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[Mr Skrunts]

And tunnie, come on, we all know there's only one reason you're watching Nigella.. 

  

Does she cook as well?   

[VXL V6]

Used to enjoy cooking once upon a time, though thinking about it that may have been drinking a bottle of red / a few pints of Guinnes while waiting for the food to cook 

Can't say I eat much these days, never bothered with breakfast on a workday for twenty years (Can't face food first thing) and not too fussed about evening meals either.

Just occasionally i'll eat like a pig all day long though! 

[Mr Skrunts]

Used to enjoy cooking once upon a time, though thinking about it that may have been drinking a bottle of red / a few pints of Guinnes while waiting for the food to cook 

Can't say I eat much these days, never bothered with breakfast on a workday for twenty years (Can't face food first thing) and not too fussed about evening meals either.

Just occasionally i'll eat like a pig all day long though! 

I only used to eat at night, now I make sure to have a cooked breakfast/lunch as I have it at mid day, normally a couple of bacon, egg and mushroom serni's.

Then if hungy later, just have a pasty or something, if weekend then maybe a take away.

Tonight it was bonoffee cheesecake. 

[Amigo]

You need  decent pans, Tefal et. Don't buy one of those everything you need in a box £20. false economy, everything will stick & burn. If cooking with non stick don't use steel utensils, use wooden or plastic to save the expensive coatings you've invested in. Keep store cupboard ingredients like rice (i prefer Basmati) pasta (i prefer penne) tinned food, tuna, beans, soup. chick peas. Invest in salt & pepper mills, stock cubes & red beef oxo. Keep mixed herbs, garlic granules paprika & chiili powder.Only use expensive olive oil for salad dressing, veg or sunflower is better for gen cooking. Always keep chicken breasts in the freezer to defrost in the microwave along with a bag of petit pois peas.
    Lastly NEVER be without onions, mushrooms, cheese, eggs & milk. This should get you started!

[aaronjb]

Buying all that stuff is the easy bit..

It's actually being bothered to cook that's the hard bit 

I have a kitchen filled with utensils, gadgets (steamer, rice cooker, slow cooker, microwave, etc) and ingredients that I never use.. 

[Amigo]

Buying all that stuff is the easy bit..

It's actually being bothered to cook that's the hard bit 

I have a kitchen filled with utensils, gadgets (steamer, rice cooker, slow cooker, microwave, etc) and ingredients that I never use.. 

What a waste. I can cook, keep house, be a single Dad but still break fight & banger race with the best of them...i don't race any more & my son is now 25 but you get my drift, men can cook!!! 8-)

[aaronjb]

Buying all that stuff is the easy bit..

It's actually being bothered to cook that's the hard bit 

I have a kitchen filled with utensils, gadgets (steamer, rice cooker, slow cooker, microwave, etc) and ingredients that I never use.. 

What a waste. I can cook, keep house, be a single Dad but still break fight & banger race with the best of them...i don't race any more & my son is now 25 but you get my drift, men can cook!!! 8-)

I can write code and fix just about anything mechanical or electronic but yep.. I'm pretty much a waste of space when it comes to everything else

[Vamps]

Used to enjoy cooking once upon a time, though thinking about it that may have been drinking a bottle of red / a few pints of Guinnes while waiting for the food to cook 

Can't say I eat much these days, never bothered with breakfast on a workday for twenty years (Can't face food first thing) and not too fussed about evening meals either.

Just occasionally i'll eat like a pig all day long though! 

I only used to eat at night, now I make sure to have a cooked breakfast/lunch as I have it at mid day, normally a couple of bacon, egg and mushroom serni's.

Then if hungy later, just have a pasty or something, if weekend then maybe a take away.

Tonight it was bonoffee cheesecake. 

Meals on Wheels.......

[MaxV6]

- Who said men can't cook? 

no one who's eaten my food has ever said that again.....





