Three years ago I could barely microwave a burrito, but today I routinely cook full meals with tasty meat-based entrées. Assuming you have some basic kitchen essentials, these four meals will minimize labor and expense while maximizing taste and healthfulness:
1. Roasted Chicken Thighs
Ingredients: Two packages of chicken thighs, butter, salt
Equipment: Oven pan
This is a delicious and simple meal. Use your microwave to soften up some butter in a bowl and mix in salt and whatever other spices you like. Put the thighs in the pan, dry them off, and then coat them with the butter rub. Put them in the oven at 350 degrees for at least 1 hour, cranking up the heat to 450 for the last 5 minutes if you desire especially crispy skin. Take out and serve. Chicken thighs have a lot of dark meat, and are thus more forgiving to overcooking. These are also easy to store in aluminum foil and apportion if you wish to cook lunches for the entire week. Total labor — 10 minutes.
2. Grilled steak
Ingredients: Steak, coconut oil and/or butter, salt, pepper
Equipment: Cast iron pan
Coat your cast iron pan with a bit of coconut oil, or a combination of coconut oil and butter. Turn the heat on your burner to about 3/4 of capacity. While the pan is heating up for 5 minutes, dry off your steak and generously sprinkle salt and pepper on one side. Just when the pan starts to smoke, put the steak in the pan, seasoned side down. Cook to meat preference (mine is rare), making sure to salt and pepper the unseasoned side of the steak before flipping it. Serve by itself, or with a bit of butter on top. Note that cooking time and amount of seasoning will vary with the cut of meat. My favorite cuts are Porterhouse, N.Y. Strip, and skirt. Some people use olive oil, but I find that it smokes too much. Total labor — 10 minutes.
3. Full Roast Chicken
Ingredients: One full chicken, butter, garlic salt, salt, pepper
Equipment: cooking pan
This is a perfect date meal, since the finished bird looks impressive and tastes great. Take the chicken out of the package, wash it off in the sink, and dry it with a paper towel. Put it on the pan, breast side up. Soften up some butter in the microwave and mix into it salt, pepper, garlic salt, and whatever other spices you have on hand. Take a spoon and separate the skin at the top of the breast bone. Scoop butter onto the spoon and then slide spoonfuls of the butter rub under the skin flap, spreading it out to season the breast meat. Rub the rest of the butter on the skin and add salt/pepper if you wish. Put the chicken in the oven at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes per pound. Take out, let cool for 5 minutes, and serve. Total labor — 15 minutes
4. Pulled pork
Ingredients: Pork shoulder (“butt”), salt, pepper, spices as needed, bacon (optional), peppers (optional)
Equipment: Slow cooker
Purchase a large hunk of pork shoulder, which can be bought cheaply at Costco. Cut off the largest slab that will fit in your slow cooker, and freeze the rest in plastic bags. Put the pork in the slow cooker, along with a couple strips of bacon or sliced peppers/onions. Add some salt and pepper and other spices, turn your cooker on “low” and let sit for 8 hours without removing the lid. Take the cooked pork out and shred it with two forks. Add additional seasoning to taste, and serve. Optional: add store-bought or homemade barbecue sauce. Total labor — 10 minutes.
With the frightfully low level of cooking knowledge out there, being able to make just these four dishes will put you ahead of the average man, and will pay dividends both for your health and your wallet.
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It’s a sad day if this piece needs to written. Does the average modern male really have no idea how to roast chicken or cook a piece of meat in a pan (which if you are using cast iron are you not searing the meat on both sides then putting the entire pan in the oven to finish)? This is shit they make you learn in 8th grade home ec.
perhaps to fight the mentality of “why cook when I can buy a lasagna or a pizza for 3€ in the supermarket”
sorry dude but I really don’t. I found this article helpful. I eat out every meal except breakfast.
Do you mind if I ask how you afford that?
Lunch and dinner usually run $7 – $9. Not much. Subway, Five Guys, and Qdoba are my three dinner spots. Lunch at one of the sandwich shops or pizza places near the office.
Good luck with your testosterone assays there, Vaughn. Me, I eat nose-to-tale of ruminant species. Freshly slaughtered and aw. This is the physiologically correct diet for hominids. No one show me a fat carnivore.
yeah dude if we were raised right our moms cooked for us. if we werent our single moms fed us hot pockets and chef boyardee. most guys who want to be self sufficient and healthy need to learn to cook like this.
