Want to cook, can't cook

I can do

Toast
Cheese on toast
Beans on toast
Spagehti on toast
Tomato soup

That's it.

I wanna make it special tho. I make excuses every week and get takeaways. But I wanna try. Think of the brownie points come later. After lots of wine ;)

I'm thinking.

Lamb with pasta and a salad?
 
I suggest

Starter - Salad

Packet of Salad leafs of your choice
throw in some olives
throw in some mozzarella cheese (get a packet, break it up in your hands)
throw in some sun dried tomatoes OR baby tomatoes
throw in some Pomegranate (cut it in half, hit the back with a wooden spoon)
Drizzle in a LITTE extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I said little because i have a feeling you will over do it as it LOOKS not enough, when it fact it is.

Main - Steak & Chips

Steak - leave in room temperature for an hour before cooking
sprinkle with salt and pepper
Heat Griddle pan
put it on
3 minute each side, 4 minute if its a thicker steak
take it out on a plate and let it REST for 10 minutes before serving

In that 10 minutes you can

Throw some mushrooms into the same pan you just cooked the steak in, and toss it around until soft. Chop some onions too and throw that in. Season (salt and pepper), and serve

and put some chips in the oven before you cook the steak so when its done, everything is done together.

Dessert - make some Jelly in a nice glass (half full), and when you serve it, just scoop in some nice ice cream.

Jelly is dead easy, add water to it and put it in the fridge :p

If you have time, you can even make layers.

img0049t.jpg
 
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I would say practice first with simple things such as sausages, soup, beans and bacon etc.

Cook small amounts of the above, test them as you are cooking like for example have a spoon at hand for putting into beans/soup then take a bit out to taste to see how it is.(do not put it back in after!)

Never see it as a race, take your time, some food is best cooked slowly yet decent temperature such as meats especially if they been frozen before then it's very wise to do this and try not to apply to much lard/butter/wine depending on what you are cooking.

When you are starting to feel more confident then perhaps move onto pasta/fish dishes/rice dishes and such but it's also useful to read cooking websites however i learned myself yet i would consider myself pretty talented at it as you would be surprised how simple it can be.
 
I'm gonna have to get someone to cook it for me and I watch. As I have no idea what a griddle pan is? Is that to make lines in the steak? Like cooked lines? I ain't got a
Clue.

OK
So salad is good. I think that is the easiest thing for a starter

Main is gonna be steak and POTATOE wedges.

Desert ? Cheese cake easy? Cheese and cream?
 
Griddle pan is one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ProCook-Squ...3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1297299992&sr=1-3

Get a cast iron one, they take longer to heat up but they retain the heat a lot better and almost indestructible (I bet you can stop bullets with one lol). I've had mine for 10 years and it's just a great thing to cook meat on.

Although - Cast Iron pans - you need to "season" it before it is non-stick, as the surface is porous, it means there are microscopic holes and when you cook, the oils get trapped in it, and that becomes non-stick. So it takes a few times using it before it becomes non-stick. You can also smudge it with some oil and put it in the oven for an hour, wash it lightly and then try again.
 
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Easy desert...

Caramel and chocolate delice with raspberry coulis

k9hqj6.jpg


Prep time: 3 hrs 0 min, including making caramel
Cook time: 2 hrs 10 min
Serves: 8

For the delice

450g condensed milk, tinned
900ml whipping cream, lightly whipped
600g dark chocolate

For the raspberries

250g raspberries
3 tbsp icing sugar

Method
1. Put the tin of condensed milk, unopened into a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for two hours, topping up the water level as necessary. Leave to cool before opening.

2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Leave to cool to room temperature.

3. Fold the melted chocolate into the whipped cream.

4. Line a flan ring with baking parchment and put this on to a flat baking tray with a sheet of baking parchment on it.

5. Spoon half of the chocolate mix into the bottom of the ring in a smooth layer.

6. Open the tin of cooked milk and spoon the resulting caramel into a piping bag.

7. Pipe the caramel mix over the chocolate until the ring is two-thirds full. Fill the flan ring with the remaining chocolate mix; smooth over the top with a large pallet knife, and then leave to set in the fridge for two to three hours. Remove the ring and cut into slices with a hot knife.

8. To make the raspberry coulis, blend the raspberries with sugar to taste and then pass mixture through a fine sieve. Serve with the delice.
Click to expand...

However for the caramel to make it easier they sell it already made.

It is a lovely desert, only needs you to whip cream, melt chocolate and mix them, you don't need to serve it with the raspberry coulis, just serve it with squirty/clotted/ice cream.
 
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There's need to over complicate cooking.

Prawn cocktail starter (corny but nice)

Tub of cooked prawns
Bag or lettuce leaves
Thousand island dressing

just layer it in a couple of dessert bowls (easy on the dressing)

The lamb with couscous recipe I posted earlier for your main course.

The 5 minute chocolate cake with a can of spray cream and chocolate buttons for afters.

Nothing takes longer than 15 minutes to cook, everything is easy and it all tastes good.

Go for it :)
 
Okay I'm going to bed now. Shattered. Thanks for all the help guys. I will be back on tomz. Loving that desert. I could make it with my mum.

Will show my mum what you guys have put and will get the stuff :D

EXCITIED :D
 
I'm away, but perhaps it'll be on the website or some one else could post it, about. 10 months ago. Good food did a squid and chorizo salad, it looks daunting, but take your time and follow the recipe and you'll be fine.
 
Raymond Lin said:
The most important part is learn when it is cooked.

Chicken - when its white, when it falls off the bone
Vegetable - just take a bite and you will know, it won't kill you (don't do this with chicken lol)
Beef - cut through the thickest part, but you can eat it raw so it doesn't matter
Fish - when it flakes
etc etc etc

Then you learn to season, start with salt and pepper
Then you learn what goes with what, and what doesn't go with what.
Then you learn flavours like spices.

And EXPERIMENT and practice
Click to expand...

Thanks, this is quite helpful.

I know how to make junkfood, like fries or burgers or (supermarket)pizza, I know how to boil and fry an egg and bacon, I know chicken, I regularly make ham&cheese toast. But it doesn't go further than that...

Would love to cook fish or beef myself, I also love fried rice meals and pretty much anything with chilli(sauce) :).
 
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Surely this is a joke? How can some one be so awful when it comes to food? Also, most of the things listed aren't even cooking, but rather heating things up. If you struggle this much, I'd seriously suggest you invest in some sort of full body protection to ensure your safety, you can buy 100 metres of bubble wrap for about a fiver.
 
Lol to the excitement to every single meal proposed in this thread.

I can just imagine:

DAMO RAM80 "oh Miss DAMO RAM80, all the food is cooked and you can come to the table now..."

Miss DAMO RAM80 "Oh how nice dear (from the living room), what actually is it for dinner?"

DAMO RAM80 "no Miss DAMO RAM80 dear, you misunderstood, dinner is ALL the food!" *wrings hands with glee*
Click to expand...
 
I am against the prawn cocktail idea mainly because of the store bought thousand island dressig. Which is rubbish and nasty. When you put it in as your dressing, it is all you can taste, it drowns out everything else.

With the Salad above, you can clearly taste the sourness and taste of the olives, the testure of the lettuce and salad leafs, the sweetness of the pomegranate, when you bite in it, the soft moist texture of the mozzarella with the pomegranate bursting is quite a difference, you also have the tomatoes and olives too. The dressing is important but it doesn't overpower the food, hence i stress the importance of using just a little.
 
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