Cooking shortcuts
September 26, 2024 9:26 PM Subscribe
What are good cooking shortcuts? On the other hand, when is good to do things the long way, or hard way? Are some shortcuts best reserved for certain circumstances?
For example, off the top of my head – using dried or fresh herbs and spices, or garlic in a jar; or breadcrumbs you buy versus those you make; or various things you could make or buy; or sauteing things first or just throwing them in to whatever you’re cooking. Etc.
For example, off the top of my head – using dried or fresh herbs and spices, or garlic in a jar; or breadcrumbs you buy versus those you make; or various things you could make or buy; or sauteing things first or just throwing them in to whatever you’re cooking. Etc.
Response by poster: Also, canned beans vs. dried and soaked overnight vs. other dried.
posted by NotLost at 9:49 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
posted by NotLost at 9:49 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Are some shortcuts best reserved for certain circumstances?
if pressed for time, my fav shortcut: takeout :-)
posted by HearHere at 9:53 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
if pressed for time, my fav shortcut: takeout :-)
posted by HearHere at 9:53 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Some shortcuts I've collected over the years:
The smaller and thinner you cut veggies, the quicker the cooking time. Typically, dicing veggies into 1″ cubes is a good rule of thumb. To promote even cooking, cut your veggies into as close to uniform pieces as possible.
Make green beans quicker and better by frying. Instead of boil, cook and drain, get out the fry pan. Heat up some olive oil, add a teaspoon of mustard seeds and wait for them to start popping. Add the beans, cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Toss with fresh lemon juice, fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. Serve.
Rice leftovers are great, but it's just too good a growth medium for pathogens. So cool it quickly and Freeze (not refrigerate) in a shallow glass dish. Sterilizing used plastic food containers is essentially impossible.
To cool it quickly: Spread rice in a shallow tray and set on a cooling rack, or on a cookie sheet set on a cool flat stovetop. This increases the surface area and improves convection, cooling it faster.
Reheat in microwave w 2 Tbsp water, covered, on high for 1 minute, break up big pieces, then heat uncovered for another 2 or so minutes.
Via this AskMe thread.
The best time to clean your grill is when it's still warm so you can easily wipe off grease. Quicker cleanup this way too.
Chop up a bunch of onions in one go, then freeze them. They are the vegetable most resilient to freezing and thawing.
Quicker Pan Method of caramelizing onions.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:59 PM on September 26 [7 favorites]
The smaller and thinner you cut veggies, the quicker the cooking time. Typically, dicing veggies into 1″ cubes is a good rule of thumb. To promote even cooking, cut your veggies into as close to uniform pieces as possible.
Make green beans quicker and better by frying. Instead of boil, cook and drain, get out the fry pan. Heat up some olive oil, add a teaspoon of mustard seeds and wait for them to start popping. Add the beans, cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Toss with fresh lemon juice, fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. Serve.
Rice leftovers are great, but it's just too good a growth medium for pathogens. So cool it quickly and Freeze (not refrigerate) in a shallow glass dish. Sterilizing used plastic food containers is essentially impossible.
To cool it quickly: Spread rice in a shallow tray and set on a cooling rack, or on a cookie sheet set on a cool flat stovetop. This increases the surface area and improves convection, cooling it faster.
Reheat in microwave w 2 Tbsp water, covered, on high for 1 minute, break up big pieces, then heat uncovered for another 2 or so minutes.
Via this AskMe thread.
The best time to clean your grill is when it's still warm so you can easily wipe off grease. Quicker cleanup this way too.
Chop up a bunch of onions in one go, then freeze them. They are the vegetable most resilient to freezing and thawing.
Quicker Pan Method of caramelizing onions.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:59 PM on September 26 [7 favorites]
Breadcrumbs: it’s hard to make breadcrumbs that are dry enough and fine enough to be good for, say, frying, without putting a fair amount of time and patience. I usually do croutons for soup or salad if I have stale bread I’m trying to use and buy breadcrumbs for everything else.
Garlic in a jar: my mom loves this stuff and so I always seem to wind up with a jar of it when she visits, which is unfortunate because I tend to find it kind of vinegary and not very…garlicky? Fresh garlic is cheap and doesn’t rot that fast, just use fresh garlic.
Stock: stock is pretty easy and if you cook regularly you’ll probably build up the materials for it pretty quickly. it does take time and fridge space and a bit of cleanup, though, so I also stock bouillon base.
Sautéing: there’s a couple of important things sautéing does:
1. If something has fat-soluble flavor chemicals (as most herbs and spices do), this draws those into the sautéing oil, which helps bring the flavor into the whole dish.
2. If something has a lot of water, sautéing lets you get rid of some of that water, which can make for a better texture (ever bitten into a piece of boiled onion? It’s not great.)
2a. Getting rid of the water also allows you to cook things to a higher temperature; essentially, when you cook something in water, the hottest you can make it is the boiling point of water. Sometimes that’s good (like coddling eggs), but any kind of caramelization is impossible
posted by Why Is The World In Love Again? at 10:29 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Garlic in a jar: my mom loves this stuff and so I always seem to wind up with a jar of it when she visits, which is unfortunate because I tend to find it kind of vinegary and not very…garlicky? Fresh garlic is cheap and doesn’t rot that fast, just use fresh garlic.
Stock: stock is pretty easy and if you cook regularly you’ll probably build up the materials for it pretty quickly. it does take time and fridge space and a bit of cleanup, though, so I also stock bouillon base.
Sautéing: there’s a couple of important things sautéing does:
1. If something has fat-soluble flavor chemicals (as most herbs and spices do), this draws those into the sautéing oil, which helps bring the flavor into the whole dish.
2. If something has a lot of water, sautéing lets you get rid of some of that water, which can make for a better texture (ever bitten into a piece of boiled onion? It’s not great.)
2a. Getting rid of the water also allows you to cook things to a higher temperature; essentially, when you cook something in water, the hottest you can make it is the boiling point of water. Sometimes that’s good (like coddling eggs), but any kind of caramelization is impossible
posted by Why Is The World In Love Again? at 10:29 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Frozen veg is great in most circumstances. But reduce the cooking time for a lot of frozen veg to avoid overcooking.
You can absolutely freeze raw garlic, chillies and onions. Might want to double bag the garlic to avoid it stinking out your freezer.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:55 PM on September 26 [3 favorites]
You can absolutely freeze raw garlic, chillies and onions. Might want to double bag the garlic to avoid it stinking out your freezer.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:55 PM on September 26 [3 favorites]
I get through garlic before it has a chance to go. But the freezer is great for fresh spices. I have a box that I keep fresh, turmeric and galangal as roots, lemongrass, unusual chillies, ginger (no more rubbery nubs!)
I almost never peel potatoes. Mashed, sautéed, boiled, whatever, I prefer them with the skins on and it’s such a boring job.
