I just read an article that most of us get cooking tips handed down from our parents that are sometimes completely wrong. Here's an example: Putting oil in your pasta water keeps the pasta from sticking to itself. This does nothing but waste oil. If you want to keep your pasta from sticking together stir it periodically and when it’s done drain it and put it right into your sauce. Oil also reduces the amount of sauce that can be absorbed by the pasta.
Another example: My dad always told me that mushrooms should be added to the dish at the very last minute and barely cooked. I always thought I didn’t really like mushrooms. When I finally ate mushrooms which had been sautéed golden brown I was blown away. Turns out they are way better fully cooked!
I put a splash of olive oil on cooked spaghetti noodles right after I drain them, then stir it around. I'm not sure what the "experts" say, but I know that does help to keep it from sticking to itself. My personal preference is the pasta on a plate and then ladle the sauce on top; I don't like spaghetti put directly into the sauce. I suppose a lot of cooking is simply personal preference.
With us all the pasta goes into a very large "pasta bowl" immediately after draining. The bowl is line with tomato sauce, couple more spoonfuls of tomato sauce is added to the pasta then stirred. Grated cheese is added and stirred in, lastly couple of ladles of tomato sauce lay on top of the pasta, with some grated cheese on top of that it's ready to serve. Any sauce meat like sausage, meatballs, pork or beef will be served in a separate platter or bowl.
Odd, have never had pasta stick together and do nothing special. I do use a fork to stir while cooking maybe that helps. I add meat to my marinara sauce before adding to the pasta.
I always undercook my pasta and then finish it in a pan with sauce, so that the pasta absorbs the sauce.
We all mean well, but we are all guilty of thinking our way is best. It's not the end of the World if our spaghetti is not perfect. Cut your local experts some slack, and let cooking be fun for all!
Cooking is fun, as far as the spaghetti goes I doubt even the experts can you tell the difference between the different methods of cooking them.
This was mentioned in the "Biscuits" thread, that the dough should not be overworked or the biscuits will be tough. In my entire life I don't ever recall having a tough biscuit. I've had dry biscuits, greasy biscuits, and just generally bad biscuits, though.
I don't cook that often but when I did attempt I use some strange products. Once I wanted to make mashed potatoes extra creamy, so I added canned whipped cream to the mix. Everybody who tried the mashed potatoes looked at each other they were horrible.
My sister-in-law always mixes a large spoonful of mayonnaise into her mashed potatoes and they are excellent. I have done so occasionally but usually don't bother. Your whipped cream likely had sugar in it so I'm not surprised that the potatoes got surprised looks!
Dean Martin and John Wayne in the kitchen "American actors Dean Martin and John Wayne having fun by cooking spaghetti in a break during the shooting of the film The Sons of Katie Elder. 1966" (Photo by Pierluigi Praturlon/Reporters Associati & Archivi/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
If, whilst preparing your own pasta, have you ever wondered how it’s done in a commercial kitchen? The answer is a cold water bath. Salted Boiling water, spin the pasta into the water, stir a few times until it’s Al Dente, then into the cold water it goes or into a large colander and rinsed in cold water. After it’s drained, then a bit of oil is added to the pasta and then it get’s stored in portion bags or left in bulk and portioned per order. When an order comes in the portioned pasta is then placed in a strainer and given a hot water bath for just a few seconds or placed directly into a saute’ pan with whatever other ingredients that are needed. Why cold water? The cold water bath removes that excess outer starch which is what makes it sticky in the first place. Same process with rice unless ya like it sticky. Back to the OP. The Cajun preparation of food is indeed highly seasoned but isn’t necessarily highly spiced. Paul Prudhomme put out the myth that everything Cajun is all about heat which is blatantly false. We pride ourselves on having the ability to give our food a balanced seasoning so that no one particular herb or spice can be overly distinguished from the other whilst enhancing the base ingredient and not hiding it. Not unlike Mexican food, only a few items are open for added spicy heat.