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So I've decided that I'd like to improve my cooking skills past my usual "brown meat. add water, milk, noodles, seasoning packet. simmer for 10 minutes". Being a forum filled with primarily college aged males, I'm sure I'm not the only member who can use a little help in this regard.
Since there are so many people here who seem to know a thing or three about cooking, I'd like to ask for your favorite "Bachelor Chow" recipes.
The requirements (and reasonings behind the reqs) for a meal to qualify are the following:
1) Needs to be makeable in 30 minutes or less.
-> I share a house with 4 other guys with limited kitchen space. If one of us monopolizes the kitchen for a long period of time around dinnertime, the other roomies get testy.
2) Either needs to be makeable in small enough portions for one meal (preferable) or needs to store fairly well as leftovers.
-> Being a bachelor, it's kinda self-explanatory. No need to feed a family here.
3) Needs to be relatively easy to make.
-> I suck in the kitchen. There... I said it. Oh... and I have a crappy electric stove. If you need to have the temperature at just the right degree for 37.4 seconds or you'll either not cook it through or burn the macadamias, it's not going to work out...
4) Needs to be relatively to clean up.
-> If it takes me longer to clean up than it does to eat the meal, I'll just make spaghetti instead.
5) Needs to be relatively inexpensive
-> Grad student pay sucks.
6) Cooking directions need to be listed as if being told to a six-year old.
-> Again... I suck in the kitchen. I have never fileted a fish, prepped a pork chop or done much else than brown ground beef. Baby steps, please What may seem trivial to you, I have probably never done nor seen done before.
OK. I think that's a decent start for rules :tongue:
Also, if I (or any other neophyte cooks) are doing something incorrectly, or can do something more efficiently, please say so.
I'll get the ball rolling by listing a recipe one of my friends taught me that actually turned out fairly nicely.
Lemon Herb Chicken with Artichoke Hearts
Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Lemon
Garlic
Thyme
Sage
Rosemary (The last three I got from the grocer's section in a fresh herb pack bundle labeled "Poultry mix"... I just chopped up the one that looked like bunches of leaves, and pulled the other two off of the sticks. If I did this wrong, someone tell me. Can someone tell me which herb is which, also? The quantities, I'm not sure of... I think it's basically just "to taste"... my friend winged it, so I did too)
A small can of artichoke hearts
I used a can of mushrooms also because I love mushrooms and put them in everything
Directions
Put some flour and a little bit of salt and pepper in a bowl. This will be to cover the chicken, so no need to go overboard.
Take the chicken and cut the fatty pieces off and throw them away. I was cautioned to not do this on a wooden cutting board because the juice (with salmonilla) can seep in.
Take the side of a pot and beat the chicken to flatten it out (I was told this was for even cooking)
Cut the chicken into strips.
Cut up the leafy herb. Use a different cutting board than you used for the chicken.
Put a little bit of olive oil into a frying pan on high heat.
Cover the chicken strips in the flour and put them into the pan to cook.
The chicken is done when there is no pink on the inside (I think it's supposed to be 160F, but don't have a thermometer)
Lower the temperature to medium heat (so you don't burn the herbs)
Add a little bit more olive oil.
Add the herbs and garlic. Cut a lemon in half, and squeeze the juice over the whole thing. Let simmer for 4 or five minutes.
Add the artichoke hearts and mushrooms, and squeeze the other lemon half over it. Simmer for 2 or three more minutes.
Viola!
Green beans went well as a side dish with this.
Since there are so many people here who seem to know a thing or three about cooking, I'd like to ask for your favorite "Bachelor Chow" recipes.
The requirements (and reasonings behind the reqs) for a meal to qualify are the following:
1) Needs to be makeable in 30 minutes or less.
-> I share a house with 4 other guys with limited kitchen space. If one of us monopolizes the kitchen for a long period of time around dinnertime, the other roomies get testy.
2) Either needs to be makeable in small enough portions for one meal (preferable) or needs to store fairly well as leftovers.
-> Being a bachelor, it's kinda self-explanatory. No need to feed a family here.
3) Needs to be relatively easy to make.
-> I suck in the kitchen. There... I said it. Oh... and I have a crappy electric stove. If you need to have the temperature at just the right degree for 37.4 seconds or you'll either not cook it through or burn the macadamias, it's not going to work out...
4) Needs to be relatively to clean up.
-> If it takes me longer to clean up than it does to eat the meal, I'll just make spaghetti instead.
5) Needs to be relatively inexpensive
-> Grad student pay sucks.
6) Cooking directions need to be listed as if being told to a six-year old.
-> Again... I suck in the kitchen. I have never fileted a fish, prepped a pork chop or done much else than brown ground beef. Baby steps, please What may seem trivial to you, I have probably never done nor seen done before.
OK. I think that's a decent start for rules :tongue:
Also, if I (or any other neophyte cooks) are doing something incorrectly, or can do something more efficiently, please say so.
I'll get the ball rolling by listing a recipe one of my friends taught me that actually turned out fairly nicely.
Lemon Herb Chicken with Artichoke Hearts
Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Lemon
Garlic
Thyme
Sage
Rosemary (The last three I got from the grocer's section in a fresh herb pack bundle labeled "Poultry mix"... I just chopped up the one that looked like bunches of leaves, and pulled the other two off of the sticks. If I did this wrong, someone tell me. Can someone tell me which herb is which, also? The quantities, I'm not sure of... I think it's basically just "to taste"... my friend winged it, so I did too)
A small can of artichoke hearts
I used a can of mushrooms also because I love mushrooms and put them in everything
Directions
Put some flour and a little bit of salt and pepper in a bowl. This will be to cover the chicken, so no need to go overboard.
Take the chicken and cut the fatty pieces off and throw them away. I was cautioned to not do this on a wooden cutting board because the juice (with salmonilla) can seep in.
Take the side of a pot and beat the chicken to flatten it out (I was told this was for even cooking)
Cut the chicken into strips.
Cut up the leafy herb. Use a different cutting board than you used for the chicken.
Put a little bit of olive oil into a frying pan on high heat.
Cover the chicken strips in the flour and put them into the pan to cook.
The chicken is done when there is no pink on the inside (I think it's supposed to be 160F, but don't have a thermometer)
Lower the temperature to medium heat (so you don't burn the herbs)
Add a little bit more olive oil.
Add the herbs and garlic. Cut a lemon in half, and squeeze the juice over the whole thing. Let simmer for 4 or five minutes.
Add the artichoke hearts and mushrooms, and squeeze the other lemon half over it. Simmer for 2 or three more minutes.
Viola!
Green beans went well as a side dish with this.