topic Re: Plain cooking! in Kitchen

Plain cooking!

J Town Girl — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 05:17:18 GMT

I enjoy watching many of the food shows on the Food Network but I have to say that I do not cook that way. I cook the way my Mother did, and although we lived near Amish country, we were not Amish. My mother just made simple yet nourishing meals. Very reminiscent of the way the Amish cooked.

When I watch these shows, I am always surprised by both the complicated effort and the amount of ingredients that these recipes entail. They just don't appeal to me. Neither my husband or I enjoy foods that are highly spiced. I cook for our palates.

Am I behind the times by not trying to broaden our tastes? I cook healthy meals with the ingredients and flavors we enjoy. My husband is not fussy at all.

Are there others out there like me who prefer a simpler way of life?

I don't have a huge cupboard full of spices and herbs. Roasted chicken is our favorite meal. And neither my husband or I mind having it at least once a week.

I hope I'm not alone here!

Re: Plain cooking!

DiAnne — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 05:32:36 GMT

My mother was not the greatest cook but I grew up in Southern California and we ate out at restaurants a lot. We ate plenty of different ethnic food (Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Mexican, French, etc). I think you are missing some delicious food. I took a Morrocan cooking class a couple week ago. I enjoy trying new flavors and tastes. I really do not care for bland food. I enjoy spicy food but not hot food. Everybody is different. I am sure there are many people that agree with you.

Re: Plain cooking!

house cat — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 05:36:20 GMT

I've never enjoyed complicated recipes. My favorites are wholesome meals with simple ingredients. I have a pretty good "arsenal" of dried spices on hand, but I use them rarely. I'm mostly a salt and pepper cook.
If I'm considering a recipe and I have to buy more than two ingredients that I don't have in my pantry, I'll likely pass it up.

I also avoid using the microwave or other gadgets. I love chopping by hand and cooking on the stovetop. I dream about having a 1950s style retro kitchen, because that's where I am in my mind. I never entered the 21st century where cooking is concerned.

Re: Plain cooking!

lovesrecess — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 05:40:37 GMT

I do enjoy watching many of the actual cooking shows and trying new things...but I still keep it rather simple.....and our food is full of flavor because we eat a lot of Mexican food.

Re: Plain cooking!

Cyndog — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 05:52:13 GMT

I have a retro style kitchen and my favorite meal is meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas. I love that kind of food. My husband does most of the cooking and he cooks all different sorts of meals, he's a great cook, but also loves my Campbell soup recipes, ha, ha. I like simple old fashioned recipes and he makes more sophisticated meals. I bake more than I cook.

Re: Plain cooking!

shoekitty — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 05:56:00 GMT

I hear you!! I am 66. just to give you an idea of the time frame I grew up in. My mother was raised by Russian immigrants whose religion was Molakan. Molakan is very similar to Amish religion, and very insular. Plain, Plain, plain is all I can describe it. Nourishing, homegrown ingredients, and basic. All food groups had to be present at every meal. But it was meat, a starch and vegetable. The closest thing we had to ethnic food was her soup which was similar to Borsht. For some reason she never learned to cook well, or even carry her mother"s wonderful recipes. She RARELY if ever experimented with food. I think being the 2nd youngest, and the language barrier, she never learned. Her parents didn't speak english , and she spoke english.

So long story a little shorter, I never had mexican food, pizza, spicy food, or even taste salsa until I was a little over 20. We had baked chicken, roast, chops, liver, or hamburger. Then we had rice or potatoes. Usually 2 kinds of vegetables. My Mom was health saavy when it came to food prep. Garlic, onions salt and pepper were the basic spices.

My Mom was a decent cook, just plain and non experimental. We didn't know any different, unless we ate somewhere else. We ate out 4 times a year.

When I was 15 I made a tuna noodle casserole from the back of a noodle box. I tell you my Mom thought it so unusual, and sooooo good! She requested it often. Bless her!! Hahha. She is still like that! She is 93, and eats out all the time. But she eats plain American food, and she is serious about food.. She has a fit if there aren't fresh veggies on the plate, and she wants it exactly like she would cook it, but better.. We took her to a gourmet restaurant once for brunch. She wanted poached eggs. She caused a scene when she tasted a little vinegar. She wanted to know what kind of ignorant cooks would put vinegar in the water when poaching eggs? You had to be there!

I love weird, unusual food! I love to experiment, and I love ethnic food, any kind.

Re: Plain cooking!

house cat — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 06:51:19 GMT

On 3/7/2014 cyndog said: I have a retro style kitchen and my favorite meal is meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas. I love that kind of food. My husband does most of the cooking and he cooks all different sorts of meals, he's a great cook, but also loves my Campbell soup recipes, ha, ha. I like simple old fashioned recipes and he makes more sophisticated meals. I bake more than I cook.

I hear ya! I cook Mexican dishes fairly often and went through a period of cooking Indian meals when we were eating vegan, but nothing feeds my soul and my belly like the good ol' traditional American comfort foods.

