Help I need to cook but I can’t cook

[FeckArseDrinkGirls]

I’ve got my fairly newish partner coming round to mine at the weekend for dinner. I went to his for similar a couple of weeks ago and, despite having told me he’s not really into cooking but is a bit of a foodie, cooked me one of the best meals I’d ever had. A really decent restaurant level meal.

I also told him that I couldn’t cook despite loving good food but I was actually telling the truth. I used to cook a bit but since having ridiculously fussy kids I have just done a variety of chicken nuggets, pasta and pesto, salmon and rice etc. very, very bland meals.

I’m also ridiculously busy on the day before he comes over for the evening so I’m going to have very little time do spend cooking.

Any good go to recipes that anyone would like to share? Ideally aimed at someone incredibly inept. Happy to spend a fair bit on ingredients but just want to make a balls up of it. I could order takeaway I guess but that seems a bit of a cop out when he went to such an effort to cook for me.

I'd do something that I could make the day before. Delia shepherd's pie is lovely or make a lasagne. They always taste better the next day
Take the stress out of it

Let us know what you go with OP! I love a food thread.

Our local co-op stocks Cook.

How much time will you have to actually cook?

30 mins- do something with pasta.

Bacon lardons, small pot of single cream, 100g parmesan, dried chilli flakes, peas, pasta, chicken stock cube, plain flour, butter, garlic.

Get the bacon frying in a large, deep pan.
Boil the kettle. Get the pasta on, and reserve around 300mls of the boiling water- add the stock cube to this.
Remove the bacon. Add 2tbsp butter and chopped clove of garlic.
Stir in 2 tbsp flour and let cook for a minute. Gradually pour in the chicken stock while whisking to make a thick roux.
Add the cooked bacon, parmesan, cream and a shake of chilli flakes to taste.
In the final few minutes before the pasta has finished cooking, add frozen peas.
Chuck cooked pasta into the sauce, stir and serve. It's delicious.

If you have an hour, try this chicken, cider and chorizo stew: really tasty. We just serve it with tenderstem broccoli instead of the mash.
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chicken_braised_in_cider_22812#:~:text=%20For%20the%20chicken%20%201%202%20tbsp,pepper%2010%203%20tbsp%20double%20cream%20More%20

This! It’s so delicious and so easy to make. Make it the day before so you know it’s done, then buy some nice fresh egg pasta that you only have to cook at the last minute. Grate a copious amount of parmesan or grana Padano and you’re away

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/venetian-duck-ragu/amp

Couple of tips:
Be careful not to make sure you remove any small bones when you shred the duck and return it
Stir regularly so the bits at the bottom of the pan don’t stick and burn

Or if you want the easiest meal ever that’s also lovely:

• Buy spinach and ricotta tortellini (or pumpkin, or whatever)
• Make sage butter (super easy - 75g butter on a low heat, add 75ml of vegetable stock and whisk until bubbling, then chuck in some chopped fresh sage
• Drain pasta. Add sage butter. Cover with Parmesan
• Done!

Something you can prepare beforehand. Google ohn no khao swè, or burmese chicken noodle soup. There are loads of recipes, some easier than others. I just cook it my family way, not hard at all to do and we serve it more like a noodle dish than a soup. The advantage it that you add the extras to individual taste. I like lots of lemon/lime a few pieces of boiled egg, coriander and dried chilli.

I think you can get Cook stuff in one of the petroleum stations now, and our local feed merchant / country store has a larger chiller full of a different brand but the same principle.

I am also a big fan of Gousto boxes, where you get all the ingredients measured out and delivered to the door. I actually love cooking and am not too bad at it, but it's a regular treat to try new recipes from them. If you wanted to give them a go I have a referral code knocking around somewhere

takeaway! it’s ok to just say you’re not into cooking, no one is great at everything! He can be the chef in the relationship

Good grief, "petroleum station" was an autocorrect

Cook will deliver

I would agree with Cook or M&S (but watch the dates).

But my absolute fave at the moment is from The Roasting Tin: Simple One Dish Dinner. A sausage tray bake. Works with pork sausages or veggie.
pork sausages; garlic - cloves; red onions - 1/8 wedges; sweet potatoes - wedges; smoked paprika; salt & pepper. Basically mix it altogether.

Cook for 45 mins approx at 180 degrees.