Roasting veg makes it so much better- always do at least double quantities and use the rest in the next days.
posted by tardigrade at 11:11 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
I almost never peel potatoes. Mashed, sautéed, boiled, whatever, I prefer them with the skins on and it’s such a boring job.
Roasting veg makes it so much better- always do at least double quantities and use the rest in the next days.
posted by tardigrade at 11:11 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Highly recommend Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Fast as an absolute treasure trove of cooking efficiency tips.
posted by potrzebie at 11:26 PM on September 26 [8 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 11:26 PM on September 26 [8 favorites]
Hard squashes like butternut and spaghetti squash are difficult and time-consuming to cut through before baking. My knife would get stuck, etc. Now I pierce them in a few places and cook to soften it in the microwave for about 5 -8 minutes before cutting in half and roasting in the oven. I used to buy squashes that would wind up sitting around forever because I was avoiding the whole process until I started using this shortcut. (You can steam it entirely in the microwave but i think this method saves time and effort while preserving the roasted texture.)
posted by ponie at 11:42 PM on September 26 [14 favorites]
posted by ponie at 11:42 PM on September 26 [14 favorites]
Garlic is divine. Few food items can taste so many distinct ways, handled correctly. Misuse of garlic is a crime. Old garlic, burnt garlic, garlic cut too long ago and garlic that has been tragically smashed through one of those abominations, the garlic press, are all disgusting. Please treat your garlic with respect. Sliver it for pasta, like you saw in Goodfellas; don't burn it. Smash it, with the flat of your knife blade if you like, but don't put it through a press. I don't know what that junk is that squeezes out the end of those things, but it ain't garlic. And try roasting garlic. It gets mellower and sweeter if you roast it whole, still on the clove, to be squeezed out later when it's soft and brown. Nothing will permeate your food more irrevocably and irreparably than burnt or rancid garlic. Avoid at all costs that vile spew you see rotting in oil in screw-top jars. Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic."Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
posted by rongorongo at 11:49 PM on September 26 [5 favorites]
This is both a longcut and a shortcut: crockpot caramelised onions. Slice up a lot of onions, toss in some olive oil and a bit of salt, cook on low overnight in the slow cooker. Shove the resulting delicious goo into freezer bags, put in ice cube trays, spread on a tray... anything that lets you freeze it in a form that you can slice / break chunks off of later. SO GOOD.
posted by inexorably_forward at 12:03 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
posted by inexorably_forward at 12:03 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
If you hit the garlic clove gently with the side of your knife, it loosens the skin & it’s much easier to peel.
Keep all the tiny cloves that aren’t worth peeling, and put them whole & unpeeled in the roasting tray along with your roast veg / potatoes / meat.
posted by rd45 at 1:09 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
Keep all the tiny cloves that aren’t worth peeling, and put them whole & unpeeled in the roasting tray along with your roast veg / potatoes / meat.
posted by rd45 at 1:09 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
My rice cooker is the MVP of my kitchen, especially since I lack a good stove.
Not just for rice, either. I cook pre-soaked pulses and beans in there too, and it's easy enough to sauté some aromatics (garlic and onion) on the quick cook setting before I add the pulses or beans for slow cooking.
Roger Ebert published a book called "The Pot and How To Use It" about his rice cooker adventures. I haven't read it, but I'm betting it's a nice, friendly guide for the busy non-chef.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 1:14 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Not just for rice, either. I cook pre-soaked pulses and beans in there too, and it's easy enough to sauté some aromatics (garlic and onion) on the quick cook setting before I add the pulses or beans for slow cooking.
Roger Ebert published a book called "The Pot and How To Use It" about his rice cooker adventures. I haven't read it, but I'm betting it's a nice, friendly guide for the busy non-chef.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 1:14 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Long way seasoning to taste: every time you add an unsalted ingredient into a dish, add the corresponding pinch or so of salt just for that amount of food. By the time you have brought it all together, the whole dish should be correctly seasoned. This can comfortably scale up or down by volume, so you’re not cooking something you’d usually make for four and cutting it down to one and ending up with way too much salt because you’re used to dumping in some larger amount, and also you’re not making a huge batch of something to freeze and then it’s unbearably bland. Of course you need to taste before serving regardless but seasoning as you go is going to get you 95% of the way there.
Shortcut smoothie superiority: frozen fruits (and vegetables) are always going to be better for smoothies because you use them in place of ice, so it will have a more concentrated flavor. Also they are yummy when out of season, come clean and ready to eat, and usually are cut up enough that you don’t have to chop anything for the blender to do the job right. I’ve been known to eschew fresh in season berries picked from down the road for frozen berries in a smoothie - we ate the fresh berries on a salad instead.
On beans: There are only a few cases for using dried beans instead of cooked and canned. One is if the type of bean you want to use is not available canned, like many delicious heirloom varieties. Another is if the recipe is something where the beans are quite standalone and you don’t intend to have a lot of spices or gravy with them or overly process them like smashing or frying them. And the third is money concerns, dried beans are a true powerhouse of affordable flexible protein and they are just as easy to store while weighing much less. But for basically every standard dish where beans are involved, canned is great. Once you’ve worked them into a curry or soup or burrito filling you’re almost never going to notice a difference and it will make less mess and take vastly less time and planning ahead. The real trick is to find the company that cans beans with the level of salt that you prefer and stick with that, or to always taste newly opened beans and adjust your cooking for taste each time.
posted by Mizu at 1:27 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
Shortcut smoothie superiority: frozen fruits (and vegetables) are always going to be better for smoothies because you use them in place of ice, so it will have a more concentrated flavor. Also they are yummy when out of season, come clean and ready to eat, and usually are cut up enough that you don’t have to chop anything for the blender to do the job right. I’ve been known to eschew fresh in season berries picked from down the road for frozen berries in a smoothie - we ate the fresh berries on a salad instead.
On beans: There are only a few cases for using dried beans instead of cooked and canned. One is if the type of bean you want to use is not available canned, like many delicious heirloom varieties. Another is if the recipe is something where the beans are quite standalone and you don’t intend to have a lot of spices or gravy with them or overly process them like smashing or frying them. And the third is money concerns, dried beans are a true powerhouse of affordable flexible protein and they are just as easy to store while weighing much less. But for basically every standard dish where beans are involved, canned is great. Once you’ve worked them into a curry or soup or burrito filling you’re almost never going to notice a difference and it will make less mess and take vastly less time and planning ahead. The real trick is to find the company that cans beans with the level of salt that you prefer and stick with that, or to always taste newly opened beans and adjust your cooking for taste each time.
posted by Mizu at 1:27 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
I do have opinions about the specifics, but if you’re just asking for permission to use shortcuts: yeah, go for it. Not every meal needs to be a project. Any way you can make something quick and tasty is great.
