want to cook old style/unprocessed

want2bmortgage3

i'm back again with an update on my 'progress' with learning about food and trying to eat healthily and cheap.

i've been reading 'eat your heart out' (felicity lawrence) and its opened my eyes to a lot of things. as i mentioned on another thread for example, breakfast, we have aisles of processed boxes of cereal but healthier and cheaper for us and what we had in the old days was probably more like wholemeal toast or porridge with sugar/fruit jam.

its also made me start buying organic milk, and i assume i should buy organic yoghurt and cheese as they come from milk too.. due to the better standards and lesser chance of the male calves being killed.

i'm still not eating meat, but i have been eating fish a lot more, and i find it a lot more satisfying for a main meal than veggie options. i still need to try out more veggie recipes though such as those with lentils, chickpeas and other pulses/beans. decided against using soya mince and quorn as these are a bit too processed for my liking.

anyway i'm learning a lot along the way, especially about where food comes from, but i'm still not a good cook and still buying for example, fish fingers, breaded fish, fish in sauce, which is all ready for me to bung in the oven. not good really.. but i dont have the confidence yet or knowledge to know what to buy at a fish counter and what to do with it...

before i go, can anyone recommend any decent books that teach you about basics of cooking and shopping for food? or am i better off just asking questions on forums, looking for recipes online and seeing where it takes me?

helyg

The book which I learnt a lot from, and still go back to to check things, is Delia's How To Cook series. Cook with Jamie (Oliver) is also good for explaining the basics, as is Jamie's Dinners (Oliver again).

Fish can be really simple, it takes no more effort to cook a salmon fillet for example than a fish finger. I usually either steam them or bake them. To bake them I wrap them in a tent of greased foil and cook in the oven for about 20 mins at 200. That way they steam inside the foil tent. You can add in herbs or a splash of wine, but start simple and just use the fish on its own. If you want a sauce this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/allinonewhitesauce_66114.shtml is very simple (and well used in our house). You can add herbs or cheese to it if you like.

HTH!

thriftlady_2

A good beginners' cookbook that also talks about where your ingredients come from and how they are produced is The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr. Read through the reviews on amazon for a feel for what the book covers.

And well done for the changes you have made:T

Edit: Hugh F.W has a new book out on Oct 5th which looks just as good if not better judging by the blurb on Amazon. I'm certainly buying it.
River Cottage Every Day

ceridwen

thriftlady wrote: »

A good beginners' cookbook that also talks about where your ingredients come from and how they are produced is The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr. Read through the reviews on amazon for a feel for what the book covers.

And well done for the changes you have made:T

Edit: Hugh F.W has a new book out on Oct 5th which looks just as good if not better judging by the blurb on Amazon. I'm certainly buying it.
River Cottage Every Day

..and methinks I sense someone else with a distinct weakness for Amazon (in particular cookbooks);). One of my two financial weaknesses - I'm not admitting what the other is:beer:..whoops....okay...well a glass or two with dinner sometimes....I sense a New Years Resolution coming on...

...but back to O.P. - I still reckon student cookbooks are the single best idea for teaching a single person to cook - and in suitable quantities for just one person.

What I think is also worthwhile is googling for "vegbox recipes" - and, from those sort of websites, working out ways to "cook from what you have" - ie the vegetables/fruit that are currently in season.

ceridwen

Here ya' go - a vegbox recipe website for you:

www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk

PasturesNew

I prefer the internet/googling for food stuff. Books are 95% stuff I've no interest in. With the Internet you can pick and choose, ask and see where it leads you. Here is actually one of the best places though .... because you ask and get 20-100 good answers within 24 hours.

freyasmum

Play around with recipies, there is no need to stick to them rigidly, use what you've got in. The confidence will come

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

before i go, can anyone recommend any decent books that teach you about basics of cooking and shopping for food? or am i better off just asking questions on forums, looking for recipes online and seeing where it takes me?

Darina Allen's Ballymaloe cookery course has had excellent reviews and is £9.99 on the book people (remember quidco/topcashback ) The only problem I could see with it for you is that there aren't loads of pictures, and those that are there don't have the names so if you're very visual and need to see pictures, it's not gonna be a great book for you.

The river cottage books, as my fellow cook book addict said, are very good - the brownies in particular are delish

want2bmortgage3

thanks for all the posts and nice to see some familliar names on here very tempted to sign up to an organic box as the quality seems to be good most of it is local and they offer suggestions and recipes via the website.

want2bmortgage3

what i really need is an outline/overview of a selection of popular dishes eg risotto, quichie, pizza, pie, etc etc where the basic recipe stays the same but the filling part of the recipe can change depending on what veg is in season... i think....

ktpie

If you have any time to wander round some charity shops they can be great places to pick up cheap cookery books. Also I often get cookery books out from the library so I can have a good read through and take my time deciding whether or not to actually buy it.

I have a Mary Berry book, this one which is pretty good for basics. I've found Jamie Oliver pretty good for having basic recipes and different versions to make using different ingredients.

thriftlady_2

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

what i really need is an outline/overview of a selection of popular dishes eg risotto, quichie, pizza, pie, etc etc where the basic recipe stays the same but the filling part of the recipe can change depending on what veg is in season... i think....

Appetite by Nigel Slater is what you want. It has precisely this type of recipe in. Not particularly cheap but worth it. Try and borrow it first from the library.