recipe suggestion for someone that doesn't cook ?

[something daft already!!]

Pot Noodle and hot water.

 

[tom_nieto]

What do you like to eat?

 

[bloodiedathame]

Have a look at Gousto. They will send you a box of ingredients for 2-5 recipes with hundreds of recipes to choose from. They are very easy to follow and you don't need to worry about buying ingredients that you'll only use once if you decide cooking isn't for you.

I second this. I use hello fresh a fair bit. Can send you a ‘free box’ if you want.

 

[ttaskmaster]

But out of those two videos, which one is going to get people cooking? The Jamie one.

Not when you see the other "authentic" asian cooking videos he's done. Nor when you see half the Italian chefs also criticising Oliver, who is himself supposed to be Italian classically trained - I mean, who puts cream in carbonara?

I've never understood the appeal of the Uncle Roger character to be honest. It feels borderline racist (not that I've watched many of his videos) and I just don't like the idea of making a living hating on other people's efforts.

He doesn't hate, it's just a comedy sketch critique based on stereotypes. Nigel Ng has done quite a few subsequent collabs with some of the chefs he's made fun of, including Gordon Ramsay... who, in contrast to Oliver, was actually praised for getting almost everything perfect.
Additionally, there are several Uncle Roger videos where he shows how cook these things properly. I believe he also has several restaurants now, so he does actually put his money where his mouth is.

In that video... barbecue sauce plus sriracha probably makes a good substitute for gochujang, to my palette. That's why Jamie Oliver is smart, he's not going to tell people they have to get in gochujang and dried shrimps and all these specific condiments for one dish.. His audience won't bother.

And presumably his audience are too dumb to know their rice is not properly cooked?
Yeah, sounds very smart.... Might as well douse some boiled mince in ketchup and call it bolognese.

There are plenty of good chefs to learn from out there. Oliver is not one I would rate.
James Martin is pretty straightforward and no-nonsense. Ramsay is good, but not really beginner level. I find Marco Pierre White surprisingly encouraging, but best looked at once you have some basics.
Gary Rhodes and Delia Smith are two that get a lot of praise for their beginner level stuff. Maybe a bit of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingwobble, and some Hairy Bikers.

Personally I found Italian cooking the easiest to start with. It's mostly straightforward, but also focusses on doing just a few things very well, which then make all the difference in the final result.

 

[Scam]

Also dont worry about precisely measuring everything. If something says add 3 cloves or garlic, and you add 4, or 5, or 8, it'll just taste more of garlic, and you might like garlic anyway.

This. And Jamie Oliver was one of the first TV chefs to cook like this "bish bash bosh" approach.

Jacket potato. Can't beat a jacket potato.

But done in the oven entirely right... right... ?

Not when you see the other "authentic" asian cooking videos he's done. Nor when you see half the Italian chefs also criticising Oliver, who is himself supposed to be Italian classically trained

I'm not going to trawl through his books or videos but I don't recall Jamie Oliver ever really calling anything 'authentic'. And yes, you shouldn't put cream in a carbonara... but you also have to remember that Italian chefs will complain about literally anything. It's practically a meme.

There are plenty of good chefs to learn from out there. Oliver is not one I would rate.

But to my point, Jamie Oliver is a great person to watch as a beginner. He cooks without fear, doesn't get bogged down in complex recipes and knows his audience. And his recipes are reliable.

 

[adidan]

But done in the oven entirely right... right... ?

Ab-so-blummin-lutely

Crispy skin is the best bit

 

[ttaskmaster]

I'm not going to trawl through his books or videos but I don't recall Jamie Oliver ever really calling anything 'authentic'. And yes, you shouldn't put cream in a carbonara... but you also have to remember that Italian chefs will complain about literally anything. It's practically a meme.

I thought that was French chefs?
Italians would be pretty justified in complaining though, because there are usually only a few ingredients and the cooking is shockingly simple... Carbonara is, what, spag, eggs, pancetta (or basic bacon, if you prefer), garlic and cheese - What kind of a flim-flam does a 'professional chef' have to be to **** that up??!!

But to my point, Jamie Oliver is a great person to watch as a beginner. He cooks without fear, doesn't get bogged down in complex recipes and knows his audience. And his recipes are reliable.

They're absolute fudges and cludges. His "lack of fear" is just a front to cover-up his inadequacies, and even his most famous work The Naked Chef got slated for unreliability.
There are plenty of criticisms over how the recipes either don't work, or taste pretty bad. I can't think of any other chef who gets so much flak from so many different directions, for so many different things...

Classic cooking is classic for a reason, even the simple stuff. Jamie is the equivalent of a Full English from a tin can.

 

[BUDFORCE]

Jamie Oliver is a bell end.

The best TV celebrity chefs are/were the hairy bikers. They cooked proper food not pretentious ****.

Keith Floyd was pretty good as well.