And you know what’s great about dried herbs? They’ll wait patiently in the cupboard until you want them for something, and you won't end up guiltily throwing away a pack of black, shrivelled up herbs that you didn’t use.
Tinned beans? You can use them straight away without any forward planning.
And so on. Sometimes you want to pull the stops out and make something fancy, sometimes you just want a tasty plate of warm food.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:07 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
And you know what’s great about dried herbs? They’ll wait patiently in the cupboard until you want them for something, and you won't end up guiltily throwing away a pack of black, shrivelled up herbs that you didn’t use.
Tinned beans? You can use them straight away without any forward planning.
And so on. Sometimes you want to pull the stops out and make something fancy, sometimes you just want a tasty plate of warm food.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:07 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
A philosophical answer: if you can't tell the difference, or the difference is unimportant to you, or you actually like the "shortcut" result better, then it's not a shortcut - it's the correct way.
And sometimes the "shortcut" is better. When you make pizza sauce, the taste you're used to is almost certainly tinned tomatoes. Sauce made from fresh supermarket tomatoes is almost certainly worse.
Sometimes the long way is the only way, absent special tools. If you want to eat certain cuts of meat, only long slow cooking does the job, unless you have a pressure cooker.
But mostly, it's about what you like or at least find acceptable. Can you make a better sauce than sauce from a jar? If yes, you have to ask yourself what your time is worth. But if you like sauce from a jar, then why not take the win?
(I was raised by puritanical foodie parents and am unable to buy sauce in a jar as it's against our religion, but I encourage you to do the things I cannot if they make you feel good).
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:20 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
And sometimes the "shortcut" is better. When you make pizza sauce, the taste you're used to is almost certainly tinned tomatoes. Sauce made from fresh supermarket tomatoes is almost certainly worse.
Sometimes the long way is the only way, absent special tools. If you want to eat certain cuts of meat, only long slow cooking does the job, unless you have a pressure cooker.
But mostly, it's about what you like or at least find acceptable. Can you make a better sauce than sauce from a jar? If yes, you have to ask yourself what your time is worth. But if you like sauce from a jar, then why not take the win?
(I was raised by puritanical foodie parents and am unable to buy sauce in a jar as it's against our religion, but I encourage you to do the things I cannot if they make you feel good).
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:20 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
Canned beans all the way - I can’t be asked to pick through, rinse, soak, cook and then incorporate in dishes…too many steps, many require you to wait hrs until the next step.
I rarely make my own curry sauces because you need to make paste and then make sauce with that as one ingredient and there are many ingredients…also, the jars have come a long way. But jarred pasta sauce is invariably too sweet or too something. So I make my own because it tends to be non fussy, even if some of it benefits from cooking a while. I also make my own stir fry sauces.
If you like the idea of perfectly cooked rice on demand but don’t eat enough to justify an electric rice cooker know the microwave ones work well and everything goes in the dishwasher.
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:46 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
I rarely make my own curry sauces because you need to make paste and then make sauce with that as one ingredient and there are many ingredients…also, the jars have come a long way. But jarred pasta sauce is invariably too sweet or too something. So I make my own because it tends to be non fussy, even if some of it benefits from cooking a while. I also make my own stir fry sauces.
If you like the idea of perfectly cooked rice on demand but don’t eat enough to justify an electric rice cooker know the microwave ones work well and everything goes in the dishwasher.
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:46 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Leave the skin on mashed potatoes and roasted butternut squash. Genuinely a great experience.
posted by lokta at 3:05 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by lokta at 3:05 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
On beans: you can have the best of both worlds by picking a lazy weekend, cooking a whole bag of beans at once, and then splitting it up among a bunch of two-cup containers and freezing those. Two cups of cooked beans is just a touch more than you get in your average can of beans. And if you're going to be making some kind of soup using beans, you probably don't even need to thaw them - just drop the bean-berg into the pot straight out of the freezer. It'll probably take about ten minutes longer to come to a boil or so, but so what.
As for whether it's worth soaking dried beans - there are a TON of arguments for and against. There are two big reasons why people suggest soaking them - the first is that soaking can reduce the cooking time on older beans, and the second is that soaking them helps to flush out the enzyme that causes....er, digestive issues. 96% of the beans available to us in the supermarkets are on the old side - in fact, the beans you get in your average Goya bag are all different ages, and the soaking can even things out a bit.
But there's a shortcut way to soaking them - one that also works especially well for the digestive issue, to boot. Instead of soaking them forever you dump them into a pot full o water, boil the hell out of them for ten minutes, then turn off the heat and let sit for just about an hour or two. Then drain, rinse, and cook.
And I'm going to generally bid for cooking dried beans from scratch because a) you get more control over the texture or taste you want, and b) it can be more economical (a one-pound bag of dried beans costs as much as a can of beans, but one bag will give you THREE cans' worth of cooked beans).
As for a shortcut, though - I've always used the pie crust you buy refrigerated that comes rolled up. I know that it's possible to make my own, and it would probably be better, but I don't care. I'm more interested in what's inside my pie crust anyway, so why fuss with the crust.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:49 AM on September 27
As for whether it's worth soaking dried beans - there are a TON of arguments for and against. There are two big reasons why people suggest soaking them - the first is that soaking can reduce the cooking time on older beans, and the second is that soaking them helps to flush out the enzyme that causes....er, digestive issues. 96% of the beans available to us in the supermarkets are on the old side - in fact, the beans you get in your average Goya bag are all different ages, and the soaking can even things out a bit.
But there's a shortcut way to soaking them - one that also works especially well for the digestive issue, to boot. Instead of soaking them forever you dump them into a pot full o water, boil the hell out of them for ten minutes, then turn off the heat and let sit for just about an hour or two. Then drain, rinse, and cook.
And I'm going to generally bid for cooking dried beans from scratch because a) you get more control over the texture or taste you want, and b) it can be more economical (a one-pound bag of dried beans costs as much as a can of beans, but one bag will give you THREE cans' worth of cooked beans).
As for a shortcut, though - I've always used the pie crust you buy refrigerated that comes rolled up. I know that it's possible to make my own, and it would probably be better, but I don't care. I'm more interested in what's inside my pie crust anyway, so why fuss with the crust.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:49 AM on September 27
A common shotcut is to use a microwave rather than the stovetop or oven. There are things for which this can be suboptimal. For example, a baked good, like bread, warmed or thawed in the microwave may seem warm and lovely while still hot, but tough as it cools. Cooking meat from raw is tricky since the microwave energy is not evenly distributed.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:34 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
posted by SemiSalt at 4:34 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
Take any shortcut that makes your life easier, and don't let scolds on the internet who don't have your particular life circumstances tell you otherwise. If using fresh garlic is an obstacle to you cooking and eating food, use jarred garlic (unless one of the scolds wants to come to your house and cook for you).
