To find cooking really complicated and stressful?

[Abbinob]

When people are taking about simple recipes and they say things like 'then just chuck in some spices'
Wait what spices? How much? How do people know what spices people are talking about? Am I thick and this is some instinctive knowledge people have?
Whenever I look at a recipe for something it seems to have a million ingredients and I get a bit panicky and I give up
I'm sure when my mum made a curry it was just simple like tomatoes, chicken, yoghurt curry powder. But when I try to find a curry recipe it's all coconut milk and a thousand spices I've never heard of.
I want to cook nice fod for DS but all I can cook is bolognaise, pasta bake and shepherds pie

Lots of really helpful suggestions here, will be definitely getting a Delia book and a student cookbook seems a good idea too as the recipes should be relatively cheap. And watching YouTube videos an having a look on BBC food site.
My curry so far consists of dry chicken (I fry the shit out of it because I'm scared of poisoning us ) and a jar of sauce, its a bit rank.
I can only cook bolognaise because my mum showed me and theres not a lot to go wrong, everything else gets me in a panicky especially if you have to cook multiple things at once and get the timing right.

Oops forgot to say, thank you for all the suggestions!

Try lamb curry instead of chicken, less likely to go dry. And use curry paste rather than sauce.

This is gorgeous - Thai chicken curry. His recipes are v easy. I like Jamie Oliver ministry of food too
https://www.facebook.com/JoeWicksTheBodyCoach/videos/893342634073007/

I got a meat thermometer. Just stick probe in the chicken and check temp. It's habit, I still do it now even if I know it's cooked!

I found it really hard freestyling with cooking until I'd built up my confidence with simple recipes. Seeing what spices go with what helps you to grow your confidence.

When I was less confident I found it was easier to get everything chopped and prepped before I started actually cooking. I used to get panicky too, now I cook for 8-10 people four nights a week.

My top tips would be:

1. onion and garlic make most things taste better. Cook the onion in a little fat over a low heat for maybe ten minutes until they're translucent but not coloured. Add the garlic just for the last minute, along with any dry spices you're using. Add the meat now.

2. if adding a tin of tomatoes to anything, always add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar to balance the acidity

3. you don't need to fry the shit out of your chicken or any other meat. Just stir it around until it's white on all surfaces, then simmer in the sauce according to the instructions or for 10-15 minutes (longer if big pieces, 40mins for whole legs). If you're worried you can fish out a piece and cut it open to check it's white and hot all the way through.

As an example of how to make things up as you go, I made a chicken casserole for tea tonight. Onion and garlic as (1) above, then the chopped up boneless chicken thighs. When they were white all over I added the mushrooms, and after I'd cooked those a little bit I sprinkled plain white flour and stirred that all around for a while while it cooked. I added chicken stock (450ml is about right for one pack of chicken thighs), Worcester sauce, salt, pepper and a hefty shake of mixed herbs. Then put the whole lot in the slow cooker. You can make all sorts of different casseroles with the same principle. Mustard goes well with pork or sausages, ale is a good base for beef casseroles instead of stock. Just taste it when it's nearly ready in case it needs more seasoning.

Tip for curries is to fry onions till golden in veg oil and butter. Add garlic and ginger, cook for one minute. Remove, then brown chicken in oil - use thigh, it's less likely to go dry. You don't need to cook it through, just so it's browned on all sides.

Remove chicken from pan. Add splash oil, add spices, about two mins, cook till they smell good. Low-ish heat. Add onions and chicken. Stir to coat with spice mix. Then add passata (crushed tomatoes) and coconut milk, if you like it. Salt and pepper. Simmer for an hour. Turn off heat. Add spinach. Then add fresh coriander if you like. Could add red pepper at the onion stage, or mushrooms when you add the passata.

Spices to use could be garam masala, cumin, ground coriander, chilli, turmeric. One teaspoon each for my curries.

I always add a teaspoon sugar too..

Remember too that spices belong to different 'families':

Italian : basil, garlic, oregano
Indian : cumin, turmeric, garam masala
Thai : lime, soy, fish sauce
Chinese : star anise, soy, five spice, ginger

If you stick to the basic families and don't mix basil and ginger together you should be alright!

basil and ginger

doesn't thai cooking have this combo? they some how break all the rules and get away with it.

I think zeroing in on things you love to eat is a good way to go. if there is a particular thai/italian whatever dish you love, make sure you know how to make it well and have the stuff for it.

I rely heavily upon my meat thermometer, esp. when pan frying chicken escalopes. I faffed about with cutting them open for years trying to see if they were pink or white and overcooked the hell out of them. Now I am able to cook them with extreme precision and they are beautiful.

Dont agree with adding sugar to tin tomatoes . Did it the first time the other day and every body pulled faces. They didnt know what i had done.

Oh, I agree! YANBU.

If you're not a confident cook and have absolutely no experience then what reads as a simple instruction to other people is still baffling to you.

"Sweat the onions down", for example. Umm... is that 3 minutes? 10 minutes? Tell me!

Start small. Preferably with stews

It's fine to just have a few meals you can do well. I'm still rubbish and I really dislike cooking (which I suspect is the vital ingredient in cooking well) but have a few meals like bolognaise, stew, oven-cook risotto etc that are acceptable.

I never add sugar to tomato sauce either. I simply refuse.

I never add sugar either. Or salt, never add salt to my cooking. I couldn't care less what chef's add, I don't need extra salt in my food.

You need some salt surely. Can't imagine eating a bowl of homemade soup that didn't have a bit of seasoning...It's not bad for you (unless you eat loads or are particularly sensitive for a reason.)

Boiled egg without salt?
Mash without salt?

I never used to be a sugar adder, them u got into the habit as I think it makes tomatoey dishes taste better. Trying to break the habit again now though as part of efforts to be more healthy...

...then I... (not them u)

toffee's advice is good.

I shudder at that thought of any random spices/herbs thrown into anything

Also, everything the Sainsbury ads tell you to do, DON'T (so no curry in your fish pie, or coffee in your bolognese, or horseradish in your Mac 'N Cheese please please PLEASE. That is the worst sort of creative cooking, IMHO)

what next?! A bit of worcestersauce in your strawberry ice cream? A bit of oregano in your custard?

Or pesto in sausage casserole. Why?

I don't like my food to taste of salt so no I wouldn't add salt to mash or to a boiled egg (wtf?). My children definitely don't need added salt.

Because it tastes nice? I don't add salt to stuff that already has salt, but a little bit of salt on something that you have made yourself really enhances the flavour.

Bread with unsalted butter and a bit of crunchy sea salt on top - lovely.

But, each to their own.

oh goodness yes, pesto in sausage

clearly Sainsbo don't understand FOOD

I dont add salt to a lot of food ie dont put in the veg water, but salt on egg is a must

redstrawberry

basil and ginger doesn't thai cooking have this combo?

Thai basil (sometimes known as Holy Basil) is a different plant to the European basil you'd get in French or Italian cooking. It tastes sort of spicier and has tougher leaves and the two are not really interchangeable.

jibberjabberjooo you're being a bit judgey about what people choose to add to their children's food - is that really necessary? Also you may sayd "WTF" to salt on a boiled egg but I would bet my life that in a survey of 100 random British adults asked if they'd add salt to their boiled egg well over 50% would say yes. It is in no way an unusual "WTF" thing to do.

I don't know how you can be a serious (or even amateur) cook and not use salt. It's obligatory. Sorry.