Is there anybody in the world who doesn’t know how to stick a chicken in an oven?
And the part about grilling a steak, is actually about frying a steak.
And the bit about olive oil is misguided, anyone whos tried knows you cant fry at hot temperature (like a steak would) as olive oil has way too low a smoke point, and the smoke smells terrible.
Grapeseed oil has a much higher smoke point. I’ve used for steak many times
I prefer rapeseed.
For most guys who think they can’t cook, I strongly recommend the slow cooker. It’s so simple and excellent for meat. Just throw some beef, pork, chicken, etc. inside with some whole spices and chopped vegetables in the morning and its done when you get home from work. Girls like it because it tastes like it cooked all day even though its effortless. Its hard to fuck this up.
+1 for finishing a steak in the oven. It is so tender and juicy this way. Don’t forget to let it sit on your plate for a few minutes before you cut into it.
If the girl is vegetarian, there are some very simple pasta, soup, or lentil/bean dishes out there. Have her chop up some veggies to make a side salad. Girls seem to like hummus and pita dishes and boca burgers too. But be wary. Veg girls are often emotionally unstable.
If she eats fish, that’s very easy to pan fry or bake and its quick. Just some old bay, butter, and squeezed lemon. You can put some asparagus, chopped tomatoes, or zucchini in with it as its cooking for an easy 1 skillet meal.
Also add a small rice cooker. I use it for just rice, and sometimes beans and rice, and tuna and rice dishes.
I got mine for $15 and have had it for nearly three years.
Never date a vegaboo. Just trust me on this.
why?
If vegetarianism works for you, great. I tried it and it doesn’t. Dating veggie women was problematic. I think some women need more meat/animal protein/fats and get depressed when they aren’t eating in accord with what their body requires vs. what’s socially popular or even what their ‘morals’ say about eating animals.
I eat meat and want a woman who will happily tear into any of the above recipes with me, before I return the favor.
Well I meant that veggies usually have retarded head-in-clouds hipster beliefs that don’t mesh well with red pillers, but that too.
Another crock pot meal: Stew meat, peeled and sliced potatoes, mushroom soup.
My hillbilly mom made this, so I guess it qualifies as white-trash food.
this is excellent, and practical. thank you black knight. its really too bad they hate on you in the movies.
I’d add that whole chickens frequently have the organ meats (heart & liver) tossed back in the cavity when you buy them, so remember to pull those out, especially if you want to put stuffing in the chicken.
Damn it, my wife just cooked me dinner, and you made me hungry again.
By all means, don’t stop. And more pictures of hot girls cooking please, I think that was teh sexiest picture I have seen in a while. Right up there with a super hot chick holding a assault rifle in bikini bottom.
All of a sudden I feel like becoming a polygamist.
Hmmm, hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Cuban black beans ‘n’ rice: 6 “cups” (those little measuring cups that come with the rice cooker) white or brown rice, one can o’ black beans, salt, garlic powder, and cumin to taste. Total labor: 2 minutes. Toss a hank of butter on top, or olive oil. Goes good in tortillas, as a side (the baked chicken above would be great, just bust some limes over the chicken and throw a shitload of garlic powder on it).
Better yet, buy a bag of Vigo Black Beans and Rice or Red Beans and Rice and pop it into your rice cooker. Use 1/2 cup less water than they recommend.
i wanna eat the bird in the picture…
Cooking the steak on the stove top is easier and faster if you put a lid over the skillet while cooking it. It will also be less likely to dry out before it’s done.
Haha grilled steak and whole roast chicken for an entrée? How do you even top that for the main? Sorry Fred Flinstone, these are no entrées.
Funnily enough, although the word ‘entree’ means ‘entrance’ in French and would suggest a first course / appetizer, it has come to mean main course in certain parts of the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entr%C3%A9e
“An entrée (/ˈɑːntreɪ/ /ˈɒntreɪ/ AHN-tray; French “entrance”) is a dish served before the main course, or between two principal courses of a meal.[1][2][3]”
“The disappearance in the early 20th century of a large communal main course
such as a roast as a standard part of the meal in the English-speaking
world has led to the term being used to describe the main course itself
in North America.[4] This usage is unusual in the rest of the world though it is documented by some British dictionaries.[1][5][6][7] Hence, in America, the term entrée is rarely used for an hors d’oeuvre, also called a “first course”, “appetizer” or “starter”. Outside of America, an entrée is a first course.”
