Kenning posted:

I will give you some easy recipes to start with that it would be hard to gently caress up.

Black Bean Soup and cornbread


Soup

1 lb black dry black beans
2 medium yellow onions
chili peppers to your taste (I usually do 2 poblanos or Anaheims, plus a fistful of red Fresnos and serranos for heat)
6+ cloves garlic
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 qt. chicken or veggie stock¹
1 tsp cumin (or to taste)
1 tbsp chili powder (or to taste)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (or to taste)
juice of 1 or 2 limes
salt
pepper
hot sauce to taste

Cook and strain your beans². While your beans are boiling, dice your onion and your peppers (de-seed your peppers and remove the white ribs, if you want to reduce the heat) and garlic. Heat up a bit of neutral oil (corn or canola or vegetable) in a decent sized pot over medium-high heat and sautee your chili peppers and onions for 5 minutes or so, or until the onions are translucent. Toss in a bit of kosher salt (get some kosher salt!) and then add your garlic, and cook for another minute or two.

At this point add your tomato paste. Stir it with your veggies to toast a bit, then add your can of whole tomatoes. Stir around for a minute, then add the beans and the stock. Stir to combine, and then add the spices (cumin, chili powder, Worcestershire, etc.). Reduce to low-ish and cook for ~45 minutes. After that time, remove from heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender (Costo has a Cuisinart that is good for cheap!) or by transferring half at a time to a blender. Now season with salt, pepper, and the lime juice (and hot sauce) until delicious. Serve with jack cheese and

Cornbread

1 cup flour
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp neutral oil (corn or canola or vegetable)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325^o F. Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Add wet ingredients and stir, but not too much! The big lumps should be gone but it shouldn't be totally smooth. Pour batter into greased 8-inch circular pan or square pan or loaf pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick or fork inserted into the middle comes out clean. I make a double batch for my 12-inch cast-iron pan. I also heat up my pan in the oven while it's pre-heating so it forms a nice crust when the batter is added, but that's an advanced move. I like to toss chunks of cornbread into the black bean soup, since it adds texture and smooths out the flavors.

¹_{You can make your own stock, or buy from the store. Veggie stock is super easy to make – just boil some rough-chopped carrots, onions, and celery with a bay leaf and some rosemary for an hour or two, then strain (add dried shiitakes for extra awesome). Or you can use store bought. Get the low-sodium stuff in a carton, rather than a can.}
²_{Bring the dried beans to boil in a lot of water, then reduce to a simmer and cook for an hour or more. The beans for this soup are ready when they're crumbly and almost creamy. Strain with a colander and reserve.}

Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce

1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
salt

Peel onion. Remove root, and chop in halt. Place tomatoes, onion, and butter into smallish saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, the reduce to low (just barely bubbling). Stir occasionally, and smash the tomatoes with your spoon until they're breaking down (heat will help). After 45 minutes or so remove the onion bits, and then cook until the sauce is reduced to a thickness you like. Turn heat essentially all the way down. Add salt until unimaginably delicious, then serve on pasta.

40-clove garlic chicken

1 1/2 lb chicken (you can use breast, but I prefer thighs)
~40 cloves garlic
5-6 fresh sprigs thyme
salt
pepper

Slice your chicken into bit-sized pieces. Pre-heat oven to 350^o F. Brown in neutral oil over medium-high heat (seriously, get it at least a bit brown, not just grey) in oven-safe pan. When the chicken is nicely browned, add the peeled garlic cloves (whole), thyme sprigs, a healthy dash of salt and pepper, and a bit more oil. Bake for an hour to an hour and a half, until the top is toasty brown and the garlic is soft to a fork. Serve with or bread. Eat the garlic cloves as well as the chicken, they are amazing.

Those should get you started. Just keep reading here for more ideas. Some of my staples have come from reading GWS.