Cooking for 2 for Dummies

OK, so here's the deal...

Due to circumstances that aren't really worth going into here, the wife and I will be doing more cooking (and by more I mean more than none). Neither one of us really have any cooking skills beyond the most basic (we can both make pasta, I can make breakfast items and grill stuff).

So, what are some VERY easy recipes that are easily adapted for 2 people? Any suggestions not involving poultry (pretty much the last thing left that the wife won't eat) are welcome. Also, stuff that's not terribly time consuming would be preferable since we're both working.

Hopefully we can document our progress here.

In most circumstances in our kitchen, food for two that's not pasta is simply pan-seared meat (pork, steak, fish) and a couple-three sides. Are you looking for direction for that, or for something more fancy?

Thisis a good rendition that will work for just about anything if you adjust the timing accordingly. Often, we accompany that with roasted potatoes and steamed veggies.

Mhays wrote:In most circumstances in our kitchen, food for two that's not pasta is simply pan-seared meat (pork, steak, fish) and a couple-three sides. Are you looking for direction for that, or for something more fancy?

Nope, just looking for easy everyday stuff for meals during the week.

Wow. I could probably write a whole book to answer your question, and many people already have.

I think the key is to learn techniques (through recipes) rather than recipes. There's no better source for that than Cook's Illustrated, and they've put all their quick recipes into a very good cookbook:
http://www.amazon.com/Best-30-minute-Re ... 0936184981

Also, Mark Bittman is very good at this.


Best,
Michael

jesteinf wrote:OK, so here's the deal...

Due to circumstances that aren't really worth going into here, the wife and I will be doing more cooking (and by more I mean more than none). Neither one of us really have any cooking skills beyond the most basic (we can both make pasta, I can make breakfast items and grill stuff).

So, what are some VERY easy recipes that are easily adapted for 2 people? Any suggestions not involving poultry (pretty much the last thing left that the wife won't eat) are welcome. Also, stuff that's not terribly time consuming would be preferable since we're both working.

Hopefully we can document our progress here.

I want to give you one of my favorite ways to cook fish. People seem to eschew cooking fish all the time because they think it's hard to get it right. Here's a method that's super easy and will impress friends as well.

Get a 9 x 13 pyrex baking dish and fill it about 1"-1.5" with coarse rock salt. Turn on the oven to 450 and throw the dish in there with just salt in there for about 20-30 minutes. Get that salt really really hot.

Now, in the mean time get a piece of halibut or whatever other kind of fish you want to cook- I like halibut because of its mild flavor and texture. Throw a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan and heat it over medium high to high heat. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot put the fish in and sear it on one side without moving it for 2 minutes. DO NOT MOVE THE FISH. You want it to form a nice crust.

Now, take the baking dish from the oven and cover it with herbs and bay leaves. Put whatever you want on it- thyme, oregano, heck even throw a few slices of lemon on there.

Lay the seared side of fish on top of the herbs and lemon and whatever else you put on there and throw it all back in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the fish is opaque in the middle.

Done- start to finish about 20 minutes or so excluding preheating time. It's very difficult to screw this recipe up, just don't overcook the fish (meaning no more than about 17-20 minutes at the MOST)

I've been doing a lot of this myself, lately, and I'm with Michael. It's less about gathering recipes (not that there's anything wrong with that) and more about learning some basic techiques you can riff on. I mean, you're going to work from some recipes no matter what, especially if you aren't totally comfortable in the kitchen, but if you go at it with the mindset that you're going to learn techniques rather than recipes, it won't be long before you don't need recipes at all, and that's going to serve you a lot better, even in the short term. Plus, that puts you in a better state to work with whatever is fresh and seasonal rather than what's in your recipe, which is also key.

Pasta's great. Stir fry is another great way to make quick, simple, complete dinners for two. Lately I've been searing a lot of chicken thighs with simple pan sauces and slow-roasting salmon and other fish, but those are just recent obsessions. You get the idea.

