I need a little cooking help please.

Here are two I'd recommend, from Jamie Oliver.

Always liked the way he makes things so simple that taste so good.





And here's an amazon link for the first.

http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Chef-Jamie-Oliver/dp/B000ESSSKC/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-8414901-1731344?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194400672&sr=8-3

 

Shake n' Bake is also a life-saver. I bought some of their parmesan crusted garlic, and the chicken was divine. Crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. Yummy.

 

I have the A Man, A Can, A Plan book. It's pretty good and everything's hella simple.

 

I have done the "helpers" and the shake and bake and they come out fine.

But I think I want to learn how to cook

With my daughter gone, it's not like I got anything else to do. :-\

 

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Can-Plan-Great-Meals/dp/1579546072/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-1203027-2753413?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194401437&sr=8-2

 

My male Rosebud has one of the "A Man, A Can.." cookbooks and is always looking for an excuse to make something from it.

My biggest cooking advice is don't be afraid to experiment.

 

Look, the kid had the poopies before she got here, she eats nothing but cream cheese and grapes.

 

The only cookbook you'll ever need. You'll want others eventually, but this is the one that will lead you to them.

 

That's the first cookbook I was given. I got it for Christmas when I was 15. It's still the first thing I grab when I want to cook basic stuff, although I've got a basic vegetarian one that I'm grabbing more and more these days.

 

The first cookbook I bought was Craig Claiborne's New York Times Cookbook. I bought it used and I still have it. If you can get past the pretentiousness and the recipes for foods I wouldn't eat unless it was a choice between that or prison food, he has some pretty good stuff on technique that was helpful when I was learning. There was great advice in a book called A Modern Man's Guide to Life as well.

It takes practice, there's no way to avoid making some awful stuff. Don't experiment on guests -- make something you've already mastered.

 

When you start to gain confidence and want to branch out into some simple-ish gourmet stuff, surf around here a bit:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipesmenus/quickeasy/recipes

 

How To Boil Water is my favorite beginner book. It's from the Food Network's test kitchen staff.