Cookery lessons for my niece

[Isabo]

My niece Gina is getting married in a few months time. She has now woken up to the fact that she will soon have a husband to look after. She confided to my beloved offspring that she can't do any of the household stuff and needs a crashcourse. Equality of the sexes is all very well but a girl needs to know these things. In the absence of a mother I somehow got recruited.
With my beloved offspring Bobbi we're giving her a crashcourse in the cleaning and bedmaking stuff, fortunately she is a dab hand with an iron. Where we're falling down is cooking! Both of us are better than ok in the kitchen but Gina is totally out of it, I'm convinced she can't put a ready meal in the microwave without ruining it, the girl should be kept away from food preparation and that is not an option. I am now clutching a straws to try and save the situation, what I would like to do is put together some simple guy type recipes that are quick and easy for her, I have already scoured my cookery books for recipes but there are very few that are simple enough for Gina, if you have any please post on this thread,

[Steve PH]

Maybe you need to start with the absolute basics, can she operate a toaster or boil water without causing a disaster?!

[Don Plumley]

How about searching for college cooking survival kinds of books/recipies?

Such as this or this?

[john70t]

1. When in doubt, add butter, pepper, basil, parsley, and/or cheese.

2. Never cover meat completely unless making crock-pot stew. It boils it and turns it into rubber. Meat usually likes to be seared then slow cooked. High fat meats such as sausage use medium heat. Microwave on low until warm and finish in the pan. Marinade in spices (sometimes with oil) or italian salad dressing for any amount of time, and don't be afraid to poke and pound the flavors in. Sauces with sugars in them go on last unless a crust is desired(i.e. BBQ) .

3. Mushrooms and meat need to be first cooked seperately with lots of flavoring.

4. Use store-bought food and jazz it up. Mushroom soup? Add pre-cooked *****akes, garlic, onions, etc.. to the can.

5. Start the water first, it will stay hot. Prechop veggies and set them aside on plates. Clean as you go.

6. Serve with beer, remote, and and/or kiss.

[Isabo]

Originally Posted by Steve PH

Maybe you need to start with the absolute basics, can she operate a toaster or boil water without causing a disaster?!

No.
The toasted cheese and ham sandwich is a staple in Italian bars and homes.
Basic version: A piece of bread, add a slice of cheese, add a slice of ham, add another slice of bread, place in toaster. Toaster has a warning light that goes out when the toast is ready, switches itself off. Gina manged to produce something unrecognisable and burn my toaster.
For the gourmet toast eater you can add mayonaise when they are ready. Another option is to farcitoast (basically chopped up pickled vegetables). I prefer to put it on a slice of cheese, add another slice of cheese, seal the edges and then add ham and the second slice. Brown bread such as Hovis seems to work well for this. Boil water - just about.

[Isabo]

Originally Posted by Don Plumley

How about searching for college cooking survival kinds of books/recipies?

Such as this or this?

I hadn't thought of that. I'm going to check out Amazon and a couple of on-line bookshops and get a selection.

John70T
That's exactly the sort of stuff. Because I can cook (and I mean more than just follow recipes) that's the sort of info I take for granted.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by Isabo

...there are very few that are simple enough for Gina, if you have any please post on this thread,

Rather than looking for recipes that help Gina avoid actual cooking, try some recipes that require some cooking, but are simple enough to offer a high chance of success.

Here's a dead simple recipe from my bachelor days (daze?);

Pork loin florentine.

Slice pork loin into 1/2" thick medallions. (or use boneless pork chops.)
Thaw 1/2 pound of frozen spinach. Drain.

Brown pork medallions lightly with salt and pepper.

Put a nice thick layer of spinach on the bottom of a baking dish. Cover the spinach with the browned pork medallions. Cover the medallions with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Cover the top with a nice thick layer of grated cheese. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes.

Simple to make. Hard to screw up. Tastes really good.

[livi]

Never mind. My inadequate spelling competence lead me to believe the title pointed to a whole other topic. Sorry about that. I am lousy in the kitchen anyway. Seeing as how the fluffer thread went, I´ll refrain from further comments.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Some people just can't cook.

Her husband-to-be has survived up to this point in his life without someone to "look after" him, no?

Maybe he should do the cooking if he's good at it and she can contribute whatever she can based on where her talents lie. . .

Like the guy said in "Gone in 60 Seconds", "honey, I know I can't swim, so you know what I do? I keep my black ass outta' the pool!"

