How to season a cast iron skillet. I didn’t see anyone else answer this, but I was skimming a little.
For a start I would suggest you pick a recipe out of your cookbook that sounds good to you; try cooking it and look up (or ask here) anything about cooking it that you don’t know.
Have fun with cooking and experiment, and expect to have a few “mistakes”. Good mistakes are called discoveries. 
A friend of mine just recently raved about and highly praised this book - How To Cook Everything.
He hardly ever cooked for himself and now finds himself cooking everyday, enjoying it, and making fantastic meals.
His review of the book was so high that I am going to go pick it up this weekend, even though we already have 20 or more cookbooks in our kitchen and consider ourselves fairly decent cooks. It seems like it would be a great book for a beginner.
I would recommend getting Alton Brown’s book Gear for your Kitchen. As mentioned above, his breezy, smart-alecky style isn’t for everybody, but if it works for you, it works in a big way. (It does for me.) This book goes through pretty much every single tool and utensil available for kitchen use, compares the different styles, and makes recommendations. One of Brown’s trademarks is that he hates unitaskers, i.e. tools that do just one thing (like a crepe pan). He asserts that clutter gets in the way of cooking, especially when you’re starting out, and he suggests alternatives to the single-use-tools so you can perform various tasks by other means. Highly informative.
Also, as you start playing with your food (:)), here’s an important thing to keep in mind:
You are going to make mistakes. A sauce will turn out runny, or clumpy; a roasted bird will come out dry, or underdone; vegetables will be soft or oversalted; and so on. It’s inevitable. It will happen. And don’t worry about it. Learn from your mistakes. Eat them (if you can), study the texture, make mental notes, and try the same dish again, preferably within the next few days. Not only can you maximize ingredient purchases by repeating recipes several times in a couple of weeks, but you learn a hell of a lot more about how to cook than you would by abandoning that line of experimentation and moving on to something completely different.
(My own example: A few months ago, I was trying to figure out a seared duck breast with a raspberry-port-chocolate sauce, and I made it four times in two weeks before I had it the way I wanted it. Now it’s a piece of cake.)
Don’t be intimidated. It’s fun to be able to go into the kitchen, whip a bunch of things together, and wind up with something wonderful on the plate. So play.
Which is remarkable, because I was supposed to be making duck! :smack:
Must preview…
Just to cover all the bases, I agree with Lissener about Joy of Cooking, but I was disappointed in my year-long subscription to Cook’s Illustrated. Nothing that I made from CI was substantially better than recipes I find elsewhere, and several things I made were substantially worse (the maple-glazed salmon and the raised biscuits come to mind). I guess the lesson is that different folks have different tastes!
If I’m looking for a recipe for something unusual, the first place I turn is www.epicurious.com, which has tremendous archives from Bon Appetit, Gourmet Magazine, and I think one other source. most importantly, their recipes are ranked by other users, so you know that if only 60% of users would make the recipe again, it might be good to keep on looking; if 98% would make it again, this might be a keeper. Some of their recipes are ridiculously complicated, but a lot of them are very easy.
On Food and Cooking is not a cookbook, but it’s an absolutely fascinating acount of the history and chemistry and culture of food. If you’re a nerd in any of these areas, it’s a great read.
Daniel
I’ll also recommend How to Cook Everything. It refutes what lissener says about basic food being dull. It has simple but good recipes.
Don’t go by the preparation times listed in a cookbook, except for the actual cooking times. It’s probably going to take you longer than it takes the author of the cookbook to chop vegetables and such. You’ll get faster with practice, but some cookbooks (Martin Yan, I am looking at YOU) will always have much shorter preparation times than you will.
This depends on what you plan to cook, how lazy you are, and how coordinated (or not) you are. I cook but don’t bake, am totally lazy, and the ultimate klutz- my recommendations will be colored by that.
Don’t go with any expensive kitchen gear until you know what you want. And there’s something to be said for the cheap stuff- you do something bad to it, you throw it out, you go to Target and get a new one for ten bucks.
Get one of those sets of pots that have several different-sized pots. Make sure they come with lids. Don’t get the copper ones, or the expensive ones from Macy’s- cheap ones from Target are what you’re looking for at this point. Get a couple of those sets of three nonstick pans in different sizes. If your set of pots doesn’t come with a Dutch oven (a big pot with two handles), get one of those. Get a colander. Get a big glass mixing bowl, or one of those sets of nesting mixing bowls. Glass mixing bowls are better than plastic or aluminum ones, because they are heavier and move around less when you are stirring. Get two or three cookie sheets, even if you don’t plan to do any baking.
Get some plastic spatulas and big plastic mixing spoons (make sure they are heat-resistant if you are absent-minded like me). Get some metal spring-loaded tongs (the kind that spring apart, not the kind that look like scissors). Plastic tongs are, IMO, worthless.
