Being James Bond

I'm curious if any of you have recently picked up cooking? I started about 18 months ago and have lots of fun with it. Cooking is made much easier if you have the proper tools (like anything else I guess). Cookware and cutlery make all the difference. I also have a special "cooking" playlist on my ipod with numerous Bond tracks. I feel that most of the tracks place me in the appropriate mood conducive for cooking. I usually start off preparing a meal with From Russia With Love, very classy.

Perhaps not the Bondiest of passions, but I love to cook. There is an art to bringing the best out of a particular meal and your lady friend will appreciate it all the more.

I think cooking is very Bond. Women love it, it keeps you healthy, it is THE practical skill. Everyone has to eat.

I am inclined to agree that cooking is a very Bond skill.

Being able to put a nice meal together with ingredients on hand is useful and impressive. Not to mention it takes a great sense of timing to get all of the food to come out of the kitchen together and HOT.

It really does take a great sense of timing. Knowing when one portion of the process will be complete and when to start the next so they are done in accord. I liken the process as a martial arts kata. One move leads to the next until it comes together. My family has given me rave reviews on my "applications". And truly, I have had more successes than failures. Of course, not being employed at the moment gives me a lot of time to plan the meals. (lol)

Agreed. Let's not forget that Bond cooked for Stacy in A View to a Kill!

I've tried cooking and, sadly, my wife has forbidden me from doing it again. The only exception is pancakes as for some reason I'm much better at that than my wife.

However, all things are off when it comes to the grill. There I am much better than my wife, although we are a team when it comes to grilling. She prepares the food and I cook it. And it's little things that I do that make a difference (like using tongs to turn meat instead of a fork).

BTW, if you are really interested in cooking, I suggest watching, "Good Eats," on the Food Network with Alton Brown. It's not only very entertaining, but educational (he covers the history of a particular food) and the best ways to cook it. This is how my wife and I came across one of our favorite grilled items, grilled an braised leeks with fillet mignon.

Good Eats with Alton Brown is my absolute favorite! My wife recently gave me the Good Eats "The Early Years" book. Each subject reads just like one of his episodes Great recipes, educational and funny as ever! It is my cooking bible. Each of my boys, my wife and myself often refer to it for dinner ideas!

i try to keep up a noe book of recipes I get from cookbooks or from my own personal experiences.

I'll probably end up making a menu for people Invite in my home with the drinks and meals I can prepare.

Bond as a bachelor and a gourmet would definitely, be an excellent cook and an essential skill for any BJB member, and a complementary skill set to that of mixologist.

In fact, I love to cook, almost as much as I love sampling the results. Might I suggest we start a recipe exchange? Allow me to start with two of my favorite recipes, one fairly simple, the other a bit more complex.

Elegant Poached Salmon


Shown with dill horseradish sauce

1/4 c. olive oil
2 cloves sliced garlic
3/4 c. white wine
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) chicken broth
Pepper to taste
1 tsp. parsley
2 lbs. salmon filet

Saute in large skillet olive oil and garlic. Add white wine and cover until it stops
spitting. Cook 6 minutes covered. Add chicken broth, pepper and parsley and cook 6
minutes. Put in salmon, cover, and cook 6 minutes each side.

I found an excellent large skillet with lid at Target which is fairly inexpensive and works well for this recipe. It's about 12x2.5 with a clear lid. It is excellent for a variety of uses, especially poaching salmon.



Note: 2 lbs of salmon will easily feed four, so cut back on the salmon for two, everything else stays about the same. I have also tried different white wines with this recipe. Any white wine you like will probably work well, but remember to avoid "cooking" wines. If you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it.

Goes well with the rest of the bottle of wine.


Now for something a bit more challenging...

Red Beans and Rice



For this one you'll need a nice big stock pot and a couple of days.



1 lb red beans, soaked overnight
1 medium yellow onion - peeled and chopped
1 bunch green onions - chopped
7 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 rib celery - chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1 green sweet bell pepper - seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Tabasco
2 whole bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 lb smoked sausage, cut into 1 inche pieces
Ham hocks, one per diner or to taste for large groups

Drain the beans and place th em in a 6-quart heavy pot. Add 3 quarts of fresh water, cover and simmer for 1 hour, or until the beans are tender. Make sure the water does not boil down to far (the beans must be covered with water at all times). Add the rest of the ingredients except the cooked rice, to the pot and add more water so that the ingredients are covered, if necessary. All that's left is to simmer the ingredients partially covered for 1 to 1.5 hours, or until the liquid has thickened. Serve over rice.

Note: While you will often see Red Beans & Rice served with the rice mixed in with the beans, the presentation is better and I think the flavor, if you serve the beans over a bed of white rice and allow the diner this pleasure. And, by the way, get a rice cooker, never use minute rice.

While I have yet to try it, it will probably go wonderfully with a For Your Eyes Only Sazerac

First I guess I need to admit to being a kitchen gadget junky. That said, I'd suggest one f the Ronco rotisseries as an addition to your kitchen. I use mine for chicken, ribs, and roasts. It makes the most wonderful pork loin roasts. I put the roast in a bag with some garlic, onions and lots of pepper, freshly ground of course and marinate it for a few hours before cooking. I rotisserie it until my meat thermometer reads 170 degrees Fahrenheit, then slice and serve.

I like learning from this guy as well as a couple shows on the Food Network. He's a little goofy, but seems informed. I just watch the youtube videos. I didnt order his DVDs or anything. A lot of stuff out there on the web about cooking.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChefToddMohr#p/u/77/7Oz87LxvKV0

LOL, yes, he's a bit goofy, but interesting. Cooking as art and the comparison to painters and guitarists is an good one, but keep in mind while they do interpret, they also spent years practicing. When I try a new recipe, I will make it several times exactly as it is written so I have a baseline on it, then start experimenting with cooking time, ingredients, etc. Thanks for the tip, he'll be fun to watch, I bookmarked his site.

Here's something for breakfast that is fairly easy to fix and tastes and looks good. Remember presentation is a big part of good eating...

Nested Eggs and Bacon



Cut a round out of a slice of bread, toast the bread either in a toaster oven with butter on top or in a skillet with butter. Crack an egg into the hole, add salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook until the white sets. Serve with bacon

I agree while it was not really a classy or manly skill back when the books were written (it was seen as a womans job or a lower end form of work)that has MORE than changed.
-Kitchens are now the most expensive room in a nice house.
-Kitchens have also become the focal point of newer homes, they are no longer a room in the back.
-Some very nice resteraunts have even started giving tours of the "back of the house" I know Bernes in Tampa dose.
-Celiberity chefs are starting to become jet setters. My Fav is Anthony Bourdain.
-Dinner parties where people eat what a male host has prepared have become quite popular.
-It is so practical, When I leave school and can have a clean kitchen I really want to be able to fix my own meals.