My meals from scratch all turn out bad

morganedge

wine would have been better, but it probably split because it was too hot. Take the pan off the heat and add the yoghurt - i'd rather use creme fraiche though I think.

I made a nice carbonara type dish last night. So simple and always impresses people.
Nice amount of chopped pancetta in a hot pan with a little olive oil.
Added some garlic from a bottle (gourmet gardens make - I always use it instead of fresh garlic nowadays, its so nice)
Add itialian herbs (oregano, parsley, basil )
Cook some fresh pasta for 5 mins.
Whilst that's cooking crack some eggs in another bowl with a load of grated parmazan cheese and some black pepper and give it a good mix.
Pasta is now cooked, put the pancetta in with the DRAINED pasta.
Throw a dollop of either natural yoghurt or creme fraiche or sour creme into the pasta/meat mix and stir off the heat
Add in the parmazan/egg mix and carry on stirring (still off the heat)
Now put it back on the heat and carry on mixing for a few minutes so its nice and hot, and looking creamy.
Eat.

natlie

CH27 wrote: »

I swear by Delia. Everything always turns out as it should.

I swear by Delia too, not so much the cheat recipes though.

I would go to the library get some good cookbooks with simple recipes - thinking Jamies 30 minute meals, nigella, Delia - and follow the recipe.

I think the beef stroganoff probbly went wrong if you added the yogurt when it was hot - creme fraiche never splits - my be safer for you - yogurt is terrible for splitting anyway if you want to use yogurt for health reasons use a strained yogurt like greek or strain it through muslin first to get rid of the water in it.

For stroganoff I use a sauce I learned when I was a trainee chef - cream, paprika, tomato purree - it cheaper and very tasty.

practice you white sauce for you macaroni - once you have it you can use a basic white sauce for lots of recipes, or use creme fraice - mix in some milk to thin, a tub of philidelphia cheese and lots of strong cheddar

Nat
xxx

Callie22

hwalkerh wrote: »

The macaroni cheese was layering cooked pasta and cheese and then add egg milked with milk and put in the oven for 45mins.

Baking pasta with cheese, egg and milk will basically give you a pasta omelette - I'm not surprised that it looked like scrambled egg! Seems an odd way to make macaroni cheese - what I normally do is make a a basic white sauce, add lots of cheese and some english mustard, sometimes I'll add an egg yolk if I want it richer. I mix this with the cooked pasta, top it with cheese and bake it till it's golden and crispy.

Loulou2010

i have started to get creative with cooking and got most of my recipes from here. also i find that you dont need to stick to the recipe 100%. if you tweak a recipe make sure you write it down so you dont forget. i have made a few disasters but just use them as a learning curve - after all you know what not to do next time dont you?

i personally am not a fan of delia. i have one of her cook books and her recipes seem to take up a lot of time. i have two of jamie olivers though and love them

cyclingyorkie

Library is a good idea - then you could buy any book that takes your fancy.

We have Hugh Fearnley-whittingstall's Family Cookbook - (we bought it for DD2 as she enjoys cooking.) It's simply set out and very easy to follow and nothing from it has ever failed.....just don't make the cookies if you're on a diet!

Take heart - it took me years to learn to make gravy properly..... and my OH still makes better Yorkshires than i do.

Sambucus_Nigra

hwalkerh wrote: »

The macaroni cheese was layering cooked pasta and cheese and then add egg milked with milk and put in the oven for 45mins.

I'm sure the magazine isn't the best but it gives me some new ideas even if i do them slightly different and it didn't cost me as i used my tesco vouchers for the subscription!

That's not how to make macaroni cheese; as mentioned earlier!

Just because it's free - doesn't make it right....grab a good basics cookbook and learn how to make a basic sauce; it will take you far.

Mrs_Arcanum

Just got "Cook Step by Step" for the children as they have progressed beyond children's recipes (only £6 via one of those book clubs work places have).

DS did a Macaroni cheese using only one pot in Food Tech at school.
250ml Milk
25g marge
25g plain flour (1 heaped tblsp)
75g cheese
75g pasta
(pinch of mustard improves the flavour).

Cook pasta (drain & place in oven proof dish).
Melt butter in the pasta pan add flour stir then add milk & keep stirring until thickened. Remove from heat & add 50g cheese stir until melted. Pour over pasta, sprinkle cheese over the top & bake in the oven for 20 minutes (gas 6/200c 180 fan)

balmk

CH27 wrote: »

How disheatening for you but please don't give up. It takes time to learn new skills.

I swear by Delia. Everything always turns out as it should.

Me too! Her recipes do call for precision though.

If you are in the early stages of starting to cook for yourself, it is important to remember that ovens are a little bit like cars - they all do the same thing, i.e. cook, but some go faster than others.

Example - cooking time for a sponge cake in the recipe book calls for 25 minutes. My oven will take 35 minutes because it is a little slow.

You will have a few dishes go wrong when you are starting out at this - don't give up hope, just keep practising!

blackandwhitebunny

Adding milk, cheese and butter to cooked pasta and then baking it in the oven is an American method but I've never come across adding egg to it, it would be like a macaroni quiche, or omlette as already said.

junkmayle

Dont get disheartened. Cooking from scratch is a skill that takes time to learn. When I first started, I was sad that my attempts didnt taste like the shop bought ready meals. Then I realised that my meals tasted as they should. With the shop bought stuff, all the additives etc was corrupting the true taste. Please please stick at it and experiment too. Like Natlie, I use creme fraiche for Stroganoff. Never fails. Also, like Sambucus says, learn how to make a basic sauce. Very hit and miss at first (for me anyhow) but then it suddenly becomes second nature.