Can you only cook 4 dishes? Do you eat spag bol twice a week?

bunty109

Thanks pamaris! I'm looking for new things to do with chicken breasts!

debtworrier

Plum_Pie wrote: »

I don't think of myself of having a 'repetoire'!

When cooking just for myself, I have a decent collection of herbs and spices and usually flavour up whatever pulses I'm boiling/meat I'm grilling. I choose a carb to match it and steam whatever green/orange veg are in season. Job done.

I do make an effort when cooking for friends.

I'm quite happy to eat the same thing twice a week (e.g.cottage pie/stew) but after then I probably won't cook it again for 2 or 3 weeks.

I tend to batch cook, and the size of my SC means I tend to "eat one, fridge one and freeze two." So I'll often eat something twice in the week when I first cook it, but then not make it again until both the other portions are gone from the freezer.

debtworrier

showtunesgirl wrote: »

I would be wary of making generalisatons such as this.

I cook all around the world and try to cook them authentically. I cook Thai, Italian, Greek, British, Indian (and I mean regional Indian cookery such as Kashmiri, Goan etc and not just bog standard general stuff), Chinese and I think that embracing world cuisine is a positive thing to do.

By the way, I'm Chinese and have tested out how authentic my dishes are with my friends from each ethnicity / region of cooking and they have verified that I am doing a good job.

I'd also add that there's a lot to be said for the "I couldn't find caterpillars in Safeways, so I substituted crunchie bar - what do you think?" approach. It's how new recipes get invented!

(Incidentally, that's exactly what deep fried caterpillars taste like - maybe with a touch of hazelnut.)

aimeelister

Well i probably only have a repertoire of 4 recipes, these are proper recipes that are from cookbooks that i can remember and follow to the letter. But i can cook so much more than that, I just dont count them as recipes more a what have i got in the cupboards/fridge and what can i invent with it. I will turn my hand to anything and cook it from scratch but it is most definitely not a standard recipe. Even my spag bol is never the same twice!

MATH

Who are these poor people eating Spag Bol none stop? I love Spag Bol but once every couple of months is enough IMO. LOL Only 4 different meals would kill me:eek:

I have two unwritten rules at Chez MATH

Never duplicate that style of meal in the same week. So only one rice based dish, one pasta, one stir fry, one Indian etc

Never duplicate a recipe in the same month. So if I made Coronation Turkey today I wouldn't make it again until the next month. If I fancied making something with turkey and rice again next week I would change it to Turkey Merrengo, Turkey Fricase or something similar.

The same roughly applies to puddings, although I'm not so strict on it as savouries. I hade maybe 60-70 savoury recipes in my head and say, 30 puddings. Once you can cook without constantly refering to a cookery book life in the kitchen gets much quicker and simpler. Occasionaly tho I do delve into my file or a cookery book and learn a new one.

kethry

i tend to menu plan for 2 weeks ahead (as that's how i get paid, every 2 weeks), the way i try to work it out is as follows:

- four mince dishes*
- two meat-and-two-veg dishes (usually meat from freezer, e.g. brain's faggots, chicken steaks like lemon pepper chicken, or chicken breasts marinaded in own sauce and cooked in the oven, or pork steaks, done similarly)
- two veggie dishes
- two pizza meals
- the rest are variety

* the mince dishes are actually made from 1 very small amount of mince bulked out with lots of green lentils and veg. I bulkcook one of those small tubs of mince (for 72p/£1 from Tesco's/Asda) with 4 onions, 4oz boiled green lentils, good handful or two of frozen sliced peppers, 2 courgettes, 1 aubergine, lots of mushrooms, peas and whatever else veg i can find to chuck in - all chopped up fairly small. I also add an oxo cube or two, some boullion and worcestershire sauce to help with flavouring. I then split the mix into four and make the variations up. so far the variations include: spagbol, chilli, beef curry, lasagne, cottage pie, sauerkraut dish, pasta bake, moussaka, teviot pie, and a greek macaroni type dish.

Outside of the above my repertoire includes:

Thai veg green curry, Beef in black bean sauce, egg fried rice, chinese stirfried veg, Lazy Nasi Goreng, minestrone stew, potato and leek soup, carrot and coriander soup, egg and chips, hot and sour soup, sweet and sour pork. Occasionally i'll be seized by inspiration and do something different - i have a very large storecupboard and supply of herbs so even if i do need to buy something different, it doesn't really bother me as long as its not too expensive.

keth
xx

competitionscafe

I thought it was an interesting article but I think there is an element of lies, damn lies and statistics...

