ATTN Dudes - What would get you cooking?

sittingduck180

I have a long commute on weekdays, but I'm also the one with the magic touch in the kitchen. While I love to cook, it just makes sense if my dude was the one preparing dinner on weeknights (I take care of breakfast and lunch).

Unfortunately, he's completely inexperienced (and without instinct) when it comes to cooking! What is the best way to help him master the basics and experiment with new dishes? A cook book? Prepping everything and leaving instructions? Making him eat what he burns (hah)?

Has anyone had any experience with training the non-cook? Grilling things on the George Foreman can only get us through so many evenings....

knapowell

Do you have a crockpot? Very beginner friendly.

jrich1

Work with him on the weekends, most cooking stuff you do at home it just following directions and taking the mystery out of some of the terms.

Chairless

Simply walk him through cooking his favourites i would say.

bridge703

when i first met my wife, she did not cook... so i took over the roll. I started out Baking chicken, meat loafs, boxed taco dinners etc... then stepped up to stir fry, crock pot meals, frozen meal.. then i wanted more 'control'. (yes, guys love control), so I took more interest in making everything from scratch, using spices, different ingredients, and started the grocery shopping. Now I cook every night in my house, and love it.
so my suggestion would be to let him start out with baby steps.. and the male instinct to be the best at everything you do, will kick in

fatboypup

RULE NUMBER ONE: Never fry bacon naked

ArroganceInStep

I do a lot of cooking for me and my fiance because I enjoy it (and frankly I think I'm better at it than she is). Also I feel you on the commute, mine is 2.5 hours each way.

I would suggest starting small. Come up with a rotation of simple things and start there. Off the top of my head, things that would work: tuna casserole, turkey meatloaf, ceasar salad, baked salmon, and lemon chicken. Just suggestions of course, but all of those things are extremely easy to make, difficult to mess up assuming you have a timer, don't require too many things to be running at once, and depending on the ingredients are relatively healthy.

Give detailed instructions, and buy the appropriate ingredients. Even cook the first rotation (or two...or six depending on the results) with him so that he gets the hang of it. Things like that really aren't that hard, and should be easy enough to master pretty quickly. Slowly add things in and try more complicated techniques. There may be things he never gets, but he'll be able to get a foundation and can work on experimenting from there.

Cooking is a skill like anything else. It's a lot easier to learn with help. I wouldn't suggest telling him what to cook and then just leaving it to him the first time, you're potentially setting him up for failure.

Also as an aside, the slow cooker is the best utensil a kitchen could ever have. It's virtually impossible to mess anything up, and you can make all kinds of things with it. Might want to consider that as well. I love mine.

anu_6986

Hmmm... Does he wanna cook in the first place, because i feel ms
Many guys don't, they will just ask you to figure out ways to teach them. Hope your guy is not like that...

In that case, you can teach him simple stuff in the weekends and he will be able to pick it up from there.

anu_6986

Hmmm... Does he wanna cook in the first place, because i feel ms
Many guys don't, they will just ask you to figure out ways to teach them. Hope your guy is not like that...

In that case, you can teach him simple stuff in the weekends and he will be able to pick it up from there.

ninerbuff

RULE NUMBER ONE: Never fry bacon naked

Bwahahaha! Been there done that!

TavistockToad

yeah, i would say, the first thing is, does he want to do it... it's a lot easier to teach someone who wants to learn....!

amewha

What are some of his favorite meals? He might be more enthusiastic to learn if he is getting to cook something he really likes. (assuming they aren't too difficult to make.)

Do you have a BBQ? The possibilities of simple delicious recipes are nearly endless (and a lot of men are drawn to the idea of cooking on fire)

I agree with the previous posters about cooking together on the weekends, great time to learn.

brewingaz

I do 90% of the cooking at home. 1) because I like to, 2) most of it is on a grill, but 3) (and most importantly) her cooking sucks.

ansonrinesmith

Pick his favorite meals and cook them together.
That will add motivation for him.

If not, tell him that if he want's his favorite meals, he has to cook them!
I love cooking with my wife!

liftingbro

Cooking is something that sounds a lot more difficult than it is. When I got married I couldn't cook anything more complicated than macaroni and cheese, now I can make probably 50 different dishes very well and can even freestyle it if I need to.

I would start with some basics, like different ways to use chicken breast, how to make steaks...ect.

It's easy to pair steak and chicken with some basic veggies and/or brown rice.

Stir Fry's are pretty easy to learn as well.

Teach him how to use a good cook book, anyone who can follow a cook book can learn to cook.

thumper44

BBQ.
Meatloafs
Chicken in the oven.
Bacon and eggs.

Like other said.. DOES HE WANT to learn.
Some guys will put off cooking, and learning to cook because they know their wife will just go ahead and do it.

I agree start off with his favorite foods.

Johnsweaver

I might be tempted to stay away from his favorites. If they don't turn out well he may get discouraged.

Perhaps start of with a 30 Minute Meals cookbook and pick out a recipe or two together. They're usually simple and the time commitment is low.

marquesajen

On the weekends maybe have a cooking boot camp. Have him do mise en place: prepping ingredients like chopping, grating, etc and have him put them in bowls. Write out easy directions for meals. Once he has successfully completed several meals he will feel more confident about cooking. Make it a habit so that it gets to be automatic.