Advice about food and cooking for divorced men and women: cooking methods

Anyone can learn to be a good cook, it just takes a little application and a refusal to be intimidated by all the conflicting advice coming from the food industry and others with a vested interest.

Cooking techniques for the divorced cook 
Even if you are new to the kitchen and never made anything more complicated than beans on toast mastering a few simple techniques will transform the way you eat.

Boiling
Immersing food in liquid, usually water but can be stock or milk, either already at boiling point – for pasta and green vegetables - or brought to the boil with the food in the pan – for potatoes and other root vegetables. 

Sometimes food is boiled as a preliminary to another process. The best known example of this is probably the short boil - par boiling - given to potatoes before roasting.

Poaching
Liquid for poaching should be just at the point of boiling but with no discernable movement at all on the surface. It is a good method of cooking for delicate foods such as eggs or fish which are immersed in the water. .

Steaming
As a method for cooking food, steaming has become increasingly popular being perceived as healthy. Steaming retains more of the nutrients and colour in vegetables than boiling. Stovetop steamer sets consisting of what is really just a stockpot with one or two stacking inserts with holes in the bottom (and a lid) and are widely available.

Braising/casseroling/stewing
Braising or casseroling are terms which can be used interchangeably. Meat, fish, poultry and game and  vegetables are cooked in a small amount of liquid in a tightly covered pan either on top of the stove or, preferably in the oven. Many delicious, easy and inexpensive meals can be made in this way, using the minimum of expensive fuel to cook them.

A stew is just a braise or a casserole with more liquid.

Shallow frying
Just about anything you can think of can be chucked into a frying pan and turned into something tasty to eat although not at every meal or even on a daily basis.

The best things to in which to shallow fry are olive or groundnut oil or unsalted butter. Butter is particularly good if you want to fry fillets or steaks of white fish, salmon and pancakes but it is a good idea to add a splash of oil to the pan as well. The oil will help stop the butter burning. 

Deep frying
Deep frying involves the complete immersion of food in boiling oil or other fat. Who could possibly resist a plate of home cooked proper chips liberally sprinkled with sea salt and fierce malt vinegar? Er, not me. Electric deep fat fryers really are not necessary if but if you decide to invest in one then they can be bought from a number of online retailers.

Sauteeing is just a posh word for shallow frying and a sauté pan is just a deep frying pan ...

Advice about food and cooking for divorced men and women: cooking skills

It is an unfortunate but sad fact of life that many people in the UK no longer possess the skills necessary to make a balanced meal. Make your life after divorce the starting point for eating well.

What's gone wrong?
The UK is a nation that has lost it’s pride in it’s native cuisine and this led to at least two generations of men and women who depend largely on ready made, pre prepared and junk food from supermarkets and takeaways to provide them with their energy and nutritional requirements.

Save money
If you have been, or are, dependent on ready meals and fast and highly processed food, then you really need to change your ways. Not only will such a diet ruin your health, it may well ruin your post divorce finances as well.

It is more than likely that you have financial problems after divorce and need to find ways to make the most of your reduced income. Learning or re-discovering how to make simple, good food from fresh ingredients will improve your general well being and finances at one stroke as well as impressing your friends and family.

In this section of  My Life After Divorce you can learn about basic cooking techniques , where to source and buy necessary equipment and the best food writers and publications to give you ideas and inspiration.

No excuse
It is not a valid excuse to plead lack of time as a reason for not preparing decent food either for yourself or for those dependent on you. If you can go to the gym, sit in front of the TV or computer then you have time to get in the kitchen and make something sensible, nourishing and delicious to eat. Great meals do not have to take hours to prepare, all it takes is the will to improve your diet, and that of those around you, and the rest will follow.

Waste
Steer clear of supermarkets wherever possible, not only is fresh produce largely more expensive than in independent food stores but it is too tempting to stock up on fat, sugar and additive laden garbage and to over-buy, resulting in wasted food and money.

Start as you mean to go on
If you are ready to take up the challenge of changing or improving your skills in the kitchen since geting divorced there is no time like the present. Clear out all those ready made pizzas, burgers and pappy loaves of white sliced and make today the start of a new and exciting culinary adventure.

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Advice about food and cooking for divorced men and women: pots and pans

Struggling to cook with blunt knives of saucepans with wobbly handles is not only frustrating but dangerous. If you are to make the most of your time in your post divorce kitchen then invest in some decent equipment.

Pots and pans
It is better to have three or four really good quality pans than seven or eight cheap ones. Beware of buying large sets that come with lots of different items that you may rarely, or never, use. Cheap pans will have thin walls and bases that will warp and burn and handles that will quickly work loose. Even if you are living on your own since getting divorced you will need a selection of saucepans.

Stainless steel has to be the frontrunner in the saucepan stakes. It is definitely the most durable material for a saucepan and will stand up to quite a lot of abuse. Stainless steel pans (with or without non stick linings) are the only ones that can be put into a dishwasher without causing lasting damage.

Size isn't everything
You can get by with just two or three saucepans as long as they are not too small. They mostly come in standard sizes starting but it is always better to have a pan that is on the large side rather than one that is too small so that you have plenty of room for stirring or otherwise moving ingredients around. An overcrowded pan can be dangerous and food may not cook evenly if you cram too much in.

Non-stick
A small/medium sized saucepan for making porridge or scrambled eggs is useful although it is pretty pointless using a non-stick pan for simply boiling potatoes or pasta or other vegetables and great care must be taken not to scratch them so no metal utensils can be used.

A medium sized and a large non stick frying pan are handy as is a sauté pan with a lid, but again buy the best quality you can afford and treat them with respect. Never whack a frying or a sauté pan on with the heat turned up to maximum beneath it.

Most non-stick is really just a type of plastic sprayed onto the surface of the pan and if it is overheated it will melt and lose its non-stick qualities. If the coating is breached by scratching then the rest of it will very quickly start to come away from the base of the pan.

Anodised aluminium
Anodised aluminium pans come with non stick interiors and are popular and durable but cannot be put into the dishwasher. There are some good quality ranges available.  Anodised aluminium is an excellent conductor of heat and is much harder than stainless steel.

If you want to combine weight lifting with cooking then invest in some cast iron pans. Cast iron has the advantage of excellent heat retention so that once it is brought to the necessary temperature it can be kept on a very low heat or put into a very slow oven to allow food to cook slowly thereby retaining all its moisture and goodness and cutting down on expensive energy. They are ...