A food processor is really handy for chopping and slicing stuff. Get a full-size (7-cup) one, not one of those little tiny ones. You can grate cheese in your food processor as well. If you do a lot of fresh-grated cheese at the table, you might want a rotary grater. I don’t use a flat or box grater, because I like my cheese without blood, thankyouverymuch. If you’re less of a klutz than I am, you could get one.
You don’t need a mixer if you’re not going to be baking or making things that require whipped egg whites. I have a mixer, but I don’t think I’ve used it in over a year.
Not much, except for the mixing bowls.
I would go with nonstick pans. You may want to get a plain metal pan later to make pan sauces, but for other stuff, nonstick is just plain easier to deal with.
For the pots, that depends on which mistake you are more likely to make: letting food burn onto your plain metal pots, or using metal utensils on your nonstick pots.
I wouldn’t go with an iron skillet, at least not right away. You do have to season them, you can’t leave them sitting in the sink (a dealbreaker for me), you can’t put them in the dishwasher, and they’re heavy enough that reasonably sized ones can be difficult to handle.
Go with the plastic. Wooden cutting boards can harbor bacteria if you use them to prepare raw meat or poultry. Also, plastic cutting boards can be washed in the dishwasher. You do have to oil wooden cutting boards with food-grade mineral oil.
If you’re going to be roasting meat, you’re going to need a meat thermometer. Digital or whatever, you should use one whenever you cook meat. The digital, instant-read ones are pretty cool, but an old school dial thermometer will work just as well.
As for recipes, the Fly Lady’s Rubber Chicken is a great way to experiment with chicken. The first day, you roast the chicken in the oven. The second day, you take the leftover chicken meat and mix it with black beans and whatever seasonings you like. The third day, you take the chicken carcass and boil it with vegetables to make a broth so you can make soup. The reason this is so great for a beginning cook is that you learn how to roast a chicken, and any mistakes you make after that don’t really matter because, hey, it’s leftovers and leftovers don’t count. Rubber chicken: it stretches.
I third (fourth? fifth?) the recomendation to watch Good Eats. He tells you why certain things are done and why some things aren’t. He has three books as well. “I’m Just Here for the Food,” “I’m Just here for More Food” (strictly a baking book, as the first one is baking free) and “Gear for your Kitchen.” The first one and third are the best. The first is like the show, in that it tells you why this, how that works, etc…, and the third one is good at helping you know what you really need, what is helpful but not neccesary, and what is utter crap.
OOOOH yes! I definitely think an insta-read thermometer is essential to any kitchen, especially a beginner’s.
I never understood why most people don’t have thermometers in their kitchen. It’s flat out one of the most useful tools to have. Not sure if that turkey is done? Stick the probe in, it’ll tell you. Want that tenderloin medium rare? How the heck can you tell? Experienced cooks can tell by feel, but most people do better with the thermometer.
If you plan on cooking any kind of poultry or meat, do yourself a favor and spent the $13 bucks that a simple insta-read will cost you. Very much worth it.
When I moved out of the house, the first thing my mom bought me was a meat thermometer. When I moved into the dorms, she took it back. I think she owns at least five now. Dinner is always delicious.
Well, that’s what comes with experience. There is no way any beginner is going to have every single question answered, up front, with zero learning curve. JoC has the mos “experience” you can possibly pack into one package; the rest you’ll pick up as you go.
Ah, now I see the disconnect: you’re reading the bizarro world JoC. Are you totally on CRACK? ( 
) The “theory behind cooking” is JoC’s greatest strength! There is no better volume out there, for efficiencey of theory packed into the smallest number of pages. You might want to check your copy; somebody obviously switched it with The Joy of Crack or something.
Hey, Beadalin, I’ve got that exact same book! Bought it at Cost Plus World Market, and I love it too. Love the layout, love the tone, love the pictures. It’s my food porn.
Heh.
I compare it to CI’s “We roasted 3,452 chickens to figure out the very best way to do it. Here’s what we found: <3 pages of explanations including illustrations and sidebars with food science tidbits.>” and the microscopic pictures of yeast and gluten in McGee’s “On Food and Cooking.” JoC has nothing on those two.
I’m an engineer. I don’t want the abbreviated version, I want diagrams and facts and molecular structures.
You need to buy a good (not great) knife set in a butcher block. They need to be knives you can sharpen, like Chicago Cutlery. You need at least one, preferably two large wooden cutting boards. You can use one side for veggies, and flip it over for meat. But if you have two, you can have on in the sink, and one in use or you can serve bread on one, etc.
