Posted on 09/27/2017 4:14:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For some Americans, going out to dinner is a treat, planned and budgeted for. For others, it's just another Tuesday night. And Wednesday. And Thursday.
And that second group of people is becoming the majority. The number of Americans who enjoy cooking is declining, while the prevalence of food delivery startups, meal kit subscriptions and culinary-centric television shows grows.
In the Harvard Business Review, researcher Eddie Yoon shares data he's gathered over two decades working as a consultant for consumer packaged goods companies. Early in Yoon's career, he conducted a survey that determined that Americans fell into one of three groups:
• 15 percent said they love to cook
• 50 percent said they hate to cook
• 35 percent are ambivalent about cooking
When Yoon conducted the same survey 15 years later, the percentages had changed. Only 10 percent of consumers professed a love of cooking, while 45 percent said they outright hated it and 45 percent were on the fence....
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
I said you can do it. I was experimenting with it and the online Souse Vide egg timer. I cracked the eggs and was blown away. You can on the other hand literally do 100+ perfect poached eggs at a time.
Oh and if you dont already have a stick blender, pasteurize your eggs (Using the Anova) and make your own mayo. Takes 2 minutes. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/two-minute-mayonnaise.html You will thank me. Takes a bit to get the flavors right to your palate, but once you do... never store bought again.
If you dont have a blow torch and a cast iron pan, you need them.
PS. we dont have a Souse Vide ping list. Want to volunteer to make one? Add me to the list. ;-)
“You do know that frying an egg is about the simplest kind of cooking possible?”
I can cook edible fried eggs, just not as good as those I get at my local diner that are cooked on a flattop.
Frying eggs, I always preheat my pan before cooking. I use butter for fat. I just don’t like runny whites.
And cooking eggs is not the simplest kind of cooking. Much easier is cooking anything sous vide, cooking in a slow cooker, baking or roasting in an oven, cooking on the grill, etc.
I’ve heard many top chefs on tv say that properly frying an egg is one of the true tests of a good cook, because it’s not easy.
Our food delivery and distributions system is so screwed up that it is cheaper to go out to eat then buy the ingredients and make it at home. Shopping takes time. Lugging and putting it away takes time. Cooking takes time. Cleaning up takes a lot of time. When you add it up going out is cheaper.
Since we can’t drive anymore we have a service deliver groceries to us from Kroger.
For 2 older folks:
Different big batch cooking once a week. For 2 people, that’s 3-5 meals portioned and in the freezer. One recipe per week equals frozen dinner for 3-5 days during the month you don’t want to cook. Spaghetti sauce, soup, stew, chili, beans. A few hours, most of it just paying attention and over a month, you have cooked 12-20 meals in 4 sessions.
Load up the smoker once a month=ribs, brisket, pulled pork for 14 meals or more.
Pizza from scratch with a prepared crust: 5 minutes prep/10 minutes bake. Quiche or a pastry braid with pre-made pastry/pie crust is 2 meals per one short amount of prep/cooking time, Ditto any sort of pot pie from leftovers with pre-made crust.
Roast chicken, pot roast, or a small turkey are little prep, the oven does the work, 3 meals per each and the poultry carcasses go into the freezer for the next batch of soup.
Any 2 cups of protein leftover, one cup raw rice, 2 cups liquid, 1/2 cup each assorted vegetables plus I bag steamable frozen peas=2 dinners and a couple of lunches. Freeze the extra and pull it out whenever. Vary the condiments/spices and it’s a whole different meal.
Steaks, burgers, chicken breast take little time or effort. Buy whole muscle, portion, freeze, eat at will.
Stir fry anything: prep 15 minutes protein and veg, actual stand and cook, another 15 minutes=2 meals. Fajitas: 15 minutes total. Sloppy joes=ditto.
Add a fresh salad: 5 minutes
steam a bag of frozen veg=6 minutes
bake frozen biscuits=wait 20 minutes
Once in a while I take the time to make gravy or mashed potatoes. They keep a week in the fridge unless finished off sooner. Both can be portioned and frozen.
There’s enough time between steps in actual cooking to get the clean up done before the meal is cooked. 2 plates, utensils and the single pan/pot left at the end take a few minutes to wash by hand.
It’s simple, affordable and rewarding and leaves lots of free time. You Tube has countless recipe ideas. Input whatever you have on hand and browse.
Shopping is maybe a 1 hour job. For me, the travel time round trip equals time in store. Know which store has what sales which day. Make a list, go in, stay on the outside aisles unless stocking up on canned goods or spices or something. For me, once every 6 weeks to the closest larger city to take advantage of quality or better prices. Keep a pantry, stock a freezer, rotate. Preppers do both.