I'm a largely self-taught cook who didn't learn how till I was an adult. I found following reliable recipes the easiest way to learn. I started with a kids' cookbook and then acquired a Big Fat Cookbook and looked up ingredients I was interested in using. Having a few successful dishes under my belt gave me confidence to try my own variations, and I added refinements as I mastered the techniques and understood how different ingredients came together to create different flavors.

The thing to do is to decide what you like to eat, first of all. It's no fun making food you aren't going to be happy eating. Pick things you really like even when they aren't perfectly prepared for your initial experiments.

Next, figure out how much time you have and select recipes that fit your constraints. Read the recipe all the way through and add up the prep times and cooking times given; add in the amount of time you think it will take you to gather and make ready the ingredients (washing veggies, measuring dry ingredients, etc.); then add 10 to 15 percent fudge factor.

When you're really harried or hungry go for easy stuff: sandwiches, hot dogs, heat-and-serve entrees. And there's nothing wrong with bacon and eggs for dinner in a pinch.

Once you've selected a recipe, gather all the ingredients and measure them out before you start cooking. Getting halfway through and discovering you're out of an essential component is disheartening.

Here's a simple recipe for pork chops. Serve with your favorite starch (rice, potatoes, pasta, couscous) and a steamed vegetable or a salad.

Pan-fried pork chops with marsala sauce

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
4 1/2-inch-thick pork chops
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1/2 cup marsala

Combine the flour with the salt, pepper and thyme in a shallow dish. Dredge the chops in the seasoned flour. (Can be done up to 1 hour ahead. Let the floured chops stand in a cool place.)

Heat the butter or oil in a large skillet over high heat. Cook the chops 5 minutes. Cover, reduce the heat slightly, and cook 10 minutes.

Uncover, reduce heat to low. Turn the chops and cook over low heat, uncovered, 10 minutes. Remove the chops to a platter.

Increase the heat to high and deglaze the pan with the marsala. (Pour the marsala into the hot pan and scrape the sides and stir with a wooden spoon.) Cook until the liquid has reduced to a syrupy consistency. Pour over chops.

2 servings.

When the husband and I first got married, my most invaluable resources were "Joy Of Cooking" and Pierre Franey's "60-Minute Gourmet" and "More 60-Minute Gourmet". The two Pierre Franey books have lots of good recipes that you can easily put together when you walk in the door after work and "Joy of Cooking" is a great help as far as basic how-to's.

Good luck!

do multiple variations on this -

Sear some meat (chicken, pork, beef, tofu) - set aside.

In the same pan sautee a combo of aromatic veggies
(onion, garlic, pepper, carrots, celery, mushrooms)

Toss in a liquid to deglaze the pan (juice, wine, broth, water, maple syrup, soy sauce+water, can of crushed tomatoes, a combo)

Add spices and herbs, add meat back into pan, very gently simmer until cooked through.

Serve with (rice, noodles, bread, potatoes)

How you vary it makes it different. If you chop up the meat and toss it with flour in a bag before searing, you'll get a thicker sauce and it can be tastier than just searing the meat.

Adding different veggies and spices makes it vaguely ethnic-y.

Even with chopping, it rarely takes me more than an hour to get dinner on the table. And often, this sort of thing is tastier the next day, so you can make tomorrow's dinner while tonight's is reheating. Then it's less time, as you let itomomrrow's meal simmer gently while you are eating.

I get the frozen iced chicken breasts at costco. They don't take too long to cook, and they are a lot easier to handle than breasts I freeze. Very convenient. Even if I don't remember to thaw them, they still cook in about the same time. And they thaw pretty nicely in the microwave. Enough so you can chop them without them cooking.

Right, that's one of the big secrets right there-- make 2-3 days' worth of everything. (Though I find few things I want to eat again by the third day. Still, many things like soup freeze perfectly well.)

Working at home, I make a lot of things that require minimal attention but do take time, but you can easily make these sorts of things on the weekend and have them again Monday or Tuesday. Soup is the easiest thing in the world like this; one of my most basic no-thinking meals is to throw a Paulina smoked ham hock (they keep a few weeks, so I always have one in the fridge) into my dutch oven with some beans, split peas, whatever, and possibly some celery, carrots, etc. Three hours later, take out the hock, get the meat off it, scoop off fat from the top, season to taste and it's soup for a couple of days.