 

[Scam]

because there are usually only a few ingredients and the cooking is shockingly simple... Carbonara is, what, spag, eggs, pancetta (or basic bacon, if you prefer), garlic and cheese

Well case in point. It’s not pancetta it’s guanciale. Saying bacon would get an Italian chef majorly riled up. And what cheese? It’s certainly not Parmesan - you’d be hung drawn and quartered if in Rome.

My argument is that Jamie Oliver has done way more for getting people cooking than most of the other TV chefs combined.

 

[jaybee]

I always used to think that when someone asked me if I cook, the correct response was "no, not really". That's because I thought that to define one self as being able to truly cook, it meant making things "from scratch" rather than from jars or whatever.

I think I've come to realise that actually I do cook. I do those hello fresh and other branded meal kits which does involve actual cooking. The only thing it "cheats" with is that the spices are all there in pots for you rather than grinding up your own spices in a grinder thingy (forgotten the proper name).

So I think it depends how you define it. Like is cooking doing beans on toast? Probably not. Is it doing chicken dippers and chips out the freezer and boiling up some peas on the hob? Dunno. I mean it is cooking.

I can cook fry ups and roast dinners. I can follow recipes and bake nice cakes and stuff. I can make omelette etc. I still wouldn't say I'm a good cook. Just someone that sort of can cook. Mrs does 95% of the cooking.

 

[Diddums]

So, I don't cook.

The kitchen needed a major update because it hadn't been change in 40 years. That was 2 years ago. Other than to test operation, neither the hobs nor the cooker have been on, I mention this solely to indicate how "I don't cook" I really am.

I have 1 dish that I've made a few times at my woman's place. I saw it on Nigella once, and thought, "well that looks like a pretty damn good one to start with". It's an all in one pan rissotto style dish, frozen peas, ham cubes and using Orzo pasta instead of rice, bit of Parmesan cheese, literally 4 ingredients, 1 pan and 20 minutes from start to finish. The only thing to watch is not too much water and that it doesn't stick to the bottom. The last time I put in a bit too much water, but solved that by pouring some out towards the end, and all was good.

So I'm looking some thoughts as to expand my repertoire to a 2nd dish, nothing that takes hrs, and nothing that is so niggly that if you don't do something just exactly right it'll be spoiled. Mainly just so I can surprise my woman some day with a different lunch option.

Any links to suitable recipes would be gratefully received.

Where do you live? 1954?


Do some beans on toast, that'll her proper moist in her ladyclam.

 

[arknor]

Pasta sauces are all really easy from scratch.
Thai green curry is really easy too if you can cook rice...

 

[ttaskmaster]

Well case in point. It’s not pancetta it’s guanciale. Saying bacon would get an Italian chef majorly riled up. And what cheese? It’s certainly not Parmesan - you’d be hung drawn and quartered if in Rome.

Guanciale can be hard to find at times, and is far less forgiving than pancetta. Bacon was actually suggested to me by an Italian chef and I've not heard any others decry its use. Supposedly carbonara is a WW2 adaptation of cacio e uova, which actually first used bacon and only later guanciale.
Pecorino Romano is the traditional cheese, but parmigiano-reggiano is an accepted alternative, as is a blend of the two...

But the core ingredients and the method remain the same - No cream!!

My argument is that Jamie Oliver has done way more for getting people cooking than most of the other TV chefs combined.

I would have said Ramsay holds that position, with a stronger presence on TV and social media. Jamie has done quite a few high-profile campaigns, but several of his efforts backfired badly. He's a bit 'Thunbergy' in that regard.
But Delia Smith is the one who I've heard most talked about over the years. Jamie was briefly popular with the older Mum crowd, but they went back to Ainsley Harriot's hips until Gordon started swearing on TV.

 

[JRS]

So I'm looking some thoughts as to expand my repertoire to a 2nd dish, nothing that takes hrs, and nothing that is so niggly that if you don't do something just exactly right it'll be spoiled. Mainly just so I can surprise my woman some day with a different lunch option.

Any links to suitable recipes would be gratefully received.

Cajun one-pot chicken & rice. Dead easy, and very tasty.

 

[glitch]

I would have said Ramsay holds that position, with a stronger presence on TV and social media. Jamie has done quite a few high-profile campaigns, but several of his efforts backfired badly. He's a bit 'Thunbergy' in that regard.
But Delia Smith is the one who I've heard most talked about over the years. Jamie was briefly popular with the older Mum crowd, but they went back to Ainsley Harriot's hips until Gordon started swearing on TV.

Delia Smith is the most influential 'TV chef' and it isn't even close. She's got decades on the others and there's a reason the 'Delia Effect' was coined.

Delia Smith: the original influencer? - National Science and Media Museum blog

To understand how influencers became so ubiquitous, we must take a trip back in time—to the 1970s, when TV chef Delia Smith became a phenomenon.

blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk

 

[Scam]

Cajun one-pot chicken & rice. Dead easy, and very tasty.

