Are you a good cook? If so, come and help me!

[TourGuideBarbie]

Inspired by another thread, I really want to learn to cook.

I have a DH who is effortlessly slim but with a huge appetite, one fussy DD and one eats everything DD.

We have lived on restaurants, take aways, my mum, leftovers from my mums and my terrible cooking now has to take a front seat as we need to cut down spending a bit.

Everything I make is a disaster. No exaggeration. I tried to make pancakes for DD last week and wasted 12! I've tried to make shepherds pie and stew but both were completely tasteless and the stew was like a paste and the mince in the pie was rubbery and dd wouldn't eat it.

I can do fish fingers and chips but don't really think my family will be happy to have this everyday!

My two biggest disasters were cupcakes I tried to make for DD's birthday were brown, flat and crunchy! And a roast dinner for my parents was everything either overcooked or undercooked and essentially a burnt, cold dinner with watery gravy.

Not only am I trying to step up cooking wise generally, but my DH has invited two sets of friends for Easter dinner!!!

Does anyone feel like giving me some tips? Really easy fool proof recipes? (And an Easter Sunday solution!)

I would massively appreciate it

[TourGuideBarbie]

I was at a friends and she made a pasta sauce, from scratch, while chatting and drinking, and it was amazing and even my fussiest DD ate it.

I need these kind of skills

[RJnomore]

IT sounds to me that one of the problems is ?ith the heat setting on your oven, or your timings when cooking?

To some extent it's all about confidence, trying things and not worrying too much - the more you do it the better you get.

The Jamie Oliver book is quite good for teaching yourself to cook though (at least the friend I bought it for liked it).

[Mrsteddyruxpin]

Oh no.. I only cook for the family so I wouldn't say I am good, just get by but dh loves my cooking so that's good enough for me.

Do you know your oven? I always cook slower for longer If unsure.

Pancakes - one cup of self raising flour, one cup of milk, one egg- mix
Buy a really good frying pan and let the oil heat gently

Can't go wrong with onions, garlic and browning meat (say braising steak) and then popping into a casserole dish with a pinch of mustard, few carrots and a parsnip

Mash - buy roosters and chop evenly and watch like a hawk

Foolproof are cooking bags add salon and Cajun spice, serve with veg and baby potatoes

Stir fry chicken strips, peppers, courgettes and onion and add spices and serve with noodles

For Sunday dinner I would say buy a boned and rolled joint from a good quality butcher or a nice beef joint - steamed veg and baby potatoes and I would buy a tray or two of garlic potatoes to jazz it up. I don't see the point of more stress, you could do the beef in the slow cooker the night before even. Or gammon in coke and cauliflower cheese type of thing.

[TourGuideBarbie]

I have four ovens (cooks kitchen but not a cook!) and one seems to be rubbish, if I cook chips or something in there they're white after 25 minutes, so I use the others but it's true that they do burn things more often.

I thought ovens were essentially the same but maybe not?

[Mrsteddyruxpin]

Sorry for the braising steak I add gravy (not very thick) and cook for over an hour.

[TourGuideBarbie]

MrsTeddy, are you putting these things in the casserole dish raw, or cooked? And his long do you then cook them in the oven for?

[GrouchyKiwi]

Roasts are actually difficult because of the number of different things you have to cook in different ways at the same time.

I think casseroles are great because you basically toss everything in together and let the oven do the work for you. Lentil soup is also great, full of flavor and easy to make.

It is about practice. And seasoning. Taste everything as you cook it, and slowly add more seasoning till you get it right.

I like Nigella for hard-to-ruin recipes but she does use a few weird ingredients.

[TourGuideBarbie]

Sorry, kind of cross post!

With the pancakes a I bought I mix I added water to up to a line and just shook... But they all ended up as really stuck dough, and I had to scrape them out, or burnt and I had to do the same. They never came unstuck. Do you think this is my pan?

[GrouchyKiwi]

Could be pan, could be temperature. The pan has to be good and hot for pancakes but not so hot that they burn straight away.

[JanineStHubbins]

Top tip for cooking potatoes: put them in COLD water. This prevents them from turning too mushy.