Along with others recommending basic cook books, I would recommend the following: White Trash Cooking. It was one of my first cookbooks out of college. I've lost the cookbook but I still make a lot of the simple recipes because I know them by heart. I was surprised to see it's still in print on Amazon and there was even a sequel. You'll also see that it's gotten universal five star reviews and raves from people--some even offended by the title.

Now I hope I haven't violated LTH's guidelines by mentioning this title. I did read the code of conduct. Amazon lists the title with the cautionary "(Jargon)" afterwards.

I liked it because the recipes were fast and tasted good. So if you're a fan of fried chicken, or, like me, of deep-fried pork chops, give it a try. Great easy biscuits too.

I endorse the idea mentioned upthread that key is just learning a few basic techniques and what they work well with. When I was learning, my go-to book was James Beard's Theory and Practice.

Bittman's How to Cook Everything is invaluable for the cook who is just learning. I gave the book to a non-cook friend of mine and she now swears by "Bittman."

Although more time consuming but good for a weekend, I would consider recipes that call for braising. Very simple prep: sear meat, take out of pan, saute onions + other aromatics of your choice, deglaze pan with liquid (stock and/or wine), put meat back in pan, cover, stick in 325 oven, forget about it until it's fork tender; about 1-3 hours later. No fussing with temperatures, and no sitting over a pan.

Just to echo the theme: it's definitely all about techniques or routines upon which you ring and increasing number of variations.

I'm a big fan of pan roasting and fricasees. Ties in with the above-mentioned (brown meat, set aside, saute veg., add liquid, etc.). Do your prep, use one big skillet, and infinite variety is possible.

I'd also recommend the old standards: Marcella Hazan's first 2 books have lots of easy to do things, and discuss core techniques and mother sauces that she/you then build on. (E.g. She has pasta sauces I, II, and III. Each basically tomato based, but distinctive. She has a fressh tom. and a canned tom version of each. Her tom/rosemary/pancetta, and her tom./anchovy would both be on my desert island sauce list.)

The orig. Silver Palate book also did a lot for me when I was starting. Full of not only recipes, but techniques, tips, fun facts, roasting charts, etc., also well laid out.

I think Martha Stewart's magazine occupies the place today that Silver Palate used to. Whoever her food editors are, they do a very good job and I haven't ever tried a recipe from there that didn't work out. (Whatever your visceral feelings about her may be, the mag. seems to be "a good thing" from that standpoint.)

And if you are really in a pinch, we have found several of the asian simmering sauces under the Trader Joe's label quite palatable. Indian, Thai curries, etc. If you can steam rice, then you're in business.

Always have fun. Our mantra whenever we branched into some anxiety-producing unknown territory has always been breath deep and repeat, "well, if it doesn't work, we can order a pizza."

mrbarolo wrote:I'd also recommend the old standards: Marcella Hazan's first 2 books have lots of easy to do things, and discuss core techniques and mother sauces that she/you then build on. (E.g. She has pasta sauces I, II, and III. Each basically tomato based, but distinctive. She has a fressh tom. and a canned tom version of each. Her tom/rosemary/pancetta, and her tom./anchovy would both be on my desert island sauce list.)

Speaking of Marcella Hazan, she has the easiest quick tomato sauce recipe ever: put one 26 oz can (or two 14 oz cans) San Marzano tomatoes in pan, add one halved onion and 5 tablespoons butter. Bring to simmer and simmer very gently for 45 mins or so; remove onion and season with salt and pepper.

I learned a lot of cooking from Silver Palate but I wouldn't exactly recommend it for that purpose. It's a little more fancy party food, much of the time; and it's not nearly as systematic in teaching you basic techniques as other books mentioned above (Bittman, Franey, etc.) And because it's somewhat showy food, it tends to use somewhat expensive ingredients (use Applejack insted of Calvados in their liver pate, for instance, and you'll cut the final cost by about 2/3). Nothing wrong with what it's intended for, but I would recommend others first.

aschie30 wrote:Bittman's How to Cook Everything is invaluable for the cook who is just learning. I gave the book to a non-cook friend of mine and she now swears by "Bittman."

