Can you give me your basic cooking tips?

[Cloud44]

Early 40s and I’m embarrassed about how rubbish I am in the kitchen to be honest. This year I really want to eat healthier and cook meals from scratch more.
Can you tell me your favourite most basic recipes to help me get started? Meals that take less than 30 minutes after a day at work?

I agree with a PP that things like frozen mash are awesome.

@SleepTheFinalFrontier

Here's a cream of chicken soup recipe. It does have other things in to enhance the flavours, but I think that's what you mean and it's mostly just chicken.

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/classic-cream-of-chicken-soup/

Looks fabulous, I usually use onion, leek but add too many carrots, and have never added cream
So I will bit the bullet, get some cream, and omit the carrots, which are my downfall !! Thanks you have spurred me on to try 🌸

I learned to cook from Nigel Slater (Appetite, Real Fast Food and Real Cooking) - most of these recipes are very simple, if not super healthy!

You really don’t need complicated recipes to cook well. It’s about knowing how to make things taste good - browning meat, sweating veg, caramelising onions as pp said, what veg really benefit from roasting, what meat needs long slow cooking vs fast fierce cooking, what flavours go together.

A cast iron pot like a Le Creuset (but plenty of copies available) is a brilliant investment IMO, as are good knives (I like Wusthof Classic).

My online recommendations for simple recipes

Nigel Slater (Guardian website)
Felicity Cloake (Guardian again)
RecipeTinEats
BBC good food - but do read the reviews
Hairy Bikers
Nigella
Sally’s Baking Addiction (baking obv)

Really rude reply.

Fry onions, carrots and celery in olive oil until tender. Add garlic, fry a couple more minutes. Not too long. You can use red chili flakes here if you want a kick.

Boil skinless bone-in chicken in lots of chicken stock in a large pot, with a couple of bay leaves. I use wings, the bones have a lot of flavor. When the meat is falling off the bones, remove from the stock with tongs - this is important so as to avoid spilling the stock down the drain (as I’ve done thinking to strain it!). Take flesh off bones, add back to stock. Remove bay leaves. Add carrot/onion/etc mix. Season well. Bring back to the boil and add whatever pasta shapes you’re using. Boil until done.

Try to aim for no leftovers as once you’ve added the pasta it will continue to absorb water, even in the fridge until next time you eat it. You’ll end up with chicken pasta, and not very nice pasta at that.

You can add different carbs, such as rice, but nicest with pasta imo.

Takes lot longer than 30 mins, mind.

James May did a series called Oh Cook a few years ago for people who hadn't really cooked much before. On Amazon I think and is also a book

Seriously, use the Internet and find out yourself.

Check out the Joe Wicks recipe books, all healthy stuff and quick and easy to make.

I mainly learned to cook watching, "ready steady cook" - the old one with Ferne Britton.

Delia writes very exact cook books, so you can't go wrong.

If you can afford it the gusto/green chef etc boxes give you a recipe and all the ingredients.

Don't think you have to cook everything from scratch, I stick chicken thighs in the slow cooker with sliced up leeks, a tub of creme fraiche and a tin of condensed mushroom soup.

Normally half gets eaten and I put the left overs in a foil pie tin and add a pastry lid and put i the freezer for a different day.

Cook with Jamie is a great starter book. Then Hugh Fernley Whittingstall's Meat book is brilliant for techniques and basics.

When you get more experienced look at Salt, Heat, Acid, Fat to take it to the next level.

In terms of simply following recipes, I agree that Delia and Jamie always turn out well. Shout out to the Hairy Bikers too - their recipes are a bit more complex but always deliver in my experience.

My tips:
It's difficult to cook a meal in 30 minutes, try cooking at the weekend when you have longer and freezing - taking out when you need it. This works well for anything with liquid in it. Soups, stews, Bolognese sauce etc. You can make more than you need and have enough for several meals, so over several weeks you can cook enough variations to have nearly every day.
Try a recipe first, there are lots of suggestions for recipes on here - but I would go for a cookery book rather than a recipe book. That is, one that teaches the basic techniques rather than an airy fairy way to cook chicken thighs. Then once you have mastered the technique you can change the recipe to make it more to your taste. NOTE - this does not usually work for baking!
Again - 30 minutes is not very long! Don't beat yourself up about not cooking something nutritious 'from scratch' if that is all the time you have. Use things that are ready prepared if you need to. It's fine to eat sausages or similar. There's nothing wrong with bunging some chicken in a ready-made sauce and serving it with frozen veg and rice. Chicken and fish take little time to cook, especially if in small pieces.
Stir fries don't take long to cook, but they can take a while to prepare. Either cut everything up in advance or buy ready to cook packs. There's nothing wrong with buying stir try sauces either.
Freeze your leftovers, if not previously frozen. A little bit of white sauce can be jazzed up with tinned tuna, garlic and tomato puree to put with pasta, it can be mixed with cheese to put over vegetables etc. Left over veg can be fried up, put in a soup or added to a mince dish, depending on what the veg is.
I frequently provide meals within 30 minutes, but I have either used one of the tips above, or it is something tasty but not necessarily very nutritionally sound (spaghetti with tomato ketchup and grated cheese anyone?)

Mary Berry does a 30-minute cook book and also a Foolproof cook book.

Look at the Roasting Tin series - you throw loads of things into a roasting tin and bung it in the oven.

