primitives discuss cooking techniques for tired cooks

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x76592

Oh my.

shireen  (1000+ posts)      Wed Apr-07-10 01:01 PM
Original message
 
cooking techniques questions ...

I live alone, always busy at work, and have a chronic illness that causes fatigue.

Coming home and making a meal is not practical. I'm trying to figure out ways to make several meals ahead of time and freeze it, so all i have to do is pop it in the microwave or oven when i get home from work. I don't buy fresh veges in the store because i never get around to cooking it, and it spoils.

i'm always frustrated by how my cooking turns out. So, here's some questions, hopefully some of you can provide a few tips so i can get enthusiastic about cooking again!

- how do you get the perfect soft-boiled egg with the runny yolk?

- how do you cook pork chops so that it remains moist and flavorful without turning to cardboard?

- what's the best kinds of seasonings (keeping it simple) for pork chops?

- how do you tell when fried chicken and roasted chicken pieces are done?

- when i reheat roast or fried chicken pieces (cold from the refrigerator) in the microwave, it always comes out dry. Is there a way to reheat it so it comes out moist and juicy as when it was originally cooked?

- i'm terrified of cooking fish. Take baked salmon for instance, it always comes out under- or over-cooked. What's the best way to judge if it's fully cooked without being overcooked?

- is there an easy way to remove leftover scales on fish without removing the skin?

I can't eat most fresh veges and fruit due to allergies

- what are some easy cooked fruit desserts? There's apple pie, that i love. What else can i do with fruit without adding too much sugar and cream?

- what kinds of cooked vegetables could i store in the freezer in individual portions? For instance, sauteed green beans, cooked cabbage, stir-fry greens, cauliflower. What will freeze, and what won't freeze?

noamnety  (1000+ posts)        Wed Apr-07-10 01:11 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. It sounds like several of your meat problems are temperature related.

I had the same problem, drying out roasts by overcooking, and if you are fatigued it's easy not to get up to check it all that often. I finally broke down and got one of these:

after which a photograph of some plastic toy

The probe stays in the meat, the cord connects to the temperature display which stays outside the oven. You can set an alarm so when it reaches a certain internal temperature it beeps. Admittedly, I can't get that feature to work on mine, the whole thing seems to shut off before that happens, but I don't care enough to check if the batteries are dying - I just appreciate that I can see what temp I'm at without having to open the oven, cut into the meat to see how it looks inside.

As for fruits, if you can eat them cooked, try sauteeing them. It's less work than making pies, less calories, and very tasty. Apple slices, bananas, grapes, any of those can be cooked in a fry pan with a little butter, a small amount of sugar added if you want (I use powdered), and served as a very tasty side dish. If you have access to a grill, almost any fruit can be sliced and put on a grill, and that doesn't need added sugar at all.

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Wed Apr-07-10 01:18 PM
THE DEFROCKED WARPED PRIMITIVE, #09 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Original message

2. Super moist pork chops

Sear the chops quickly in hot oil, then add a can of chicken stock and cover the pan. Turn the heat to medium. The chops are done when the liquid has gone. You can make a gravy out of the brown stuff stuck to the bottom of the frypan, deglaze with wine or water, thicken, season. The chops will be incredibly moist and fully cooked.

The best way to tell if any meat is done is to get a meat thermometer. All meat should be rested for at least 10 minutes after it is taken away from heat to let the juices distribute evenly and cooking in the center finish. There are LED instant read meat thermometers out there that are dirt cheap and will save you a lot of guesswork and badly cooked food.

Scaling fish is best done outdoors on newspaper. Take a dull knife and go down the skin from tail to head. The scales will come off. Wipe the knife on the paper after each pass. You'll have a piece of fish with skin but no scales afterward. Roll the paper up and toss it, scales, goo and all.

I usually grill my salmon on a stovetop grill, 3 minutes on each side for a fillet. To poach salmon, put down a layer of lemon slices and whatever herb you're using, add a little water and/or white wine, put the salmon on top of the lemon but NOT IN THE LIQUID (very important) and steam. You can peek and test to see if it's done, but not often.

Most veggies freeze well, although asparagus gets limp. I usually just buy frozen veggies out of season and nuke them (steamed them when I didn't have a nuker) as needed. Leafy greens need to be cooked fresh unless you like black goo.