For whatever reason, I actually have "How to Cook Everything" and was planning on using it to get started.

Thanks to everyone else for your advice so far!

Sorry can't resist a couple more recommendations. I use two Silver Palate books, Good Times and the New Basics, a lot, but they're for a weekend days and for preparing food on Sunday that will be eaten during the week. I've frequently looked for something quick in them, but it's a huge source of frustration to realize you DON'T have overnight to marinate something etc. The New York Times Cook Book is surprisingly dull given how good the recipes are in the paper, but covers basics quite well. I get my pancakes from it rather than Bisquick for example. (I have like a 1991 or so edition.) I think Bitman writes for them, so he might be the more recent replacement. Also Jeff Smith ended up being pretty scandalous in terms of his personal life and lost his PBS gig, but his Jeff Smith cooks Three Ancient Cuisines makes Italian, Greek, and Chinese easy. And it's an oldie, but a goodie for Chinese--The Joyce Chen Cook Book. Available used on Amazon. Just skip the MSG which is in every recipe.

Josh, I have a few tips for new cooks.
1. Keep it simple. I see a lot of recipes with fancy marinades and sauces. My favorite seasoning on fish & meat is a little salt, pepper, and garlic. You can always elaborate from there, but sometimes it nice just to enjoy the natural flavors of the main ingredient.
2. For cooking, and sometimes baking, recipes and ingredients lists are only suggestions. Don’t be afraid to alter (or combine) recipes to suite your tastes, and supplies. I love epicurious.com because recipes are rated, and reviewers provide comments, suggestions, and alterations to the recipe.
3. Eat and cook seasonally. Enjoy soups in the cool months, and fresh fruits & veggies all summer.

Good luck & enjoy

CCCB...I agree with you about "New Basics". There are some wonderful recipes in there, but another one of my criticisms would be that the list of ingredients for a lot of those recipes goes on forever. I also find a lot of unnecessary steps.

As far as Jeff Smith, I think I have every one of his cookbooks. They are all well-worn and a lot of the pages have a stain or two. I love "Three Ancient Cuisines" as well as "Our Immigrant Ancestors".

I think it's good to browse through cookbooks until you find one or two that look congenial. In addition to some of those mentioned already, I like How to Eat by Nigella Lawson and Julia Childn't little book, Julia's Kitchen Wisdom.

D'oh! Forgot one excellent resource : the LTH Forum Recipe Index. Many of the recipes are much simpler than you might think, and since the index links to threads, it's a great place to poke around and read as posters comment and expound on each recipe. Lots of discussion about technique.

Amazing job on the part of LAZ.

just another note- alton brown's book, i'm just here for the food, vol. 1 is at costco for like 20 bucks now. it's a great intro to understanding the basics of cooking through science. if you understand the why you'll understand the how.

I agree with those who said to make it fun! Pick easy dishes you like - spaghetti with meatballs, shrimp scampi, steak, etc, get the recipes and start making them. When you make things fun, they are easier to learn and you actually want to do them.

Don't worry if something isn't going to come out "just right". Usually it's still edible, but if it's not, that's what the frozen dumplings in the freezer are for

Learn the techniques, as others recommended. Once you know the techniques you can apply them to different ingredients and make different dishes.

A cookbook I'd recommend is "The New Best Recipe", from the editors of Cook's Illustrated. I love reading about all the experiments they did, variations they have tried and why they recommend what they recommend. I like their approach.

Mhays wrote:D'oh! Forgot one excellent resource : the LTH Forum Recipe Index. Many of the recipes are much simpler than you might think, and since the index links to threads, it's a great place to poke around and read as posters comment and expound on each recipe. Lots of discussion about technique.

Amazing job on the part of LAZ.

Thanks, Mhays. Having read all 600+ recipes listed, though, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the LTH recipes as a first resource for a cook who hasn't yet learned to improvise in the kitchen. Folks here are great cooks, but they often aren't very precise about measuring or detailed in their directions.

