So People are Frugal Here--that Means They Cook from Scratch? (hobby, money)
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Many times cooking from scratch is more expensive.
I really am shocked so few posters realize that.
Uh. If you don't know what you're doing, sure.
It takes planning, prep, and sometimes the willingness to eat a food more than one time over the next few days.
I do agree that some individual items aren't worth making from scratch. But entire meals is different.
But I DO understand there are just certain foods such as the oriental and Indian foods that require a lot of prep work and that is out of the question for those who work long hours.
Again, I think this is a matter of habit.
My mother (Indian) whips up stuff every day.
She's not in the kitchen 24/7.
She just has the prep, the know-how, and 50+ years of having done this over and over.
To her, whipping up some subji or daal or aloo parahta when someone comes over is like no big deal.
Sometimes I forget and I will be like, "Sure, I will have some of that," not realizing that means she's about to pull out the basic ingredients, start chopping, and make it from scratch right there.
It also helps to have a pressure cooker. She uses the crap out of that thing to save oodles of time.
That thing scares the crap out of me.
Again, I think this is a matter of habit.
That thing scares the crap out of me.
I have never owned a pressure cooker but am looking into getting one. There are some
Mediterranean, Indian and Ethiopian recipes that I would like to make in one - might
look into getting one since they seem to be safer today. (I hope).
In my recipes it really doesn't take anymore time to make other than the prep time
cutting up the various vegetables and/or meat. Plus there are left--overs.
Gnocchi is incredibly quick and easy to make. Takes less than half the time of packaged store-bought pasta. They are so easy to make, requires only a spoon, you can show the kids how and assign them the task.
While salted water is coming to a boil, stir an egg or two into a cup of salt-pinched all-purpose flour (to serve about 3 people), adding a little water as necessary to make a batter thicker than pancake batter, soft and creamy but too thick to pour. When the water boils, spoon in globs about the size of the last joint or two of your little finger. They float to the surface when they are cooked, and by the time you spoon in the last of it (which will take you about two minutes), they'll be done. Drain them, toss a little butter in the pan and slosh them around in the melted butter, and they are ready to serve. They cook so fast, you might want to slotted-spoon the floating ones out while still putting in batter -- they shouldn't overcook.
Gnocchi is not pretty, being irregularly shaped pasts lumps, but very versatile, it is a common base all over eastern Europe, called knockerl in Germany, nokedli in Hungary, noodles in English. They're indispensable for Hungarian dishes, like chicken paprikas or goulash.
Mayonaise is so easy to make and you can riff off the basics with all kinds of ingredients.
Just dab some lemon juice and mustard seed in a blender, add an egg, get it blending, and then VERY slowly add oil (usually at least a cup). It will thicken up and it's quite the sciencey process to observe. Just make sure you don't blend everything all at once; won't work.
Also yogurt. Bring a litre or so of some (at least) semi-fatty milk to foaming point, about 185 degrees. Let it cool to 95, pour into a glass bowl and then add a couple of spoonfuls of plain, bacteria-active yogurt. Whisk it thoroughly and then throw it in the oven for ~7 hours.
The oven needs to incubate the yogurt constantly at 95 degrees. If you can't set your temperature that low, preheat it to 200 degrees and then turn it off and let it cool for awhile. When it feels like a really hot, but tolerable summer day, put the milk in. Turn it off and on periodically to maintain the warmth.
Once it's done, you'll know. Some people strain the whey (liquid) to make it thicker, others mix it and eat it straight away. You can save it for making bread or using for protein.
Did you know what a mason jar lid has exactly the same threading as (most) blender attachments, so you can make anything in a mason jar instead of the standard vessel that blenders are equipped with. Just screw on the blade assembly instead of the jar lid, turn it over, and set it into your blender driver.
I've made home made mayo when living abroad where mayo did not exist in the market (that was a long time ago, it is everywhere now). It was a bit fussy to make, but not difficult. The real downside was that it had to be used up fairly quickly, it didn't have a very long shelf life.
Brilliant! Unfortunately, my blender's pitcher is a single unit, so I can't try it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4
My mom makes her own yogurt...she always has. Again, she says it is not some big affair.
It isn't. I've been doing it for years. Very, very easy, and it doesn't require any specialized equipment, although an instant-read thermometer comes in handy.
Huh, thanks jtur, that seems outrageously quick 'n' easy. What do you put on top? My tastes run to spicy garlic. ... not bland stuff...
Best for things you would use noodles for -- not a very good substitute for spaghetti, nor with tomato-based sauces. I use it mostly for Hungarian dishes, but it is used in Italian cuisine as well. Italians generally use potato in the ingredients (which I've never tried), but what I described is a pure pasta, that can be used where you need a hearty pasta.
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