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Puncture Repair

Since starting Uni and living by myself I've realized that the biggest challenge is actually keeping myself alive. Cooking meals is such a basic skill I'm amazed it's not pushed in schools (but hey at least I know trigonometry amarite?).

The reality is I rarely have the time, knowledge or passion to cook meals, especially when it's just me by my lonesome. I usually resort to sardines in a tomato sauce over pasta, which isn't all too inspiring.

I thought I'd make a thread for people to share recipes, meal ideas or just brag about how they cooked something that looks delicious. I know we're mostly either basement dwelling music nerds or alcoholics (maybe both), but I'll be damned if together we can't come up with some decent meals to share.

So I'm alone tonight and have nothing in the cupboards, I'll head out for ingredients tonight - what should I cook?

Skinny

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Puncture Repair wrote:

Since starting Uni and living by myself I've realized that the biggest challenge is actually keeping myself alive. Cooking meals is such a basic skill I'm amazed it's not pushed in schools (but hey at least I know trigonometry amarite?).

The reality is I rarely have the time, knowledge or passion to cook meals, especially when it's just me by my lonesome. I usually resort to sardines in a tomato sauce over pasta, which isn't all too inspiring.

I thought I'd make a thread for people to share recipes, meal ideas or just brag about how they cooked something that looks delicious. I know we're mostly either basement dwelling music nerds or alcoholics (maybe both), but I'll be damned if together we can't come up with some decent meals to share.

So I'm alone tonight and have nothing in the cupboards, I'll head out for ingredients tonight - what should I cook?

During my first year I basically lived off bacon risotto - it's cheap and easy to make, and filling as fuck. I remember my weekly shop consisting of three large onions, two packs of bacon, some garlic, the cheapeast white wine available, frozen peas, some stock cubes (chicken or veg), and risotto rice. Would highly recommend that.

I'm also well partial to a good curry. Spices may seem expensive, but you only actually have to buy them twice a year. It's really easy to make a good curry with some chopped tomatoes, coconut milk, and a selection of spices (top tip - you can freeze your ginger and then just grate it later). If chicken or lamb or prawns are too expensive, pick up some cheap whitefish, or even just potatoes and cauliflower. Lentils are a great option too. Also, okra is filling and lovely to boot, but you might not find it in your average supermarket. Keema is a good, cheap alternative too. Basically just consists of spices, lamb mince, and peas.

Beyond that, chilli con carne is easy as fuck to make, and reheats really well. Any basic recipe on the internet should do you - I like to make mine with beef mince, kidney beens, black beans, and green peppers, but any combination will be fine.

Bolognese is also easy as fuck to make. I prefer fresh tagliatelle, but dried spaghetti is a cheap alternative. Try adding some chorizo - from a ring, not the ridiculously overpriced sliced stuff - for a nice change.

Besides that, fish finger sandwiches take zero effort and are the perfect hangover cure. Try frying one side of each slice of bread for a nice crunch. One of the only times that it's also acceptable to use tomato ketchup (outside of sauces and marinades) after the age of ten.

Also, the most important thing to remember is to experiment and to find joy in cooking. In second year, me and friends lived in New Malden, which has the largest population of Koreans in Europe. We would regularly make trips to the local Korean supermarket and pick up ribs, wings, radishes, different types of pickle, noodles, whatever, and then come up with something from what we had. A good way to do ribs is to slow cook them in a bain-marie, make up your own barbecue sauce (fresh chillies, rice vinegar, honey, mustard, ketchup, Lea & Perrins - use whatever takes your fancy), marinade them, and then flame grill them on the BBQ. We had fantastic cookouts in the summer.

Lastly, I've pretty much always got a nice potato salad on the go. Just half some new potatoes, boil them for 10-12 minutes, let them cool, then add mayo and wholegrain mustard, some chopped pickled gherkins, and some chopped spring onions. Absolutely bang tidy, goes with just about anything, and really filling to boot. Also, a simple tomato, basil, mozzarella salad is banging with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top. Get the biggest tomatoes available.