It's a great resource for ideas once you're comfortable in the kitchen, though. For a beginner, in most cases, I'd recommend comparing with an authoritative cookbook.

Hi jesteinf:

Good luck with your cooking! I've been reading this thread with interest because we also cook for two in my household, and we also have been trying to do more cooking and less takeout. A New Year's resolution in 2007 was for us to try a new recipe a week, which is something that we've succeeded at --- and we've seen that we've become faster and better cooks and become better at coming up with fun ways to use leftovers as a result.

Lots of the folks above have given you great advice on cookbooks. I wanted to add that, in our experience, planning has been a big part of our success. We've been most successful at sticking with our cooking when we are able to plan out a week's meals in advance, cooking time-consuming items like roasts/braises/ragus on the weekends, and then using leftovers as convenience ingredients for quick weeknight dinners.

In addition to the Bittman and Best Recipe cookbooks mentioned above, we have had good luck using magazine web sites for recipes. Epicurious and Food and Wine archive quick recipes and also let you search new recipes, which helps with coming up with ways to use food that's in season. We also like 101cookbooks.com, which has archives arranged by month, and we've had good luck with the other cooking blogs linked to on that site.

One thing that we've been doing a lot of lately is making soup --- make a salad and Bittman's yogurt biscuits while warming up a pot of soup you made over the weekend and you've got a good, quick, weeknight meal. We've found that risottos are another good way to use up leftover roasts and/or roasted vegetables on a weeknight, though these require more attention than soups.

A side benefit that we've discovered (besides saving money) is that by cooking we end up talking together in the kitchen on a weeknight rather than sitting together engaged in some solitary activity like reading, working, or watching TV --- our dinner time has been extended and we feel like we have more time together than we did before.


Thank you for your question --- we're excited to try out the Hazan books and the Alton brown book mentioned above, and to try our luck with the LTH forum recipe index!

Hi,

There will come a day when you look in the refrigerator to find odd ball ingredients and not always a clue how to get the best use. For instance, if you found yourself with chorizo and cabbage. Probably your mind is not bursting with ideas on how to get those two to work together in a dish. I will sometimes using internet search engines or specific websites like epicurious.com or foodtv.com, then search for keywords: cabbage chorizo. If it is a non-food dedicated search function I might add keyword: recipe.

I also have been known to test drive a cookbook by taking it out of the library. If I find myself taking it out a few times, because it was so usefull, then I buy it.

I do look forward to following your learning curve.

Regards,

I have been a fan of the Food And Wine cook books. The new series out is FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE'S QUICK FROM SCRATCH
ONE-DISH MEALS COOKBOOK. Same title but covering pasta,chicken,soups and salads and herbs and spices.
http://www.foodandwine.com/books
What's nice is they use recipes from famous chefs to new and upcoming stars... Also the Bon Appetit cookbook, it just about covers it all..
http://www.amazon.com/Bon-Appetit-Cookb ... 0764596861
You did say Grill to one of my Favs!!
http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/recipe/menu.aspx Most recipes are simple and good for gas or Charcoal (my favorite) They also teach techniques and tips in the book and site .
We grill 4 nights a week, all year around and always on Lump Charcoal or wood. Rubs and marinades change the flavor big time! You can also do a couple of dishes at one time freezing them in the marinades or rubs.
Good luck

You can't go wrong with The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

Bringing this back...

The cooking didn't exactly get off to a quick start. The wife was cast in a show out in Palatine, so most nights I've been on my own. The show is now over, so tonight I got inspired.

I remembered that the Trib had an article about a week ago with some recipes that they claim only take about 10 minutes to make. Perfect.

I decided to make their version of Salt & Pepper Shrimp. I have to say, the shrimp I made would never be confused with something you'd get in Chinatown, but these were pretty damn tasty. Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/chi-10_min_rec4_27feb27,0,5947804.story

Also, for Super Bowl I decided to take my first crack at making chili. Again, a pretty damn tasty first effort. Here is the link to the chili I made:

http://lookd.com/recipies/chili/texbeef.htm

Both come with the disclaimer: If I can make it, anyone can make it.

Hopefully more to come...