A 'repertoire' could be widely interpreted - I have loads (too many) cookbooks, will often browse through them and find something to make - if it's nice I will make it again in the future. There are things I make fairly often but not many things I make so often that I can just make them without a recipe (can manage spag bol easily enough without a recipe but would never eat it twice a week every week) - there are dozens of other nice things you can do with pasta - basically use what you have and make it up as you go along, just being sensible about what goes with what obviously.. So is my 'repertoire' (strange choice of word) everything I have and therefore can make, everything I have a recipe for (1000s!), everything I make regularly or just everything I can amke without a recipe??

I would never make a casserole for 1 (I live alone too) anything like that I would probably make 6 to 8 portions eat 2 (over 2 nights) and freeze the rest. After all the effort/time involved in making an 8 portion casserole is not much more than in doing one that serves 2.

Good point about the ingredients for Thai etc - I always see the recipe think that sounds nice and then the long list puts me off. There are some Thai 'style' / 'inspired' dishes I can make with just fresh ingredients from the corner shop though (coriander, lemon grass, chillies, ginger, garlic, lime) eg Nigel Slaters Pork Meatballs. I also have a big bottle of fish sauce (Only £1 from local shop) which keeps in the fridge for a while and also works in non thai dishes - eg a splash in puy lentils gives a nice flavour, dried kaffir lime leaves keep for ages too and are great for flavouring chicken stock for thai style dishes..

milkydrink

Yes I do the rotation thing
Week 1 spag bol week 2 lasagne, sometimes even a carbonara.
A rice dish 1 day per week, usually involving chicken breasts.
A roast EVERY sunday - usually beef, a couple of times a year gammon.
Fish every friday, but salmon, cod or prawns rotated.
A mince dish shepards pie, chilli con carne served in tortillas with salads or something else with mince.
2 Ready cooked chickens (between 4) (Ocasionally steak) from Sainsbury nearly every saturday with salad & crusty bread. Sometimes a takeway either Indian or Chinese.
A simple meal Monday either egg, chips, beans & bacon or cheese & beans in a jacket potato with side salad.

But none of that is set in stone (except Fri & Sun, LOL).
Don't usually have a proper pudding, usually fruit or (ready prepared:eek: ) fresh fruit salads or yogurt or some cheese ect.

Sometimes I try a new dish once a week, but I admit I do keep falling back to the tried & tested above.

findingmyownway

I agree that the responses of shoppers buying Lloyd Grossman's sauces are probably not the same as those from people visiting this board!

Their idea of 'spag bol' is probably mince-in-a-jar-of-sauce anyway!

I enjoy cooking and finding and trying new recepies. However, its not something i have the time to do for everyday of the week (don't cook something 'new' everyday, i mean). So i do tend to rely on the good old favorites for weekdays and get a bit more adventurous at the weekend. Stuff like spag bol is ideal here cos can easily make many portions to freeze.

Staple meals:

spag bol (1 pack quorn mince, 1 tin lentils + lpeppers & mushrooms = at least 8 portions)
chilli (ditto, quorn padded out with kidny beans etc makes plenty portions)
risotto (never managed to succesfully freeze this - any suggestions?)
veggie sausage and mash
chilli mushroom and noodle stir fry
chickpea curry
veg tikka masala / korma (but too much butter and cream to have twice a week!!!)
jacket potato and ....
omlettes
etc, etc

competitionscafe

Could be wrong but I read it as the survey being funded by Lloyd Gross Man sauces rather than specifically asking buyers of the sauces? (It was done online via YouGov, not face to face in supermarkets).

WE'RE HAVING SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE FOR DINNER 3000 TIMES
Boring Brits stick to old favourites
By Lisa Adams

"BRITONS will eat spaghetti bolognese 2960 times in their life, according to a survey.

The Italian dish is cooked twice a week in many homes. Over an average lifetime, that's like eating it every day for more than eight years.

Our second favourite dish is stew, which we eat 2612 times, followed by sausages and mash (2264 times) and fish and chips (2089 times).

That's followed by chilli con carne (1567 times), steak and chips (1741) and chicken tikka masala (871 times)".
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=we-re-having-spaghetti-bolognese-for-dinner-3000-times&method=full&objectid=18775637&siteid=66633-name_page.html

I did think the Evening Standard headline was a bit daft though:
"How our busy lives condemn us to eight years of spag-bol"