Jamie Oliver - Forums / I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

koukouvagia · Tue 18 Dec 12 2:31pm

I guess sometimes I do stick with the good old onions, garlic, oregano method of a lot of dishes. I tend to use olive oil in asian inspired dishes, I just can't get away from greeking up a dish I guess.

I once was making spag bolognese for a friend (she's indian) and I had her come over and taste my sauce, just for some input. She said "oh my gosh it doesn't taste like anything" and proceeded to pour in cayenne pepper, coriander and cumin among other things.... I didn't know what to do at that point as I cannot eat spicy food.

TerryKay · Tue 18 Dec 12 2:35pm

hippytea wrote:
Yes, the temptation to cook freestyle does tend to lead to things which taste similar. I'm trying to get more into cooking from recipes, at least every week or so, to broaden my horizons. And I try not to substitute when I'm doing that.

However, I have a rule about oil and vinegar. if I bought a new bottle of fancy oil or fancy vinegar for every recipe, I'd be bankrupt and buried in bottles! So I keep one fancy oil (suitable for dressings) and one fancy vinegar at any one time, and I substitute that, unless it's a crazy substitution - say, I have sesame oil and the recipe calls for olive oil, or I have balsamic vinegar and the recipe calls for cider vinegar. Then I might go and buy some specifically.

It is infuriating, though, when a recipe calls for a tiny amount of some condiment or a really obscure spice. I have a huge range of spices in the house, including things like cassia bark and amchur powder, but even so, sometimes I'm defeated by recipes!

I agree whole heartedly on the rogue weirdy spice that can only be obtained in a tiny shop somewhere near Hogwarts. Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog etc. "Oh now where am I gonna pick those up?" You find them in bags of 100 for �300 and the recipe requires 1. angry

TerryKay · Tue 18 Dec 12 2:43pm

Thistledo wrote:
Oh boy! You guys have really hit the spot. So relieved that other cookists have a similar problem to me. My policy is always, cook a new recipe to the letter - you can always substitute ingredients on other attempts but at least you know what it should taste like. I have quite a lot of spices/dried herbs and admit that I do substitute recipe requirements with what I already have in stock. Suppose you can flavour your own oils in small quantities, if required.
Different subject: Who, in this forum, said they always use olive oil for roast spuds? You might just as well do chips/fries? Has to be fat from the joint or goose fat for me. Olive oil has a limit as to what heat you can take it up to, anyway.
I like your inputs here Hippytea and for your info, I'm expecting a delivery from Scotland of proper black and white (hogs) puddings. Been far too long since I enjoyed the best in the UK.

I do roast spuds in my Actifry. As it only uses a teaspoon of oil, I can be flamboyant guilt free. I throw a teaspoon of goose and a teaspoon of sesame and they come out tasting awesome. Fluffy, crispy and flavoursome. dribble thumbsup tongue big_smile

TerryKay · Tue 18 Dec 12 2:48pm

Ashen wrote:
I can relate to that , but have managed to push myself into not falling for that trap all that often anymore.

I love garlic and can get pretty wild with microplane , grating in massive amounts into a lot of dishes . I have started to take a step back and decide if I want a garlic bomb dish or one that has a good flavouring of garlic but lets other things come through. I will often slice cloves of garlic now , and then slowly fry off in the oil first to flavour it. I then will pull the slices out and go on from there, getting a definite but refined garlic flavour.

As for following recipes to the letter, It very very rarely happens.

If it is something I am not sure of,or have never cooked before. I will look up 4 or 5 different recipesones online and break them apart to see what makes sense to me ingredient and technique wise. I think tom kha gai (thai chicken,galangal,coconut soup) was the last dish I remember doing that for.

My weakness is chilli or/and five spice. Slurp. dribble yummy But they can be tiresome in everything. "Mmm, I wonder if this custard would benefit from a bit of chilli?" puke

TerryKay · Tue 18 Dec 12 2:53pm

koukouvagia wrote:
I guess sometimes I do stick with the good old onions, garlic, oregano method of a lot of dishes. I tend to use olive oil in asian inspired dishes, I just can't get away from greeking up a dish I guess.