Get a good (not great) set of pots and pans with lids. I like non-stick. Get a good (not great) set of casserole dishes with lids. Last thing a set of glass mixing bowls. You can use them for serving too. You might find a crock pot useful. I like mine.
If we’re going to argue about cook books, I like the Taste of Home: Quick Cooking I get the magazines every two months, and I get the bound version annually. I like them because they’re really easy recipes with stuff you actually have around the house. But Betty Crocker, and Better Homes & Gardens are my first two cook books, and I use one of them weekly. They have basic, straight forward, simple to follow recipes.
I’m not a chef, but I muddle through, and manage to make some very edible dishes.
The one tool that you absolutely need is a chef’s knife - a good one if you can afford it, but a cheap one will do. And of course a cutting board to use it on. You can pick up other things as you need them.
The best cookbook in the world is Google. Just search for, e.g. “pork loin recipe” and you will be presented with plenty of options. If you want to narrow it down more, epicurious.com and recipezaar.com are good places to look. I’m not crazy about cooks.com, though.
Don’t be afraid to fail! You learn more by screwing things up than by always doing easy stuff that you can’t screw up. If you have a disaster, try to figure out what you did wrong and try again - not right away though.
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned tasting the food while it’s cooking. While for some foods it’s not feasible, like a roast, there are plenty of soups and sauces that you can tailor to your personal taste by how you season it. Remember that many recipes are written to the author’s preference. That’s why some recipes often say “season to taste.”
And don’t forget, salt is your friend! My sister-in-law asked me,
“Why doesn’t my lemon-pepper Foreman Grilled chicken breast taste good?”
“Do you add salt to it?”
“OH!”
So go taste your food! It’s the cook’s privilege!
I have the agree with the recommendations for Alton Brown’s books. As Cervaise said, if you like his style, those books are the best, and I agree with his philosophy toward utensils. Buy only the most versatile, and then buy the highest quality - which may not be the highest price.
I used to subscribe to Cuisine. They keep it very simple, with good basic recipes (no $20 exotic ingredient that only two stores in town carry - personal pet peeve), product reviews, and tips sent in from readers.
Also a great place for cheap kitchenware is Linen N Things, and Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I used to for LNT. They always had a few sets on clearance at very good prices. A lot of sets have a ‘promotional’ item priced very low (in comparison to the rest of the set). And during clearance season, we often had a few items for 50% - 75% off. If a matching set is not important to you, you can acquire some great pots and pans to start you off. (While working there, I realized fashion is just as big a factor (for the industry) in cookware as in bedding and bath. Newer ‘models’ are constantly introduced, and we never shipped any of the older sets out. (I got some great stuff as an employee that they just wanted to get off their shelves and never see again. I completely understood after my first year there.)
All-Clad is the absolute best, and priced to match. Calphalon is my personal favorite. Cuisinart also has some great stainless steel pieces and decent low cost knifes.
I can cook anything imaginable with a paring knife, a spatula, a tablespoon, and a cast iron pan. Don’t get me wrong, tools are nice, but the point of cooking is deeper than accoutrement.
Make do with what you have.
Recipes are guidelines.
Cook what you like.
There are only happy mistakes in cooking… adopt a Bob Ross zen in your cooking and everything will always be delicious.
[Justin Wilson]I guarantéé![/Justin Wilson]
One thing I forgot, never cook when you are angry. (And never bake when you are sad.) Happy cooks make happy food
I’m kind of surprised so many people are recommending cookbooks, since I only started really learning to cook after first learning to stay the fuck away from cookbooks. It’s like I couldn’t make 80% of all the recipes in any given cookbook, due to lack of skill, or ingredients, or both, and the ones I could make I’d still be lacking a few seasonings, hey look maybe I’ll use chili power instead of paprika, and white sugar instead of brown or icing, and I guess I’ll have to use unsifted flour since I haven’t got a sieve, and once I was done compromising on the ingredients I’d inevitably miss a step or interpret a direction wrong and not realise until the meal was unsalvageable, and it took me about 3 hours to prepare a freaking chicken and another half hour to wash all the stupid little measuring things and then when the dish was finally cooked it would be entirely unattractive and often unpalatable. I was convinced that I was the Worst Cook Ever. Then after being forced to improvise a few times I learned to loosen up and stop treating cooking like some sort of science. Nowadays my thought process goes more like this: "I feel like eating ______, and given that I have ______, ______ and ______ at hand I think I will put ______ into a ______, add a little ______ and ______ and wait ______ minutes. It works much better, and even if the results end up sucking at least you didn’t waste 3 hours making it.
I also recommend you invest in a wok and a cleaver. A wok, because stir-fry is seriously the easiest thing ever (you just… toss everything into the wok and stir) and a cleaver because they cut EVERYTHING. If you buy a cleaver it will probably save you from having to buy like 5 other kinds of knives.