(and no, i don;t kill em off.... !)

learn to use a knife properly, get decent knifes,  not cheap all in one packs...     expect a decent knife set to be the far side of  £30  each ,  keep them razor sharp,   get several different chopping boards, , for example a bio-safe plastic for meat and fish, wooden ones for veg and salads and do a quick bit of reading about food safety.....  where you keep things in the fridge, and how you prepare them matters....

get proper decent pans, and keep them clean properly...  only turn rings up full, if a recipe calls for it...   don't assume you have to ..  it depends what you're cooking....    what you want the heat to be doing,

don;t just assume virgin olive oil is the answer...     if you need to cook something at a high temperature....  like a steak,    virgin olive oil will taste burnt by the time the pan is hot enough to sear the steak.

so  keep both light and virgin olive oils in the larder....  rice bran oil is especially handy for very high temperature stuff.... 




i'm not a fan of most "celeb"chef cook books frankly....      

she may be old hat , and not fashionable, but Delia's books are easy to follow and don;t assume you have skills that are not the preserve of the average home cook....   filleting a fish is not something people are born able to do....   likewise boning a joint without a lot of waste... sure these things can be learned, and skill comes with practice,   but many of the "celebchef" books just assume you can do all this... and do it at speed, so their prep time guides are totally out of the reach of the average person.... 


likewise, the average domestic hob and oven do not behave in the same fashion as professional ones, and so cooking times are often a little different, so it's worth trying some safer recipes first....   that wont give you food poisoning if you under cook them.... and getting a feel for the difference between the book, and your kitchen.....


then you can adjust the times or temperatures as required  to get the right result...


if you ever need inspiration when staring at random things in the fridge and cupboard, give me a yell...

[Marks DTM Calib]

I have to be honest, I still dont know what it is you cooked.....its pizza like but puff pastry?

[maria]

Max I have tasted your cooking i am still here lol and it bloody lovely and you are a very good cook

[waspy]

Mutley's just walked in to tell me that she needs a pee.
Then sneezed all over my laptop's key board, quite oppopriate really as i was reading this thread at the time

So she doesn't know what it is either :-/

[maria]

Mutley's just walked in to tell me that she needs a pee.
Then sneezed all over my laptop's key board, quite oppopriate really as i was reading this thread at the time

So she doesn't know what it is either :-/

Sorry Pete but that did make me laugh

[tunnie]

Max & Guy - Cheers 

I've actually done what you both didn't advise bought cheap pans and knifes! But to be honest at the moment they do the job fine! Frying pan was 99p from Ikea as was a set of 4 knifes in a block, about £1.99! They do a fine job for my needs, but as i go on will get better ones. I think its just a case of building up ingredients to keep stashed away, and also proper tools, i must buy a rolling pin   

The problem is take aways are so tempting 

Mark, yeah a puff pastry dish, saw and advert for it while ago was on offer in Tesco. So tomato purée, mozzarella cheese, topped with fresh tomatoe, then lobbed some asparagus and ham on top. Ham cause it was left over from sandwiches and asparagus cause i like it and it was cheap!

[Allenm]

Max & Guy - Cheers 

I've actually done what you both didn't advise bought cheap pans and knifes! But to be honest at the moment they do the job fine! Frying pan was 99p from Ikea as was a set of 4 knifes in a block, about £1.99! They do a fine job for my needs, but as i go on will get better ones. I think its just a case of building up ingredients to keep stashed away, and also proper tools, i must buy a rolling pin   

The problem is take aways are so tempting 

Mark, yeah a puff pastry dish, saw and advert for it while ago was on offer in Tesco. So tomato purée, mozzarella cheese, topped with fresh tomatoe, then lobbed some asparagus and ham on top. Ham cause it was left over from sandwiches and asparagus cause i like it and it was cheap!

Knives for £1.99 are likely to be dangerous!  the knives in those cheap blocks are so thin and flexible that you are likely to end up doing yourself an injury when it slips - which it will!

A decent knife will set you back around £20 - that is just for one!  but it should last for years. just make sure you buy a steel at the same time - and learn how to use it!

Delia's how to cook is about the best start you can have, clear easy recipes as well as info on why things are done the way they are, celeb books tend to be a bit crap and cheffy to be honest.