For years now, my husband has said that he wants to learn to cook, not only because he wants to take some of the burden off me, but because he just wants to know how. Thus far, though, we always default to me cooking, especially on weekdays when we’re pressed for time. It’s not for lack of trying on his part. But he’s almost painfully precise, to the point where he’ll often suggest measuring with a ruler when chopping vegetables to make sure he’s chopping them the right size. This can really slow things down, making what would normally be a half-hour recipe into something like one to two hours in the making. Further, he often wants to prepare more than one dish at a time, which makes him frustrated. (Read: muttering expletives under his breath, yelling for help, etc.)
I don’t want to treat him like a little kid, but I think he may be trying to prepare dishes that are too complicated - most have been Indian dishes we both love but that require lots of different types of vegetables, lots of steps (chop, then blend, then cook, then mix with ingredients in another pan, cook more), multiple pans and some amount of babysitting. So I’m thinking that some limited-ingredient meals might make him more comfortable with knowing how to manage a meal in the making, but I can’t think of many off the top of my head.
So, what say you Dopers? Can you recommend some recipes that would be easy and involve only a few ingredients? Or even a book that would involve some good starters but that wouldn’t be insulting to an adult?
Not only does it have healthful, limited-ingredient recipes (since the book’s target demographic doesn’t usually have a whole lot of grocery money…), it also shows you ways to minimize the amount of dishes you need (blend cookie dough with your hands! Mix cake batter in the pan you’re going to cook it in! Stuff like that). I’m a fairly decent cook, but I still heart “Students Go Vegan.”
Mark Bittman’s “Minimalist” series, including The Minimalist Cooks Dinner and The Minimalist Cooks at Home.
Another book is Simple to Spectacular (also co-authored by Mark Bittman) shows how you can use the same techniques (for example, “braising fish”) in both simple and very complex ways. For each technique, there are 4 recipes with increasing levels of complexity. The good thing about this book is that it shows that you need to master basic techniques first, but it doesn’t limit you to the fundamentals. You can see a logical progression ahead.
Married to an engineer I see.
You might also want to try one of Rachel Ray’s books, or if you can find it one of Peg Bracken’s I hate to cook book (very funny too boot)
One piece of advice to a starting cook. You know those cooking shows where they have everything premeasured in little bowls. I always thought it was an affectation, until I tried it several years ago. It works great, especially if you’re making two dishes at the same time. You do the measuring before the preparing. No more wondering if you added the coriander, no fumbling with measuring spoons or cups with your hands wet or oily. It takes a lot of the stress out and lets you enjoy the task.
Have him watch a bunch of Alton Brown. Alton comes across as a man that understands science and rigor, and he does a good job of explaining when and why precision matters and when it doesn’t.
I have a book called “Cooking with 4 Ingredients” that I’ve gotten some good dinners from. There’s also a 3-ingredient and a 5-ingredient version. A few years ago I gave my brother-in-law “A Man, A Can, A Plan”, it’s a board book with pictures and simple instructions.
Today for lunch I made a tuna melt and tomato soup. Easy peasy, and so satisfying.
Roasts are simple. My husband’s pretty good with a chicken or a beef roast. He’s learned to stick potatoes in with the meat. I’m trying to get him to think about throwing in some carrots and onions too.
He hasn’t ventured out into recipe territory at all. He’ll do stuff-in-a-box that turns out good. If the recipe is on the back of a box it’s a go, but not if it’s in a book or on the web.
Back in the 70’s and 80’s I had lots of fun with recipes from The one-burner gourmet
by Harriett Barker (sorry for the lousy link but it’s the best I could find to show the cover well).
The fact that it’s written with one-burner stoves in mind, like you’d use for camping or backpacking, doesn’t mean you can’t use your home stovetop and kitchen utensils instead.
It appears in the link that libraries may have copies, if that’s any help.
Here’s very simple, one-pot meal we do a couple times a month. It’s cheap, too.
Green Beans and Potatoes
For each person:
8 oz. or more, fresh green beans
6 oz. or more, small to medium potatoes
Half a small onion, or quarter of a large onion
Nip the ends off the beans, and break them into two or three pieces. Cut the potatoes into pieces. How big? Well, how much cutting do you want to do on your plate? It’s up to you. Leave the onion in big pieces; it will get quite soft and sweet. Salt and pepper to taste.
I do this in a pressure cooker, but it can be done in a pot. Your pressure cooker owner’s manual has a vegetable chart. The potatoes’ time and water will be bigger than the beans’. If you like your beans soft, as I do, use the potatoes’ numbers. If you like your beans squeaky-firm, go toward the beans’ time, and cut the taters in smaller pieces. Use the larger amount of water, though.
If you make it in a pot, you’ll need enough water to cover the veggies. The taters are done when a fork easily pierces them. The beans? Just fish out a piece and bite into it.
This dish is a meal in itself, even if you are a carnivore. It’s delicious, and it’s very nourishing. I prefer red or Yukon Gold potatoes for this dish, but any kind will work. Yes, even sweet potatoes!
Tilapia filets - Enough to cover the bottom of a 13x9 casserole dish. (They come in different sizes!) Overlap the fat sides over the thin sides, to try to make it an even thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
1 c fresh bread crumbs (2 slices white bread)
1/2 c grated parmesan
1 tbs chopped frsh parsley
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tbs olive oil
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Pulse the topping ingredients in a food processor. Spread the bread crumbs evenly over the fish. Bake at 400° for about 15-30 minutes, depending on thickness of filets, until fish flakes easily with a fork.
The problem is not his recipes, but his method. He’s getting ahead of himself and trying dishes that are too complicated for him, making sure he gets everything perfect. He wants to run before he can walk, and you absolutely must learn the basics before attempting these difficult dishes.
Also, you want to always use your mise en place. Pre-measure, pre-cut, pre-sort EVERYTHING, and put it on a big tray you can move around. Buy a bunch of cheap bowls and condiment cups at Wal*Mart for this.
Thanks for all the responses and book recommendations! We’re going to test some of the ideas out here this weekend. The tilapia and green beans suggested here look delicious - we’ll start with those while I take a bit to look at some of the recommended books with my husband.
I’d recommend some of the Moosewood cookbooks; I’m a big fan of soups and stews which have a number of things going for them, one being that you can boil them down (ho ho ho) to “Chop ingredients into pieces that will fit into a soup spoon, simmer in liquid until good mouth feel, season to taste” and another being that you need one pot for the whole dish. Choose simple recipes (there’s a Flemish farmer’s soup that is sliced potatoes, onions and carrots simmered in broth and then you throw in a bunch of chopped herbs for the last couple of minutes - any simpler and it’d be Campbell’s), toss a salad and slice some bread, crack open a bottle of Two Buck Chuck. He can even light some candles if he wants to get all fancy. I keep a ton of canned beans, chicken stock and diced tomatoes in the pantry, and keep some dried herbs/spices handy (pepper, italian seasoning, dill, etc). It’s cheap, good food, it’s quick and easy to prepare, there’s infinite variations and the canned/dried ingredients last effectively “forever” (it takes years to go through a Costco-sized jug of italian seasoning, for example). There’s nothing better than coming home on a cold night to a kitchen smelling of simmering soup and sharing a glass of vino until it’s time to tuck in.
Oh, and get an immersion blender - $25 at BBB or Target.
I had always assumed it was a sponser thing. If you’ve sold the ad time to Acme Spices, you don’t want Chef Snooty pulling out a big bottle of Amalagamated Seasonings spice rub.