I once was making spag bolognese for a friend (she's indian) and I had her come over and taste my sauce, just for some input. She said "oh my gosh it doesn't taste like anything" and proceeded to pour in cayenne pepper, coriander and cumin among other things.... I didn't know what to do at that point as I cannot eat spicy food.

Hahahaha. Serves you right. wink tongue
When I cook for the kids I have to think, "How bland can I make this?" If it tastes grey and drab they love it. Put a few specks of spice in, and they are running around claiming that their teeth are melting. shocked

MsPablo · Tue 18 Dec 12 3:03pm

Aaah Terry, I am intrigued by the Actifry. So, you really like it?

I go through phases where I douse finished dishes with sesame oil, soy sauce and sweet chili sauce and I use garlic in a lot of my cooking . . . I think if you eat a lot of garlic, you start to need more in order for it to be garlicky enough.

mummza · Tue 18 Dec 12 3:05pm

TerryKay wrote:
Hahahaha. Serves you right.
When I cook for the kids I have to think, "How bland can I make this?" If it tastes grey and drab they love it. Put a few specks of spice in, and they are running around claiming that their teeth are melting.

Goodness Terry , thats a problem , when my children were small they loved flavour , spices as well , they loved curries or dishes cooked with wine added .
In fact they ate anything !

Last edited by mummza (Tue 18 Dec 12 3:06pm)

@nGoose1 · Tue 18 Dec 12 6:12pm

You can add, but you can't take away.
Can't eat spicy food? waaaaaah!!
There have been a few, oh no that�s too much experiences with my cooking for sure.
Someone�s got to try the chilli custard, not me though.
I like finding new ingredients, sometimes at a price, lots of research first perhaps. Some serious letdowns, Alexandra�s for one, foraged, so no financial loss.
That�s reminded me of a new post to start.

Last edited by @nGoose1 (Tue 18 Dec 12 6:22pm)

hippytea · Tue 18 Dec 12 7:07pm

Thistledo wrote:
Who, in this forum, said they always use olive oil for roast spuds? You might just as well do chips/fries? Has to be fat from the joint or goose fat for me. Olive oil has a limit as to what heat you can take it up to, anyway.

It's probably me you're thinking of, but I didn't say olive oil, I just said oil. I use sunflower or rapeseed oil.

And no, roasties are a totally different experience to chips, no matter what fat you cook them with. Those mouth-filling fluffy centres in their thick, crackly shell... my oil-based roasties are awesome, you are welcome to come and try them.

The thing is, I never grew up with goose fat roasties, so I don't have the craving. And while I love sat fat as faithfully as I ever did, it doesn't love me any more.

dhartley · Wed 19 Dec 12 9:02am

I suffer badly from this phenomenon too!

Blogs and forums

forum: Food, Wine and Gardening

#11 Tue 18 Dec 12 2:31pm

koukouvagia

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

#12 Tue 18 Dec 12 2:35pm

TerryKay

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

hippytea wrote:

#13 Tue 18 Dec 12 2:43pm

TerryKay

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

Thistledo wrote:

#14 Tue 18 Dec 12 2:48pm

TerryKay

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

Ashen wrote:

#15 Tue 18 Dec 12 2:53pm

TerryKay

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

koukouvagia wrote:

#16 Tue 18 Dec 12 3:03pm

MsPablo

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

#17 Tue 18 Dec 12 3:05pm

mummza

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

TerryKay wrote:

#18 Tue 18 Dec 12 6:12pm

@nGoose1

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

#19 Tue 18 Dec 12 7:07pm

hippytea

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?

Thistledo wrote:

#20 Wed 19 Dec 12 9:02am

dhartley

Re: I'm suffering from heavy handed cooking syndrome. Am I alone?