One of my favorite shortcuts is microwave-steaming fresh vegetables. I think both green beans and broccoli, for instance, taste better and stay crunchier if microwaved than steamed or boiled on the stovetop.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:58 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
One of my favorite shortcuts is microwave-steaming fresh vegetables. I think both green beans and broccoli, for instance, taste better and stay crunchier if microwaved than steamed or boiled on the stovetop.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:58 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
Bread will be fine if it only rises once.
Reverse hollandaise method. I haven't tried it but I think this method should also work for lemon curd.
You can batch prepare subcomponents of meals and freeze them in portions, if you don't like eating the exact same batch cooked meal multiple times. Random examples - apple sauce, sausage patties, meat sauce, large cuts of meat or whole chickens broken down into whatever form you prefer, lemon zest, stock.
Learn really simple "base recipes", like "boil veg and blend it to make soup, add herbs/spices, butter/cream and salt", or "blend raw onion, tomato and chilli and then cook it out to make sauce base", or "roast a bunch of stuff on a tray, that's a meal" or "stir fry a bunch of stuff, that's a meal".
Pre chopped frozen veg is fine as an ingredient. So are tinned potatoes. Frozen chapattis can be fried from frozen. Ready made pastry cases are fine, so is ready-to-roll pastry. Ready made meringue nests are not fine.
If you live somewhere that tinned baked beans in sauce are a thing, you can rinse off the sauce and use them in place of other cooked beans. The cheapest ones are fine.
"Straight to wok" noodles are excellent. Use them in place of pasta if you want, it's more or less the same thing.
Having a variety of Indian spice mixes (along with the blender sauce base above) means you can make decent speedy curry with whatever you have on hand.
If the supermarket salad bar has boiled eggs, you can just buy a whole "salad" worth of boiled eggs for egg mayo.
Use sour cream to substitute for bechamel if the exact consistency isn't important. Add salt and maybe lemon juice/garlic/pan juices or cheese. You can buy jars of bechamel but it's not nice IMO.
Counter-intuitively, start off caramelized onions with a bit of water to break down the cell structure of the onions quicker, so the internal onion water content starts boiling off.
It's not mandatory to eat every food group at every meal, so long as your overall diet is balanced.
If you need cooked chicken in a recipe it's fine to use a rotisserie chicken.
Chopped hot dogs are good emergency protein. Frozen prawns, frozen mussels, tinned fish, tinned chickpeas, those Chinese fish balls, all can be dropped straight in a sauce or soup and heated in a few minutes to make very quick meals. Chopped regular sausages also fry very quickly.
An instant pot makes short work of dried beans, or cuts of meat that ordinarily require a long cooking time.
It's fine to use waffle mix.
You can make a fancy looking trifle with bought cake (or cake mix cake), jello, tinned fruit and tinned custard.
If you keep lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers and anchovies on hand you can tip them into something otherwise quick and boring to fancy it up. Gochujang is another great shelf-stable-ish "instant depth of flavour" addition to any tomato sauce. Green Thai curry paste lasts forever in the fridge and is a great quick addition to otherwise boring things.
Steaming veg in the microwave is very quick and convenient, especially if you have an electric kettle so you can start off with boiling water. Just put a bit of boiling water in a microwave safe pot with the chopped veg, and heat on full for a couple of minutes with a plate on top.
Make sure your knives are actually sharp and watch some YouTube videos on knife techniques. If you're using a paring knife or some massive ten inch thing to chop veg, try a more medium sized one.
Just line the grill pan (roasting tin, etc) with foil and then throw it away.
posted by quacks like a duck at 5:04 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
Reverse hollandaise method. I haven't tried it but I think this method should also work for lemon curd.
You can batch prepare subcomponents of meals and freeze them in portions, if you don't like eating the exact same batch cooked meal multiple times. Random examples - apple sauce, sausage patties, meat sauce, large cuts of meat or whole chickens broken down into whatever form you prefer, lemon zest, stock.
Learn really simple "base recipes", like "boil veg and blend it to make soup, add herbs/spices, butter/cream and salt", or "blend raw onion, tomato and chilli and then cook it out to make sauce base", or "roast a bunch of stuff on a tray, that's a meal" or "stir fry a bunch of stuff, that's a meal".
Pre chopped frozen veg is fine as an ingredient. So are tinned potatoes. Frozen chapattis can be fried from frozen. Ready made pastry cases are fine, so is ready-to-roll pastry. Ready made meringue nests are not fine.
If you live somewhere that tinned baked beans in sauce are a thing, you can rinse off the sauce and use them in place of other cooked beans. The cheapest ones are fine.
"Straight to wok" noodles are excellent. Use them in place of pasta if you want, it's more or less the same thing.
Having a variety of Indian spice mixes (along with the blender sauce base above) means you can make decent speedy curry with whatever you have on hand.
If the supermarket salad bar has boiled eggs, you can just buy a whole "salad" worth of boiled eggs for egg mayo.
Use sour cream to substitute for bechamel if the exact consistency isn't important. Add salt and maybe lemon juice/garlic/pan juices or cheese. You can buy jars of bechamel but it's not nice IMO.
Counter-intuitively, start off caramelized onions with a bit of water to break down the cell structure of the onions quicker, so the internal onion water content starts boiling off.
It's not mandatory to eat every food group at every meal, so long as your overall diet is balanced.
If you need cooked chicken in a recipe it's fine to use a rotisserie chicken.
Chopped hot dogs are good emergency protein. Frozen prawns, frozen mussels, tinned fish, tinned chickpeas, those Chinese fish balls, all can be dropped straight in a sauce or soup and heated in a few minutes to make very quick meals. Chopped regular sausages also fry very quickly.
An instant pot makes short work of dried beans, or cuts of meat that ordinarily require a long cooking time.
It's fine to use waffle mix.
You can make a fancy looking trifle with bought cake (or cake mix cake), jello, tinned fruit and tinned custard.
If you keep lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers and anchovies on hand you can tip them into something otherwise quick and boring to fancy it up. Gochujang is another great shelf-stable-ish "instant depth of flavour" addition to any tomato sauce. Green Thai curry paste lasts forever in the fridge and is a great quick addition to otherwise boring things.
Steaming veg in the microwave is very quick and convenient, especially if you have an electric kettle so you can start off with boiling water. Just put a bit of boiling water in a microwave safe pot with the chopped veg, and heat on full for a couple of minutes with a plate on top.
Make sure your knives are actually sharp and watch some YouTube videos on knife techniques. If you're using a paring knife or some massive ten inch thing to chop veg, try a more medium sized one.
Just line the grill pan (roasting tin, etc) with foil and then throw it away.
posted by quacks like a duck at 5:04 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
A tiny pinch of baking soda can turbo-charge caramelization, if you're needing to do, say, a ton of onions it's so, so useful.
posted by saladin at 5:08 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by saladin at 5:08 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
If you are just trying to get some food on the table for a meal, shortcuts (including all you listed) are fine. Most of the time, there's little difference.