[pwd72s]

Boy, I'm glad I married a good cook! (edit) Cindy claims she started out with zero knowledge and a Betty Crocker cookbook.

[scottmandue]

My middle age bachelor survival guide...

Barilla Spaghetti sauce! Come in about a half dozen combos (garlic, roasted onion, basil, mushroom, etc.)
Edit: Just checked their website and they have a buch of recipes:

http://www.barillaus.com/Pages/Home.aspx

If she can boil water/ make some pasta, and heat up some sauce she has a meal.

Use the same sauce, put in a skillet with some pre-cooked sausage and simmer for fifteen minutes.

Adding a salad to either of those is a nice (and easy) touch (I'm too lazy for that)

If she can boil water and has a timer (most microwave ovens have a separate timer function) she can also make rice.

Take two thin cut steaks, add salt pepper to some flour and coat on both side, rough dice one onion, slice a handful of mushrooms, get a thick bottom pan, heat it up and add some high temp oil, throw in steak - onions- mushrooms, depending on how thick steaks are TURN THEM ONCE after about two to three minutes, stir onions and mushrooms while cooking steaks (all in same pan), after five to six minutes remove steaks (leave in onion and mushrooms), add a big pinch of the flower you used to coat the steaks to the pan, briefly stir, add red wine or port, stir with heat for a few minutes until wine reduces to a thick sauce.

Yeah, cream of mushroom soup has a multitude of uses. I sure you can find some recipes on-line.

Frozen vegatables are your friend.

[Tobra]

She needs to watch some cooking shows

[Hugh R]

The best advice I can give is to learn to use spices (seasonings) well. Certain spices just make things right. Example, garlic in mashed potatoes, and basil and garlic with mushrooms. Saute zucchini and green beans with italian salad dressing instead of just water. I've looked, but never found a chart showing what spices with what foods work best. My wife makes a potato salad with a little celery seed, and it just makes it right.

[lendaddy]

If it's truly a lost cause just tell her she can make up for her shortcomings in the kitchen with better efforts in other rooms. Hubby won't mind

[turbo6bar]

Try pizza dough. If that's successful, make a pizza.

[imcarthur]

When I got married, my mother gave me a copy of The Five Roses Cookbook. It is a very basic cookbook with all of the plain, simple recipes. The Canadian version of the BC book. No foo-fah ingredients. Basics. The difference here is that many of the recipes are also very good.

Perfect Yorkshire pudding. The best Shortbread Cookie Recipe. Crowd-pleasing Chocolate Chip Cookies. I embarass my sisters-in-law with these. Good ole white bread staples. Just follow the recipe.

Available on the net. Five Roses - Amazon

The index:




An example:



Not Italian though . . .

Ian

[peppy]

My wife can not cook, and I like it that way. I always get what I want for dinner.

[9dreizig]

Are we really a bunch of Porsche guys discussing cooking? God help us if those geeks from the Corvette board are lurking!!! LOL
On a side note, my best buddies wife couldn't cook a lick. The cooking channel has done wonders for her!

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by 9dreizig

Are we really a bunch of Porsche guys discussing cooking? God help us if those geeks from the Corvette board are lurking!!! LOL
On a side note, my best buddies wife couldn't cook a lick. The cooking channel has done wonders for her!

Well, we can't live on champaign and caviar! I have also learned everything I know about cooking from watching cooking shows... even before the cooking channel.

Yes kids, once upon a time we had antennas on our roof and watched television for free... and there were buffalo everywhere!

[jyl]

Maybe she can start with soups. Almost impossible to mess up almost any soup recipie. Collect ingredients, chop them up, heat a little olive oil in stock pot, cook the chopped up stuff for a few minutes med heat, add stock, bring to simmer, add more stuff and/or puree, add salt to taste, serve. That's the generic soup recipie, nowhere to go wrong.

Then pastas and sauces, nice thing being the sauces can be bought ready-made and used as-is and/or added to a bit.

For roasting meats, a meat thermometer with a probe on a flexible cable, that you can set to sound an alert at the appropriate temperature, all but assures getting the right doneness. Train her to set the alert 15 degrees (in Farenheit) below the desired temp, take meat out and let stand, covered, for 15 minutes before slicing. If meat is still underdone, that's what microwaves are for.

If she can make soup, pasta, and roast/broil meat, that's a pretty good foundation.