Add whatever extras you want. It is so easy and delish!

I live in the middle of nowhere so no nice M&S or Waitrose to get cheaty stuff from, although I’m sure I’ve seen Cook stuff somewhere

They sometimes have it at Farm Shops, or is there a Booths near you? They have it, or at least they do in the Ilkley store.

Your doing all this wrong. One of my in-laws who is my absolute hero told her dh she couldn’t cook fairly early on and he likes cooking so he took over. They’ve got a large family and he does it all food shop, packed lunches, everything.

Whereas I went full on Delia Smith & do everything & I don’t like cooking very much really.

No Booths but a farm shop is a possibility- I think our local one might do pre made meals actually. I spent this afternoon attempting a coq au vin as apparently that’s pretty hard to do wrong. I thought it was okish. My friend who came round to be my test subject though suggested I should just order a pizza and give him a blowjob instead. Which does sound a lot less hassle tbh.

Kathryn Whitehorn's advice was
Buy the first course
Second course something from oven
Third course cold and made day before

(you can reverse for first and third I think)

Some lovely ideas here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/4054598-Tinas-chestnut-stuffing-and-other-secret-and-not-so-secret-recipes?pg=1

including some very easy puddings

My favourite pretending to be fancy meal is a salad:

Butternut squash - slice, don't peel, roast with salt, pepper, oil, cumin and optional chilli flakes. 30 mins ish at 180.

Then once that's done and cooled to warm you put it on a bed of rocket, with shaved parmesan, Parma ham, toasted pine nuts and good balsamic. Apart from toasting the pine nuts everything here just comes out the packet.

Serve with crusty bread and preferably good butter.

I also like baked camembert as a can't go wrong option, or a tray bake with chicken thighs, red onion, peppers, tomatoes (pref on the vine), unpeeled garlic, courgette and then I usually shove new potatoes in the same tray, season it all with salt pepper and rosemary, drizzle Olive oil and roast it all at 180 til it looks done.

Take a trip to M and S
M and S Duck legs in orange sauce - 45 mins in the oven
Reading made mash - 3 mins in the microwave
Green vegetable medley - 3 mins in the microwave

Job done - all you have to do is turn your oven on and if you want to make it look like you made it just bake them in a le cruset or something and make sure you bin the evidence!

ready-made

I would slow cook a shoulder of lamb (5hrs) - follow Jamie O’s instructions.

And serve with shop bought dauphinoise & some veg & a shop bought pud (M&S profiteroles are popularly) or just ice cream.

Can’t go wrong.

Roast veg coucous with rack of lamb - v. popular. Aubergine, courgette, red and yellow pepper, red onion, baby toms, with whole garlic cloves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Roasted for about 45-50 minutes. Seasoned rack of lamb roasted for 20 minutes. Coucous soaked in stock cube boiled water with a knob of butter. Sauce made of tomato puree, lemon juice, olive oil, barbecue sauce, cumin and cayenne. Roast some pine nuts and add either feta or a side of humous. Mix coucous with roast veg and sauce and throw in some rocket leaves.

Salmon tray bake - adapted from Jamie 30 minute supper. Salmon, prawns with shells on (if you like them), diced potatoes, asparagus, long stem broccoli, baby toms and garlic, lemon, olive oil and a sprinkle of cayenne. Cooked for about 15-20 minutes.

I'd also go with boeuf bourguignon with mashed potato. Nigella has some brilliant chocolate soufflees which are super easy. I've served pea and ham soup as a starter too.

@FeckArseDrinkGirls

No Booths but a farm shop is a possibility- I think our local one might do pre made meals actually. I spent this afternoon attempting a coq au vin as apparently that’s pretty hard to do wrong. I thought it was okish. My friend who came round to be my test subject though suggested I should just order a pizza and give him a blowjob instead. Which does sound a lot less hassle tbh.

Could work

Keep it really simple, just use good ingredients and let the ingredients do the talking. If time is really tight I’d be tempted to buy some fresh pasta, and fresh seafood and make a simple pasta dish.

The serious eats sheet-pan salmon with tomato and eggplant compote is lovely. I made it for a dinner party once (without the chili) and it was lovely.

A good dessert option is a chocolate fondant with custard .

Or why not go for sth like beef in Guinness followed by apple crumble?