jrufusj (log)

[Busboy]

Integrate the strange and wondeful ingredients from the four bodegas and two Vietnamese groceries within walking distance into my repertoire, both by cooking more "pure" Latin and Asian dishes, and by integrating them into my standard French/New American stuff. Onglet with tamarind sauce and black beans, anyone?

[laurel]

A few things

1. My cooking is very random and focused on doing simple things with whatever ingredients I happen to have or happen to look good. I'd like to pay more attention to techniques and traditional flavor combinations.

2. Get the basic equipment and setup for making hard and aged cheese (like a press, and a mini-fridge to maintain something approximating 50 deg for aging).

3 .Get better at timing and doing things efficiently so I don't have to come home early from work to cook for guests (or make them sit and wait for too long).

4. Find out why people stop accepting my dinner invitations after two or three times and fix it

[JPW]

Instant rice is easier than a rice maker? You gotta be kidding me. Add rice, add water, and (to plagerize from Ron Pompeil) Set it and forget it!

My personal goal is to work on my sauce making. Tied in with that is overall presentation. Step 1 for my sauce making goal is to actually get around to making all of those stocks that I promise I'm going to do everytime I roast a bird.

[marie-louise]

How are you all doing?

[fifi]

Hello Dr. Phil. I have to admit that I haven't done diddly to advance my knowledge of Indian cuisine. Funny that this just came up yeaterday in a conversation with a friend of mine. I will now really do a search for that book.

edit to add: I will also visit the eGCI course.

[binkyboots]

well trancribed from my diary here are my 2004 kitchen goals...

1, become better at working with pastry, bake more tarts/pies

2, bake 95% of the bread we eat at home

3, more veg, more learning about veggies.

4, find a baking course at my local college

so far so good

since new year I've baked five tarts (two lemon/almond, one lemon meringue, one apple, one custard)

I've only bought two bread products, I'm baking almost all our bread at home now.

soup, more variety, more salads, roasted veg... I'm definately starting to work on resolution #3

*sigh* have not as yet found a course I want to do...

[marie-louise]

The year is young-there is lots of time to meet any and all goals. Besides, spring is a great time to start cooking more! A change of season always inspires me to cook the things I haven't had since last year.

My 2004 goal is to pay more attention to how I am planning my menus. I want to be more mindful of how the items on a plate, and the courses, compliment or clash with each other. I have done it some, although I've been busy–and sick–the past few months; not a good combination for planning multi-course meals, or even caring much about what you are eating. (But I'm well now, and life has calmed down-at least for the moment-so I'm raring to go.)

I'm going to order Culinary Artistry today; I think that will help guide my thinking.

Edited March 15, 2004 by marie-louise (log)

[chow guy]

This is the year I am going to do some major preserving of the ample fruit I am blessed with from my garden. I will recover much needed real estate by throwing out all those items that have not been used in years, that are taking up valuable space. I am also going to srping for a whole new lighting design in my kitchen. One that does not cast giant shadows on my work areas.

[sequim]

I'm late to this New Year's resolution thread, however, I want to join as I always like resolutions....

1. Learn to make good pie as I love pie. Currently have to rely on my mother for pie. I'd like a whole pie to eat. I have also had pastry dough issues in the past that I need to work out...

2. Learn more about pairing wine with food and learn more about other wines like Italian and French as I'm overly Washington/California/Australian-centric.

3. Start using tools I have but haven't touched yet, ie ravioli cutter/crimper, ice cream machine, Le Creuset dutch oven. This week I began using the pasta maker I got for Christmas and I used the dutch oven a couple times. So I have had progress on this resolution.

4. Now that I've followed Fat Guy's stock making class, I need to start making stock and freezing it.

5. Get a new dishwasher so I can actually hear the television or radio while the dishwasher is on.

6. As always, try new things.

[marie-louise]

How are you all doing?

[gus_tatory]

thanks for bumping up the thread, marie-louise. although now this'll be something i want to do in 2005:

i want to make from scratch perfect croissants. this seems ambitious enough.

Edited October 17, 2004 by gus_tatory (log)

[fifi]

Hello Dr. Phil. I have to admit that I haven't done diddly to advance my knowledge of Indian cuisine. Funny that this just came up yesterday in a conversation with a friend of mine. I will now really do a search for that book.

edit to add: I will also visit the eGCI course.

←

Uh... Back to Dr. Phil. I still haven't done diddly. But, I have been to a couple of good Indian restaurants for lunch. Does that count?

Oh well... There is always 2005.

[Ms Neato]

*blush*

I want to figure out poaching eggs.

(I've only tried twice-ish; and I suspect the major impediment to my poaching joy is not using eggs that are fresh enough, which is an easy enough thing to fix)

[fifi]

Here ya go, Ms Neato... eGCI course on poached eggs

No more excuses.

(Ooops... That is another thing I was going to try this year. )

[cherrypi]

I can always use more money for cookbooks, good booze and organic produce...so I’ve quit smoking (after nearly 25 years). 

I will not walk past the unfamiliar-looking veggies in Chinatown.

I will keep my knives razor-sharp.

←

Well...

I don't buy my own smokes anymore, but I find myself mooching off any friend who hasn't quit smoking yet.

I'm now buying more organic meat, and starting to cook more Asian greens.

Keeping my knives sharp continues to pose a challenge. Yeah, I've read the very thorough and informative eCGI course on knife maintenance and sharpening, but the embarrassing fact is that I can't handle the sounds associated with knife maintenance, be it a steel, electric sharpener, or even a waterstone. I become physically ill. I've found a very good store for knife-sharpening, but it takes a week to get the knives back. What a pain.

[marie-louise]

As promised, I'm bring this one back to the top. How did you do?