If you want to cook for the experience of cooking, like as a hobby, or if you're cooking for a special occasion, some of the shortcuts are better skipped.
Beans cooked from dried are typically better in terms of texture and flavor, but you do want to cook them with things that will flavor them--salt and oil at minimum, bay leaf or rosemary or sage, a chunk of carrot or onion or a few garlic cloves or a thumb of ginger, a cinnamon stick or star anise--adjust based on the cuisine you're aiming for. You can speed this up and from-dried beans can be less of a fancy occasion thing by using a pressure cooker/instant pot. A slow cooker is also pretty hands off for beans, though obviously needs some planning to do it in time. Soaking overnight can help with more even cooking and shortens the cooking time, but if I want to make beans and didn't plan ahead, I don't let that stop me.
Fresh garlic will have more flavor than dried granules or jarred, so again, when you want to go all in, go for it. If dried garlic gets your single-pot chili and chips on the table sooner, go for it and don't worry about it.
Breadcrumbs are weirdly tricky--sometimes the store bought are better for things like breading and frying, especially if you want panko. But if you're toasting breadcrumbs in butter and spices and herbs to sprinkle on top of a dish, homemade can really shine. In a meatball? Eh, whatever you've got.
Herbs are also one of those funny ones. Dried parsley is basically only for color, there's no flavor. Use fresh for soft herbs: parsley, cilantro, tarragon. Basil could go either way--dried basil in a sauce or soup, sure. But fresh basil is more aromatic and is great for a finishing touch. Hard herbs are great dried: rosemary, sage, thyme. Not that they're bad fresh, just that you can get great mileage out of them dried when you use them in cooking.
Sautéing first can get you some great additional flavor, but if you're short on time skip it especially if you are using a pressure cooker or roasting something in the oven. You'll get the delicious browning and deep cooking flavors anyway from those. If you're cooking in a slow cooker or on the stove top you won't get those flavors, but again, if you're just getting something on the table, don't worry too much about it.
You might find listening to/reading Kenji Lopez Alt helpful. He sometimes goes really maximalist in his recipes, like in his cookbook The Food Lab, but he also challenges assumptions like that you should always cook dried pasta in excessive amounts of water. He's also got a new podcast with Deb Perlman of Smitten Kitchen, and they talk about what goes into making a recipe a quick weeknight meal vs. when you want to go all in. It's refreshing to hear chefs/foodies/cookbook authors wax poetic on the virtues of iceberg lettuce and American cheese and white sandwich bread (in the right recipes!).
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:29 AM on September 27 [4 favorites]
If you want to cook for the experience of cooking, like as a hobby, or if you're cooking for a special occasion, some of the shortcuts are better skipped.
Beans cooked from dried are typically better in terms of texture and flavor, but you do want to cook them with things that will flavor them--salt and oil at minimum, bay leaf or rosemary or sage, a chunk of carrot or onion or a few garlic cloves or a thumb of ginger, a cinnamon stick or star anise--adjust based on the cuisine you're aiming for. You can speed this up and from-dried beans can be less of a fancy occasion thing by using a pressure cooker/instant pot. A slow cooker is also pretty hands off for beans, though obviously needs some planning to do it in time. Soaking overnight can help with more even cooking and shortens the cooking time, but if I want to make beans and didn't plan ahead, I don't let that stop me.
Fresh garlic will have more flavor than dried granules or jarred, so again, when you want to go all in, go for it. If dried garlic gets your single-pot chili and chips on the table sooner, go for it and don't worry about it.
Breadcrumbs are weirdly tricky--sometimes the store bought are better for things like breading and frying, especially if you want panko. But if you're toasting breadcrumbs in butter and spices and herbs to sprinkle on top of a dish, homemade can really shine. In a meatball? Eh, whatever you've got.
Herbs are also one of those funny ones. Dried parsley is basically only for color, there's no flavor. Use fresh for soft herbs: parsley, cilantro, tarragon. Basil could go either way--dried basil in a sauce or soup, sure. But fresh basil is more aromatic and is great for a finishing touch. Hard herbs are great dried: rosemary, sage, thyme. Not that they're bad fresh, just that you can get great mileage out of them dried when you use them in cooking.
Sautéing first can get you some great additional flavor, but if you're short on time skip it especially if you are using a pressure cooker or roasting something in the oven. You'll get the delicious browning and deep cooking flavors anyway from those. If you're cooking in a slow cooker or on the stove top you won't get those flavors, but again, if you're just getting something on the table, don't worry too much about it.
You might find listening to/reading Kenji Lopez Alt helpful. He sometimes goes really maximalist in his recipes, like in his cookbook The Food Lab, but he also challenges assumptions like that you should always cook dried pasta in excessive amounts of water. He's also got a new podcast with Deb Perlman of Smitten Kitchen, and they talk about what goes into making a recipe a quick weeknight meal vs. when you want to go all in. It's refreshing to hear chefs/foodies/cookbook authors wax poetic on the virtues of iceberg lettuce and American cheese and white sandwich bread (in the right recipes!).
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:29 AM on September 27 [4 favorites]
When making grilled cheese, I microwave it until the cheese is melted, and then only pan fry it for a tiny amount of time to brown the bread.
I don't have a griddle, and making a bunch of sandwiches that are ready closer to the same time is much easier this way.
posted by Acari at 6:03 AM on September 27
I don't have a griddle, and making a bunch of sandwiches that are ready closer to the same time is much easier this way.
posted by Acari at 6:03 AM on September 27
When I make a whole sweet potato, I pierce the skin a few times, coat it with oil, and put it in the microwave for a minute or so, depending on the size. Then it goes in the toaster oven at about 325. It cuts the roasting time in half.
posted by Dolley at 6:18 AM on September 27
posted by Dolley at 6:18 AM on September 27
re: the grilled cheese sandwich...I use a skillet with a lid on for some of the time to promote melting.
posted by mmascolino at 6:34 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by mmascolino at 6:34 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Asian grocery stores (and, oddly, Trader Joe’s) have pre-peeled garlic. Super convenient. And the strength of garlic depends partly on how finely it’s diced. If you throw in a whole bunch of undiced peeled cloves with say a chicken or some beef it can be *wonderful*.
Also, a pressure cooker for stock or beans. I haven’t soaked a black bean in years, just 7 cups of fluid, cumin, salt and a little baking soda per pound of beans and some meat if you like and maybe onions and garlic and cook on high for 55 minutes.
I feel ridiculous even mentioning these things, they’re so trivial.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:44 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Also, a pressure cooker for stock or beans. I haven’t soaked a black bean in years, just 7 cups of fluid, cumin, salt and a little baking soda per pound of beans and some meat if you like and maybe onions and garlic and cook on high for 55 minutes.
