• Replies 18 replies
  • Subscribers 85 subscribers
  • Views 811 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

"Cheat" recipes for those of us who can't cook / won't cook

Lotus

If you struggle with cooking, this thread may help you, and if you are a good cook perhaps you would be kind enough to contribute.

I find as I'm getting older I don't have the energy or inclination for cooking and I also don't like some foods I used to cook such as fresh meat and veg, due mainly to texture. So to avoid living on ready meals and pizzas, I've been trying to sort out recipes that are really easy using tinned, frozen and pre prepared ingredients.

Please add your own cheat recipes to this thread. I will start - mine are the what I would cook for 2 people.

My first one is a "Roast dinner"

Ingredients: Two roasted chicken breasts, frozen stuffing balls, frozen honey roast parsnips, frozen mini roast potatoes, Chicken Gravy granules.

Method: Heat oven to 200C. Fill one oven tray with half roast parsnips and half roast potatoes, and put the chicken breasts and stuffing balls in another oven tray.

Cook the parsnips and potatoes for 30 minutes, and the chicken and stuffing balls for 25 minutes (so put the chicken tray in 5 minutes after the veg one)

A few minutes before the cooking time ends, make gravy with chicken gravy granules as per instructions (I make up about half a pint for two of us)

Parents

  • This threads an anathema to me, as I love to cook, which is just as well given all my allergies and intollerances. Didn't Delia Smith do a book on this stuff?

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    Delia's book was called how to cheat at cooking, but it's quite old now and it's difficult and /or expensive to buy some of the ingredients. Plus you have to buy the book first unless you have a kindle subscription/borrow it from a library.

    I know you enjoy cooking, and I was hoping you would contribute an easy recipe?

  • in reply to Lotus

    Here's another easy one.

    Stroganof, sort of.

    This can be done with leftovers, either pork or chicken

    per person,

    1tblsp of finely chopped onion, if you get them frozen then just spoon it out.

    3 or 4 mushrooms, sliced, again you can get them frozen, so a couple of tblsps

    pinch of salt

    a handful or about 100g of chopped up cooked pork or chicken

    250ml of single cream, either dairy or an alternative.

    I heaped tsp of whole grain mustard from a jar, or you can use dijon if you prefer a smooth mustard, just use a level tsp instead of a heaped one.

    1tblsp of cooking oil

    1 tblsp of chopped parsley, you can leave this out if you want

    2 tblsps of white wine, also optional.

    Heat the oil in a biggish frying pan, you know it's hot enough when a piece of onion gently sizzles when put in the oil, let the onion cook until its sort of see through, then add the mushrooms and salt and cook them until they're soft. Add the meat and allow that to warm through, keep stiring everything so as it cooks evenly. Then add the wine if using and bring the pan up to a higher heat so as the wine boils, this takes the alcohol away, let it reduce by half.

    Reduce the heat again.

    Add the cream and the mustard, stir it all well and turn to a low heat and let it gently bubble for 5 minutes, give it good stir every minute or so to stop it sticking and going claggy or seperating. Add the parsley if you're using it and remove from heat and serve with rice or a carb of your choosing.

    TBLS is a tablespoon

    TSP is a teaspoon

    You could use Quorn in this, just add some along with the mushrooms, so as it cooks properly.

    If you want to make more than one portion just add more meat/quorn, and veg you can double this to make two portions without doing anything to the cream or wine or mustard/

Reply
  • in reply to Lotus

    Here's another easy one.

    Stroganof, sort of.

    This can be done with leftovers, either pork or chicken

    per person,

    1tblsp of finely chopped onion, if you get them frozen then just spoon it out.

    3 or 4 mushrooms, sliced, again you can get them frozen, so a couple of tblsps

    pinch of salt

    a handful or about 100g of chopped up cooked pork or chicken

    250ml of single cream, either dairy or an alternative.

    I heaped tsp of whole grain mustard from a jar, or you can use dijon if you prefer a smooth mustard, just use a level tsp instead of a heaped one.

    1tblsp of cooking oil

    1 tblsp of chopped parsley, you can leave this out if you want

    2 tblsps of white wine, also optional.

    Heat the oil in a biggish frying pan, you know it's hot enough when a piece of onion gently sizzles when put in the oil, let the onion cook until its sort of see through, then add the mushrooms and salt and cook them until they're soft. Add the meat and allow that to warm through, keep stiring everything so as it cooks evenly. Then add the wine if using and bring the pan up to a higher heat so as the wine boils, this takes the alcohol away, let it reduce by half.

    Reduce the heat again.

    Add the cream and the mustard, stir it all well and turn to a low heat and let it gently bubble for 5 minutes, give it good stir every minute or so to stop it sticking and going claggy or seperating. Add the parsley if you're using it and remove from heat and serve with rice or a carb of your choosing.

    TBLS is a tablespoon

    TSP is a teaspoon

    You could use Quorn in this, just add some along with the mushrooms, so as it cooks properly.

    If you want to make more than one portion just add more meat/quorn, and veg you can double this to make two portions without doing anything to the cream or wine or mustard/

Children
No Data