Re: Plain cooking!

chessylady — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 07:14:11 GMT

OP, there is no reason for you to change the way you cook. You and your husband are happy and content. My Mother was a self taught cook and and would go all over town to get ingredients. She was a gourmet cook. However, she did not teach me to cook,maybe I wasn't interested. I too am a plain cook but I enjoy trying new recipes. I also enjoy trying different foods when eating out. I like cooking shows and cooking magazines. Mostly I like fresh local vegetables and fruits in season.

Re: Plain cooking!

camochef — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 07:34:37 GMT

I have to agree. I watch many of the cooking shows and I do pick up a few things here and there but...as my wife says, It's too California. TV chefs,that made great Italian dishes now are to much west coast influenced. Or French cooks make dishes using statements like "the French would never"... "but I'm gonna."

While I have just about every spice/herb that Penzey's carries as well as McCormick's and many others...I use them with discretion and quite sparingly. I'm not fond of spicy hot, I do like tasty, however.

I love alliums, onions, shallots, leeks, garlic; I couldn't imagine cooking most meals without them. I've explored ethnic cooking, from Asian, Indian, to Cajan or Creole. Love Italian, French, German, and many others, including Russian and Ukrainian, or Greek or Caribbean, but I prefer to make them as Gourmet meals that everyone can enjoy without needing huge amounts of drinks to cool the palate down.

Now at 66 years of age, I look back on my childhood and being the oldest of seven children, I realize my mother didn't have the means or the time to experiment with food. It was a production line just to keep everyone fed. I'm thankful that I developed an interest in bread-baking and gourmet cooking and I learned much from my wife who happens to be a fantastic cook and baker, but most of my knowledge and inspiration comes from the thousands of cookbooks I've acquired over the last 15 years or so although I bought my first cookbook back in 1967 when I left Germany and Uncle Sam.

Must add that I cannot stand the reality cooking competitions where everyone runs around trying to beat the clock. Gooking and baking should be enjoyed at one's own pace, I know I'm certainly not the fastest cook in the kitchen, but I enjoy it as much as those that get to taste it.

Enjoy!

Camo

Re: Plain cooking!

sal2008 — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 16:55:55 GMT

Even though I enjoy watching the cooking shows, and do on occasion make something out of the ordinary. I mostly stick with the plain old comfort type foods that my husband and I grew up on. We love sitting down to a good pot roast, meatloaf, etc. I like leaving the fancier things to the restaurants that we go to.

Re: Plain cooking!

kittymomNC — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 17:21:53 GMT

My family is from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, and if that doesn't spell good old meat and potatoes down home cooking, I don't know what does. My mother was a good cook, but it was plain and simple. I do love to read cookbooks, and I've got a box full of recipes I cut out of magazines, but I've accumulated certain favorites throughout the years, and that's mostly what I make. Once in a while, I will try a new recipe, but nothing exotic. Sometimes a new casserole, mostly new desserts! If you and your husband are happy with your style of cooking and the types of food you like, what's wrong with that? I'm sure there are a lot of good foods and flavors out there that I'm probably missing out on as well, but since I don't have a lot of people to cook for, I stay with my more simple dishes-besides, I'm older now and I don't always feel like standing in the kitchen for hours figuring out a new recipe! I do really enjoy watching the Chopped competitions on the food network - mostly for the laughs at some of the things they're asked to cook!

Re: Plain cooking!

Boehm Collector — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 17:29:46 GMT

I also enjoy watching the cooking shows on the Food network and on Create TV. But I do not have the desire to prepare most of the recipes. I cook the way my Mom did... My Mom was a phenomenal cook. She was born and raised in a city in Italy approximately 125 miles Northeast of Rome ... on the Adriatic Coast (Most, but of course not all, of the Italians in this country are from Southern Italy). Every region in Italy has its own style of cooking and specialties. Everything I know about cooking I learned from her. Many of her recipes are time consuming.... but oh so worth it! Her cooking was definitely not bland but not too overly spicy. To give you just an idea of what her cooking was like ... think Mario Batali (at least the Mario Batali of over 5 years ago). Mom used to love watching him because he prepared many dishes almost exactly like she did. I HATE to cook. But I do cook any where from 5 to 7 days a week. And most of what I prepare I learned from Mom. The biggest compliment she ever paid me was to say that many of my meals turned out even better than hers. Since she passed away almost five years ago, I have been trying to maintain many of her holiday traditions.. because if I don't no one else will. And those recipes are especially complicated. I love hearing from my brother... "this is just like Mom's". My brother is also a great cook. He loves buying cook books (mostly Italian food) and try out new recipes. So recently I have been getting some new recipes from him.

Re: Plain cooking!

terrier3 — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 17:33:05 GMT

There are lots of shows on Food Network that are simple to make.

The Pioneer Woman for one...Trisha Yearwood...Ina Garten.

Many feature simple cooking...in fact Ina has a book on that subject.