I feel ridiculous even mentioning these things, they’re so trivial.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:44 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
These may all be obvious, but:
Supermarkets will usually stock pre-chopped vegetables, so you can use the store as your prep chef.
Being fast with a knife is a kind of shortcut, I guess. When I need to sauté onions, I start the oil heating in the pan before I've chopped the onion; I've finished chopping before the oil is hot enough to use.
Mise en place means laying out your materials for maximum efficiency. When I'm being smart, I'll lay things out so that I can minimize the number of times I wash my hands during the process.
If you're following a recipe, read it first. You don't want to get halfway through a recipe and discover you need to let something chill for 30 minutes, or that you need to run to the store for an ingredient.
posted by adamrice at 6:58 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Supermarkets will usually stock pre-chopped vegetables, so you can use the store as your prep chef.
Being fast with a knife is a kind of shortcut, I guess. When I need to sauté onions, I start the oil heating in the pan before I've chopped the onion; I've finished chopping before the oil is hot enough to use.
Mise en place means laying out your materials for maximum efficiency. When I'm being smart, I'll lay things out so that I can minimize the number of times I wash my hands during the process.
If you're following a recipe, read it first. You don't want to get halfway through a recipe and discover you need to let something chill for 30 minutes, or that you need to run to the store for an ingredient.
posted by adamrice at 6:58 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
The air fryer has changed our cooking lives by making certain tasks so much more efficient, like roasting peppers, carrots and beets, but also basically everything. The small cooking compartment makes the cooking time so much shorter - like a whole roasted bell pepper takes about 12-16 minutes in there. Cleanup (at least for ours) is a breeze. We barely use our oven now and are really into cooking.
I also love ours because it has a dehydrating function, which eliminates the need to have a separate food dehydrator, unless you want to dehydrate a large quantity of things regularly.
People who are snobs about jarlic (garlic in a jar) need to chill. It's perfect for things where you are cooking the garlic and it's not a central feature of the dish but a background note. For fresh things, fresh garlic is always going to be better, but for the vast majority of things, I'm full-on into jarlic.
posted by urbanlenny at 7:44 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
I also love ours because it has a dehydrating function, which eliminates the need to have a separate food dehydrator, unless you want to dehydrate a large quantity of things regularly.
People who are snobs about jarlic (garlic in a jar) need to chill. It's perfect for things where you are cooking the garlic and it's not a central feature of the dish but a background note. For fresh things, fresh garlic is always going to be better, but for the vast majority of things, I'm full-on into jarlic.
posted by urbanlenny at 7:44 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Sweet potatoes - if carmelized flavor, crispy exterior and/or the visual appeal of browning are important (ie. as in a salad), then roast them. Otherwise, cook them in the microwave.
Anything to be sauteed (onions, mushrooms, etc) - unless they are meant to still have a bit of firmness at the end (ie. for stir fries), save some time by giving them about 2 minutes or so in the microwave first.
Sauteed veggies, once again - unless you want some firmness or crunch in the final output - buy frozen. Frozen chopped onion and bell peppers are such a time saver. If using frozen, no need to use the microwave as in the tip above. The freeze/thaw has already released water from the veg for you.
Hard boiled eggs - Save the peeling time and frustration by doing these in the instant pot if you have one. Perfect peeling every single time. Set pressure to high for 3 minutes, release right away (it's not a disaster if you forget) and cool with ice or cold water.
Garlic in a jar, ginger in a jar all the way.
posted by kitcat at 7:46 AM on September 27
Anything to be sauteed (onions, mushrooms, etc) - unless they are meant to still have a bit of firmness at the end (ie. for stir fries), save some time by giving them about 2 minutes or so in the microwave first.
Sauteed veggies, once again - unless you want some firmness or crunch in the final output - buy frozen. Frozen chopped onion and bell peppers are such a time saver. If using frozen, no need to use the microwave as in the tip above. The freeze/thaw has already released water from the veg for you.
Hard boiled eggs - Save the peeling time and frustration by doing these in the instant pot if you have one. Perfect peeling every single time. Set pressure to high for 3 minutes, release right away (it's not a disaster if you forget) and cool with ice or cold water.
Garlic in a jar, ginger in a jar all the way.
posted by kitcat at 7:46 AM on September 27
Take any shortcut that makes your life easier, and don't let scolds on the internet who don't have your particular life circumstances tell you otherwise. If using fresh garlic is an obstacle to you cooking and eating food, use jarred garlic (unless one of the scolds wants to come to your house and cook for you).
Seconding this. I think Anthony Bourdain is awesome, but his note about jarred garlic above always gets on my nerves because it does come across as snobbish and not really getting where people might be at. I stopped being overly precious about food several years ago when someone pointed out that "at the end of the day, we're talking about something that's going to be poo in 12 hours so it doesn't make sense to get precious about it."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:22 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
Seconding this. I think Anthony Bourdain is awesome, but his note about jarred garlic above always gets on my nerves because it does come across as snobbish and not really getting where people might be at. I stopped being overly precious about food several years ago when someone pointed out that "at the end of the day, we're talking about something that's going to be poo in 12 hours so it doesn't make sense to get precious about it."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:22 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
I hate chopping vegetables more than just about any other kitchen or household task. I love the frozen cubes of garlic and ginger you can get at Trader Joe's. TJs will also sell you chopped fresh onion for less than $2, which is way less than I've seen at other grocery stores. If you need mirepoix (i.e. chopped carrot, celery, onion), TJs has it fresh, and Whole Foods (and likely other places) sell a Cascade Farms frozen version that I love to keep on hand. I find it a little harder to find frozen chopped onion -- there's only one grocery store near me that sells it, but I will often go there and stock up on it. (Thank goodness for a chest freezer.)
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 10:07 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 10:07 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Cleaning Clean pans while they're still hot. I don't necessarily mean soap. Add water and heat it up while scraping the pan to loosen everything. Use a paper towel if there's lot of grease to mop up. Loosening up the bits and getting all the grease out will make the soap and water stage easier.
Pasta Boil pasta starting in cold water. This can be faster but you lose the benefit of being able to throw in pasta and simply time it. It's a toss-up.
Garlic Smash all the cloves with the side of knife.
Red pasta sauces A whole can of tomato paste that is diluted in pasta water is the bare minimum. Add a can of crushed/whole tomatos.
Gelatin I keep a container of beef gelatin to thicken up my sauces. Useful if you decided to buy boneless chicken for convenience but want some mouthfeel.
posted by just.good.enough at 10:41 AM on September 27
Pasta Boil pasta starting in cold water. This can be faster but you lose the benefit of being able to throw in pasta and simply time it. It's a toss-up.
Garlic Smash all the cloves with the side of knife.
