Help! I have to cook a gourmet dinner tonight but I don't know how to cook?

Cafe Society
21

Two more super-easy things to do with chicken:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Get out a roasting pan with a lid. Put 1 cup of rice in the bottom. Add 1 cup of water and 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. Mix it all around a little. Put chicken pieces on top (nice pieces, legs or breasts on the bone). Put lid on. Put in oven for 1 hour. Reveal a really, really tasty meal.

  2. This is very similar to the other chicken roasting idea. Cut a small onion and a small apple into eighths. Stuff this plus some raisins plus some cloves of garlic into the chicken’s cavity. Roast at 400 for an hour fifteen.

Two easy things to do with ground beef:

  1. Meatloaf. One package of ground beef, one egg, one cup rolled oats, one of those little cans of tomato sauce, a good squirt of ketchup, a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, and plenty of dried parsley and onion. And salt and pepper. Mix together with hands (fun!) Dump out onto broiling pan (the kind with holes, and a tray under it, so fat drips off in the oven.) Bake at 400 for an hour fifteen.

  2. Kefta. Heat a large skillet. In bowl, mix one package ground beef (or ground lamb), one cup bread crumbs, one chopped onion, a few cloves pressed garlic (get yourself a garlic press! now!), dried parsley, salt and pepper. Mold onto balls a little larger than a golf ball, then press flat into patties. Fry in skillet, seven minutes on each side

Four easy veggie side dishes:

  1. Tomato salad. Slice tomatoes, top with some olive oil, pressed garlic, salt, and pepper.

  2. Steamed broccoli. Cut florets off of head, put in heat-proof bowl. Add a few tablespoons of water and salt it all. Cover with saran wrap. Microwave for six minutes.

  3. No-ham green beans. Put can of green beans in saucepan. Add a pat of butter, some dried onion, salt, and pepper. Cook on low for up to an hour; the longer you cook, the better it tastes.

  4. Roasted asparagus. Spread asparagus spears on a baking sheet. Drizzle over a little olive oil, and salt. Put in oven with whatever else you’re cooking there, for about twenty minutes.

I am a good cook and can cook lots of things, but these eight dishes are what I actually do cook 80% of the time.

22

A few ideas-hit this link and sign up for a free recipe in your mailbox every day, as well as access to their database of a gazillion recipes. Check out the bookstore and look for firehouse cookbooks. We need to make good rib-stickin’ food, and it has to be relatively simple.

One thrown together recently-modified from the allrecipies site listing
1 pound large deveined shrimp, frozen
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 ea red and green bell peppers
1 red onion
1 large package of cherry tomatoes
1 large package of mushroom caps
2 small zucchini
1 lime
2 boxes Zatarains long grain and wild rice

Soak a package of wood skewers in water.
Thaw shrimp, peel, wash, and set aside.
Cut chicken into bite size pieces.
In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tbsp chopped cilantro, and juice from lime. Add chicken, salt and pepper to taste, mix well, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Clean, seed and cut peppers into bite size chunks.
Similarly prepare onion and zucchini.
Start rice mix in a medium skillet per box directions.
Assemble skewers with shrimp, marinated chicken and veggies.
Cook kebabs over high heat on outdoor grille for ~10 minutes, turning once.
Serve over cooked rice.

23

Sausage and pepper spaghetti:
Buy a package of smoked sausage. Cut it into three-inch pieces. Put in a big skillet or sautee pan. Add some pressed garlic, a small onion cut into eighths, strips of sweet peppers, one of those little cans of tomato sauce, one can of diced tomatoes, and half the can full of water. Sprinkle generously with oregano, basil, and pepper. Bury a bay leaf in the sauce. Cover and simmer on medium for about 30 minutes. Take lid off. Appreciate aroma. Bury some uncooked spaghetti under the sauce, and continue simmering until spaghetti is cooked, about ten more minutes.

