View Full Version : The ability to cook is empowering
audrey_k
12-12-2014, 01:04 PM
But it doesn't offer the temperature uniformity of cast iron.
That's the only thing about cast iron pots that intrigues me. But I've heard mixed things about how true it is that they have temperature uniformity?
And I'm dying for a dutch oven. I asked my boyfriend's mum for either a dutch oven or a chopper for xmas, I hate chopping vegetables.
Luna66
12-12-2014, 01:56 PM
Love this thread! At school in the '80s, my Mum did a subject called 'Home Economics' and they not only taught you how to cook from scratch, but also how to run a household. They were taught how to write up a budget for food, how to make a roast chicken on Sunday last until Tuesday by making chicken sandwiches, chicken soup etc. They were even taken to the supermarket to do a weekly food shop on a strict budget. It was a little sexist as only girls did home economics and boys did woodwork but I still think it's an excellent subject and it should be taught to all kids, boys and girls! 'Food technology' replaced it and when I did it at school I was taught how to make meals with ready made pastry and boil in the bag rice! :O Not the same.
Growing up, all 3 of us kids had to cook 1 night per week each and my Mum would cook the other 4 nights, always from scratch. Now that I live with my boyfriend I haven't changed and I still cook fresh, homemade meals from scratch 6 nights a week. The other night we either get a takeaway or eat out with friends as a little weekly treat that we don't mind paying a little extra for (in money and health!). I love cooking and I love the health and financial benefits it gives me, especially when 99% of the people I know my age (20) pretty much live on ready meals, freezer food, fast food etc and are unhealthy and spend half their wages/student loans on food! I know some people spend hundreds on groceries to cook fresh food but I pay £35 ($55) per week for 2 people, and that includes toilet paper, cat food, toiletries etc. I just shop at places like Aldi and Lidl and buy things like pasta, rice, (frozen) meat in bulk :)
Melonie
12-12-2014, 04:49 PM
That's the only thing about cast iron pots that intrigues me. But I've heard mixed things about how true it is that they have temperature uniformity?
And I'm dying for a dutch oven
It's absolutely true about cast iron creating temperature uniformity, since cast iron is an amazingly efficient conductor of heat when compared to stainless steel. Copper is an even better heat conductor than cast iron, but it's virtually impossible to find ( or afford ) 100% copper cookware ( copper bottom stainless steel actually isn't much better than plain stainless steel ).
As to the dutch oven, there is absolutely nothing better for producing tender, juicy braised meats, stews, even specialty breads. And it's arguably more healthy too, since you get the opportunity to spoon off liquefied fats which float to the top.
Also, this year, as a holiday treat, I'm going to finally take a crack at great-great grandma's 'old world' dutch oven recipe for making mince meat pie filling from scratch ... but with dark Caribbean rum instead of British Navy issue ( which is extremely hard to find these days ).
I'll also have to 'bag' a local white-tailed deer ... and hope it doesn't taste too much different than the northern NY deer I used to be able to hunt. On the bright side though, down here way south of the border I won't have to worry about freezing my a$$ off in the woods !!! I'm actually going to try my luck later this weekend ( with the help of 'neighbors' ). After that, I've got everything else I need ...
1 pound trimmed venison chunks
1/4 pound suet, finely chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 quarts apple cider
1 pound apples, chopped
1 1/2 pounds raisins
1 pound currants
1 large citron
3 whole cloves
3 whole allspice
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 cups British Navy rum
enough water to submerge everything
... I need to get busy on this, since it needs to sit for a couple of weeks to continue fermenting on its own after cooking before being 're-baked' as mince pie filling. And my 'neighbors' keep telling me to add lemons and oranges along with / instead of the citron, but that's not called for in great great grandma's recipe ! Of course in great great grandma's day, lemons and oranges were quite rare and expensive to find in the British isles, too ( versus thick rind citron ) ... so she may very well have used them if she could have gotten them. And with the interest I've generated with my 'neighbors' I may wind up having to make a double batch !!!
Naida
12-14-2014, 04:37 PM
Love this thread! At school in the '80s, my Mum did a subject called 'Home Economics' and they not only taught you how to cook from scratch, but also how to run a household. They were taught how to write up a budget for food, how to make a roast chicken on Sunday last until Tuesday by making chicken sandwiches, chicken soup etc. They were even taken to the supermarket to do a weekly food shop on a strict budget. It was a little sexist as only girls did home economics and boys did woodwork but I still think it's an excellent subject and it should be taught to all kids, boys and girls! 'Food technology' replaced it and when I did it at school I was taught how to make meals with ready made pastry and boil in the bag rice! :O Not the same.