Red pasta sauces A whole can of tomato paste that is diluted in pasta water is the bare minimum. Add a can of crushed/whole tomatos.
Gelatin I keep a container of beef gelatin to thicken up my sauces. Useful if you decided to buy boneless chicken for convenience but want some mouthfeel.
posted by just.good.enough at 10:41 AM on September 27
If you like smoothies buy a Nutribullet or any other blender where you can simple unscrew the blade and drink directly from the container. You will save countless hours.
posted by jasondigitized at 1:24 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by jasondigitized at 1:24 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Pre-salting or dry brining meats beforehand is easy and extends the time you can keep the meat. If you do all your major seasoning the dry way, you save time by not wet brining/marinating.
posted by jadepearl at 2:41 PM on September 27
posted by jadepearl at 2:41 PM on September 27
If you like smoothies buy a Nutribullet or any other blender where you can simple unscrew the blade and drink directly from the container. You will save countless hours.
Not sure if this one crosses from “simpler” to “college dorm” but I like it. I wonder what my wife will say when she gets up and finds me drinking out of the Vitamix (I assume the idea is “can’t hurt yourself on the blades,” so this should work…).
I made the sautéed green beans recommended at the top today … they were great. Even my non-veggie audience thought so. Lots of great stuff in this thread.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 4:53 PM on September 27
I think Anthony Bourdain is awesome, but his note about jarred garlic above always gets on my nerves because it does come across as snobbish and not really getting where people might be at. I stopped being overly precious about food several years ago when someone pointed out that "at the end of the day, we're talking about something that's going to be poo in 12 hours so it doesn't make sense to get precious about it."
Something interesting about cooking is that both of these things are true at once. Somebody linked Chris Van Tulleken's talk The Harsh Reality of Processed Food here a couple of days ago. He points out that cooking a meal for anybody is a luxurious experience: we have thought about what they want, what would impress them, what they need. Then we have taken a bunch of time and money to buy, prepare and cook the ingredients. Food is a basic necessity, of course, but it would have been cheaper to grab them a ready meal and bag of snacks - or just the simplest plane meal we could make. If we are interested in the worthiness of various cooking shortcuts - then we are firmly in the field of artistan/craft skills - where snobbery and discernment are harder to tell apart. Me, I doubt I could reliably taste whether my meal was cooked with garlic that had been through a presss or not: but I would notice it if I had to clean up afterwards and note that I ended up throwing away half the clove as residue - and thus also paying for more garlic - also, that the device did not really save me time: I still had to peel the cloves.
But - to specifics: Here is chef Jean Pierre telling you succintly how to cut pretty much any type of vegatable
Personally, I have found cooking from Hello Fresh recipes a good leaning experience regarding shortcuts. These pay more attention to most recipes to sequencing: we need to turn on the oven at least 10 minutes before it is hot enough to cook in - so that is step one. Maybe we can kick off some longer term operations like boiling potatoes while we do prepare the rest of the mise en place? After we have put things in the oven we can make a salad while it bakes. The way of looking at a shorcut in this context is that its effectiveness depends on when it is used in the sequence.
posted by rongorongo at 12:14 AM on September 28 [1 favorite]
Something interesting about cooking is that both of these things are true at once. Somebody linked Chris Van Tulleken's talk The Harsh Reality of Processed Food here a couple of days ago. He points out that cooking a meal for anybody is a luxurious experience: we have thought about what they want, what would impress them, what they need. Then we have taken a bunch of time and money to buy, prepare and cook the ingredients. Food is a basic necessity, of course, but it would have been cheaper to grab them a ready meal and bag of snacks - or just the simplest plane meal we could make. If we are interested in the worthiness of various cooking shortcuts - then we are firmly in the field of artistan/craft skills - where snobbery and discernment are harder to tell apart. Me, I doubt I could reliably taste whether my meal was cooked with garlic that had been through a presss or not: but I would notice it if I had to clean up afterwards and note that I ended up throwing away half the clove as residue - and thus also paying for more garlic - also, that the device did not really save me time: I still had to peel the cloves.
But - to specifics: Here is chef Jean Pierre telling you succintly how to cut pretty much any type of vegatable
Personally, I have found cooking from Hello Fresh recipes a good leaning experience regarding shortcuts. These pay more attention to most recipes to sequencing: we need to turn on the oven at least 10 minutes before it is hot enough to cook in - so that is step one. Maybe we can kick off some longer term operations like boiling potatoes while we do prepare the rest of the mise en place? After we have put things in the oven we can make a salad while it bakes. The way of looking at a shorcut in this context is that its effectiveness depends on when it is used in the sequence.
posted by rongorongo at 12:14 AM on September 28 [1 favorite]
The answer to your question depends a lot on where you are, in your life and in your space. How big is your kitchen? How are your shopping options? What can you afford to buy to make your life simpler? Not least. what do you like?
And also: do you have friends over regularly or rarely? Would you like to see people more?
And does food economy and health matter to you?
Another valid answer could be: practice. Years ago, I hated chopping onions, and chopping just one took what felt like ages. Now I barely give it a thought and it takes no time. I guess this is why recipe writers always underestimate prep-time. The same goes for more sophisticated issues. A simple sandwich will be more delicious if you have some good buns in your freezer, ready to warm in the toaster oven, and homemade pickled red onions and/or cucumbers for toppings rather than the store-bought stuff. It isn't hard to do, but it requires training your mind to think in that direction.
That all said, let's start with the gear. I feel it makes a big difference wether you have a dishwasher or not. If you have one, bring in the gadgets! If not, be very selective and strategic.
Regardless, you need good, very sharp knives. As a minimum, a paring knife, a medium-sized knife like a santoku, a serrated bread knife and a chef's knife. You also need a vegetable peeler, and not only for peeling. Sharp knives that are fit for purpose are the simplest shortcut, because they make all the prep-work far easier and thus faster.
I would also recommend a pressure cooker or instant pot. You asked about sautéing the elements first, and someone above replied correctly that it is unnecessary in the pressure cooker. In other appliances it will vary between recipes. If you need to save space, a stovetop pressure cooker can function as a normal pot when you need that.
Even in a small space, most people can fit in an immersion blender, and most of them come with add-ons like a mini chopper, which is really useful for finely chopping smaller portions of herbs, alliums and nuts. If you have the space and dishwasher, a food processor is your friend who can handle your whole soffritto/mirepoix in seconds. IMO, store-bought frozen chopped onion is fine, but carrots and celery don't freeze nearly as well, so for many things. the machine is more helpful than the freezer. Food processors have slicers, too, for your dauphinoise potatoes, tians and other sliced veg stuff. With less space, a small mandolin will do the job.
I mentioned in the mise thread linked above, that for me, mise en place is necessary for cooking Asian food because wok cooking is fast. If you feel similarly and have a dishwasher, get those little glas bowls they use on TV. Very useful.
