Pseudo-cooking

[Guest]

 

[Weird Harold]

nice summer lunch/dinner:

buy 1 kg of sweet cherries
wash them
put them into a dish, take along another small dish for the stones
eat them....

You forgot the last step: Stay close to the toilet for the next 24 hours.

The sudden infusion of that much fresh fruit into a low budget diet is almost certain to have a laxative effect.

 

[Munachi]

You forgot the last step: Stay close to the toilet for the next 24 hours.

The sudden infusion of that much fresh fruit into a low budget diet is almost certain to have a laxative effect.

it's all training the body...

 

[Weird Harold]

it's all training the body...

True, but the point still remains: If you're not used to eating a lot of fresh fruit, a Kilo of fresh cherries is very likely to tie you down to no more than sprinting distance from a toilet.

In an ideal world, everyone would have their metabolism trained to deal with loads of fresh fruit daily, but sadly the world isn't ideal.

 

[SeaCat]

Okay, inspired by other posters, I sorta dove right into a bit of improvisation. Results were only so-so (entirely due to my experimenting), but I learned something for next time.

The base recipe was Cloudy's porkchops with onions, potatoes, and carrots, from early in the thread. I should have just stuck to that.

My experiment:
I included zucchini, because I saw it in another thread; some white wine in the baking dish (because I needed an excuse to go out and get more wine ); and seasonings that included parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (I thought I would call it Simon and Garfunkel Pork Chops). Actually, I started with sage, because I read somewhere that it was a good spice on vegetables, and then I added rosemary because sometimes I get roasted chicken with rosemary at the supermarket, and then I thought of the S&G song, and the rest is history.

Results:
Pretty tasty. This would have been a lot better if I didn't improvise though, I can tell. First off, I wound up with too much liquid in the baking pan, so the whole thing was more poached than roasted. I had no idea that the vegetables would produce that much liquid! So I tried to dry it out a bit by opening the foil and baking it longer, which made the porkchops more tough I think. Also, I used boneless porkchops (they were on special!) and they were very lean, and didn't produce much in the way of drippings. I should have seasoned the pork, not the vegetables, which were delicious on their own. Especially the carrots! The zucchini was pretty much tasteless, and mush by the time I cooked them for as long as I did. No wonder you can put them in anything.

What I'm going to do next time:
I'm going to cook it as Cloudy said to, in which case it would be better, with a more roasted flavor I'm sure. I'll brown the pork chops faster so they don't cook as much on the stove, and use pork that isn't quite so lean. Maybe just stick to adding one spice at a time to see how that works.
The other thing I might try is to drop the zucchini and use apples instead, and season the whole thing with curry powder. I've had apples with pork before and like it, and I like curry together with sweet flavors.

Final grade: C+ due to poor execution on my part I can see where this would be a solid B+ or A- dish without my meddling. Also, it's my first grade, so I can't be too lenient.

Huck,

You did good. You played with your food and learned from it. (How do you think you learn?)

Cut down or delete the RoseMary. It's a strong spice.

Brown the Chops in a good Fry Pan before adding the veggies. (Save the drippings.)

Yes use the Bone In Chops for something like this.

Add the Zucc at the very end, otherwise it does turn to mush. (I prefer to fry the Zucc and serve it on the side.)

One thing about food, you should have fun with it.

Cat

 

[Huckleman2000]

Huck,

You did good. You played with your food and learned from it. (How do you think you learn?)

Cut down or delete the RoseMary. It's a strong spice.

Brown the Chops in a good Fry Pan before adding the veggies. (Save the drippings.)

Yes use the Bone In Chops for something like this.

Add the Zucc at the very end, otherwise it does turn to mush. (I prefer to fry the Zucc and serve it on the side.)

One thing about food, you should have fun with it.

Cat

Yep, having fun with it is definitely a goal of this thread!
I realized that what I really couldn't do very well with cooking is make things that needed to be done at the same time, or with intermediate steps where I wasn't ready with the next ingredient when I was supposed to be adding it already. I am just NOT a multi-tasker.

So, I figure if I limit it to one pot, then it all comes out at once and I don't have to stress about it! And I don't care what anyone says, some of these dishes sound DAMN GOOD! Even the Ramen Variations! And I don't know about where you live, but hot women don't hang out in the frozen dinner aisle - it's all about the vegetables.

I guess it's also an exercise in learning to live well, within my limitations.

 

[Huckleman2000]

Experiment Number 2
For this one, I pretty much stuck to the script.
I made Black Shanglan's Braised Short Ribs. I actually used two pans, since I browned the ribs on the stovetop. I seasoned them with Worsteshire Sauce instead of thyme; it's my all-purpose beef seasoning. After browning the ribs, I put them on top of the carrots and white beans in a cassorole dish, then sauteed the onions in the drippings left in the pan. I added about half a cup of red wine, stirred it up, and then poured that over the top of the ribs. I covered it with foil and put it in the oven.

About 45 minutes into the cooking time, I remembered that I should have put a beef broth cube in there too, so I mixed it iwth another splash of red wine and poured that over the top. After about an hour and 45 minutes, I took the foil off the top of the dish and let it brown for about another 10-15 minutes. That was a little too long, but not that big a deal.

Results
Very good indeed! After cooking for so long, the rib meat practically fell off the bones. It was a bit rich, having the red wine and all the fat from the ribs boiled into the beans and carrots, but the rib meat was delicious.

What I'll try next time
I think I may substitute some potatoes for the beans, and drain off a little bit of the fat before putting the ribs int othe cassorole dish.

Very tasty, and really easy too!