When I was in school, we had a class in middle school and a couple of classes in high school that sorta follows the same vein. The one in middle school showed us some of the basics and frills of living. That was stuff like communication skills, abstinence-only sex ed, the absolute basic ideas of childcare, how to set a table and table manners, etc. Far short of adult skills, but a big step up from where our minds were at the time. The class was mandatory for all students and each period was as close to 50/50 coed as possible except during the sex ed portion. During that, we were purposely segregated.
We still had Home Ec in high school, but it had pretty much nothing to do with food other than budgeting and shopping. We had some kind of culinary class, but I don't know much about it except that the baking was from scratch. Then there was the child development (or something like that) class that taught family values and how to raise children. The classes were open to all students and none of the teachers or attending students seemed to treat the boys any differently, but you could see the sexism alive and well in how the majority of the boys took machismo classes like weight lifting, ag, or the variety of shops and teased the home ec boys. I still think it's hilarious that almost all the boys in home ec type classes had girlfriends, while the boys in the macho classes had to beg their dads/older brothers to buy bitch beer so they would have a chance at scoring.
Melonie
12-14-2014, 04:45 PM
OK one of my 'neighbors' managed to bag a white tail during this morning's hunt ... and gave me the couple of pounds of fresh venison and suet needed. The first batch of great great grandma's mince meat recipe has been simmering in my Dutch oven for a few hours ... albeit with lemons / oranges instead of citron. As soon as it cools a bit, I have to skim off the top layer, add the Caribbean dark rum, and stick it in the fridge to continue fermenting for a week. Then I've got to start a second batch to say 'thank you' to my 'neighbors'. Between the two batches I should have enough filling to make at least 8 mince pies just in time for Christmas.
audrey_k
12-14-2014, 04:52 PM
Does anyone make their own bread?
A friend of mine sent me an article today-- she makes everything from scratch-- that claims there is a chemical used in bread, and the chemical is really just human. It grossed me out so much to read that, apparently it increases shelf life. I'm considering making our bread from scratch now.
Melonie
12-14-2014, 04:54 PM
Yes I make my own bread all the time. Down here way south of the border, buying bread is 'crap shoot' between commercially baked bread of 'unknown' age, and locally baked bread of 'unknown' ingredients !!! I cheat, though, thanks to my Zojirushi machine.
My 'old faithful' recipe is for half white, half whole wheat bread ... which is pretty healthy without also being 'heavy', and can also be toasted with 'normal' results.
... and I'm also going to try their lemon 'cake' recipe for Christmas to provide a contrast to the mince pies ... albeit using grandma's jello based lemon glaze instead of the heavy sugar glaze.
Note that the two 'worst' ingredients in commercially baked bread are typically Polysorbate ( emulsifier ) and Proprionate ( mold inhibitor ). Homemade bread won't have these additives ( obviously ) ... but this also means that homemade bread may not 'keep' well beyond a few days. So I typically stick 1/2 of every freshly baked bread loaf straight into my freezer.
Naida
12-14-2014, 05:10 PM
Holy shit, that looks easier than buying bread!
Melonie
12-14-2014, 05:18 PM
^^^ yup ... while not 'advertised' at all ( no idea why ), those Zojirushi machines do all of the 'hard work' for you !!! I have so many memories of my grandma and I kneading bread dough by hand for 1/2 hour at a time !!! But with my Zojirushi, I just throw in the ingredients, hit the start button, and start cooking up something else while the machine does all of the kneading and baking.
Lately, a few other companies have also started to offer automatic bread making machines. IMHO besides Zojirushi the only other 'heavy duty' machine is made by Breville of France.
I had a bread maker as a teen but I forgot the name of it. It wasn't as easy as your machine and I messed up a lot but when you get it right....mmmmm fresh bread
Melonie
12-14-2014, 05:43 PM
^^^ on and off, a number of the 'big box store' appliance companies have tried to offer automatic bread making machines. They're typically using a vertical design ... which can't produce the top crust that is the trademark of horizontally baked bread. Admittedly, for 'tricky' crust recipes ( like French breads ), with the bread maker it's still necessary to stick the freshly baked bread loaf under my oven's broiler for a few minutes. But for 'everyday' recipes, you put in the ingredients, hit the start button, and take out a fully baked bread loaf when the machine finishes it's cycle that rivals or surpasses commercially baked bread.
The 'big box store' bread making machines are also typically heavy on plastic, marginal on kneading capability ( which makes for non-uniform consistency ), and short on the 'pre-programmed cycles' that assure you can't screw up on timing of the steps. I'm totally dependent on the 'pre-programmed cycles' because I'm always doing something else in the kitchen ( or wherever ), and would screw up every time if the breadmaker depended on me waiting around to do something at the right moment. In fact, where my Zojirushi machine beeps at me when it's time to add fruits and/or nuts, the latest Breville machine automatically adds them at the right time via a separate compartment !!!
