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

No, ground garlic in a little bottle?

does it have salt?

The lentils are dried, do they have salt added in the drying process?

not unless you get special salt dried lentils.

But you are boring so don't bother coming here for dinner

I am far from boring dahlink, I am a fucking RIOT. But you can keep your bland unsalted dinner, thanks all the same.

I love that Camellia Punjabi book katarzyna recommends. Every recipe has been a hit unlike Madhur Jaffrey who I find hit and miss. It is often in The Works very cheap.

The idea that anyone knows what most people they know do with their eggs very funny.

I am far from boring dahlink, I am a fucking RIOT. But you can keep your bland unsalted dinner, thanks all the same.

You could always just add some to yours, there isn't an embargo on it crossing the threshold. In fact I've got some at the back of the cupboard somewhere

I recommend this book:

Flash Cooking For Blokes

For "blokes" they actually mean idiots beginners. It's the book that really got me cooking. There are lots of similar ones about.

Specifically tackling the curry issue, buy a Patak's curry paste - the tikka masala one is nice, the balti one inspired my MN name! - and follow the recipe on the side. You need to add ginger, garlic, cardamon seeds and coriander, from memory, as well as chicken and onions. It makes you feel cheffy without needing to be a chef.

Then buy this book: www.amazon.co.uk/Curry-Easy-Madhur-Jaffrey/dp/009192314X

This cookbook is the one that transformed my cooking: www.amazon.co.uk/Keeping-Simple-Gary-Rhodes/dp/0718146212/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453894195&sr=1-4&keywords=gary+rhodes+cookery+books It gave me the confidence to try different things, because it all looked so easy. And it is.

I have a few curries under my belt - mostly Thai - but my DC are desperate for me to recreate the chicken curry they loved from a restaurant which has now closed. It was just chicken and sauce, no veg, zero very little heat but lots of flavour. Anyone got any bright ideas?

What cauliflower said about Patak's paste. Sometimes I make curry totally from scratch but the Patak's pastes are really good. I also like the Curry Easy book.

I learned to cook by reading Delia, Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson's original book How to Eat. I still refer to Delia's cookery course for info on the absolute basics.

Do have a look at BBC Good Food. They do a lamb tagine with butternut squash which is really tasty and dead easy and family friendly. (Although I would buy boneless lamb shoulder instead of leg and then cook on a slightly lower heat for a bit longer. I also chuck in a tin or two of chickpeas.)

What kind of curry was it *Tyrannosaurus? Indian, Thai, something else?

All my Indian curries start with Patak's pastes!

TyrannosaurusBex, that sounds like a Chicken Tikka Makhani, which my son adores. Sometimes called Butter Chicken. Google it and see if it looks/sounds right.

Going to attempt this leek and bacon rissoto later,

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/827639/leek-and-bacon-risotto

Thinking that if it works out OK then I can make different ones and will be an easy dinner I can cook.

Going to attempt 2 new things a week I think, then eventually I'll be a bit more confident with different foods

I am an instinctive cook - mainly from too many years of practice (im 50).

I think just start yourself off with a pledge to make something new and easy every week, one night a week. Or one night a fortnight. I love the BBC good food website, and frequently try things new things out. SOme are hit and miss with the family, but some things have become regulars on our table. Just think - in a year, you could add 20+ new recipes to your repertoire.

In terms of herbs and spices: Id say essentials are salt, pepper, mixed herbs, paprika, garlic, chinese 5 spice, thyme, oregano, nutmeg.

Everything else will languish in your cupboard, being used on very rare occasions, until you hit on that perfect recipe that everyone loves and is easy to make.

It takes time to find the perfect foods - something everyone likes that doesnt take 17 hours of preparation to make.

I found it helpful to write down all the stuff I make with eg mince, or chicken, because while you might feel your skills are limited, you might find you can cook more things than you thought.

The curry was Indian-tasting, soul. It wasn't an Indian restaurant! though. Thanks, Cauli, I'm going to try that!

Does anyone know if I can cook risotto in a saucepan? Or a frying pan? But the frying pans quite small.. I don't have one of those caserole dish things

It's supposed to be cooked in a saucepan. You'll need a large one though, and it's very high maintenance - you have to stand over it for at least 40 mins, adding stock and stirring.

Oh I thought it was meant to be cooked in a big flat dish thing
I can stand and stir, will use it as an excuse to watch TV on my laptop in the kitchn and dp can have DS

Are you thinking of paella Abb?

That's not as high maintenance though as you are supposed to let a crust form on the bottom, which is traditionally seen as the best bit in Spain.

I don't get this. I don't have any cookbooks that say anything like 'chuck in some spices'; they all give quantities. All you have to do is read and follow.

Yep, that's paella. Risotto need to be in a deepish pan so that the liquid is absorbed by the rice rather than evaporating, which is what would happen if it was only a thinnish layer of rice in a wide pan. Risotto can be very satisfying but you do need to be patient as it's not nice if the rice is undercooked. Chop your onions into very very small dice and cook down thoroughly. Add lots of white wine, mm. And don't add salt till the end, and only after tasting to see if any needed because stock is already salty.

You can do an oven risotto if you're feeling less patient.

Well it tasted nice! Looks a bit rank in the picture but everyone ate it at least so sort of a success

But my arm aches like fuck

Risotto is not the most visual of dishes - it's meant to look like that

You can do an oven risotto but seriously if you stir all the way through it does make a difference (have done stirring and non stirring options)

Congratulations!

I would recommend Delia and BBC Good Food online - loads of tried and tested recipes (check the comments on BBC Good Food and stick to highly rated ones) - once you get confident you slowly start doing your own thing to the recipes as you go.

Looks pretty damn good.