THE COOKBOOK FOR MEN WHO MUST OR WHO JUST WAN TO

By Richard L. Chamberlain

Men should be able to prepare some basic meals either for their family or for themselves. My father - God rest his soul - could not boil water without burning it. He could make almost anything out of sheet metal but could not make any kind of food.

• Language: English
• Publisher: PageLink Solutions
• Release date: May 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9798989954698

Book preview

Introduction

I have enjoyed cooking most of my life, and have gotten good at preparing a somewhat limited repertoire of foods. This has come in very handy when raising a family because it was often necessary for me to do the cooking.

My mother and my grandmother taught me most of what I know about cooking. My mother worked in a store when I was growing up and often did not get home until late. My father – God rest his soul – could not boil water without burning it. He could make almost anything out of sheet-metal but could not make any kind of food. Since I was the oldest of four children, It often fell on me to prepare the meals. My grandmother had arthritis and was in a wheelchair, so when she lived with us, I would often be her hands while preparing meals.

Now that my family is all grown up and I am on my own, I have been able to use some of the recipes in this cookbook to entertain with a minimal amount of hassle. As I travel a fair amount, this has helped my social life a great deal. I never have to wait to be asked to a party– I just fire up some chicken chili and some guacamole, or maybe a big pan of lasagna and some chocolate cake, and I bring the party to me

Men, with the recipes in this cookbook, with relatively little effort you will be able to prepare some basic meals and snacks for yourself, for your family, for your buddies, or at least, to impress a date. There’s nothing really fancy in here – just good food that everybody likes.

Even if you’re not great at it, I know from experience that your efforts will be appreciated and well rewarded. It’s with that hope for you that I’ve written this cookbook.

So, let’s get started!

As I have done my cooking, I have found that there are several rules that I have tried to follow, and these are reflected in the recipes.

Rule #1 – Everything in Moderation – Including Moderation

My job involves working with pharmaceutical and medical device companies, mainly in their research and development divisions. One thing I have learned is that the health problems we encounter are often caused by overindulgence in something – too much fat, too much sugar, too much salt, too much something. I have tried to treat such problem areas with moderation. The reader will see that there are a few exceptions included just for those times when we think we deserve a reward for our moderation (see butterscotch biscuits, but even if you think you deserve a reward, DO NOT read the last chapter).

Rule # 2 – Use lower fat if possible

I doubt that this book could be called low-fat cooking. Instead, it might better be called lower-fat cooking. I try to use low-fat mayonnaise, for example. I use nonfat yogurt and nonfat buttermilk. In almost all cases this does not adversely affect the taste of the food.

I use light butter instead of butter or margarine. Light butter contains about half the fat of ordinary butter. It is made by replacing half of the fat with water. If you melt some of it, the water will separate out. Even though the manufacturer recommends against using the light butter for cooking, I have found that it works fine in these recipes. You can, of course, use butter or margarine. Some of the recipes can also use canola oil or other shortening.

Rule # 3 – Try to use only half as much sugar

I have been surprised that in many recipes, one can reduce the sugar by half, and the food still tastes good. You will see that in some recipes I have replaced the sugar with one half of the amount of honey. I am told this is healthier and the honey is sweeter than sugar. Therefore, just as this could not be called a sugar-free or low-sugar cookbook, the goal is to make it a lower-sugar cookbook.

Healthy people need some fat, sugar, and other elements. The key is to not to overdo it – like with too much sticky toffee pudding and whatever you do, DO NOT read the last chapter.

Seasonings and Taste

Unfortunately, fat, sugar, salt, and other things add flavor to the food. Remove these and the food can be very bland. I have tried to replace these things with other foods that tend to be healthier, for example, replacing sugar with honey. Now if you eat too much honey, you are no better off. Remember rule #1 – Everything in Moderation.

It is well known that some vegetables add a lot of flavor to meats, for example, onions, celery, and mushrooms. You will see that some of the meat dishes simply involve cooking the meat (chicken or hamburger) in a large pot of chopped onions, celery, and mushrooms – no fat.

Peppers and Spices

I should mention that these recipes do not use many spices or peppers. You should feel free to add more spices or red, green, or yellow peppers wherever you like. It just so happens that I have trouble digesting peppers and some spices. Peppers would probably be very good in any of these recipes that use vegetables such as the Vegetable Salad, the Chicken and Dumplings, or even the Chicken and Rice.

Sauces

Most people love gravy. I like gravy on many things. Really good cooks make sauces (a special kind of gravy?) to put over all sorts of things to add flavor and to dress it up.

Unfortunately, one way to make gravy starts