What's cooking?

The ability to cook is completely underestimated in my opinion. Yes, we can all survive on beans on toast. But who wouldn't want to know how to whip up a good chicken stir fry? Or lamb curry? Or risotto? Cooking for myself this year has forced me to come to terms with the fact that I'm lacking that certain va va voom in the kitchen.

In all honesty, sometimes I simply can't be bothered to slave over the cooker when the microwave can do all the work. Why not take advantage when these 21st century advancements are at your fingertips?  Uncle Ben's rice has been the ultimate saviour.  An epic two minutes and boom: white, fluffy, hot. Just like my Grandma's (though it would kill her to know this).  A bit of Patak's sauce on some defrosted meat, and there you have it.  A curry.  I guess I have a cheek to call this 'cooking.'  Jamie Oliver should probably launch his next healthy eating campaign on students.  Let's see how many meals he can conjure up from beans, tuna and bread.  Now THAT would be a challenge.  Not this getting-school-kids-to-eat-salad malarky.

Truth is, with no time (or more realistically no motivation) and a financial budget, the meals you can cook seem pretty limited.  The clichѐ of beans and toast being the standard student meal has not become a clichѐ for no reason.  I did reach a point where I began to crave beans I ate them that often.  That was slightly worrying.

But when I actually can be bothered things don't seem to work out either.  Grilling sausages turned into a mini-fire.  Turning on the wrong hob meant raw food and burning myself on the handle.  And this is just managing appliances.  It seems I'm currently useless.  If it's true what they say about the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, I will become a bitter singleton.

But I refuse to surrender to the take-away.  I may never be the next Gordon Ramsey, but I WILL learn how to put together a proper meal.  Eventually.  After all, how hard can it be?  Watch this space.