Joe Wicks has a similar 30 minute book

You're not asking for recipes to write your own book are you @Cloud44 😂

This thread is actually great for people like me- I can cook and do lots from.scratch (3 kids and want to be healthy!) But it's often fine rather than actually good, IYSWIM, so I'm really interested in how to be a good cook.

@Arwe you mentioned mastering some basics, like making an onion taste good.
Can you, or others suggest more basic skills to master and how? Thank you.

I've actually tried to find an in person cookery course for this but never found one- they always seem a bit niche.

Thanks

I’m going to try this in the air fryer with marinated tofu.

@Ichangedmynameonce What sort of things do you mean?

IMO everyone should be able to do the basics

Make a white sauce (bechamel)
Make gravy from scratch with the meat juices
Know how to make a casserole by frying the meat first
Know how to joint a chicken and use the carcass to make stock

Some Good Housekeeping cook books cover all of this.

@EmpressaurusOfTheSevenOceans If you like that recipe, look at the Roasting Tin series.

It's that- basically.

A slab of protein and veg thrown in with olive oil, herbs and spices.
There is a 30-min one and also a veggie version.

The slow cooker is your friend, let it do all the cooking .

i use the taming twins pulled pork recipe. The good thing about it is that’s it’s versatile so can have it a few days without feeling like you are eating the same meal again and again- in brioche rolls with coleslaw and potato wedges or corn on the cob, loaded nachos, in a rice bowl, fajitas/enchiladas etc

https://www.tamingtwins.com/slow-cooker-pulled-pork/

Well it's taken me 40 years to realise that the key to a good salad isn't the salad items but the dressing. Olive oil, white wine vinegar, a squeeze of lemon and some salt mixed together and poured on a salad make it much nicer imo.

But in terms of quick meals, just buy a cookery book or find a recipe on line and cook in a few times until you feel confident doing it without followed the instructions, after that you might start adapting it a bit. They repeat with another recipe.

I find lots on Instagram. Once I searched for a couple my algorithm just filled up with loads. I also love the roasting tin cookbooks - so easy and encourages you to adapt a bit.

My top tip - follow the recipe!

Honestly, it's just a set of instructions. If there are lots of things to do, write out your timings and prep/measure as many ingredients in advance as you can.

I also use simply cook once a week for an easy/ thought free meal. They even provide a shopping list!

i prefer it to hello fresh etc as not tied to fresh ingredients so you can keep a stockplile in the cupboard and chose when to use it.

my favourite is Louisiana Linguine.

if you use my link below then you will get a free box with 4 meal kits. Just remember to cancel so you don’t end up with a subscription (it’s easy to do on your account.)

https://www.simplycook.com/invite/HF8364?t=cp&pg=ref&via=mb

@TinPotAlley I'm not totally sure - my mum brought us up on her own and isn't a great cook, so I never saw/ learned.

I often find that stuff I make from scratch is a bit bland and lacks a depth of flavour- so @Arwe comment above about the onion felt very relevant.

I can make decent roast, sausage stew (from river cottage family book upthread). I make spaghetti bol and lasagne from scratch- can do white sauce. But I'd like the ragu to have a richer flavour but no idea how.

So I think I don't know what I'm missing. I don't have that understanding/ sense of what something is missing if I taste it but would like to learn.

To make things harder, like most of us I work and have kids etc so time is limited.

@Ichangedmynameonce

I think flavour in things like ragu is built up over time, someone up thread mentioned a slow cooker, you could try that.

Experiment with spices, you don't need much but a pinch of chilli flakes in a ragu can change it just enough. Try a drop of wine or tomato paste, cook and taste.

Do you have a market nearby? If you do go and ask the stall holders how to cook what they are selling, you often get customers to help too.

If you have a slow cooker try this.

1 chicken, some fresh thyme and a lemon.Oh and a bit of salt and pepper.

Stuff the thyme into the neck of the chicken and cut the lemon in half or a quarter if it is very small. Put the chicken in the slow cooker season with the salt and pepper and leave it to cook.

WHen you get home do some veg, frozen cauliflower cheese is my go to. Or in summer just open a bag of mixed salad.

If you want crispy skin you do have to finish the chicken in the oven but I just eat the meat.

I can make decent roast, sausage stew (from river cottage family book upthread). I make spaghetti bol and lasagne from scratch- can do white sauce. But I'd like the ragu to have a richer flavour but no idea how.

@Ichangedmynameonce More flavour tends to come from caramelising the meat before you add liquid.

So if you are making it with diced lamb, you should cook the cubes of lamb in oil a few pieces at a time (in the frying pan or saute pan) until they are brown.

Don't do too many pieces at once or they 'steam' rather than caramelising.

When they are all browned, you should swish the pan out with either water or water/wine and use a spoon to scrape all the brown 'burnt' bits off the bottom of the pan. This is where the flavour is when you pour it into the casserole.

I think tasteless stews are because people miss out this step and sometimes put the raw meat straight into the casserole.

It's the same process for making gravy.

Take the joint (or the chicken) off the roasting tin (ideally the meat should be on a trivet so the juices fall into the tin underneath.)

Scrape all the juices and congealed stuff off the base of the tin and then add water. Give it all a good stir then put it in a pan to make the gravy (thicken it with flour, seasoning etc.)