Basic recipies for single man

[Homeal]

Living on own, need recipies for basic meals,
like cottage pie etc.
Breakdown of when to cook each part of recipe also name of a good book.

What do you normally cook?

Have you tried the BBC good food website?

Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food was designed to help non-cooks learn to cook. You could probably pick up a second hand copy fairly cheaply

cottage pie is a pretty complex recipe, not for a beginner.

I like Nigel Slater's 30 minute recipes

Also look up things like 'Ultimate Student Cookbook' for easy things with limited equipment.

Absolutely this.

And the man needs to realise that his sex is not an excuse for ineptitude.
'Recipes for a single woman' wouldn't work, would it?

Please?

I don’t think posters are going to rush in to make the effort to type out their recipe for cottage pie when the OP is that abrupt.

I second Jamie's Ministry of Food. Recipes are very easy to follow.

Here's a link to BBC Good Food's easy recipes.

Personally, I think the easiest things to learn to cook are tray bakes. Particularly ones that are cooked on a relatively low heat because you can just mix together the list of ingredients, put them in the oven at the temperature specified for the amount of time specified. Here's a selection of chicken ones from BBC Good Food

Also, work on basic cooking techniques like frying. A steak, or chop make a simple easy meal that can be as basic as steak, potatoes, steamed veg. You can then work on expanding your skills to include interesting sauces or more complex side dishes.

eg, to fry steak I simply oil and season my sirloin steak (I use sirloin as it has a bit of fat which helps keep it tender and it tends to come in a thickness that is easy to cook at home).

Heat up a griddle pan or non-stick pan as high as you can then put the steak in. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side then leave to rest. Done. This is the basic option.

Similarly, for one person, a stir fry can be pretty easy. Pre-prepared stir fry veg, stripes of meat or chicken, straight-to-wok noodles and a sauce. Fry your strips of meat hard and fast so they have some caramelisation and are just cooked through. Set aside. Fry your stir fry veg hard and fast too. Add noodles. Mix all together and return meat/chicken. Add pre-made sauce.

I did think that. But then realised that often women come on here saying they have no idea and I am generally ready and willing to make the effort so gave benefit of the doubt!

Breakdown of when to cook each part of recipe
Isn't* *that how all recipes work?
Unfortunately I can only offer women-appropriate recipes.

There’s quite a lot of student cookbooks that would help maybe, I know an old one called like Grub on a Grant which describes how to cook eggs E.g. boil, scramble etc as it assumes you know nothing.

Why is the persons sex relevant here? Is this a young person who hasn’t cooked for themselves before?

I agree bbc good food is a very good website, I would suggest things like bolognaise or stews that can be batch cooked, frozen in portions and reheated if you’re after simplicity.

Indeed a few manners needed to go with that cottage pie!

Is ‘man’ really a problem? Describes a potentially bigger appetite. Otherwise I might have recommended Anabel Karmel’s toddler recipe book for really easy nutritious stuff! Might need to double the portions though.

Roasting Tin cookbook is great - along the lines of 10 minutes simple prep and whack stuff in a roasting tin in the oven for 30 mins.

www.amazon.co.uk/Quick-Roasting-Tin-Rukmini-Iyer/dp/1529110068/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=58QIK6H7KNO9&keywords=roasting+tin+cookbook&qid=1668619439&sprefix=roasting+%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1

Nigella's Express is full of tasty meals that even some, who doesn't enjoy cooking, can make. She keeps Ingredients to a minimum.
Also Jaime Oliver's Hit 'n Run Chicken (treble the spices).

You wouldn't cook cottage pie "for one". It makes sense to make a recipe for 4 and portion it out (assume you have a freezer).

Google is your friend, the internet is awash with recipes.

Which basic meals do you know already? Do you know how to boil an egg etc as that will help us guide you to relevant cookbooks

Very basic recipes. James May’s oh cook.

Oh they will if they know there's A Man in need,

Ministry of food
Or type cottage pie recipe into Google and look for one that appeals (batch cook and freeze it)

I loved Grub on a Grant! I had to learn quickly, as I left home only knowing how to make soup, but this was a brilliant cookbook!

Nosh for students www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302570532450

Look out for Delia Smith’s book How To Cook in a charity shop.

Here is a basic Shepherd Pie recipe, you can use beef mince instead of lamb. Also this makes enough for 5 people. You could halve the amounts and it it over 2 days, or cook the full amount but in two dishes, and freeze one for another time.
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/no-fuss-shepherds-pie/amp

I second Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food.

Delia Smith did a book called How To Cook which included recipes for how to boil an egg etc. Her argument was: how are you supposed to know if no one teaches you - even simple things like boiling an egg need explaining.

Try charity shops for cheap cookbooks of the 'quick meals for one' and 'students cookbook' variety - usually a good range for no more than a £1 or so.