Re: Plain cooking!

house cat — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 17:51:19 GMT

On 3/8/2014 Boehm Collecter said:
I also enjoy watching the cooking shows on the Food network and on Create TV. But I do not have the desire to prepare most of the recipes. I cook the way my Mom did... My Mom was a phenomenal cook. She was born and raised in a city in Italy approximately 125 miles Northeast of Rome ... on the Adriatic Coast (Most, but of course not all, of the Italians in this country are from Southern Italy). Every region in Italy has its own style of cooking and specialties. Everything I know about cooking I learned from her. Many of her recipes are time consuming.... but oh so worth it! Her cooking was definitely not bland but not too overly spicy. To give you just an idea of what her cooking was like ... think Mario Batali (at least the Mario Batali of over 5 years ago). Mom used to love watching him because he prepared many dishes almost exactly like she did. I HATE to cook. But I do cook any where from 5 to 7 days a week. And most of what I prepare I learned from Mom. The biggest compliment she ever paid me was to say that many of my meals turned out even better than hers. Since she passed away almost five years ago, I have been trying to maintain many of her holiday traditions.. because if I don't no one else will. And those recipes are especially complicated. I love hearing from my brother... "this is just like Mom's". My brother is also a great cook. He loves buying cook books (mostly Italian food) and try out new recipes. So recently I have been getting some new recipes from him.

My family is from that region, Terracina, on the coast near Rome. I do enjoy some of those traditional recipes, but I prefer American dishes.

Re: Plain cooking!

Boehm Collector — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 18:02:22 GMT

Hi house cat ... if I am not mistaken, Terracina (beautiful area of Italy BTW) is actually south of Rome and on the Mediterranean Coast. Of course, everyones tastes are different and theres nothing wrong with that. I too like many American dishes but still prefer Italian cooking.

Re: Plain cooking!

Zhills — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 18:23:29 GMT

Being Southern, I love simple comfort foods. Can't beat meatloaf and mashed potatoes with a veggie and/or salad. I like my food tasty. I'll add peppers and onions to meatloaf and put garlic in my potatoes. I like to cook Ethnic foods, but usually cook the comfort foods from that region.
When I have my ingredients FIXED for me and sitting in little bowls, ready to use, and someone to clean it all up for me......I will use 15 ingredients. Not until!

Re: Plain cooking!

house cat — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 18:40:25 GMT

On 3/8/2014 Boehm Collecter said:
Hi house cat ... if I am not mistaken, Terracina (beautiful area of Italy BTW) is actually south of Rome and on the Mediterranean Coast. Of course, everyones tastes are different and theres nothing wrong with that. I too like many American dishes but still prefer Italian cooking.

Yes. That's it. My grandparents left that spectacular place, crossed the ocean and spent the next 80 years in Long Island City. I've never quite figured that out.

Re: Plain cooking!

Boehm Collector — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 18:49:37 GMT

Hi house cat .... my paternal grandparents left Italy and moved to Pennsylvania (my grandfather worked in the coal mines) then to Brooklyn then to Dix Hills in Long Island (near Huntington). They were quite poor and left Italy to make a better life for themselves and their children. My maternal grandparents never left Italy. They were definitely not rich ... but better off than my father's family. My maternal grandfather was a very talented carpenter. In fact he was so good that he was commissioned to make one of Mussolini's bedroom sets. He was not a Fascist but in those day he could never have even dared to refuse an order from Mussolini. My aunt and cousins are still there.

Re: Plain cooking!

house cat — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 19:05:12 GMT

On 3/8/2014 Boehm Collecter said:
Hi house cat .... my paternal grandparents left Italy and moved to Pennsylvania (my grandfather worked in the coal mines) then to Brooklyn then to Dix Hills in Long Island (near Huntington). They were quite poor and left Italy to make a better life for themselves and their children. My maternal grandparents never left Italy. They were definitely not rich ... but better off than my father's family. My maternal grandfather was a very talented carpenter. In fact he was so good that he was commissioned to make one of Mussolini's bedroom sets. He was not a Fascist but in those day he could never have even dared to refuse an order from Mussolini. My aunt and cousins are still there.

I apologize to the OP for taking these off topic comments, but I can really relate to this. My grandfathers were both artisans in Italy, arrived here just in time for the Depression to derail them. Their brothers who stayed in Italy did just as well as my grandfathers did here in America. Those years were devastating to everyone.

But speaking of plain food… my mother's family is from the Abruzzi region of Italy. They lived in a teeny-tiny mountain town called Salle. Most of their recipes have two ingredients, and rarely any meat.

Re: Plain cooking!

Cyndog — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 20:11:10 GMT

I'm like the other poster in that I didn't have a lot of different foods until I got older. I never even ate a piece of fish until I was in my thirties, wouldn't touch an onion or a mushroom. My mother would make two of everything for the kids and my dad, one with onions, one without. My dad would make Romanian dishes like goulash or chicken paprikash, but we wouldn't touch them. My mom lived on steak and salad. We did eat Chinese food. Compared to my childhood, I'm an adventurous eater now ,ha, ha, but compared to my husband I'm not.