The best cooked dessert in the world is the simple baked apple. Peel halfway down and core. Stuff the core with raisins, nuts, brown sugar, whatever strikes your fancy, and bake until tender. Apples, peaches and pears can be baked sliced in a pan with a crumble layer of rolled oats, pecans, brown sugar and butter on top.

grasswire  (1000+ posts)      Wed Apr-07-10 01:24 PM
THE FARMERETTE FROM WISCONSIN
Response to Original message

3. ideas

1. Do you have a real basic cookbook? May I recommend the Sunset Easy Basics for Good Cooking book? It will answer many of your questions. Available at amazon.com and most bookstores, and has sold millions of copies over the years.

after which photograph of a book cover

2. I agree that a thermometer is useful for meats. This kind of pocket model is extremely handy, used by chefs all the time:

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=pocket+thermomet...

3. An easy seasoning with a real affinity for pork is Lawry's season salt. It truly is my first choice for pork.

4. Frozen vegetables that you buy commercially have as high nutritional content as fresh ones. I would just buy bags of frozen veggies and take out what you want to use and seal up the remainder for another time.

MajorChode  (1000+ posts)        Wed Apr-07-10 02:01 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. Here's the answer to some of your questions

Soft boiled eggs are easy. Simply put your eggs in a small pan and cover them with cold or lukewarm water until just covered. Put them on the stove and when the water just comes to a boil, time them for 3 minutes. When the time expires, run cold water in the pan to stop the cooking. You can adjust the time as necessary to get them just how you like them. I prefer 4-5 minutes which produces an egg with just a small amount of a runny yolk. Remember that salmonella can live inside even the yolk of eggs. If you're worried about it, you can buy eggs that are pasteurized in the shell.

You need a meat thermometer. Overcooked meats will be dry. One of the best meat thermometers is a Thermapen, but they are a bit expensive (but worth it). They read meat temperatures instantly. Cheaper meat thermometers will work, but some are not calibrated very well, and you'll have to leave them in for a minute or so to get a correct reading as they don't read instantly like the Thermapen. All fowl should be cooked to at least around 165 degrees when measured at the deepest part of the breast. I usually take it off the heat at around 160 and the temp will continue to rise for a few minutes afterward. Many cooking publications recommend 180 degrees for chicken, which I find is overkill, but if you're very worried about salmonella cook to higher temperatures.

Here is my recipe for pork chops: I cut my own pork chops from a pork roast. Use a ruler to make sure you get them all exactly 2" thick. Soak them in a brine for 2 hours before cooking. To make the brine, I heat a pint of cider vinegar in a pan with 1 cup of kosher salt(you can use any salt but kosher salt dissolves much easier), 1 cup of brown sugar, and a Tbs of peppercorns. When the sugar and salt dissolve, add ice cubes until the temp goes below 40 degrees. Add the pork chops and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Dry the pork chops completely with a paper towel. Take about 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and remove the stems. Put 1/2 cup of light olive oil and the rosemary in a blender or food processor and process for a minute or two. Marinade the pork chops for 30 minutes or so in the infused olive oil. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Saute the pork chops for about 3-4 minutes in a cast iron skillet on each side until nicely brown. Immediately put the pan inside the oven and cook until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees (about 15 minutes or so). Remove the chops and let them rest for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

MajorChode  (1000+ posts)        Wed Apr-07-10 04:07 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
7. Serve pork chops with applesauce or polenta

I don't know what it is about applesauce and pork chops, but they go together like peanut butter and jelly.

I make my own applesauce which is very simple to make. I take 4-5 apples and cut them into 1/2" cubes or so, with the skin on. If you use sour apples, you'll probably need to add a bit of sugar (brown sugar works great). With sweet apples, you should need to add any sugar. Throw them into a large pan with 1/4 cup of water and simmer them tightly covered for about 20 minutes or so until they are soft. You can process the applesauce in a number of different ways. I use an immersion blender, but you could use a food processor, food mill, stand mixer, or just however you normally process mashed potatoes. I like a fairly coarse applesauce with a few chunks still inside. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week, or you can also make large batches and can or freeze them which works well.

cbayer   (1000+ posts)      Wed Apr-07-10 02:05 PM
THE BAYER ASPIRIN PRIMITIVE
Response to Original message
 
5. I know that some will laugh, but I suggest Shake 'N Bake

they make it for chicken and pork chops. It is super easy, requires little clean up and produces well seasoned and perfectly cooked chops (or chicken).

