These 11 dishes you should be able to make by forty
You may not want to get married before you turn forty, but you definitely should learn to cook! We previously wrote about which recipes you should know by the time you’re thirty – so you still have an entire decade to master these dishes…
And if not, just get a move on, because you’ll be glad once you’ve added these classics to your repertoire. From vegan to BBQ; these dishes will make everyone happy. Yourself first!
Sole meunière (fried sole)
Soft and subtle, this way of preparing fish. But it takes some attention to prevent the fish from sticking to the pan, and of course only choose Dover sole when it’s in season. So deliciously buttery: with the right ingredients, you can get the most flavor out of a simple dish like this. New-season potatoes, real butter, a few Maldon salt flakes on top, and a little parsley. Simplicity at its best!
Tabbouleh
Whether or not it’s true that after forty you have to try just a little harder to work off those cheese-topped crackers and bottles of red wine from the night before, the fact remains that a healthy recipe always comes in handy. But it should stay fun, so if you’re eating light, go all out with plenty of fresh herbs and bold flavors. And presentation matters too; a colorful bowl of fresh tabbouleh is just the thing. Add fried halloumi or another cheese to your heart’s content for some extra pep.
Madeleines with Gruyère
Madeleines are amazing anyway, and I wholeheartedly welcomed their comeback as a coffee-time cookie in restaurants (Scheepskameel in Amsterdam, Madeleine in Utrecht) before corona. For a very grown-up savory version, you can make these madeleines with lavender and cheese yourself.
French Onion Mac ‘n’ Cheese
Got onion soup down? Mac ‘n’ cheese is a piece of cake? Then this is the next logical vegetarian step: deeply caramelized onions in a ramekin with delicious melted cheese and creamy pasta. Every bite makes you glad you’re no longer sixteen, because back then you probably wouldn’t have had the patience to stir that pan of fragrant, sweet onions for half an hour…
Vegan gyros flatbreads
Do you, like our colleague Adeline, pull out all the stops when vegans come over for dinner, to prove that you can not only cook but really cook absolutely everything, including fully plant-based food?! Or are you vegan yourself, or do you simply naturally choose not to eat meat or dairy every day? These days, that’s getting easier and easier. And it certainly doesn’t have to be boring, as these wraps with well-seasoned gyros jackfruit and (coconut yogurt) tztatziki prove.
Mega-loaded nachos
When you were twenty, you may have occasionally thrown a plate of tortilla chips with a few slices of cheese between them into the microwave in your student house and opened a jar of salsa to go with it, and we already considered that quite something! With a little more care and time, you can earn the ultimate comfort food reward of these outrageously delicious nachos with smoky pork carnitas and fresh pico de gallo tomato sauce.
Homemade sambal with the dumplings
Dumplings are amazing; I always have a bag of frozen gyoza or other dim sum in the freezer as a quick-to-steam snack with drinks. But take the time to fold them yourself sometime – it’s genuinely fun, especially if you also make the sambal to go with them yourself. This recipe for rendang dumplings with sambal is perfect, but making a few jars of, for example, sambal oelek to give away is also a great idea! And very grown-up, in our opinion.
A really good pasta salad
You’ve probably been making pasta salad for years too, but with a few handy tips you can really take it from a wet, soggy mayo mess to a balanced, ideal picnic meal. Or simply for the garden, now that we’ll be social distancing for a while yet. There’s nothing childish about such a generously filled bowl with, for example, burrata, zucchini ribbons, olives and anchovies.
Meat that requires a little effort
Mainly when it comes to buying it, because once it’s in the pan, the oven often does most of the work if, for example, you want to make a delicious stew. But if you want to make a pan of incredible slow-cooked short ribs, a trip to a good butcher is part of the deal. From there, you can take things in all sorts of directions; think ragù, tacos, or Korean kimchi short ribs… yummm!
A boozy cake
Want to create a clear distinction between you and the kids for a moment? Keep them happy with an Oreo cheesecake, while you go for the hard liquor cake. Why not! Tequila, condensed milk, limes, cookies – forty or not, don’t you want to make this right away?! Get started with this Frozen Margarita cake recipe.
And of course, a signature cocktail
We wholeheartedly recommend having claimed a house cocktail as your own by the time you turn forty: my friends go for gin and tonics and Dark & Stormys, while at our place you’re routinely handed a whiskey sour. Oh my Lordy, look who’s forty… well, with a cocktail in hand, we’re happy with everything.
Read also:
- Things you really can’t eat or drink after turning 30
- These bakes you should have mastered by the time you’re 30
- Dishes to make when you’re too tired to cook