Overall grade: B+

 

[Weird Harold]

What I'll try next time
I think I may substitute some potatoes for the beans, and drain off a little bit of the fat before putting the ribs into the cassorole dish.

You need to remember when you do that potatos cook faster than beans.

How much faster potatos cook depends on whether you cut them up and what size pieces you cut them into, but you could easily wind up with your potatos cooked to mush in this recipe.

Whole "new" potatos -- about 2 inches in diameter -- might work well in place of the beans.

 

[Pinktequilla]

One pot but hard work?

Dads ultimate gourmet dish was to rub around a casserole dish with butter and a garlic clove (peeled) slice two large potatoes and two cloves of garlic- quite thinly, layer the potatoes in the dish, seasoning each layer with salt pepper and a little sprinkling of the garlic keep doing this til you have used your potatoes, then pour over a small carton of single cream and top up with milk to just about the top of the potatoes put lid on and chuck in the oven for about an hour ( check then if potatoes are soft , if not leave for another 20 - 30 mins). Trust me this is amazing!

For proper comfort food take a big saucepan some diced stewing or braising beef (it's real cheap) thinly sliced slick of celery and chopped onion, sliced leek, parsnip and two carrots 5-6 smallish potatoes - quartered two veg stock cubes and 2pts of water
Soften onion and celery in a little oil/butter season with salt and pepper, add beef and brown add the water and stock cubes simmer for an hour to an hour and a half on a low heat add carrots and potatoes after 30 mins add the leeks serve 15-20 mins later.

Try them - if you can be bothered they are well worth the time you wait for them to cook!

 

[BustyLaTarte]

Not sure if this counts, as it doesn't actually require a pot...

1 lb. hamburger
1 medium potato, peeled and cubed (Yukon Gold's are good for this)
1 carrot, peeled and diced (has to be smaller pieces than the potato, or else they won't cook through)
1 small can of corn, drained
Dried onion flakes, minced garlic, and Tony Chachere's, all to taste

Step 1: Dump all ingredients onto a large piece of foil and mix with hands (foil should be large enough to fold over mixture, as will happen in step 2). Step 2: Fold foil over mixture (told ya!) and crimp 'n' fold edges to make a foil packet. Step 3: Flatten and throw over fire/grill/in the oven for about half an hour to 45 minutes.

My husband calls this Hobo Pie. It's excellent with beer (then again, isn't everything?)

 

[BlackShanglan]

Huck, I'm glad you liked the short ribs. I think pouring off some of the fat is a good idea - it can get quite heavy. Well done on the cooking; I'm enjoying your field reports.

Shanglan

 

[glynndah]

Plain Rice Soup

1 Cup rice
2 cups water
1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken or Cream of Chicken with Mushroom Soup

Combine rice and water and cook using your preferred method. Add soup and stir. Serve.

 

[Munachi]

sometimes i like to just microwave an onion.

 

[English Lady]

The plain rice soup idea reminded me of a quick, easy lunch/supper type meal. Simply boil up some pasta of your choice (this is a two pot meal, I do apologise) and in another pan heat of a can condensed soup (campbells) whichever flavour your heart desires, and add water till it's at a thickness you like (about half the amount you'd put in to make up a soup) then when your pasta is done, drain it and add it to the thick soup mix. throw in some frozen veg to the pasta as it's boiling if you want a bit more nutrition to your quck and easy pasta dish

 

[glynndah]

Blood and Worms

(I do apologize for the name, but that's what my grandmother always called it.)

Prepare your favorite pasta. Traditionally my grandmother used spaghetti (the worms) but I prefer elbow macaroni.

Add tomato juice (yep, that's the "blood" part) and serve.

 

[fallenupright]

Salmon Alfredo in the Microwave!

Well, I made this cause I was hungry... and I couldn't get to the stove as my sis piled stuff on it. I don't measure anything ever, so I'm in absolute guessland here.

Alfredo Sauce
1/3 Stick Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Parmesean cheese (add more if sauce is runny)
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
Dash of Garlic Powder (teaspoon?)
Put all together in small microwaveable bowl, stir a little.

Now, get a big microwavable bowl. Put pasta in it. Put water in over pasta... like two inches on top.

Put both bowls in mirowave, for 2 minute intervals, stirring both until pasta is cooked (read: not hard anymore.) Cream cheese probably will not have melted all the way, don't worry about it though.

Drain pasta, put back in bowl. Pour alfredo sauce mixture over pasta, and stir it together until it's all mixed. It'll all melt and stuff. Now, if it's still runny... add more cheese. Taste what you have. Add garlic, salt, pepper... etc, to taste.

Open can of salmon, drain. Feed gross salmon skin to cat. Put in rest of salmon (into pasta, of course). Stir, and voila... Salmon Alfredo.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

Blood and Worms

(I do apologize for the name, but that's what my grandmother always called it.)

Prepare your favorite pasta. Traditionally my grandmother used spaghetti (the worms) but I prefer elbow macaroni.

Add tomato juice (yep, that's the "blood" part) and serve.

That sounds awfully bland. Instead of tomato juice, why not use a jar of spaghetti sauce? An add some parmesan cheese on top.

 

[fallenupright]

That sounds awfully bland. Instead of tomato juice, why not use a jar of spaghetti sauce? An add some parmesan cheese on top.

Because some people like it that way.

My sister's kids LOVE that meal... they ask for it more than they ask for pasta with sauce.

I believe they got it from their dad, who was dirt poor growing up. Tomato juice is cheaper than sauce.

 

[Munachi]

i just had polenta with sauerkraut. which were the two only food items i could find in my house.