Can you give me your basic cooking tips?

Always have onions in. Morrison’s sell frozen chili, ginger and garlic in big bags of cubes. Recipes I can’t think of right now, but if you can find it Nigel Slater’s book Taste (I think) is excellent and easy. There’s a chicken thigh dish which is perfect comfort food.

I think Jamie's ministry of food is pretty good for the non-cook.

It kind of conceptually explains how to build e.g. a salad etc etc which is very helpful.

I also like Sam Stern's cookbook.

HelloFresh is pretty good as well but I definitely tweak some of their recipes. It's definitely easier from the POV that you don't have to pick a recipe, go to the supermarket, try to work out what to substitute when they don't have the exact thing you were looking for etc. There's often a good deal after Christmas for new sign ups.

Hey OP I a basic roux sauce is very versatile.

Melt butter in a pan, add flour to make a paste and cook for a minute.

For a cheese sauce, you can add milk and grated cheese and then any other spices you like; mustard and herbs.
For a sauce for meat or fish you can use stock (boiling water and a stock cube) and add to the flour/butter to make a sauce.
Lots of other variations and things you can add when you get more confidence.
Good luck!

Learn to cook a white sauce as a base for cheese sauce, lasagne etc.
Melt some butter, add flour until it turns into a paste, slowly add milk while whisking. Add grated cheese etc etc for whatever you want to cook. I never learn this until I was about 25 and it's been so useful!

No need to be so very rude and unkind @Raincloudsonasunnyday. Not everyone is great at cooking - especially from scratch. 🙄🙄

a basic tomato based pasta sauce
heat a glug of olive oil in a pan
gentle fry off a chopped onion until they go clear
add some garlic ( 2 cloves fresh) or half teaspoon from a jar

you can add any other Mediterranean veg ( peppers or courgettes, aubergine, mushrooms etc) for a couple of minutes
add salt pepper oregano and basil
add a tin of chopped tomatoes
add a good pinch of sugar.

let it cook without a lid on bubbling slowly until it reduces down.

You can also fry chopped bacons or lardons or chorizo on the pan after the onions and then add veg as before.

the simplest is onion, bacon, tinned tomatoes salt and pepper . My kids enjoy…

my made up version of a cassoulet:

dice an onion and sauté over a low-medium heat in about a tablespoon of olive oil for 10 mins or so until translucent and soft.

add finely chopped garlic to taste (I use about 4 cloves) and saute for another 3 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

add 2 tablespoons of tomato purée and saute for a couple of minutes.

add two tins of cannellini beans, including the liquid.

add one tin of chopped tomatoes (worth buying a decent brand like mutti or cirio)

stir well and turn down the heat. Simmer for 15 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.

stir in a glug or single cream and some chopped fresh basil

salt to taste

serve with crusty bread, or new potatoes, or rice.

Its so delicious, hearty, healthy and filling. This makes enough for two adults to have for dinner with a portion leftover as well. I have it about once a week and I love it.

it also freezes well!

4-8 bone in skin on chicken thighs depending on size
Small packet of small mushrooms (or cut up some big ones but not too small)
1 onion, really thinly sliced, grated or diced (I do half grated, half thinly sliced)
3-4 garlic cloves
1 cups rice
2 cups stock
Bay leaf
Butter

Preheat oven to 190

Season chicken with salt and pepper and brown in a large casserole dish then set aside the chicken.

With the pan off the heat put the rice evenly in the pan, add the mushrooms, garlic, most of the onion, bay leaf, arranged kinda evenly throughout the rice, put the chicken on top of this, it kind of stands on top of the mushrooms garlic etc, add the stock, if you sliced the onion I then throw some on top.

Wrap top in foil, put the lid on, put it in the oven for 1hr

50 minutes in remove the lid and foil and let it cook open for the last bit.

I have it with broccoli or something else green

Takes longer than you asked for but only unattended cooking time, the actual putting it together is very quick

Get a chorizo. Slice into coins. Fry until they release their oil and go a bit crispy. Scoop them out (leave the oil) and put on a piece of paper towel.

In a separate pan boil baby new potatoes until tender. Tip into the chorizo pan along with some mushrooms and sugar snap peas. Fry in the chorizo oil for a few minutes. Add the chorizo back and serve. We call this ‘chorizo tumble’.

My main tip- do not let a recipe tell you how many garlic cloves to use. You measure that with your heart.

Vanilla is to baking what garlic is to cooking.

What sorts of things do you want to learn? What do you normally order when you eat out?

Another good tip is cook once eat twice. Cook double the amount and eat it for lunch the next day or freeze the sauce/ragu and cook your starch to order.
Season season season! Taste as you go! Too spicy? Add cream/coconut milk. Too bitter? Add a bit if sugar. Too bland? More salt and a splash of acidity like lemon juice. Missing something? Add marmite or wostershire sauce.
Use the right oils, so roasting use veg oil, dressing use olive or sesame.
Butter and wine whilst not good for the waistline Add lots flavour.
Triple the amount of dried herbs a recipe calls for. Dry fry spices and aromatics.
Add garlic at the last min, it burns real quick

I was going to say Delia, and Good Housekeeping!

Treat recipes as guides not demands

learn some basic stuff like omelettes, bases for ragu, stews etc and have fun

30 minutes is plenty of time to make a nice dinner

Firstly, don't turn the heat up under your pans too hot. It adds burnt flavours sometimes and ruins your pans.
We like pork mince and sliced mushrooms, fried off with garlic puree, then add ready cooked udon noodles, sliced spring onions, peanut butter, marmite, sprinkle of sugar, lime juice, splash of water to get saucy consistency, serve sprinkled with crushed peanuts.

It's really too time consuming to ask for recipes.

But it's very easy to find them yourself!

Loads of cookery books out there, or all the major supermarkets have RECIPES on their websites.

You can usually filter them down to healthy, quick, and by main ingredients (fish, chicken, meat, etc.)

Look at Waitrose and Tesco.

Also, we had a really quick dinner tonight.

Toast with mashed avocado and poached eggs on top.

A great tip and absolutely true but unfortunately I never manage it

I came in to recommend Ministry of Food too. All the basics, simply explained, with step by step pictures.

Quick meals:
any grilled or pan fried meat or fish with steamed or stir fry veg and pasta/rice/potato.
Pasta with one of the quicker cooking sauces.
Omelettes.
Chicken or veg curry with a jar sauce.
Stir fry with a packet sauce if you like and noodles.
Reheat something you cooked at the weekend.
"Massive salad"

You really don't need to know all that to suggest a couple of quick and easy recipes!

I find this on all my threads, though. Someone likes to point out that you can't possibly get what you are looking for on Mumsnet...all the while helpful posters are giving me just the information I needed!

You don’t season the chicken?!

Buy Delia Smiths cookery course and read the introductions to each section, then follow the recipes. Buy an electronic kitchen scale, food mixer and hand held blender. And you’re good to go. You can gradually buy baking tins etc as you need them.

I would also recommend the BBC website. Make sure you specify “basic” in your searches for minimal ingredients and fuss. You can add your own touches later, once you’ve gained confidence. Beetroot risotto, spaghetti carbonara and muffins are surprisingly easy.

OP what kind of food do you like to eat?

Try student cookbooks. Very simple recipes with normal ingredients. I used them when I was younger and learned the basics from there.

I don't follow recipes but my top tip is cooking low and slow......

Yeah, you could Google but asking the women of Mumsnet for their tried and tested recipes is a good idea, I think. After all, there's a wealth of experience on here.