Do the guy's on here cook
- Thread starter Greedo
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
swee'pea99
Squire
Raised on it, love it, and tho' I say so myself, pretty good at it. None of which helps your mate of course.
My suggestion, if his cooking skills are as you describe them, is pasta with a good premade sauce on it - Lloyd Grossman perhaps. Not spaghetti - too messy - penne or something. And don't waste time with fresh: dried is actually better.
Cook pasta (test after whatever it says on the packet - probably needs a minute or two more in my experience); drain and rinse with boiling water from the kettle; return to the pan and add a big nob of butter and swirl it around. There's yer pasta. Heat the sauce and stick it on top. Put a saucer or a little bowl full of parmesan on the table. There's posh!
+ salad from a bag, with french dressing from a bottle. And if he's feeling really posh, some garlic bread from the oven.
Add a decent bottle of red and away yer go.
My suggestion, if his cooking skills are as you describe them, is pasta with a good premade sauce on it - Lloyd Grossman perhaps. Not spaghetti - too messy - penne or something. And don't waste time with fresh: dried is actually better.
Cook pasta (test after whatever it says on the packet - probably needs a minute or two more in my experience); drain and rinse with boiling water from the kettle; return to the pan and add a big nob of butter and swirl it around. There's yer pasta. Heat the sauce and stick it on top. Put a saucer or a little bowl full of parmesan on the table. There's posh!
+ salad from a bag, with french dressing from a bottle. And if he's feeling really posh, some garlic bread from the oven.
Add a decent bottle of red and away yer go.
jack the lad
Well-Known Member
Easy beginners recipe for that special meal:
Get some meat. Any sort of real meat will do, even sausages (but only from a good proper butchers). Perhaps not burgers, or mince. Chicken breasts & pork steaks are versatile and girls seem to like white meat more than red.
Chop the meat into bite sized chunks or strips (or buy it as stir fry). Add a bit of salt and pepper and cook it in a frying pan with a chopped onion and no more than a teasponful of cooking oil over a medium setting for 5 mins or so. When the meat is cooked through (chop a bit in half to test and it's cooked if there's no pink bits left) add a glass of wine to the pan, doesn't matter what colour. Boil it for minute or two. Remove from heat and stir in a bit of cream before serving.
If you want to be a bit more adventurous add a crushed garlic clove at the beginning or a generous spoonful of french or grainy mustard at the end, or both.
Serve with rice (Uncle Ben's Easy Cook will do - just follow the instructions on the packet) and a mixed green herby salad (parsley, baby spinach, rocket, watercress, coriander etc, comes ready mixed in a bag from the supermarket) and the rest of the bottle of wine.
Not too many ingredients, no critical timings - just dead quick, dead easy, never fails. The wine and cream sauce makes even the cheapest ingredients seem a bit special. If she's a veggie it also works with quorn steaks or with salmon or tuna steaks. If she doesn't even eat quorn - get rid, she's not worth the hassle!
Get some meat. Any sort of real meat will do, even sausages (but only from a good proper butchers). Perhaps not burgers, or mince. Chicken breasts & pork steaks are versatile and girls seem to like white meat more than red.
Chop the meat into bite sized chunks or strips (or buy it as stir fry). Add a bit of salt and pepper and cook it in a frying pan with a chopped onion and no more than a teasponful of cooking oil over a medium setting for 5 mins or so. When the meat is cooked through (chop a bit in half to test and it's cooked if there's no pink bits left) add a glass of wine to the pan, doesn't matter what colour. Boil it for minute or two. Remove from heat and stir in a bit of cream before serving.
If you want to be a bit more adventurous add a crushed garlic clove at the beginning or a generous spoonful of french or grainy mustard at the end, or both.
Serve with rice (Uncle Ben's Easy Cook will do - just follow the instructions on the packet) and a mixed green herby salad (parsley, baby spinach, rocket, watercress, coriander etc, comes ready mixed in a bag from the supermarket) and the rest of the bottle of wine.
Not too many ingredients, no critical timings - just dead quick, dead easy, never fails. The wine and cream sauce makes even the cheapest ingredients seem a bit special. If she's a veggie it also works with quorn steaks or with salmon or tuna steaks. If she doesn't even eat quorn - get rid, she's not worth the hassle!
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
jack the lad said:
No, no, bad evil stuff... unless you like rice that tastes as little like rice as possible! Avoid anything made by Uncle Ben's, it's shoot. Apart from that, nice recipe!
