I cant cook. Everytime I try, it comes out bland. I cant stand it anymore. Any tips for a complete moron such as myself...

I cant cook. Everytime I try, it comes out bland. I cant stand it anymore. Any tips for a complete moron such as myself? What are the most basic recipes I should start with, any advice, stories of past failures?

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extension.udel.edu/factsheets/herbs-spices-what-goes-with-what-food/
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What do you like to eat?

There's probably some easy recipes anons could recommend.

Fried rice is pretty good, and pretty easy too. Try making summa dat.

Use salt retard.

I like pretty basic stuff i think, white rice, beans, fried chicken, braised chicken, grilled chicken. I enjoy my steaks medium rare, and i really enjoy pork shoulder. Spaghetti and meatballs is pretty great.

Im not a foodie or anything so i cant give a straight forward answer like " i like italian cuisine", sorry

Yea got similar advice earlier, ill look into fried rice, since i do like the texture better than the mushy white rice i always end up making.

extension.udel.edu/factsheets/herbs-spices-what-goes-with-what-food/

You're probably underseasoning your food.

nigga, all you need to do is put some raw prime meat and 2 hearty radishs in a cooking pot and boom you will have a delicious and very nutritious meal.

This. If you're used to eating restaurant or convenience food it can be shocking how much salt is in that shit, and that's part of why it tastes good. If your home cooking is bland you're probably under salting everything. You don't have to go to restaurant or convenience food levels, but a heavier hand with the salt and pepper is sometimes enough to turn bland home cooking into something delicious. And a basic understanding of herbs and spices goes a long way as well.

Just add a bigger dose of your spices each time you repeat a recipe, until it doesn't taste as good as the last time. This obviously includes salt and pepper.

Thats good advice, ill remember it

only follow this advice if you enjoy hypertension

there's a reason why restaurant food is bad for you, and that reason is 1550mg sodium/serving

>inb4 I'm immortal nigger

What im getting from you all is that I need to find the right balance when it comes to seasoning. Too much and its either inedible or even if it tastes good i run the risk of health effects later on in life.

Over seasoning is a worry of mine, and underseasoning is something i do all the time. I need way more practice b it then i worry about messing up and throwing away food.

Like others have mentioned, seasoning, especially salt, is important.

But beyond that you need to learn that a lot of the flavor in your food comes from technique. It's not just about what spices you add.

Here's a basic example: when you cook a steak, pork chop, hamburger, or piece of chicken--whether that's in a pan, the oven, a grill, whatever--you need to make sure you brown it, not merely cook it to the correct internal temperature for safety. Browning = malliard reaction = flavor. If you were to pan-fry a chop or a piece of chicken and it's pale in color it will taste of nothing. If you get a good sear on it and some golden-brown color then it will taste much better, even with zero spices.

A good way to learn is to watch pros on youtube. Don't just listen to the words of the recipe, pay attention to the details. What does it sound like when they put the meat in the hot pan? Notice the sizzle? What do the ingredients look like color-wise and texture-wise when they flip or add other ingredients. Those details might seem minor but they can be very important.

You can't cook because you don't try things outside of your cooking comfort zone.

The best advice i could give you is to take a cooking course, cooking lesson. With actual people. Outside. It helps tremendously. Youtube can't compete.

Those who can't do, teach.

>ever paying for a cooking course in 2017 unless you're expressly using it as a springboard to working in the industry

Good points, and the browning of the meat can also help you know if the heat is too high, yea? If it browns too quickly and the inside isnt done, ive made a mistake.

This is true, i dont really try anything besides cooking rice and either chicken breast or pork chops. Dunno if I can afford any sort of classes but maybe theres something free i could check out.

I think a combination of youtube and watching people irl will help me out significantly.

>and the browning of the meat can also help you know if the heat is too high, yea? If it browns too quickly and the inside isnt done, ive made a mistake.

Yes, that's true.

This is a good tip:
When you put your meat into the pan it should sizzle the instant it hits the pan. If it doesn't sizzle the pan isn't hot enough. Take the meat out and let the pan heat up some more.
You should hear that sizzling sound constantly. If you don't, the heat is too low. OTOH, if it starts smoking or burning then the heat is too high. Use those two points to control your temperature. You want it hot enough to sizzle, but not so hot that it smokes.
Once you have a good sear on both sides of your chicken/chop/steak/whatever, then you can lower the heat (if needed) to finish cooking through. For thin pieces of meat it should be done after searing ~2 min each side. For thicker pieces it will need more cooking on a lower heat to get it cooked properly in the middle.

Basic stuff?
Go to a restaurant/non chain fast food place and order their signature dish

Then go home and try and remake it

I did this with Currywurst, and while it's a very basic recipe, it reignited my passion for cooking since i make a near identical tasting sauce (but better since it wasn't so sweet)

>homemade currywurst

Yeah, but did you make the sausage? Anyone can make a stupid ketchup/currypowder sauce.

I can give that a try, do you, or anyone else here, think the fact that im trying to cook for 5 people is what is making cooking harder for me?

I would assume cooking for 1 or 2 people is a lot easier than 5.

It's just larger portions, user. It's not any different procedure-wise. It might be more work since there are more veggies to peel/chop, more meat to cut up, etc. But it's certainly not any more difficult.

>pic
Bottom left, that sausage is a funny color on the last 2 inches. SPOILED?

Lel, no. That's the first part of the bratwurst I pushed through after the italian. That's why I tied it off there. I keep my meat very cold when making sausage. I just made 3 types that day.

Ah ok, yea i get ya. I was just wondering if it was something to consider.