Is it cajun, or cajun-style? Don't want anyone wringing their hands over cultural appropriation now do we...

In all seriousness, this is currently my favourite cookbook. From the Oven to the Table by Diana Henry. They are essentially one-pot dishes, and beyond a little bit of prep (e.g. sweating veg, using spices) they are really simple and the oven does 99% of the work. Any of the chicken thighs + new potatoes recipes are brilliant. So easy. I'd highly recommend it, we often do those recipes when we're at home on the weekend and have a bit more time to cook but don't want to spend the whole evening actually cooking.

 

[pepp77]

sausage and bean casserole. 2 sausages per person is usually enough, then some peppers, some onion, a tin or two of baked beans and some sauces added in (I usually add a touch of brown and bbq). Cut sausages into quarters or fifths, fry them off with the peppers and onions, add the beans, simmer for half hour and then serve with butter mash.

 

[hood1971]

The issue with Jamie Oliver is he is a brand, not a cook/chef anymore. The sheer amount of recipes he does per year demonstrates that he does not come up with most of them - it would be impossible.

But criticising an cook for cutting corners or not using "authentic" ingredients is silly. Recipes can and should evolve - use cookbooks for inspiration and to learn basics and then try variations.

One book I go back to is "James Martin - the Collection". It is a back to basic cooking across cuisines.

 

[glitch]

The issue with Jamie Oliver is he is a brand, not a cook/chef anymore. The sheer amount of recipes he does per year demonstrates that he does not come up with most of them - it would be impossible.

None of these celebrity chefs are writing their own recipes - even the proper chefs who are writing books based around their restaurant's dishes aren't developing the recipes themselves. A legion of home economists, recipe testers and associated people are doing the work. Even dear old Delia worked with some regulars over the years who helped with content.

Criticising Jamie Oliver for not sitting at his desk 24/7 with his fat tongue poking out the side of his mouth beavering away on yet another recipe is somewhat misguided. If the recipes are good, what's the problem?

 

[Raymond Lin]

I used to like Jamie Oliver, like when he just came onto the scene and back then I think he did write his books and he stuck to what he knew, which was western cooking with some Mediterranean twists.

Now....he is just a joke, take this one. He calls he KOREAN fried rice. If he has ever set foot in Korea, he should know that Korean fried rice isn't really a thing and when they do it, they just add Kimchi with it and whatever meat they want. That's what they do for fried rice, and it all has kimchi.

Not only he doesn't have the kimchi, he is using the wrong type of rice (yes it's important, if you are calling it Korean, that would be like calling it English Breakfast and then serving you a Frankfurter sausage instead of a Cumberland.) He added in Siracha and BBQ sauce...and coriander.

It's something some student put together after a night on the beers back in their halls of residence, not something you find in Korea. This is actual cultural appropriation, putting the Korean name on something that has zero links to Korea.

He then puts his face behind that script and made it.

Couple of comments in the video translated.

"Here are some points that personally annoy me:

1. They don't use gochujang. If they're not going to use gochujang, they should at least add kimchi, but they don't even do that.
2. They say it's Korean-style fried rice, but they use Indian batirami rice, and they don't even cook it properly.
3. They use sauces that aren't commonly eaten in Korea, like Sriracha and barbecue sauce."

"I’m just an ordinary Korean living in Korea.

1. To begin with, honestly, apart from kimchi fried rice, Korea doesn’t really have its own unique fried rice recipe. Our one-bowl rice dish tradition evolved into bibimbap instead. So, to be honest, even I don’t really know what a “Korean-style fried rice” is supposed to be if it’s not kimchi fried rice. Uncle is absolutely right — if you ask any Korean to make Korean-style fried rice, everyone will use kimchi. Raw cabbage? Disgusting.

2. The only “Korean ingredient” in this dish is soy sauce, but soy sauce isn’t exclusive to Korean cuisine. I’d like to check if the soy sauce he used was actually Korean-style soy sauce, but, well, the moment he mixed it with barbecue sauce, it was already wrong.

3. No Korean dish would ever use just two cloves of garlic. We use a lot of garlic and green onions — especially garlic. Oh yes, we really, really use a lot of garlic. For us, garlic is something between a spice and a vegetable. If he had at least used a generous amount of garlic, he could have gotten somewhat close to a Korean flavor. But mint and cilantro? *******.

Conclusion: Whether or not this dish tastes good, there isn’t a single Korean element in it. I don’t want to be overly “politically correct,” but this — this is cultural appropriation. He’s a fraud."

Some people watch this and might actually think they are making something mildly related to food found in Korea would be wayyy off. The only links to korea would be the soy sauce but that is found in a lot of East Asian cooking, it would be like having a tomato in it and calling it Italian.

Back to how to cook easy meals...my advice is just start cooking, and take your time, don't try to be clever and follow the recipes.