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[_ducks]

Okay, you. I need your help. I want to cook more, but I'm shamefully inexperienced at it and very tentative. But being on my own means it's okay if whatever I'm making goes horribly wrong so I'm trying to be more adventurous

Comments

[ephemera]

I keep thinking I should make up a photo essay on how to make stew for my students - if I do I'll try and remember to link it. (I recommend Cas Clark's student cook books which really do start with boiling an egg, and end up with a two course Sunday roast, in small incremental steps.)

[_ducks]

Funny you should say that - I just picked up More Grub on Less Grant by Cas Clarke in the charity shop today (30p!), along with a readers digest book of One Dish Meals. I am in favour of Less Washing Up.

And the stew photo essay sounds like exactly the sort of thing I need. I'll be very grateful!

[stellamira]

If you already bought a casserole dish, I found a way to make a quick and easy casserole with just about anything you like: vegetables -- frozen or not -- pasta, ham. I don't know if meat is advisable, possibly not. Fish might also work, I haven't tried that yet

[_ducks]

Thanks, that sounds like something I would never have thought of, but exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I'm raring to try all these things now!

I love that icon. Happy pig!

[stellamira]

Just thought to add: If you end up with too much liquid after cooking you could experiment with adding a few spoons of flour. Mix the flour with cold water or the cream/milk before you add it.

Actually, that's a simple way to thicken any sauce, too. Mix flour and cold water or milk and stir into the sauce. Careful, though, it takes a few seconds to have an effect, don't pour too much in.

I love that icon. Happy pig!

:D It might not have been that appropriate for a comment about cooking, but I like it.

[adelate]

I like to make this really easy version of chili con carne, which is not actually as spicy as it sounds. It's a very mild version (buf of course there's the possibility to add spices

[_ducks]

Thank you! It sounds good. I don't know what white beans are, though. Do you know if they might have another name? Or maybe they are just white beans. I'm not very knowledgable about beans.

I think a paprika is what we would call a bell pepper (or just a pepper). Paprika only refers to the spice over here. Which actually is made up of red peppers - I did not know that before now! I will be less scared of it. I like red peppers.

[adelate]

Oh, yeah, they're probably bell peppers. I forgot about the 'bell' part and didn't want to say just 'pepper' because that sounded like the spicier version to me. [laughs]

I have no idea if white beans have another name... they're pretty common here, and they're just, y'know. White beans. [laughs] You could ask if they have them at a grocery store I guess?

P.S. If you like nachos, they're a nice addition to this. Sometimes I like to dip them in the chili. :)

[frausorge]

I love baked chicken with rice (and I must confess I am very lazy so I usually get the pre-hacked boneless skinless pieces). Two of my favorite kinds are:

1) Mix honey, soy sauce, and mustard with curry powder to your taste, marinate the chicken pieces in the sauce overnight, then bake and serve with rice.

2) Cover the chicken pieces with crumbled feta cheese, chopped red bell pepper, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, then bake and serve with rice.

The nice thing about both of these is that you can vary the proportions of the ingredients to your taste without affecting the mechanical success of the dish (unlike cakes and omelets and so on).

[_ducks]

Thanks a lot! This is proving to be a very successful post, I will be able to compile my own recipe book before long. :)

Your chickeny things sound really good. I wouldn't have thought of cheese with chicken. I will have to give it a try.

Your point about varying amounts is a good one. I think that's what I need to do more of, to get more confidence. I rely too much on instructions (or recipes), and then I tend to abandon ship if I don't have all the right ingredients or utensils or something doesn't go according to plan. I need to improvise more. I need to do jazz cooking. Then when I have perfected it I will have a name for my TV series and tie-in book.

[frausorge]

Jazz cooking! That is totally awesome.