Sausage and cabbage:
Buy a package of smoked sausage. Cut it into three-inch pieces. Put in a big skillet or sautee pan. Cut a head of cabbage into shreds. Add, along with a little oil. Salt. Pepper. Sprinkle with fennel seeds. Cover and cook till sausage and cabbage are done, maybe 30 minutes. To go with it, thinly slice a couple of potatoes and put in another skillet with some oil. Salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally.

24

How about something quick and easy…

the Twinkie-Wiener Sandwich :wink:
Ingredients:
A Twinkie
Glass of milk
Wiener
Cheese-in-a-spray-can.

Directions:
Unwrap the Twinkie.
Slice Twinkie lengthwise about half way through.
Place wiener in Twinkie
Garnish with canned cheese.
Dip in milk.

hey, someone had to reccomend it :wink:

25

Bah, don’t waste your money. Garlic is quite easy to handle with nothing more than a cutting board and a chef knife:

  1. Place garlic clove on cutting board.
  2. Cut off the hard part of the base.
  3. Place your knife horizontally on top of the garlic, near the handle where it’s widest.
  4. Push down hard on the garlic until it’s quite squished. You’ll hear a pop as the skin breaks. Don’t cut your hand.
  5. Slip the skin off, it’s easy now.
  6. Behold your pressed and peeled garlic clove.

Alternatively, you can smash the garlic with a flat stone, or a brick even. If you use a brick you should probably wrap it in plastic or something first.

26

Sounds like somebody needs a copy of Rachel Ray’s books. All of her recipes are easy and tasty, provided you have the ingredients. If your wife is into gourmet stuff, you probably have all the odd spices and such, and if you plan your meals ahead of time, you can add whatever you don’t have to that week’s grocery list.

If your dinners are going to fall on nights when you’ll be home for a couple hours before dinnertime, go for a beercan chicken once in a while. Wash Mr. Chicken inside and out (take out the stuff in the cavity first), and lightly smear the skin with mayo or olive oil. Sprinkle generously with whatever spices you want. (I’m personally very fond of Emeril’s Southwest Essence.) Pop the top on a can of beer (cheap crap like Bud is fine) and use a churckey to pop a few more holes in the top. Pour out about a quarter of the beer, then sprinkle more of your seasoning in. Stab a bunch of holes in a half-lemon, then put it on top of the beercan. Pick up your chicken and carefully stretch the ass over the can, shoving down till the can and legs form a tripod to support it. Pop the whole thing into a preheated 350-degree grill (or oven with the top rack out–take the rack out before preheating) for roughly an hour and a half. If you’re doing the grill, don’t put the chicken directly over the heat source, but off to the side. Chicken is done when the leg rotates freely in the socket. If you want to add a gourmet touch, you can soak hickory chips overnight and then wrap them in a bit of foil with holes torn in the top, then toss those in the grill with the chicken to smoke it. Don’t do the hickory chips in the oven, though. You don’t want to smoke up your house, and you really don’t want to hear from your wife after you smoke up the house.

There have been lots of threads about recipes for people who aren’t very skilled at cooking. I’ve got a handful of other recipes I’d post, but they’re in most of those other threads, and I’m sure people are sick of reading them.

27

One word: pesto.

28

Go to the bookstore and get yourself a copy of Mark Bittmans “How to Cook Everything” immediately. I can’t overemphasize how great this book is.

HTCE has the basic recipes for just about everything. It will teach you how to make a basic lasagne or basic cherry pie or basic black bean soup or basic lobster. It’s extremely compreshensive, explains the terms and equiptments used, and the recipes are simple and tend not to have fifty million ingredients in them. Most recipes include a few simple variations, and it will get you comfortable with coming up with your own recipes and variations on the fly. Pretty soon you won’t need to follow recipes word for word to make good food. This isn’t just a cookbook, it’s a book that will teach you to become a cook.