And make sure to group together with a bunch of friends to put in for a roast dinner at least every couple of months. It's good fun to have loads of people around a table with a selection of meats and veg. Can be quite difficult to find the space, but getting pissed and all working together to sort out an epic roast is a great laugh on a hungover Sunday.

I'll be back with some more detailed recipes at some point later (I make a mean rendang beef), but all of the above were staples of my student diet.

EDIT: Oh, and this...

Skinny wrote:

OK, Skinny's chicken, smoked bacon and leek pie:

You want to cook your chicken in stock, on the stove. You could use breasts if you're a pussyhole, but you're better going with thighs (six, for good measure) for a stronger flavour. Make sure the stock covers all of the chicken fully. Cook them on the bone for about ten minutes and then peel them off the bone before you continue. You don't really want to use any salt in this dish - the smoked bacon provides enough of that - but don't skimp on the crushed black pepper. Make sure you keep the stock to one side, and the (now boneless) chicken too, but in separate containers. Chop a lot of rashers (like 12 to 20) of smoked bacon up into thin strips (an inch x half an inch), and in the same pan melt a metric fucktonne of butter (none of this margarine shit, I'm talking the real thing). Start frying your bacon on a gentle heat until the whole fucking house smells like smoked bacon, and then add in the leeks (two big motherfuckers will do), preferably cut into roughly inch long pieces. You want to fry for a further couple of minutes, before adding in the chicken, just to coat it in that buttery, bacony flavour. Then you want to add the stock back in, chuck in enough chicken gravy granules that the mix becomes about as thick as healthy sperm, and add in enough single cream that the mix goes a lovely colour of vomit beige (although feel free to go for double cream if you're a fucking lunatic). At this point you can stick in some peas or mushrooms, but you'd be a fucking philistine. You then want to transfer your chickeny, bacony gloop into a decent sized pie-dish, and let him cool for an hour or so. Then get some store bought, ready made pastry (fuck making pastry, that shit is a mission), cover the top, and stick the fucker in the oven on gas mark five until the shit looks ready to eat. I'd personally recommend puff pastry, but some motherfuckers prefer shortcrust. That's OK too, I won't judge you. Once it looks ready to eat, it probably is. Get chowing.

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pa

as it happens

Gender: Male

Age: 45

Location: Italia

Hi there Puncture, I'm almost vegetarian and imo you should get a pressure cooker.

it's absolutely useful and I'll be glad to share with you many fast, healthy and interesting recipes.
I guess it's better to buy a good one with safe/lock and made with stainless steel.

Puncture Repair

Some great advice there Skinny, cheers. Might do that bacon risotto tonight, and I'll definitely pick up some spices for future curries.

Not sure I can quite afford a pressure cooker at moment, but I might look into it as an investment, thanks pa.

EDIT:

Bacon risotto was legit. Threw in some mushrooms in there for good measure and plenty of butter, will certainly cook again.

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Emophon

Believe in what you do Do good things.

JMan

I usually end up chopping potatoes for the chicken soup my family usually has. Great soup. Putting in some chopped onion and garlic really spruces up the flavor.

Puncture Repair

JMan wrote:

I usually end up chopping potatoes for the chicken soup my family usually has. Great soup. Putting in some chopped onion and garlic really spruces up the flavor.

I'm guilty of eating tinned soups a lot, I should really start making them fresh. Home made soups can be amazing, especially when you boil down bones into a broth, you get some great flavours.

JMan

Puncture Repair wrote:

I'm guilty of eating tinned soups a lot, I should really start making them fresh. Home made soups can be amazing, especially when you boil down bones into a broth, you get some great flavours.

Too bad homemade tomato soup is expensive to make. Trader Joe's tomato soup is bombin. The same goes for their pumpkin soup.