A whole roasted chicken is done when the leg feels loose and the juice runs clear. Those little disposable meat thermometers work well, too. For individuals pieces, I suggest cutting all the way down to the bone of a thick piece.

For reheating, consider putting the chicken in a pan with some broth or gravy and reheating gently.

Bisquick has a great shortcakes recipe on the box. Make a batch, then put fresh or frozen fruit on the top. You can use a low fat whipped cream from a can (lasts a long time).

I don't like frozen veggies, so I just cook what we will eat.

Good luck to you! There are some great websites out there with recipes for one or two. When I lived alone, I would make something big on Sunday (like a roast chicken), then make dishes with it all week.

EFerrari  (1000+ posts)        Wed Apr-07-10 10:10 PM
DOUG'S EX-WIFE, #03 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Reply #5

8. I can't make frozen vegetables taste like anything but frozen vegetables.

I love the idea of them, though. The only thing that has worked really well is to make twice as much apple pie filling and to freeze half. For some reason, that thaws and bakes fine. Must be something about the firmness of the apple flesh in the first place.

Hmmmm.  Highly irregular, here, hippywife Mrs. Alfred Packer missing from this campfire, and from other recent campfires in the cooking and baking forum.

One wonders if hippyhubby Wild Bill is forcibly keeping Mrs. Alfred Packer from posting.

And to think, franksolich is just embarking on his newest sex novella, "The Men in Mrs. Alfred Packer's Life."

[The Village Idiot]

Get a slice of bread, toss a cold weiner on it and add mustard.

That is a recipe for someone too tired to cook.

[NHSparky]

Notice how their fatigue isn't work-induced.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Domino's Pizza delivers, Shireen.  That's all you need to know.  You really aren't ready for the whole 'Cooking' thing.

[Wineslob]

Stupid is as stupid cooks.

[Karin]

After OP says she's too tired to cook, I notice the MajorChode helps out by giving a big long paragraph size recipe for brining porkchops, snipping Rosemary, monkeying with temperatures, etc. etc.  She didn't ask for the Galloping Gourmet. 

OP:  Buy some Lean Cuisines. 

[GOBUCKS]

For pork chops, get McCormick's Bag 'n' Season. It's as easy as capsizing a canoe, and the pork chops are juicy and tender every time. No judgement or cooking skill required, just some pork chops and a 350F oven. Remember that if you hear a hissing sound when you open the oven, don't light a match.

[Celtic Rose]

I know somebody in Real Life who claims to be allergic to most fresh fruits and vegetables, but he can eat cooked ones, just like this DUmmy.  This sounds highly suspicious to me, does anybody know if this is a real allergy?

[franksolich]

I know somebody in Real Life who claims to be allergic to most fresh fruits and vegetables, but he can eat cooked ones, just like this DUmmy.  This sounds highly suspicious to me, does anybody know if this is a real allergy?

I hesitate to call it an "allergy"--I just might be hypochondrial about it--but while raw apples, which I really really like, cause something funny to happen to my stomach (but not the intestines, not that sort of reaction), but cooked apples don't.

I have no idea why this is, but it is, and it's minor, so I don't think a whole lot about it.

[JLO]

Oh my, is right.

-I don't buy fresh veges in the store because i never get around to cooking it, and it spoils.


-I can't eat most fresh veges and fruit due to allergies


- what kinds of cooked vegetables could i store in the freezer in individual portions? For instance, sauteed green beans, cooked cabbage, stir-fry greens, cauliflower. What will freeze, and what won't freeze?

 

[Celtic Rose]

I hesitate to call it an "allergy"--I just might be hypochondrial about it--but while raw apples, which I really really like, cause something funny to happen to my stomach (but not the intestines, not that sort of reaction), but cooked apples don't.

I have no idea why this is, but it is, and it's minor, so I don't think a whole lot about it.

One or two items is one thing. Raw celery makes my mouth tingle, but I can eat it cooked, and I refuse to touch raw tomatoes, but I'll eat them in sauce.  It is when a person is "allergic" to almost all raw fruits and vegetables that I start wondering...