We eat out maybe once a month. I work from home. DH is semi-retired. He does short order, grilling, smoking. I make a few quarts quick fermented half sour or refrigerator bread and butter pickles when the cukes are available. I roast, seed and skin peppers in season and freeze. I dry tomatoes in season. Make sauce and freeze it every couple of years because I grow lots every few years and the sauce lasts well in the freezer.
Not onerous, folks. I did more when I worked full time, did trade shows 12xyear, prepared full holiday meals and grew tomatoes and peppers.
Restaurant food is boring and, frankly, not that great. I’d rather pull out a prepared meal from the freezer than get presentable, drive somewhere, eat and then drive home. Wastes a lot less time.
Can you use the Anova manually, w/o the WiFi? We have lousy bandwidth and I’d rather just set time and remove manually.
WHY would you want a runny egg _white_? Just asking.
Any pot or are there preferred specs for the pot.
This is true, yet not true. Building a proper pantry takes time and a monetary investment, but once it’s there it is far more efficient and cheaper to cook at home with some strategy. When I go on my “no eating out” declarations I save a considerable amount of money and time.
For a Southern man in his 50's to say that neither his mother nor grandmothers are the best cook he's known... that is a major statement.
When we eat out, it is ALWAYS her decision that she'd like to try something different, and I ALWAYS give her the choice of where we go.
It doesn't matter to me, I know it won't be as good as an average mid-week supper at my house.
I was a decent cook back in my bachelor days, but I had one iron-clad rule: I wouldn't cook anything that required two pots, because I didn't want to wash more than one.
It seems comical now, but you'd be amazed at what you can whip up if you're determined not to dirty more than one pot.
It is all about the heat.
Eggs should never be cooked to the point that they are brown.
Night one: I'll eat a breast and she'll eat the legs. Those are our favorite parts.
Night two: She picks the bones clean and it's chicken tacos.
Day three: The carcass goes in a pot to help flavor up some sort of soup.
That woman can work the hell out of a $5 chicken.
I have the wifi model but I never use that feature. Manual controls are 5 year old capable. Turn it on. Scroll the wheel to the temp you want. Make note of time. Add food. Come back somewhere close to that time for fish. Otherwise you have an hour or two or more. It is set it and forget it. WIFI is a 75 cent chip they added and then added 2 bucks of support for it.
Why runny whites and a solid yolk? Only one reason. To impress overnight guests with a wild assed red eye.
https://www.hungryforever.com/recipe/red-eye-cocktail-recipe/
Not recommended for Monday mornings. Sunday pre church?... ???
At least the heathens you brought will be blown away by your red eye interpretation and tell your preacher/pastor.
;-) teee hee.
I feel better knowing you aren’t totally alone in this world :)
My family is so large that I cannot imagine not having anyone left but I often think of people in that situation.
Take care, friend.
Just about any stock pot or soup pot will work AOK. 10 to 12 inches deep is fine.
Other hints:
If you are going to be doing a large meal start with hot water. The element is not that large. (3 gallon pot from room temp takes about 15 minutes)
If you have hard water 20% vinegar in a fill to the max line running it at 110F makes it good as new.
If you are doing 2 or 3 day cooks on something wrap some towels around the pot or better yet a sleeve of that mylar bubble wrap.
Cover the pot or container with something if you are doing a very extended cook. Plastic wrap works well.
If your entire extended family is going to show up modify a cooler to allow it in and add hot water. You can easily cook for 50 people with this thing, and if I heated the water in a turkey fryer probably 100. (Cut hole in cooler top)
I don’t like to cook but like you I like homemade meals better. For not liking to cook I’m a pretty darn good cook. Lol. We eat every meal at home except for Wednesday night when we eat out.
We have a boat that I spend a lot of time on and I cook for just me when on it. I cook things like enchiladas or chile verde. When it’s just me I can eat on them for a few days. Get up in the morning and fry an egg and throw it on top of them for breakfast and then roll it up in a burrito for dinner.
Everyone always seems surprised that I cook for just me when not home.
Makes me sad. I’m sorry your big cooking for a crowd days are over. I guess everything has a season. Splurge sometimes and make something fun, even just for yourself or a neighbor.
I love to cook and cook for several people every day. I guess I should relish it, even though some of them are sooooo picky....
In our house the picky go hungry. Won’t take long. You can cure them.
When we bought our boat about 15 years ago it had a propane stove on gimlets. Hubby being the firefighter he is said.....no propane on the boat. So we replaced the propane stove with a 2 burner electric cooktop and a convection oven you could cook a medium turkey in. I use it all the time and wish I had one at home.
There is a Naked Gun scene when the hot Priscilla Presley is wearing only one of Leslie Nielsen’s shirts when he comes home to find her in the kitchen. He asks what she is doing in there, and she forks a huge ball of meat out of a huge pot of water and says in a sexy tone, “Boiling a roast...”
If you place no value on your time then yes.
Yes, but not in a unified manner by a popular host, someone who by word of mouth will attract those who need it most.
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