[snice]

get the Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food book-really good for basics

[iamEarthymama]

I have been cooking for decades and come from a family of good cooks, basic roasts, pies stews etccetc However in my 30s I became vegetarian and had to learn new skills..
Then last year I had to stop eating gluten so again new skills.
Get a good cook book; we are currently using River Cottage Veg And Leon Fast Vegetarian, they are excellent
Jack Monroe's blog is really good too.
Then build up your store cupboard
Use bouilion, good salt, butter, good eggs, and above all good vegetables; we have a Riverford veg box and grow our own veg in the summer
My neice has taught herself to cook and is absolutely brilliant. Simple but so tasty food, you will not look back
Get the children to help too

Get your oven sorted, it sounds like a huge problem.
Good luck, you will enjoy this so much, I expect to see you blogging soon

[Mrsteddyruxpin]

Tour, fry the meat in the pan first with onions but don't cook through, just brown

Place in a casserole dish. If you are really unsure try colemans mixes of similar until you build confidence.

Buy 400 g lean beef and try it

[bobs123]

Easy stew:

Brown some stewing beef in a pan (if you can find joints of beef on offer they can be cheaper and you cut it up yourself)
Place in a casserole dish
Add onions cut into 4, carrots and swede cut into 1-2" chunks.
Make stock with oxo cubes in a measuring jug (3 cubes to 1 pint water) and add
Throw in a couple of bay leaves, salt and pepper and some dried herbs if you want
Put in oven about 140 degrees for 2-3 hours (can start higher and reduce to simmer gently) till beef tender.

That bit can be done in advance if you want.

Otherwise, when beef is almost tender, add some potatoes cut into largish chunks (like roasties size) and a can of butter beans if wanted (can use any pulses like chick peas if preferred) and cook till potatoes soft (1 hour)

Serve.

If you want a thicker sauce, stir in some Mcdougals thickening granules

Jamie Oliver does some good books for learners

[TourGuideBarbie]

Thanks everyone, I'm definitely going to try these in the next few days and get a couple of books

I like eating vegetarian mostly, but I do eat meat. Aubergine, courgettes, mushrooms are my favourites. Mexican food is my favourite restaurant to eat out at...

DH likes pies, roasts, stew, bolognese.

My DD's Love pasta. They scraped the plates at my friends house!

[Oceanpurple1]

Another recommendation for the Ministry of Food JO book.

[WorkingBling]

Dh is not a great cook. To be honest, most of these instructions would absolutely flummox him.

A few tips that have worked for him:

• agree re Jamie ministry of food book. He finds those recipes easy to follow
  
• he makes brilliant pancakes now but took endless attempts with me keeping an eye on things. I would avoid those for now
  
• to test your oven, buy a portable thermometer. Turn oven in and place thermometer in oven. Check temp. Try a few different shelves as ovens can vary significantly - my very old
  

Oven can be 60 degrees hotter at the top to the bottom.

• dony even consider a roast at this point. If you want a roast type thing, look at a shoulder of lamb or at most, a leg of lamb, and find a slow cook recipe. Do not attempt to serve with multiple traditional sides but rather stick with new potatoes and salad or similar.
  
• easiest pasta sauce on planet, loved by children: finely chop an onion. Put in a large pan with some oil on a medium heat and cook gently to soften (ie don't try to make it fry). Meanwhile, chop some bacon and mushrooms. Once onion is soft (about 5 minutes), turn up heat and add bacon and mushrooms. Stir quickly to stop it burning. If there is very little fat in the pan, add a bit of extra oil or butter. If you want to, add about 50 ml white wine and stir while it bubbles. Take off the heat then stir in cream cheese (depending on amount, add a large spoon at a time and watch it melt). Serve over pasta. [inve you get more sophisticated you can add garlic,lemon, chilli as well as other veg - I like courgettes or spinach myself with a fee chipped tomatoes but start small!).

[Allalonenow]

Get Delia's How To Cook books, they will teach you the basic skills you need, follow her instructions religiously, she's known as Saint Delia for a reason!

