Give me something to cook!

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Bwaaa

Bwaaa

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I'm 17, ill be moving out next year and i'd like to get a bit more cooking experience under my belt before i'm out there in the wild fending for myself. Looking for something not too complicated, but obviously a bit more extravagant than cheese on toast. I'm just after the name of a dish or a general idea, i'll go about finding a recipe and adapting it or whatever myself.

Any suggestions appreciated guys!
 
I'd say curry is kinda tricky to get right. You can make something edible fairly easy, but getting something that resembles a proper take away curry can be tricky.

The obvious candidates would be stuff like spag bol, chilli con carne and stews/casseroles.

In honesty though, if you wanna start off on the right foot you should look into buying a decent budget cooks knife and a bog standard sharpening steel and wooden chopping board. You can probably get all three for an outlay of £30 if you buy from the right place, and a cooks knife will do for virtually all of you prep work. Get into the habit of doing a quick sharpen each time before you cook and look up some youtube vids on how to properly chop up stuff like an onion. If you're doing it right then it'll feel like less of a chore and you might enjoy it.

On top of that, look up how to portion a chicken and give it a go. If you're cooking for one you can get the meat for nearly a weeks worth of meals from a single chicken you might have paid only £3-4 for.

If you do the things in the last two paragraphs you're probably beating 90% of people who cook at home already.
 
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I cooked this the other day and was astounded about how good it was and how easy it was to prepare.

All you do it stick a cod steak (or any white fish) in a small oven dish. Put a glug of olive oil in the dish first. Then cut up some cherry tomatoes and some chorizo and place on / around the fish. Then sprinkle a few torn basil leaves over the top. Put a glug of sherry / white wine / red wine over the top. Season.

Foil on the top tightly and bake at 180'c. Have a look at it after 10 minutes and if it does not look ready give it another 5.

Job done. :)
 
Start off with the basics first - Bolognese, Chilli, Cottage/Shepard's Pie.

I say those, because they all start from the same base: Carrot, Onion, Celery chopped very fine, sweated for 5 mins or so, then add the meat and season.
 
Chowder is lovely to eat.

I made Ham (gammon steak) and Chicken chowder, was wonderful.

I'll get a recipe linked to you when I find it again.

But it is essentially boiling Potatoes in milk instead of water with some leeks or whatever vegetable is to hand and then putting the meat in to cook through.

There are more steps but you get the jist.
 
Will be doing lasagne for the girlfriend tonight then, thanks for suggestions. I'm all good for kitchen knives and stuff, my mum already has waaaay too much equipment and I'm sure she could spare some :P

Ps, I'd say I'm already miles ahead of most people my age, my mums been teaching me stuff since I was very young haha. Just looking to broaden my horizons a bit, couldnt do with the same meals every other day and the idea of microwave meals horrifies me!
 
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Hmm I would suggest a stir-fry, I always find easiest to cook.

Only veg to chop is pepper, chop some chicken or pork or buy it in chunks.

Pan, oil, wait til its browned. Do some noodles.

I only really tend to do basic recipes as learning the ropes myself too.

I also do curries, spag bol, chilli con carne, chicken stuffed with philadelphia and wrapped in bacon then roasted. All really simple.
 
Everyone should know how to cook carbonara. Also any fish en papillote gives favorable results for little or no effort.

Learning bedrock recipes (recipes which can be easily transformed into separate recipes) are a good starting point for cooking such as a simple tomato sauce - tinned tomatoes, celery, carrots, peppers, bay leafs - can be turned into lasagne, ragu/bolognese, chilli con carne, or even burritos in no time.
 
davestar_delux said:
Hmm I would suggest a stir-fry, I always find easiest to cook.

Only veg to chop is pepper, chop some chicken or pork or buy it in chunks.

Pan, oil, wait til its browned. Do some noodles.

I only really tend to do basic recipes as learning the ropes myself too.
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Stir fries are good but it's well worth your while finding the right combination of ingredients. If you start chucking in any veg etc (or those annoying veg packs) you'll soon get bored with it. In my opinion :)

To your basic recipe I'd add garlic, ginger and spring onions. Add your chosen meat/veg with beansprouts and you've got something looking a little more authentic. Oyster sauce is a killer ingredient especially with beef. Saves buying those expensive packets of sauce, if that's what you were doing.

