You know what? I could never really cook.
I mean most people can cook to eat, but it's never really an imaginative thing. When I was little my mum worked hard in the kitchen feeding us tasty food, sure, but nine times out of 10 it was the kind of starchy potato product + meat meal that the picky gang of me, my sister and my dad, insisted was the only thing we could stand. As I grew older I got a bit more adventurous, but when your version of adventurous is 'pizza' or 'fajitas'...well it doesn't exactly create a hotbed of inspiration.
Cue uni, where I could let loose and spread my wings and actually try things. While finally I could play around with different ingredients it was awesome and healthier and, let's face it, an inconvenience. Once I figured out how to do a stir fry or my own fajiitas (ie effectively a stir fry in a wrap), pasta and a cottage pie (for if I felt fancy) that was me pretty much done. If it took no effort and no time at all I was in there.
Now I'm an official grown up.
(For reals, mothers when speaking to their children with point at me and say 'that lady' or 'this woman' and everything!)
And it's pretty much not acceptable to be so blasé about cooking. Even if you're not very good you need something to trot out to people. You need some concept of what sage or tyme is actually supposed to be for, and how long to cook meat for in order to avoid committing manslaughter. So I set out on a little quest that at least once a week I would cook something from an actual recipe book and train myself up to becoming some sort of domestic goddess. (Or half goddess.Or muse? I'd probably even take a gorgon at this point.)
The chef that is guiding me through the ways of epic cooking? The glorious Jamie Oliver.
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| I liked it, then I put a ring on it. |
Jamie's 15 Minute Meals and Saving with Jamie are right up my alley: cheap, lively and informal, full of food that is attempting to be healthy while still indulging in comfort and, on the whole, quick and hassle free. Pukka.
Check out some of the meals I've conquered so far. Follow the title links for the recipe.
You want something as satisfyingly tasty as a roast dinner with none of the fuss? This is for you; the rosemary chicken is gorgeous and the potato gratin is super-delish.
Baked Onion in the Hole
This one requires a bit of patience as it takes over an hour to roast the onion/s, but it tastes super scrummy and the satisfaction of making a legit Yorkshire pudding is well worth the wait. Add rosemary and ALL the gravy.
According to the internet, this is as secret as the sodding illuminati for some reason, so I'll give you a hint while legitimately encouraging you to get your paws on the Save with Jamie Book:
Basically cook an onion for an hour at around 180 degrees, then make a yorkshire pudding mix, crank that bad-boy up to 220 degrees and pour the mix in with the onion. Takes about another half an hour but it smells like a gardener's heaven.
These are a serious competitor to the good old fish finger sandwich. Like really. No competition at all. You take a slab of the fish of your choosing, stick salt, pepper,chilli powder (that's what a 'pinch of cayenne pepper' is, right?), and flour on one side and fry that baby. Then add cheese. Because everything (apart from your waistline) is better with cheese on top. If you're like me and tentatively starting your journey into eating more fish, this is a tasty way to try it out.
[Bonus Round!]
And a little something that I cobbled together in an attempt to imitate Giraffe's gorgeous Mexican breakfast: Huevos Rancheros....ish.
Mexican Breakfast
I love 'Mexican' food because you can cobble together tasty randomness and it's still awesome. In this case I took a tortilla, which I grilled a bit, got some corizo, which I grilled a bit, cooked some mixed beans, microwaved some frozen sweetcorn, melted some cheese, cut up some avocado and fried an egg and just crammed in all on there. Add a butt-load of spices as desired. So. Flipping. Tasty.
Also this is how I discovered what the hell avocados are.
SUCH a good discovery, let me tell you.
So there you are: a few grown up meals to get you started.
Now I no longer view as a terrible waste of time, but instead as a new hobby that I look forwards to trying out every week. Practice makes perfect.