Well heck, if that’s a problem, you need a food type thermometer. Meat should be cooked to about 160deg+, more or less, for a certain amount of time. (I’ve forgotten the exact details.)
I also recommend The Joy of Cooking, all the recipes are very basic, and they even give explanations on how to do things you thought couldn’t be explained (roasting meats, etc.)
I also highly recommend The Best Recipe, which I often give as a wedding gift. Recipes are all relatively simple, and it has excellent instructions for “simple” things, like trussing chickens or seperating eggs.
Who knows, your GF might come home finding you a newborn chef, making coq au vin and lemon meringue pie.
JC,
If you can’t get to the recipe books, try Hamburger Helper. The directions are easy and they WORK.
You can get pre-made salads in the produce sections of the big supermarkets these days. I recommend 'em! Also, buy some of the frozen veggie mixes. Then, invest in a veggie steamer. You can find it in the kitchen wares section of those same big supermarkets. You put about 1/2 inch of water in a sauce pan. Put in veggie steamer. Heat water to boiling. Put appropriate amount of veggies in steamer. Put the lid on the pan. In 10-15 mins, nicely steamed veggies!
Lastly, if you don’t already have them in your kitchen, invest in a few products. At least 1 measuring cup (2 cup size is best). A spatula, a slotted spoon, a few wooden spoons and a rubber spatulas, a set of measuring spoons.
If you have that, you’ve got everything you’ll need.
John:
Joy is good, but even better for a fellow in your position is Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything.
Nice simple basic recipes and techniques (How to Saute a Chicken Breast, e.g.)…and then he gives you a number of little fillips you can do to change the basic dish into a dozen or so DIFFERENT dishes.
You could eat chicken breasts every night for a week, if you wanted to (say, if a chicken truck broke down in front of your place).
In the frozen food aisle there are complete one-pan dinners that should last you a couple of days. They’re pretty good.
“Mom’s Chicken Noodle Stuff”
1 10-oz can chicken (it’s by the tuna at the store)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
1 small can mushrooms
1 sm package frozen peas and carrots
1/2 lb Velveeta, cubed
1 lg pkg flat noodles
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Dump in the noodles. Stir so they don’t stick to the bottom. In a large skillet, dump in all the other ingredients. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring often. Check on the noodles. They should be al dente in about 6 minutes (Taste one. Is it done enough? That’s al dente.) Drain the noodles. Don’t rinse. Put them in the skillet with the sauce. Stir. Serve. Eat.
After work, I swung by Nameless Big Book Chain and picked up The Joy of Cooking and Betty Crocker’s Basics of Cooking. (Side, amusing for those not me, note- the NBBC had its cookbooks divided into two sections, one on the wall, one on aisle racks. I only noticed the aisle racks first, and swung around them five or six times wondering why on earth no one wanted basic cookbooks anymore, but instead everything was “Italian Cooking” this and “Diet” that and such. It was not a fun twenty minutes.)
I returned home.
I made meatballs.
They were half-decent.
Thus, I have taken my first step on the road to self-reliance.
Tomorrow…
Laundry. (shudder)
One of my favorite recipes for pasta – try it with a whole grain pasta, really it is excellent. I make this with a whole wheat/garlic/lemon pepper pasta that I make with my Popiel Pasta Maker.
Silician Tomato Sauce
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (use extra virgin it’s healthier)
2 tablespoons chopped onion (I use more though)
1 garlic clove minced
4 fresh tomatoes, boil for a minute till the skin splits, peel skin and chop (if italian tomatoes are used get 5-6)
1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, zap in a blender till smooth
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock (I use chicken stock since I don’t drink wine)
1/4 teaspoon rosmary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste (fresh ground is best)
1 tablespoon fresh parley
(I always add in a few extra herbs as I like a very flavorful sauce, oregano, thyme and lemon pepper are good additions. Also, if you happen to have a simple italian blend of herbs that will work too.)
Saute onion and garlic in the olive oil till the onion is soft. Put in tomatoes, wine or stock, herbs, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cook uncovered for 25 minutes and remember to stir every so often. Take off heat and stir in parsley. Pour over pasta and enjoy.
If you want to cut out the fat entirely, take a little bit of the juice from the canned tomatoes to saute the onions and garlic in. You cut the fat but don’t loose flavor.
If you want to add more flavor, you can add 2 tablespoons of butter – use the real thing not margarine – in the last few minutes of cooking the sauce.
This is an easy recipe and your kitchen/house smells absolutely wonderful because of the time length it cooks.
“How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman published by MacMillan.
Even better, “The Bartender’s Bible” by Gary Regan published by Harper Collins.
Sauce:
Into a medium size saucepan add 1 small can of tomatoe sauce, about 1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning. About 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Let cook covered on low heat for about 20 minutes or so until it tastes right.
Cook about a half pound of hamburger in a skillet until done, stirring constantly. Drain and add to sauce.
Salt sauce to taste.
Boil one large saucepan of water. Add about 1 tablespoon of oil (this is to keep it from boiling over or so my mom says, but can be left out if you want). Add spaggetti. The measure from the package is grab a small handful. I like to snap the handfull into four sections so that it fits into pot easier. Cook for about 10 minutes or until tender on low heat but the water should continue to boil but watch it so that it doesn’t boil over. Drain spaghetti.
Adding veggies is pretty simple. Most, like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, brussel sprouts to name my favorites, can be boiled (a couple of minutes until the fork just pierces them, or longer if you like them soggy) or better yet, steamed in a little steamer that fits into the pan. Add butter, salt, pepper, plus the inside cover to “Betty” lists some spices to try. Or get a jar of Cheez Whiz (we’ll teach him how to make sauces another time, we don’t want to overload him, now do we?) and microwave it, then pour over steamed veggies. Simple baked potato–poke with a fork, microwave for 5 minutes. Then put it in a hot (425-450 degrees) oven while you cook the rest of your meal (10-20 minutes). The microwave cooks it, otherwise it takes close to an hour, but putting it into the oven makes the skin crispier.
When you get tired of entrees, homemade brownies are a good introduction into baking. The recipe in “Betty Crocker” is very good–especially the ‘fudgy’ variation. You need one bowl and one pan, and you can beat everything together without a mixer if you don’t have one–though that’s another good investment. If you’re worried about melting the chocolate–it can be a pain, substitute 3 tablespoons cocoa powder plus one tablespoon of shortening, butter or margarine for each ounce of chocolate. With brownies, and most cookies, you don’t have to be super exact with measurements–this is a very forgiving recipe. I admit I do the smell test–when it smells done, take it out of the oven–but the suggested baking times re pretty accurate.
Bon appetite.