Do you have any cooking tips, recipes, or just anything to tell me related to cooking?

I would really apreciate your answers!! Thankz!Do you have any cooking tips, recipes, or just anything to tell me related to cooking?
PASTA





To keep your pasta from sticking together or to the bottom of the pan, use a large pot and lots of water, proportionate to the amount of pasta you're making. (About 6 quarts of water to a pound of pasta is a good general rule.) Don't overfill your pot, or it will boil over. 1/2 to 2/3 full is plenty. Add salt to the water, unless your sauce or toppings are already salty. Do not add oil to the cooking water. Bring the water to a full rolling boil before you add your pasta. Cook your pasta until it is al dente, that is just ';to the tooth.'; The pasta shouldn't be really soft, but rather have a bit of resistance to it when you bite into it.





If you want to hold the pasta until the rest of the meal is ready, for up to a half-hour after cooking, drain it and toss the pasta with a bit of olive oil. Just before you're ready to serve, reheat in very hot/boiling water for 20-30 seconds, drain and add your sauce/toppings. You'll get rid of most of the olive oil when you drain it, so this really doesn't add appreciably to the fat in the meal.





You can also cook pasta a day or even two ahead of time. (I don't recommend doing it more than two days ahead.) Undercook your pasta by a couple of minutes, drain well and rinse under cold running water or dump into a pot/bowl of ice water. Drain when cool and toss with olive oil. Place in a covered container in the refrigerator. To finish, just have a large pot of boiling water ready. Add the partially cooked pasta and finish cooking as above. Drain well and serve.








Edit:





Um, Clarkie, a pint's a pound the world around only if you're talking about fresh water at sea level, and even then, it's only an approximation. A gallon of water weighs quite closely to 8 1/3 pounds, therefore a pint weighs (gets out her calculator) 1.04 and some such pounds. That's a pretty good approximation, but, again, only with water.





Milk, gravies, sauces will weigh a bit more, cream will weigh a bit less. And two cups of flour would not weigh a pound, it would be much closer to 8 or nine ounces, maybe a bit more. The weight of a cup of flour varies by moisture content and how much it is packed during the measuring or if it's sifted, or if the side of the measuring cup is tapped, etc. The weight of a cup of flour can run vary by 1 or even 2 ounces even if you try to be consistent. If you're making bread and want consistancy in results, weigh your flour, don't measure it. (And even if you weigh it, you still have the added weight of moisture on a damp day.)Do you have any cooking tips, recipes, or just anything to tell me related to cooking?
this is a real open ended question, but briefly, if you want to learn how to cook, i would start with a few cooking books, and web surfing.





you'll tend to gravitate towards what you like. Then you can hone in your skills with what you like. Some people like baking which is totally difffernt than cooking. Some like cooking meat dishes, some like side dishes, some like healthy alternatives. There is so much involved with cooking that it's a very hard question to answer.





With regard to recipes, there are tons out there in books, newspapers, internet, etc. In the beginning you should follow them closely...in time however, you'll be able to stray from the recipe and only use it as a guideline, omiting, adding, and substituting ingredients. hope this helps! good luck!
Ive cooked since i was 12..Get some good cook books.Or you can get recipes at the link below!!If your wanting to cook say a tender meat.I would get a pork picnic shoulder at least 4 pounds put it in a crock pot add water to cover it.Cook it on low all night like 8 hours adding water if needed and add a little butter when you start it..When you can stick a fork in it and it just falls apart drain it then remove all the fat.Now mix in a whole bottle of your favorite bbq sauce(mine is sweet baby rays)Mix it all up good and cook on low until its good and hot.And you got yourself the best pork bbq you ever had!!You can add spices while cooking too if you like to experiment!! Iron skillits are best when it comes to frying!!Get you a good lodge iron skillet and batter up some boneless chicken and grease the pan good and preheat it but at a low temp these iron skillets get much hotter then teflon junk..Fry up your chicken and its chow.bacon and fried potatoes are awesome in an iron skillet too.and so is corn bread..
Simple:





Quality Ingredients = Quality food. You can't make a great meal using crappy ingredients.





Also...





Mise en Place - French for ';Everything in its place.'; Before you start, measure out ingredients, get all utensils ready. Basically, make sure you have everything ready so you don't have a pot of boiling water ready while you're looking for a key ingredient!
yeah, dont use crappy pans.. pay high dollar for them. make sure they have Teflon.. dont leave the stove in attended if its somehting small like an egg or pancake.. always read directions., dont leave a metal or plastic cooking spoon in or on the pan or stove, go find some cookbooks, and learning how to cook.. jus look stuff up online.. good luck. oh and are u jus getin a house or somethin wher eu have to cook? or are u at a age u jus wanna cook
-To make water boil faster put some salt and vegetable oil in it and always put the cover on the pot.


-Always read the directions.
Always measure your rice, and don't check to see if the oil's hot w/your finger. LOL !!!
when measuring honey, molasses or peanut butter in a cup or spoon, spray the cup or spoon with Pam spray first, and the sticky stuff will fall right out...


A pint (16 oz) is a pound (the whole world round. Therefor 2 cups is a pound.


You cannot remove salt or pepper from food, so add it carefully.
Never fry bacon topless
Don't boil precooked pasta shells =)
Creamy Fettuccini Alfredo





1 鈥?8 oz. Package Philly Cream Cheese (I use the light version 鈥?1/3 less fat), cubed


戮 cup (3 oz.) fresh grated Parmesan cheese (I like De Giorno, don鈥檛 use Kraft)


陆 cup margarine (I use I Can鈥檛 Believe It鈥檚 Not Butter Light)


陆 cup milk (I use 1% or 2% low fat)


8 oz. fettuccini, cooked, drained (I use the fresh Contadina low fat one)








In large saucepan, combine cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, margarine and milk.


Stir over low heat until smooth. Add to drained fettuccini and toss lightly. Sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese if desired. Makes 4 servings.








Serving Suggestions:


I serve this with chicken Parmesan, salad, and garlic bread.