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Original poster

AIBU in not being able to cook

63 replies

Wotty · 26/09/2023 20:45

I cannot cook. Please help. I need a book or some other guide that takes you through the basics step by step. Ideally healthy recipes plus all the equipment I need to buy. Any ideas?

OP posts:
AdoraBell · 26/09/2023 21:36

Sorry, posted too soon.

keep things simple until you gain some confidence.

ChalkMyDrive · 26/09/2023 21:39

The thing my children found helpful was watching youtube videos, you can see what the food is meant to be doing, what a rolling boil looks like, how sauces thicken up, watch chicken cook from pink to white. We would watch a recipe and then cook it, trying new things.

I wasn't taught to cook by either of my parents, my sister becoming veggie and her cooking her own food meant she was in the kitchen and taught me at 15. We used Grub on a Grant student cook book to help us make meals. I can cook now but have learned over the years with recipes, some turning out well others not so great, but even now YouTube is my first port of call. Plus it is free.

TrustPenguins · 26/09/2023 21:41

I like the Hairy Bikers cook books.

Good luck OP, I think it's great you want to learn!

Original poster
Wotty · 26/09/2023 21:46

I love mumsnet! You are all so kind, thank you. I have a kitchen and no excuses other than a busy job (but that's the case for everyone I know) and embarrassment at being rubbish in the kitchen (which has stupidly stopped me from learning properly). BBC Good Food looks great, I didn't realise that anywhere offered recipes that are specific enough for idiots like me!

OP posts:
Original poster
Wotty · 26/09/2023 21:49

@trulyunruly01 Healthy-ish dishes - lots of veg, fish, some meat. Nothing too rich, but I'd like to learn how to make some classic dishes too. I have some equipment but it's all very old from my student days, so I probably need to start again with basis that will last.

OP posts:
Original poster
Wotty · 26/09/2023 21:49

@TrustPenguins Thank you!!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Wotty · 26/09/2023 21:51

@RampantIvy Delia's show sounds exactly what I need! Going to see if I can track it down online

OP posts:
Ylvamoon · 26/09/2023 21:51

I wasn't able to cook until I had DC , in the early years, I just stuck to the basic stuff.

A packed or jar and following the instructions. When I got a bit more adventurous, I stated adding extra vegetables.... then I looked for simple recipes ... thse days, I do my own sauce jars and can make a pretty delicious meal out of store cupboard ingredients.

So my advice is, think about what you want to eat, what you consider a healthy diet. Then look for those recipes/ sauce jars and spice packets and get cooking!

Don't be afraid to get things wrong, because it will happen!
Just move on and find the things that work for you!

ToxicPositivity · 26/09/2023 21:53

I'd be tempted to get a student easy healthy meals recipe book just to get your confidence up first.

Original poster
Wotty · 26/09/2023 21:56

@BattleofBeamfleot These all sound really good suggestions, thank you. I have wondered whether to try hellofresh before so this will give me the push i need. Is jamie oliver awful? I didn't know!

OP posts:
Dacadactyl · 26/09/2023 21:58

BBC good food website.

LIZS · 26/09/2023 21:59

JO is fine esp the limited ingredient ones, his channel 4 series may be on catchup- maybe look at his son Buddy's cooks online too.

Lavender14 · 26/09/2023 22:00

I'd get yourself a slow cooker and a slow cooker recipe book. They're usually pretty easy comfort food, plus you cook in bulk so you can freeze and need to cook less often if you don't enjoy it. My slow cooker has a pot inside that I can use on my hob to brown meat etc so I only have one pot to wash at the end as well.

Anontocomment · 26/09/2023 22:03

Nigella - How to Cook / Eat
Mary Berry's Cookery Course - this one is no faff, tells you what you'll need (basic, not bells and whistles) and how to do it.

Also the Delia books - they're still in print because they really do start with boiling an egg.

There's also a really good Good Housekeeping book but although it's on my shelf I can't for the life of me remember the name.

If you like Chinese then Gok Wan does a really simple one, lots of really great recipes and usually only 5 ingredients.

And the Hairy Bikers books.

BattleofBeamfleot · 26/09/2023 22:08

Wotty · 26/09/2023 21:56

@BattleofBeamfleot These all sound really good suggestions, thank you. I have wondered whether to try hellofresh before so this will give me the push i need. Is jamie oliver awful? I didn't know!

Lol I think "Jamie Oliver, TV celebrity" can be awful in a nails-on-the-blackboard way. Jamie Oliver as a cookbook writer is totally fine, and his YouTube videos are fine too. DS enjoys them.

One of the things that's hardest to grasp about his style when you are first learning to cook is when he says things like "add a good glug of olive oil" (wtf is a glug??!)

But I think with cooking meals, it's an art more than a science and it does no harm to learn that you don't always have to be super specific with ingredients, it's pretty forgiving.

Baking is more of a science - but even then an extra 10 grams of flour (when your hand slips while measuring out) isn't going to hurt the output much.

MaudGonneOutForAFag · 26/09/2023 22:10

OP, what are you actually eating at the moment? Or is someone else cooking for you?

Hill1991 · 26/09/2023 23:16

Not embarrassing at all I'm a very basic cook myself, the slow cooker is probably going to be your biggest fan if you work long hours just bang things in before you go to work and you've got a meal for when you get home

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 26/09/2023 23:21

I like Jamie Oliver and he is more modern than Delia.

Snugglemonkey · 26/09/2023 23:27

Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food is a good one. Also Delia's how to cook.

LolaSmiles · 26/09/2023 23:29

BBC Good Food used to to small recipe books on certain topics like student eats, quick and easy dinners, soups. They might not still do them but they were good.

I find the Hairy Bikers recipes quite easy to follow. They seem to like dishes that are either quick or can be prepped and cooked in the oven.

SM4713 · 26/09/2023 23:35

Good for you for reaching out and trying to learn. Don't be embarrassed at all! Don't forget that we ALL started somewhere on our cooking journey.

I was going to recommend BBC techniques provides an array of basic skills to look at.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/techniques

Techniques

BBC Food

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/techniques

Original poster
Wotty · 26/09/2023 23:39

@MaudGonneOutForAFag I travel a lot for work so often grab food on the go or room service, but when at home I eat things like soup, quiche, bagels...stuff you can arrange on a plate. Never really bothered me until recently, but I'm so ashamed that I wouldn't know where to start if I had to cater for group. I'm always so impressed by cooking skills that everyone else seems to consider so basic 😭

OP posts:
Deebeelou1 · 26/09/2023 23:42

Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food

TiredCatLady · 26/09/2023 23:42

BBC Good Food/BBC Food are great.
They’ve video guides to basics, seasonal food sections and e.g. one pot dinners. All step by step with printable shopping lists.

Start super simple and build up to a “goal meal”.

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