On the comparative cost side, where a commercial bakery loaf of 'healthy' bread will set you back ~$4.00 in the USA, the ingredient cost for a loaf of 'healthy' Zojirushi machine bread is typically under $1.00 if you are buying ingredients in bulk. If you go through a couple of loaves of bread per week, that cost savings will pay for the breadmaking machine in less than a year.
Melonie
12-14-2014, 06:14 PM
^^^ the earlier model of The main improvement in the latest model is the addition of a top cover heating element to do the 'tricky' crust breads right in the breadmaking machine.
Unkle Fuzzy
12-14-2014, 06:29 PM
I make my own bread all the time. I have a decent quality bread machine and all it takes is 5 minutes to throw all the ingredients in and press start. I can even set the timer so i can have hot fresh bread at a particular time.
Audrey, I am very careful about internet warnings for things like that. Having worked in an industrial setting I can tell you that by looking at an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) you can determine that most everything in thye world is dangerous. Do you realize that WATER is classified as a hazardous chemical?
lynn2009
12-14-2014, 06:51 PM
Audrey, I am very careful about internet warnings for things like that. Having worked in an industrial setting I can tell you that by looking at an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) you can determine that most everything in thye world is dangerous. Do you realize that WATER is classified as a hazardous chemical?
Yeah, Audrey, could you link the article?
Kellydancer
12-15-2014, 12:30 AM
and rick don't even get me started on the state of most stay at home moms these days-at least the ones I've met. Many of them are the laziest people I've ever met. Their houses are filthy, they don't cook, they don't do anything. I feel sorry for their husbands.
While I have met a few stay at home parents who work hard, most are just too lazy to work and too lazy to cook or clean, which becomes their job if they don't work. In these cases I can understand when the spouses get fed up and divorce their lazy asses.
I don't really cook, but can cook basic things. It's just that being a single women who doesn't eat much I don't need to cook that much. I lived with a guy and he loved to cook so I never had to. If I marry a guy who also can't cook, then I guess we both learn because I am not doing the majority of cooking. However, I do think it's important to cook homemade meals and while I don't cook that much I do fix meals more than I order out.
euaici
12-15-2014, 06:12 AM
I had the chance to eat Beluga Caviar when I was much younger... That being said, I can't, in good faith, eat it again until someone (anyone!) figures out a sensible way to farm the stuff! Those fish outlived the dinosaurs... and I will be damned if I contribute to their irreversible demise to satisfy my snacking habits. Those glorious bastards have lived for 200 million years... I'd be so crushed if they were wiped out.
Actually there are ways to farm them now, at least some of the species, because caviar comes from a family of fish. Trouble is, the most prized caviar comes from one of the hardest fishes in this family to grow - also because it needs to be huge to produce serious amounts of eggs. Also, farming them is a bit more costly than usual fish farming, so poaching is still easier...
rickdugan
12-15-2014, 07:07 AM
I have to agree, my grocery bill is INSANE. I make up the menu for the week on Sunday and we go to the grocery store twice to make sure everything is fresh (plus British fridges? they are freaking small) and spend about $150 each time. Granted there's two of us, and my bf refuses to go anywhere but the most expensive grocery store here (probably equivalent to Whole Foods) and buy organic and free range and whatnot, but it seems about equal to what I was spending on take out and whatnot before.
I spent £15 on 4 burgers today to cook this weekend.
I suppose if you shop like that then your bill is going to get up there, lol. We tend to look for a decent meal on hamburger meat, at one of the better local supermarkets, and make the burgers ourselves. For example, one of your local supermarket chains, Tesco, is now selling "beef mince" (ground beef) for £4.29/kg (basically $3/lb).
rickdugan
12-15-2014, 07:10 AM
^That should read decent "deal." For some reason the Edit Post function is not working.
audrey_k
12-15-2014, 08:23 AM
I suppose if you shop like that then your bill is going to get up there, lol. We tend to look for a decent meal on hamburger meat, at one of the better local supermarkets, and make the burgers ourselves. For example, one of your local supermarket chains, Tesco, is now selling "beef mince" (ground beef) for £4.29/kg (basically $3/lb).
We have Tescos in the UK, they just don't sell free-range. I'm a vegetarian and will cook meet for my bf and his friends but only if it's free range, and pushing the minced meat together to form burgers is a little too much for me.
It's also just a fact that food is more expensive here than it is in America. There's a lot more laws about it being produced and the pound is just more expensive than the dollar. The upside is it's much healthier.
Yeah, Audrey, could you link the article?
It's not specifically about bread, it's about white flour. There's a lot more in this article than the L-cysteine.
http://livingtraditionally.com/5-secrets-white-flour-will-shock/
audrey_k
12-15-2014, 08:45 AM
When I grocery shopped in LA I went to different stores to get different things-- I would start at Ralphs and get what I could find, then Trader Joes, then Whole Foods for the things I couldn't find anywhere else. But it's a pain to do that in 35 degree weather without a car. :-\