06-15-2011, 08:15 AM
(06-13-2011, 02:46 PM)Duchess Wrote:
I'm not comfortable in the kitchen.
Pitiful.
You have other desirable attributes. I wouldn't sweat it. I am a cook because I grew up in the middle of fucking nowhere and I had to learn. Plus, I love to eat. But I don't cook labor-intensive meals all the time. These are my summer standby meals that everybody likes:
French Dip Sandwiches: Who doesn't love these? Because I live in fatass land and nobody notices ten extra pounds, I start with a crusty baguette cut down the center longwise. I make that into garlic bread for the sandwiches (this feeds 3 or 4 or two hefty folks, haha). Get the aujus packet from the store and make it with a little (1/4 cup maybe) extra water or leftover coffee. Drop in shaved roast beef from the deli (about 3⁄4 pounds) for just a minute then fish it out for the sandwiches. You can add cheese if you want. I use coffee cups to serve the aujus for dipping if I don't have company, bust out ramekins if I'm being fancy.
Grillos (restaurant food I learned to make from the owner of the place I worked in high school): Make the garlic bread with the baguette. Grill about half a bag or half a jar of drained sauerkraut, remove from skillet or griddle. Put one pound of shaved deli ham on and grill for a few minutes, then top with cheddar cheese and the grilled sauerkraut. Serve on the garlic bread. These are effen fantastic.
Steak Sandwiches: Grill a few nice ribeyes, serve on good bread with tomato, butter lettuce, and sauce made from mayo and prepared horseradish.
Tuna/Artichoke Melts: Toast English muffins. Make tuna however you do at your house but use canned quartered artichoke hearts in water instead of pickles. You don't need to cut them up. Put tuna mixture on muffins and top with cheese then broil until the cheese melts.
For side dishes we usually eat salads in the summer or whatever veggies are fresh. I love Cobb salads, so I keep blue cheese and avocados around. I like Greek salads, too, so I also usually have feta cheese.
Broccoli slaw is great: You can cut up a fresh head of broccoli into really small chunks or buy the already shredded broccoli slaw by the bagged salads. Dressing is about 1⁄3 cup mayo, 2 tsp. cider vinegar and 2 tsp. sugar and a little salt and pepper, mix in crumbled bacon (I cook mine in the microwave, number of slices of bacon plus one minute), raisins if you want (ick~ I prefer dried cranberries), drained pineapple tidbits, and half of a diced red onion. Needs to sit to meld.
Wilted cabbage with bacon (or brussel sprouts): Fry bacon in skillet, remove and crumble but reserve the drippings (just about 2 tbsps, not a skillet full of grease). Use the drippings to cook the cabbage or brussel sprouts. Add the crumbled bacon back to it at the end.
Waldorf Salad: Cube up three or four apples, I mix kinds to get sweet and tangy, 1⁄2 cup of chopped celery, 1⁄2 cup chopped nuts, 1⁄2 sliced seedless grapes (I leave these out half the time) mix with enough sour cream to coat and a teaspoon of sugar. Serve chilled.