[crockspot]

Poor thing, she sounds completely lost in the kitchen.

[franksolich]

One or two items is one thing. Raw celery makes my mouth tingle, but I can eat it cooked, and I refuse to touch raw tomatoes, but I'll eat them in sauce.  It is when a person is "allergic" to almost all raw fruits and vegetables that I start wondering...

Especially when the primitive is "allergic" to good things, but not allergic to bad things.

[Celtic Rose]

Especially when the primitive is "allergic" to good things, but not allergic to bad things.

Bingo.  The first cooked fruit item requested was pie, not a request for a healthy way to prepare cooked apples.

[GOBUCKS]

One or two items is one thing. Raw celery makes my mouth tingle

The jug-eared muslim does that to Tweety's leg.

[dandi]

Dammit man! Throw everything in a crockpot with some water and Old Bay seasoning. The next morning you'll have food for the week.

Do I have to think of everything for these DUmmies?

[LC EFA]

These are DUmmies - they still can't comprehend anything more complicated than "Microwave on HIGH for 5 MINUTES".

[The Village Idiot]

These are DUmmies - they still can't comprehend anything more complicated than "Microwave on HIGH for 5 MINUTES".

"That's like 500 seconds right?"

[AllosaursRus]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x76592

Oh my.

Hmmmm.  Highly irregular, here, hippywife Mrs. Alfred Packer missing from this campfire, and from other recent campfires in the cooking and baking forum.

One wonders if hippyhubby Wild Bill is forcibly keeping Mrs. Alfred Packer from posting.

And to think, franksolich is just embarking on his newest sex novella, "The Men in Mrs. Alfred Packer's Life."

You are makin' a funny, right? Right, Coach?

[BlueStateSaint]

I hesitate to call it an "allergy"--I just might be hypochondrial about it--but while raw apples, which I really really like, cause something funny to happen to my stomach (but not the intestines, not that sort of reaction), but cooked apples don't.

I have no idea why this is, but it is, and it's minor, so I don't think a whole lot about it.

It probably has to do with the fact that cooking something such as apples causes the sugars within said apples to change and become other sugars, thus being more agreeable with the bacteria that are in your stomach.

[PatriotGame]

shireen  (1000+ posts)      Wed Apr-07-10 01:01 PM
Original message
 
cooking techniques questions ...

I live alone, always busy at work, and have a chronic illness that causes fatigue.

Behold another DUmmy broiler plate excuse for taxpayer fraud funded "sit on your ass and suck like a parasite" welfare.

[PatriotGame]

Apparently the DUmb**** primitive is too "fatigued" to do a simple Google Internet search on "moist pork Chops" thus must rely on the other dysfunctional welfare queens at the DUmp to hold her hand and do the research for her.
She probably has Hospice contracted to wipe her ass because of her imaginary "fatigue" malady.

[franksolich]

Apparently the DUmb**** primitive is too "fatigued" to do a simple Google Internet search on "moist pork Chops" thus must rely on the other dysfunctional welfare queens at the DUmp to hold her hand and do the research for her.

She probably has Hospice contracted to wipe her ass because of her imaginary "fatigue" malady.

I get really nervous whenever a primitive mentions a newly-discovered exotic ailment, because then there's a stampede to the "disability" forum on Skins's island, all the primitives rushing in to see if there's room on the gravy train.

The first time I saw "trimenthylamunia," for example, there they were, jampacking the "disability" forum, jostling and elbowing each other to see if there was anything disabling in that.

[AllosaursRus]

I get really nervous whenever a primitive mentions a newly-discovered exotic ailment, because then there's a stampede to the "disability" forum on Skins's island, all the primitives rushing in to see if there's room on the gravy train.

The first time I saw "trimenthylamunia," for example, there they were, jampacking the "disability" forum, jostling and elbowing each other to see if there was anything disabling in that.

Okay frank, what the hell is it? I'm not even gonna bother to look that one up, just on the off chance you made it up! Heh, heh!

[franksolich]

Okay frank, what the hell is it? I'm not even gonna bother to look that one up, just on the off chance you made it up! Heh, heh!

It's the malady that afflicts Pedro Picasso, the "Atman" primitive.

A body odor that reeks of fish, and must be heavily camouflaged with cologne.