Me too. I went to a mates house for dinner once when I was a kid. When I came back my mum asked what I'd had and I told her crispy pancakes and waffles. She sat me down and made me a "proper dinner" and suggested my mate comes to ours for dinner in future.
What you suggested to cook is exactly what I told him to make. Apart from the butter. I add olive oil to the water to stop the pasta sticking.
What you suggested to cook is exactly what I told him to make. Apart from the butter. I add olive oil to the water to stop the pasta sticking.
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
Yep, I cook aslo. Noth Me and Mrs FF cook to a pretty reasonable standard, she's a recipe follower, I'm a bit more "liberated". Food is one of the foundations of our family life.
My day job is in Industrial food manufacture... how many tonnes/hour of that would you like?
I like food...
My day job is in Industrial food manufacture... how many tonnes/hour of that would you like?
I like food...
PrettyboyTim
New Member
- Location
- Brighton
When I was a kid I never really learned to cook much beyond pasta, things that you heat up from a tin and things that you cook under the grill; I think because neither of my parents could cook much more than that. I expanded my range somewhat at University, and although I'd hardly describe myself as a good cook, I can cook a fair bit of stuff. My Wife is a better cook than me.
In my house I plan the week's evening meals, and each of the elder children (11, 15 and 15) have one night a week where they have to cook it. I probably need to increase the variety of meals that we have a bit, but it is a bit tricky introducing new meals to the rota as I don't tend to be home when the cooking starts.
As for rice, I always cook it in the steamer. It takes longer, but it does it perfectly every time. I find that if you use normal long-grain or basamati rice, it ends up very slightly stuck together, like the rice you get in a chinese takeaway (which I like), whereas the easy cook stuff tends not to stick together in the same way.
I love the steamer. You can cook a whole meal in it; ours gets used all the time.
In my house I plan the week's evening meals, and each of the elder children (11, 15 and 15) have one night a week where they have to cook it. I probably need to increase the variety of meals that we have a bit, but it is a bit tricky introducing new meals to the rota as I don't tend to be home when the cooking starts.
As for rice, I always cook it in the steamer. It takes longer, but it does it perfectly every time. I find that if you use normal long-grain or basamati rice, it ends up very slightly stuck together, like the rice you get in a chinese takeaway (which I like), whereas the easy cook stuff tends not to stick together in the same way.
I love the steamer. You can cook a whole meal in it; ours gets used all the time.
Night Train
Maker of Things
- Location
- Greater Manchester
I cook, though not as much now. I used to love returning from work via the shops so I could cook a three course meal for myself from fresh ingredients. The harder my day was the better the meal was to 'make up for it'.
Arch
Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
a college friend of mine, the first time her boyfriend (later husband) cooked for her he did a stirfry and she got there to find he'd prepped all the veg and got all the sauce ingredients set out in dishs, just like a TV cookery show.
He went on to be a very good cook...
He went on to be a very good cook...
numbnuts
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gone over the hill and far away
I do all my own cooking, well I have to as I live on my own, I also make all my own cakes and apple pies, not forgetting the mince pies which I have all year round, I also make my own bread
Greedo said:
Crumbs this brought back a long lost memory, I once worked with someone who had a bit of a crush on me, it was verging on stalking but not quite. He invited me for a meal and I thought the whole office was going but when I arrived it was just me. Apparently his mum talked him through the whole meal on the phone. I can't remember what it was now but I vaguely remember the starter being something I really didn't like so I had to pretend ugh! I got away as politely as I could and didn't fall for that trick again - partly because no one else invited me!!
Lardyboy
New Member
- Location
- Still Somewhere In Wales.
I've been cooking since I was tall enough to use a cooker/stove/oven. I could never understand why all the kids in school with me didn't know how to boil an egg, fry potatoes, roast lamb chops etc etc. When I went round to their houses for "tea" I soon knew why, "crispy pancake and waffles" as already mentioned! 
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Yep - not a bad cook here and my wife.
I make cracking Spaghetti, Lasagne and Beef Wellington (fillet steak and wild mushroom pate) - but don't do that often......
Good with a sunday roast too........
I make cracking Spaghetti, Lasagne and Beef Wellington (fillet steak and wild mushroom pate) - but don't do that often......
Good with a sunday roast too........
Similar threads