I always say it, but I wish I knew how to make spaghetti carbonara whilst at uni. From another similar thread ages ago (with a couple additions):

Scam said:
One of my mid-week staples is a simple spaghetti carbonara. It's so easy I wish I knew how to cook it when I was at Uni :p

- Fry up some pancetta cubes (or chopped up bacon) in lots of olive oil, on a relatively high heat.
- Once this is going, get your pasta on (spaghetti, penne, whatever).
- When the pancetta starts to get crispy, add a shallot or half a white onion.
- Turn the heat down and let the onion/shallot cook slowly.
- Add a teaspoon of dried rosemary
- Meanwhile, beat 1 egg in a bowl with a splash of milk.
- Grate a big handful of parmesan/pecorino onto a plate. Mix two thirds of it in with your egg, along with some pepper.
- By now your pasta should be ready. Drain it, but not too well. A little water left is ok. Put it back in the saucepan you cooked it in.
- Transfer your pancetta/onion into the saucepan and mix well. The idea is to coat the pasta with the oil you fried the bacon in. You don't want sticky pasta.
- Then mix in the egg/cheese mixture. The trick is to only swirl the sauce around the pasta about 3-5 times, any more and you will end up with scrambled egg! Don't worry if it's still a bit runny, it'll carry on cooking whilst you plate up.
- Serve into a warm pasta bowl.
- Scatter the rest of your cheese on top.

I also normally add some frozen peas to the pasta for a bit of green. Also a dollop of creme fraiche or cream is nice to add to the egg mixture -- but not neccesary.

Such an easy recipe and only takes 10-12mins. :)
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I would suggest you take a look at Jamie Olivers Ministry of Food website for some meals to practice and gain some knowledge.
 
Originally Posted by Scam

One of my mid-week staples is a simple spaghetti carbonara. It's so easy I wish I knew how to cook it when I was at Uni

- Fry up some pancetta cubes (or chopped up bacon) in lots of olive oil, on a relatively high heat.
- Once this is going, get your pasta on (spaghetti, penne, whatever).
- When the pancetta starts to get crispy, add a shallot or half a white onion.
- Turn the heat down and let the onion/shallot cook slowly.
- Add a teaspoon of dried rosemary
- Meanwhile, beat 1 egg in a bowl with a splash of milk.
- Grate a big handful of parmesan/pecorino onto a plate. Mix two thirds of it in with your egg, along with some pepper.
- By now your pasta should be ready. Drain it, but not too well. A little water left is ok. Put it back in the saucepan you cooked it in.
- Transfer your pancetta/onion into the saucepan and mix well. The idea is to coat the pasta with the oil you fried the bacon in. You don't want sticky pasta.
- Then mix in the egg/cheese mixture. The trick is to only swirl the sauce around the pasta about 3-5 times, any more and you will end up with scrambled egg! Don't worry if it's still a bit runny, it'll carry on cooking whilst you plate up.
- Serve into a warm pasta bowl.
- Scatter the rest of your cheese on top.

I also normally add some frozen peas to the pasta for a bit of green. Also a dollop of creme fraiche or cream is nice to add to the egg mixture -- but not neccesary.

Such an easy recipe and only takes 10-12mins.
Click to expand...

Tested - and approved! :D
 
Carbonara! Quick, easy and delicious.

First ... Frying pan with olive oil: bacon (less fat and water the better - maybe drain in the middle) + garlic (as per preference, but lots) + mushrooms + optional shallots.

Second ... Pan: Spaghetti with some olive oil to stop it sticking together.

During both ... Bowl: 2 egg yolks + ~125g grated parmesan + grated pepper (lots) + salt + paprika if you have it + mixed herbs (fresh preferably, dried if not). Add enough double cream to allow you to mix it all, but not enough that it goes runny.

When the pasta's done, drain it and put it back in the pan. Stick everything else in with it. Mix well and give it a few minutes for the heat of the pasta to cook everything through. You can put it on a gentle heat to help with this, but stir, or things will stick.

Serve + eat. 15 minutes tops.

If you like, you can get some spinach and do that in the same pan as the pasta beforehand. It needs well draining (/squeezing) to get the excess water out, but then goes in with everything else at the end as normal.

// EDIT // Just wrote all that out without seeing that someone's already posted virtually exactly the same thing :p. Bet mine's better ;)
 
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