[Silverjohnleggedit]

Op you've had some great advice...but I just wanted to say, I'm a pretty good cook, I like eating, I like new flavours and experimenting but trying a new recipe is always tricky and prone to disaster - experience helps you rescue disasters but we all have them, it's just that my disaster tonight was something I didn't take personally - I blamed the recipe! Just keep trying honestly, you'll get it. Keep tasting stuff too - that's really important.

One pot meal for Easter Sunday Beef Bourguignon is v easy.

[Iamfrankieheck]

Here is a really easy pasta you can make in just a few steps

Put your pasta on to cook

Fry gently in a separate pan
half a diced onion
some button mushrooms
pancetta or streaky bacon
garlic, salt and pepper

add in a tin of chopped tomatoes and let it come to a boil and reduce a bit
add about half a small cup of cream
add your drained pasta

Yet to meet anyone who hasn't liked it or maybe i just have very polite friends

Good Luck

[KiteKit]

I recommend the Jamie's Ministry of Food book. It will teach you the basics and then once you are confident in those you can branch out a bit. He has some nice pasta recipes in it too.

I also second the suggestion of making a lovely beef casserole for Easter dinner. If you google beef bourgignon on BBC Good Food website you will get some nice recipes.

My top tip for cooking a beef stew so it is melt in the mouth tender is to simmer it with a lid on for at least 3 hours, check it and give it a stir every so often at some stage between 3-3.5hrs when you check it you will see a small amount of oil pooled on the surface - this is when it is tender - it is the last of the fat / sinews breaking down and you can cut it with a spoon after that happens. Chewy, tough beef in a stew is what happens if you stop cooking it too soon. Also V important to keep the lid on, otherwise all your liquid will evaporate leaving you with a too-thick dry stew.

Good luck!

[PeaStalks]

I taught 17 year old DS to cook last year ready for going to uni and wrote a load of very, very easy recipes for basic foods.
One thing I found is that it's very easy to make assumptions about simple basic cooking processes. Like when the recipe said 3 cloves of garlic and he chopped 3 bulbs of garlic.
Also the shopping is not always obvious. What meat to use, what kind of rice to buy.
I suggest you stick to one of your ovens, preferably an electric fan oven until you get to know it.

This is the kind of recipe I mean

Basic Mince
This is how to cook mince. You will need a sauce or gravy as well.
Preparation Time 30 Minutes
Cooking Time 30 Minutes
Serves 4 so ratio the amounts up or down according to how many portions you want. If you only want one it’s still worth making more and saving the surplus.

Ingredients
Allow 400g or 1lb of beef or pork mince for 4 people. Less is fine with plenty of sauce.
1 tablespoon Vegetable oil

Method

1. Read the whole recipe
   
2. Choose a large none stick pan, preferably a frying pan
   
3. Add the oil and heat 2 minutes
   
4. Add the meat and keep the temperature turned up fairly high but not full.
   
5. Stir around until it is all brown.
   
6. Now it needs sauce. It will have a lot of fat in the pan. Try to pour some of it away. Not all of it as it adds flavour. You can use a pan lid or a sieve.
   
7. If using gravy you can make the gravy in a jug and pour over the mince.
   
8. If using a tomato or other sauce the mince can be added to the pan of sauce now. *
   
9. If you are making pasta it should go on now.
   
10. Bring to the boil while stirring, then turn down the heat and put a lid on. Cook for a further 20 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally.
    
    
    
    The spoon with holes will allow the fat to drain off. Some fat is good for flavour but you might not want it all. Cheaper mince will have a higher fat content.

[WhyIRayLiotta]

I made this carbonara the other week.
It was delicious - and my DCs and DH loved it!
So easy:
Boil water, add spaghetti, cook for 10 minutes.
While that's cooking Fry some pancetta or bacon in a frying pan for 10 minutes.
In a bowl mix 2 egg yokes (the yellow part!) with a spoonful of Parmesan (per person - so 4 eggs / 2 spoonfuls for 2 people) and some pepper.
Pour in the hot spaghetti (it cooks the eggs!) and the bacon.
Mix thoroughly and serve with more Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Ok, I think I've made that sound complicated! But it's really not! Watch the you tube video I've linked hopefully! and it will make sense