29

In keeping with the trend of recommending cookbooks, I’d like to recommend a crockpot cookbook and a pressure cooker cookbook (just make sure you already have a crockpot and pressure cooker or plan to buy soon). Both of these cooking systems turn out great meals you slap together. Hope this helps.

30

I make Maple Pork Chops when I need a quick and easy dinner:

Get some good thick chops. Quickly brown them in a skillet with a little oil.

Mix together:
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 T. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion
Salt and plenty of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder (add more if you want a little more bite)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup

Put chops in a heatproof dish and pour the maple mixture on top. Bake covered at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

I like to serve with wild rice, a green salad, french bread, and plenty of white wine.

31

French Dips

1 loaf of french bread (baguette)
1/2 lb of good sliced roast beef from the deli (top round or Black Angus)
1/4 sliced cheese (swiss or provolone are my favs)
1 packet of Au jus mix (I buy McCormick)

Slice the baguette in half lengthwise, as for a sandwich. Top bottom half with roast beef (don’t lay the slices flat.kind of bunch them up). Place the cheese on top of the roast beef. With the sandwich open, place under the broiler just until cheese melts.

Prepare the au jus according to package directions.

If I’m feeling really ambitious, I sometimes saute onions for the sandwich. I also like a bit of horseradish spread on the bread under the roast beef. When I make the au jus, I leave out a half cup of the water, and after it is heated I throw in a half cup of red wine. Yummy!

32

Since you said your wife is a food pro, perhaps you could suggest that you prepare dinner together. She can teach you some basic techniques (like sauteing, chopping vegetables, cleaning chicken, etc.) and she won’t feel that she’s doing all the work. As you learn the techniques, you’ll be able to cook on your own with more confidence.

You might even enjoy the time together.

33

So Shagnasty how did it go?

34

See Post #18.

35

Shagnasty, if inspiration fails, I highly recommend epicurious.com They have no end of easy quick recipes. Plus walk you through step by step, with pics on how it’s supposed to look when you’re done.

36

One of my and my family’s favorites:

Italian Sausage and Potatoes

Italian Sausages (sweet, hot or both)
Eastern, Idaho or Red Potatoes
1-2 large onion(s) (I prefer Vidalia, White or Spanish to the yellow you find in 5 lb. bags, but they work, also)
Vegetable Oil (not olive)
Salt, pepper, cayenne or paprika

Roasting pan large enough to hold potatoes in single layer

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray roasting pan with non-stick spray.

Wash potatoes (for 2 people, I would use 3 large potatoes) thoroughly. Cut into wedges - the smaller the wedge, the faster the cooking time. I generally do sixths. Place in roasting pan.

Cut end off onion, and then cut in half through root. Peel skin. Slice 1/4" thick. Break up slices and toss in roasting pan.

Drizzle 2-4 tablespoons oil over potatoes and onions. You want enough oil to cover everthing, but not to pool at the bottom. Generously salt; pepper to taste. Lightly dust with cayenne or paprika, to taste. Mix well and spread in a single layer on bottom of pan.

Lay sausages on top of potatoes. Pierce sausage skins with fork.

Place in oven. After 20 minutes, stir potatoes and rotate sausage. Cook 10 more minutes, test sausage for doneness (slice one in half); test potatoes for doneness (fork-tender).

Plate. Garnish with parsley, serve with duck sauce.

Mix a bagged mixed greens salad with some mandarin oranges (canned, drained), feta cheese and pine nuts. Salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine, balsamic or sherry vinegar (go light on vinegar, about 3-1 with oil). Mix again and serve.

Best part…only one pan to clean, plus one knife, one cutting board and salad bowl.

37

http://instapundit.com/archives/013539.php has a simple recipe. He describes it like this:

“It’s somewhere between roasted chicken and coq au vin…Total prep time is about 15 minutes, there’s not much to clean up, and as a nice side effect, the house smells wonderful when your family gets home.”