I’ve personally seen ‘entree’ used on menus to mean main courses even outside of America (I live in a mediterranean country). It’s an erroneous use strictly speaking, as you say, but it has become accepted. Sadly when folks copy the Americans, they tend to also copy their mistakes .. haha.
Well thank you for the clarification. I was questioning this blog’s validity suggesting we should have a whole chicken for an appetiser haha.
No offence, but there’s so many better blogs/websites that people could go to, to learn how to cook. Same with all the pretty lacking fitness articles. ROK doesnt need to be try be everything.
ROK is a general interest blog that tries to inspire and motivate men through simple ideas and fixes like the quick meals offered in this post.
That said I do agree that a lot of the post are lacking depth. I was very disappointed by a recent post on baking soda by Mikael. He didn’t give any instructions how how to brush your teeth with the stuff. Nor how to make a fire extinguisher.
Give Black Knight credit for writing simple but good instructions on making these dishes.
“Some people use olive oil, but I find that it smokes too much.”
Olive oil, and most unrefined oils in general, has a low smoke point. This means the oil burns at a lower temperature. When you are cooking at high temperatures above 400 degrees don’t use any virgin oils. Those have extra flavor compounds that are burn easy but are great in a salad.
I take it that the majority of readers of this blog are boffins who appreciate the method, not the madness of doing things. Watch Alton Brown’s “Good Eats.” You can find the whole series on YouTube. The show gets a little too nerdy and silly and annoying sometimes. But he gets into the basic fundamentals of how food works. You learn to build from the ground up as opposed to following the recipe of a quirky chef who uses catch phrases. Comparing to music, it’s a lot like learning theory, scales, and making chords, instead of memorizing a Beatles guitar tab book.
Coconut oil. It’s like BUTTER, but better!
dude you gotta truss your chicken. only amateurs don’t truss their chickens.
I had to learn to cook out of necessity because my ex couldn’t cook her way out of a paper bag.
I suggest everyone learn basic classic french technique and mother sauces. Think Julia Child and Jacques Pepin (essential Pepin). This is a great classic foundation from which you can handle all other world cuisines. Even if you don’t eat that rich food, the techniques are fundamental and will get you proficient enough to cook just about anything you want. You’ll have the skills necessary to tackle ambitious recipes and dishes. With my basic understanding of french technique I successfully pulled off a lobster souffle ala Jacques Pepin. Fabulous!
But, be prepared to let a girl think she can out cook you– at least until you stuff her bird with your sausage. The you can tell her the truth that no great culinary development was developed by a female. Man rules. Always has, and always will.
And as far as BREAKFAST goes, you can be imaginative and spontaneous. Fuck the plain bacon and eggs. Try playing with them. Pan, add butter (or whatever oil you want). Cut off the center of whatever bread you like, leaving the crust. Put the crust in the pan, throw an egg in the middle of the crust. Fry that shit for a while. During this u can fry the bacon on the side, but when its done, throw the bacon in the ‘crust-egg-burger’. Add some bell pepper cubes or tomatoes or whatever you like. When done, put the middle part of the bread on top of the ‘burger’ and flip over carefully.
Fry the 1st side for a good 3mins (when the egg’s done and the crust has a brownish colour), and the 2nd side for a couple of minutes.
Put that thing on the plate with a salad leaf and a slice of tomato, boom. Jamie Oliver-stuff right there.
It takes about 5 minutes to turn an ordinary bread+bacon n eggs into a fun, different dish. Bishes love it.
There are so many entrees that can be made with minimal ingredients.
For instance:
1. Stew: Stewing beef., poatoes, carrots, celery (and anything else you want)
2 . Sweet and Sour Meatballs: Beef, peppers, pineapple, brown sugar and vinegar
3. Stuffed Peppers: peppers, beer, rice, tomato sause and cheese – like cheddar
I could go on and on….
Nice recipes!
I am so book marking this, after a friend failed to cool pea-meal bacon, and gave me food poising years back I’ve been scared to cook meat. This page is a useful one so I can cook for my boyfriend. 🙂
Book marking this. After a friend failed to cook pea-meal bacon and have me food poising I’ve been too scared to cook meat. This would be useful for cooking for my boyfriend.