Help!!!

jencar01

I’ve recently moved out of my house and moved in with my Boyfriend. Thing is I haven’t a clue about cooking, mammy did everything for me. the last few nights I’ve tried to make boiled potatoes, veg and some type of meat..My problem is I never no how long each thing should be on for. The meats fine, cause its says on the pack. Every time I do the potatoes they fall apart and my veg never turns out right.

Help!!!!

Ballyman

Pour boiling water into the pot of spuds and then boil for around 30-35 minutes. Stick a fork in them from 30 mins on. The fork should push through easily when done.

Boil the veg and then turn down the heat and simmer for 5 mins. Should be slightly crunchy. If you prefer 'em softer then let them simmer for another minute or two.

Also have a look at http://allrecipes.com/

Best thing I ever did was leave home at 17 and fend for meself!!

bonkey

I'd sya your best shot is to buy a book like "Cooking for Dummies", "The Absolute Beginner's Cookbook: or, How Long Do I Cook a 3-Minute Egg?".

Your next best bet is to ring your mum and ask her.

How long to cook veg for : till tehy're done according to your taste. Depending on the veg, and your taste, this could be anything from 1 minute to, well, almost anything. I boil veg for 3 minutes in about 1/2 cm of water, with salt and a pinch of sugar, with the lid on. Very crunchy (more then just al dente), almost-raw-but-heated-through. If you want soft veg, you could be talking 8, 10, 15 minutes...again depending on size and stuff.

How long to cook spuds for: Depends how big they are, how many you're cooking, how you're cooking.....but the general rule is to cook them until they feel done when poked with a knife. In salted, boiling water, I'd expect regular spuds to take somewhere between 15 and 25 mins, but it could be more or less, depending on all sorts of things.

Alternately, use rice/pasta and cook according to whats on the label.

But seriously....if you don't know how to cook, get a cookbook.

The Hill Billy

Check out the Easy Peasy Recipes.

I taught myself to cook by starting off with stews, chillies, spag bol, curries, etc. Each of these can be put together by following the same few steps.

1. Brown Meat (beef/chicken/mince)
2. Add Veg (whatever takes your fancy)
3. Add Spices/Herbs (whatever takes your fancy)
4. Add Liquid (stock/water/wine)
5. Bring to Boil & simmer for an hour

Be sure to get your BF to do his fair share too.

Diogenes

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liam1204

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Tazz T

Ballyman wrote:

Pour boiling water into the pot of spuds and then boil for around 30-35 minutes. Stick a fork in them from 30 mins on. The fork should push through easily when done.

!

30 minutes!! Are ya making potato soup.

Easiest (and healthiest) way is get yourself a steamer for spuds and veg.

Be The Holy

Question as regards boiling V Microwaving potatoes. I nuke them for five mins in the microvave after peeling and chopping them up and putting them in a plastic bag, it sure beats waiting half an hour for them to boil and prob keeps the electricity bill down but do they lose their nutitional value by nuking them as opposed to boiling them?? Cheers

The Sweeper

I can't see why they'd lose any more nutritional value by microwaving - less, if anything... unless you're worried about irradiated food.

By plastic bag, do you mean putting chopped spuds with a splash of water into a freezer type bag and nuking for 5 mins? And does it work well/not dry them out?

r3nu4l

OP, the thing about cooking is that you have to watch over your food so that it doesn't burn or fall apart. That means checking the pots every five minutes or so until you are experienced enough to know how long things take to cook with your equipment

Cooking spuds using my microwave and steaming saucepan...
Microwave:
Peel spuds
Chop large spuds in two
Pierce with a knife or fork
Cover in water
High power 12-14 mins (test with fork at 10-12 mins)
Drain
Eat

Steam:
(Usually if I'm boiling cabbage or turnip)
Peel spuds
Chop large spuds in two
Pierce with a knife or fork
Place steaming pan over boiling veg
Put lid on steamer pan
Steam for 20 mins or until nice and soft

All microwaves are different so again you will need to check every 5 mins or so, same with the steamer, it all comes down to experience.

Don't give up and get the bf involved too! You can chat while you chop vegetables

rubadub

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

I can't see why they'd lose any more nutritional value by microwaving - less, if anything... unless you're worried about irradiated food.

By plastic bag, do you mean putting chopped spuds with a splash of water into a freezer type bag and nuking for 5 mins? And does it work well/not dry them out?

microwaves can cause food to go well over 100C and destroy some nutrients.
Having it in a plastic bag, or better a pyrex bowl with a cover on top and water will allow it to more or less steam them rather than solely microwave, and wont dry them. Chopping them into slices helps even heat. The pyrex helps do sort of break up the microwaves to avoid hot/cold spots (shouldnt go much past 100C since it is really steaming)

Steaming helps keep nutrients in since they are not dissolved in the water.

Consider getting a pressure cooker, you can steam stuff very well in a half the time or less. very energy efficient.

And get your boyfriend to cook!