Understandably, cooking for men is not an option for many owing to time constraints; for still others, cooking may be the only option to counter a host of issues, primarily the bachelor status. But food is a basic need and one cannot survive on bread and butter all one’s life -not even on restaurant food without feeling the pinch in the pocket and even health. For, there is no doubt that home cooked food is healthier than eating out.
Best cooks around the world may be men, but what about you…how good are you at whipping up a meal for the family on a week day? Perhaps, very good! But if you belong to the large tribe of men who hesitate at the threshold of the kitchen, the following could act as a guideline to enter bravely and cook-up a lunch or dinner.
Agree, cooking does not come naturally to everyone. While some men have a knack for throwing in a couple of ingredients and voila, producing the most succulent dish, there are many who continue to dilly-dally at the altar of cooking, with stories of kitchen disasters that could run into volumes. So, dear cannot-cook-if-my-life-depended-on-it man, this little feature is a perfect start for you. Read on and learn how to tie that apron and get behind the kitchen counter to cook for self and even family.
Stock your kitchen
Cooking can begin only when you have stocked it with ingredients for every basic cooking. So men to start off your kitchen adventure, make a list of all the ingredients you would possibly require for cooking everyday dishes; do not forget to include items like lentils and dried beans and other items that have longer shelf life. If you are a complete novice, you might want to include a few canned items too – in case your kitchen escapade turns into a disaster. You might want to break down the items available in the vegetable section too (pick items that can easily go into a salad, as that is the easiest thing to do for a beginner). Since you are new to the game, you would need to list down every little item required for the kitchen, and that includes utensils for cooking, including the cutting board and the kitchen knife.
Start with a salad
For a safe and easy start in the kitchen, go on a salad trail. Assuming you have picked your favourite greens and veggies, get down to turning it into a salad. Wash, cut and mix it all up in a bowl with your choice of seasoning. A quick walk down the condiments aisle in the supermarket will throw a choice of options for you to consider. You could, of course, go on a trial and improvement method; but if you are looking for an easy tip, opt for the popular Thousand Island dressing. If not, salt and pepper sprinkle is your best bet; add to that a teaspoon or so of lime juice and you are ready to go.
Learn to prep up
Men, the trick to any cooking is prepping up the meal. Once you zero in on a recipe, find out how you can prep up to avoid any confusion. Ensure that you have the right utensils and the required ingredients even before you switch the heat on to cook. This is the only way you can avoid any disaster once you start up. If you are using frozen meat items, the first step is to defrost it, so that it cooks evenly and to your liking. This calls for advance planning, as you would need to leave the meat to come to room temperature. If you are a rice eater and are yet to master the art of cooking it to perfection, start by washing and soaking it for a minimum of 15 minutes before putting it into the boiling water. Depending on the variety of rice picked, the cooking time might vary anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes. For a simpler pulao or flavoured rice, look up some easy recipes which require very little preparation time.
Simple cooking
Half the task of cooking is deciding what to cook. Make a checklist of ingredients in the kitchen before you decide on any dish. To keep things simple, go for rice and dal and some meat or fish fry. Masoor dal or the red lentil cooks fast and can be prepared with everyday ingredients like onion, tomato and green chillies. Again, check for online recipe resources for tastier options.
Cleaning up
Your kitchen work is not complete without cleaning up after the cooking task. Whether you are using the oven or the gas top, every part of the kitchen used in the process of cooking ought to be cleaned, and that includes all the dishes piled up in the sink too.
Go on; give cooking a try and enjoy your home cooked meal.