Can't cook won't cook

ntlbell

My cooking skills if I called them basic it would be just so i didn't hurt my feelings

Can anyone recommend a good cook to get me started if I could cook nice wholesome meals with a bit of imagination I would be pretty happy I'm not looking to come become the next ramsey.

also does anyone know of any good beginner cooking courses in dublin?

The Hill Billy

I seem to remember someone recommending Delia Smith's 'How to Cook' as being a good one for learning the basics.

I learned by trial & error myself. Being off work ill for 3 months with SFA to watch apart from Ready Steady Cook (well, that or Oprah * shudder *) also provided some inspiration. Take a few key ingredients (meat, veg), some kitchen basics (rice/noodles, herbs, spices, etc.) - play around with them & see what you come up with.

Have a look through the Easy Peasy Recipes thread for some ideas too.

Best of luck!

Dizzyblonde

Hill Billy wrote: »

I seem to remember someone recommending Delia Smith's 'How to Cook' as being a good one for learning the basics.

I agree, Delia's the best for beginners.

rosie26

if you really want to be shown how to cook rather than just reading about it, ask a friend, sister, brother, aunt etc. to show you how to make something. It's more fun and a lot less expensive than a cookery class, plus it's probably the best compliment you can give the person also, a lot better than saying 'yum, thanks' anyway

Of course, you can also do the trial and error way, post your results and get a barrage of tips and constructive criticism here

Minder

While Delia is the bible for that all important ...How To... recipe, her books are encyclopedic in their coverage. That may be a little daunting when you are just looking for some inspiration.

Nigel Slater - Real Cooking is a good source of that inspiration. Slater is perplexed by all the fuss surrounding food - you are only making something to eat. The recipes are simple, easy to follow and not rigid. So it is not about getting the timer out, or the scales - just good food with no fuss.....A bit like Jamie Oliver on prozac.

Real Cooking may be out of print, but second hand copies are available on amazon.

ntlbell

thanks for the responses this Nigel Slater guy looks like the sex pistol's of the cooking world, never mind the bollocks cook some grub this is prob the way for me to go

cheers!

Minder

ntlbell wrote: »

this Nigel Slater guy looks like the sex pistol's of the cooking world, never mind the bollocks cook some grub this is prob the way for me to go

lol - Nigel Slater is about as far removed from the Sex Pistols as it is possible to get and still be alive. But he is a good food writer!!

Dizzyblonde

I like the way Nigel Slater cooks (I have one of his books) but I have to say I find him a bit irritating on TV. He's like a character from an Enid Blyton book, all 'doorstep sandwiches and lashings of strawberry jam'

Ballyman

Everything you need to know is at www.bbc.co.uk/food

Every kind of recipe known to man.

Alun

Minder wrote: »

While Delia is the bible for that all important ...How To... recipe, her books are encyclopedic in their coverage. That may be a little daunting when you are just looking for some inspiration.

Nigel Slater - Real Cooking is a good source of that inspiration. Slater is perplexed by all the fuss surrounding food - you are only making something to eat. The recipes are simple, easy to follow and not rigid. So it is not about getting the timer out, or the scales - just good food with no fuss.....A bit like Jamie Oliver on prozac.

Chalk and cheese.

Delia is all "329g of this and 2.4765ml of that" and Nigel virtually espouses measurements altogether except for vague units such as "a glug" or "a handful". I suppose you could say that Delia tells you how to cook specific dishes, whereas Nigel tries to teach you how to cook, and encourages you to experiment and doesn't proscribe exactly how to make any particular dish. Personally I like his style, but in essence if you've bought one of his books, you've bought them all .. they're all much of a sameness.

The Hill Billy

ntlbell - A question that may allow us to help you a bit more...

Do you know how to cook, but just don't know what to cook?
If you are confident about your cooking abilities (i.e. you don't get flustered if you have more than two pots on the hob ), but just have a limited 'repitoire' you're more than halfway there.

IMO - A good place to start would be with 'stews'. These follow a few basic steps:
1. Brown meat
2. Add vegetables
3. Add seasoning/herbs/spices
4. Add liquid

Following the above steps (more-or-less) you can make any number of dishes from a classic Irish Stew to spag bol, chili con carne, goulash, any number of curries, etc. It is all a matter of experimentation to see what suits your tastes & abilities.

Once you get confident in making a few simple dishes - then spread your culinary wings & try something a bit more adventurous.

antoniosicily

I would start with some simple basics, for example eggs. There are lots of ways to cook eggs and this ingredient is fairly inexpensive. Ok it's not healthy to eat lot of eggs but a egg a day is ok :-)

Fried eggs, scrambled eggs, poached eggs, then custard, pastry, whipped eggs, souffle, egg pasta and so on. Egg is a sort of basics in many recipe and it's important to master it.

The best advice is not to do lots of things, just focus on two or three simple things, for example one or two particular sauces, really simple and then keep cooking them until you don't get some grade of satisfaction (not yours, because you don't know, just ask the people which will eat your food ).

From there you can start with some other meals, try exotic dishes and so on; I like italian cuisine because it's simple and it requires just few ingredients; this is just to say that being complicate doesn't guarantee a success, you can even do one of your best creation with just three or four things.

ntlbell

Hill Billy wrote: »

ntlbell - A question that may allow us to help you a bit more...

Do you know how to cook, but just don't know what to cook?
If you are confident about your cooking abilities (i.e. you don't get flustered if you have more than two pots on the hob ), but just have a limited 'repitoire' you're more than halfway there.

I guess as a younger guy I always lived with my mother or my GF and I've been (un)lucky in the fact they all seem to want to cook for me and I got lazy so I guess I've never really learned the basics, my timing is terrible, i don't know the cooking times for anything that doesn't have it written on the box etc.

we're at the serious basics here

watna

I'd also reccommend Delia. It's very good if you haven't a clue. She tells you everything as if you knew nothing. I even remember saomething about the best way to make toast in there! (something about buying a toast rack so the condensation doesn't make the toast soggy!)

Minder

ntlbell wrote: »

I guess as a younger guy I always lived with my mother or my GF and I've been (un)lucky in the fact they all seem to want to cook for me and I got lazy so I guess I've never really learned the basics, my timing is terrible, i don't know the cooking times for anything that doesn't have it written on the box etc.

we're at the serious basics here

Single pot cooking for you then. Start with spag bol, chilli, stews. The likes of Delia are very useful for roasting times. But I have found that the supermarkets will print a guide to roasting a piece of meat on the wrapping. So the chicken that sits in a polystyrene tray with a clingfilm overcoat has a small label that says cook for twenty minutes per 500g at 190 degrees (or similar). You work out the time based on the weight.

Dero

I'd also recommend Delia Smith's three "How to Cook" books (1, 2, 3).

These are good because the assume absolutely no knowledge and cover all the basics of cooking. There's some decent recipes too, but their main value is in teaching the basic cooking techniques (including how to boil an egg...).