You probably have one already, but a salad spinner is very useful too.
Finally, I mostly bake my own bread, so I can know what's in it. But I wouldn't be doing that without a stand mixer. If you don't bake, you won't need it.
Now to the store. There are some things that are almost better bought frozen because of how the distribution systems work: spinach, English peas, string beans, edamame beans, chicken broth, okra, all the berries outside their season, chicken liver, fish (unless you have an excellent fishmonger), pre-baked sourdough pizza crust (not finished pizza), and probably more things I've forgotten.
Onions and kale are fine frozen, though not better than fresh, as are chunks of mango and chicken thighs and wings.
Obviously, all these frozen foods are easier and faster to cook with than fresh produce.
Canned beans, chickpeas and lentils are all fine from cans. If using in a stew, I don't mind sweet corn from cans, either. Some brands are better than others, and this depends on where you live. I prefer the Bonduelle brand here in Europe. The Spanish jars of beans and chickpeas are even better than those you can cook from scratch. I don't know how they do it. But they are pricey, too. It's very easy to cook from scratch in a pressure cooker, but I still keep an assortment of canned beans etc because it makes spontaneous cooking easier.
Obviously, tomatoes are great in cans and jars, too. And a huge variety of seafood.
With all of the above in your pantry and freezer, you can make healthy and tasty meals in minutes. Though you will need some oil, vinegar, pasta, rice, salt and pepper and herbs and spices. The dried herbs I keep are oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and sumak. The spices are: nutmeg (whole), chili flakes, paprika, turmeric, cumin, saffron and cinnamon. I buy ready made pastes for curries at the Asian store, as well as harissa in a tube. I have fresh parsley, cilantro, basil and dill, I don't think they are worth buying dried. You should also always have lemons. When you season with dried herbs, add them early in the cooking process. Fresh herbs at last. When you season to taste at the end of cooking, before serving, use salt and pepper -- and lemon juice and a fat, like butter or olive oil.
Speaking of taste, a lot of things are up to your personal taste. I strongly dislike jarred and granulated garlic (and onion powder). To me, they all have a metallic taste. But who cares what I like if I'm not there? If it works for you, do it! That said, there are a lot of dishes that are heavy in garlic but don't really need to be. Italians use far less garlic than you'd think, judging from recipes online and American-Italian restaurants. One example that causes a lot of controversy is garlic in spaghetti carbonara. Another is garlic in risotto. These dishes don't need garlic at all. Ragu bolognese doesn't need garlic, but is much easier to make in a pressure cooker.
Authenticity is a complicated term, and not in itself an indicator of good value. But recently I've been trying a lot of old home-cooking recipes from all over Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and India, and I've noticed that they are often far simpler than modern recipes, while still really tasty. It makes sense: people had primitive kitchens, maybe just an open fire or two gas burners and access to a communal oven. They didn't have long countertops and four knives, and absolutely no fridges. So maybe one approach to "shortcuts" in cooking would be to cook more like our great-grandmothers and less like professional chefs.
posted by mumimor at 11:27 AM on September 28 [4 favorites]
And also: do you have friends over regularly or rarely? Would you like to see people more?
And does food economy and health matter to you?
Another valid answer could be: practice. Years ago, I hated chopping onions, and chopping just one took what felt like ages. Now I barely give it a thought and it takes no time. I guess this is why recipe writers always underestimate prep-time. The same goes for more sophisticated issues. A simple sandwich will be more delicious if you have some good buns in your freezer, ready to warm in the toaster oven, and homemade pickled red onions and/or cucumbers for toppings rather than the store-bought stuff. It isn't hard to do, but it requires training your mind to think in that direction.
That all said, let's start with the gear. I feel it makes a big difference wether you have a dishwasher or not. If you have one, bring in the gadgets! If not, be very selective and strategic.
Regardless, you need good, very sharp knives. As a minimum, a paring knife, a medium-sized knife like a santoku, a serrated bread knife and a chef's knife. You also need a vegetable peeler, and not only for peeling. Sharp knives that are fit for purpose are the simplest shortcut, because they make all the prep-work far easier and thus faster.
I would also recommend a pressure cooker or instant pot. You asked about sautéing the elements first, and someone above replied correctly that it is unnecessary in the pressure cooker. In other appliances it will vary between recipes. If you need to save space, a stovetop pressure cooker can function as a normal pot when you need that.
Even in a small space, most people can fit in an immersion blender, and most of them come with add-ons like a mini chopper, which is really useful for finely chopping smaller portions of herbs, alliums and nuts. If you have the space and dishwasher, a food processor is your friend who can handle your whole soffritto/mirepoix in seconds. IMO, store-bought frozen chopped onion is fine, but carrots and celery don't freeze nearly as well, so for many things. the machine is more helpful than the freezer. Food processors have slicers, too, for your dauphinoise potatoes, tians and other sliced veg stuff. With less space, a small mandolin will do the job.
I mentioned in the mise thread linked above, that for me, mise en place is necessary for cooking Asian food because wok cooking is fast. If you feel similarly and have a dishwasher, get those little glas bowls they use on TV. Very useful.
You probably have one already, but a salad spinner is very useful too.
Finally, I mostly bake my own bread, so I can know what's in it. But I wouldn't be doing that without a stand mixer. If you don't bake, you won't need it.
Now to the store. There are some things that are almost better bought frozen because of how the distribution systems work: spinach, English peas, string beans, edamame beans, chicken broth, okra, all the berries outside their season, chicken liver, fish (unless you have an excellent fishmonger), pre-baked sourdough pizza crust (not finished pizza), and probably more things I've forgotten.
Onions and kale are fine frozen, though not better than fresh, as are chunks of mango and chicken thighs and wings.
Obviously, all these frozen foods are easier and faster to cook with than fresh produce.
Canned beans, chickpeas and lentils are all fine from cans. If using in a stew, I don't mind sweet corn from cans, either. Some brands are better than others, and this depends on where you live. I prefer the Bonduelle brand here in Europe. The Spanish jars of beans and chickpeas are even better than those you can cook from scratch. I don't know how they do it. But they are pricey, too. It's very easy to cook from scratch in a pressure cooker, but I still keep an assortment of canned beans etc because it makes spontaneous cooking easier.
Obviously, tomatoes are great in cans and jars, too. And a huge variety of seafood.
With all of the above in your pantry and freezer, you can make healthy and tasty meals in minutes. Though you will need some oil, vinegar, pasta, rice, salt and pepper and herbs and spices. The dried herbs I keep are oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and sumak. The spices are: nutmeg (whole), chili flakes, paprika, turmeric, cumin, saffron and cinnamon. I buy ready made pastes for curries at the Asian store, as well as harissa in a tube. I have fresh parsley, cilantro, basil and dill, I don't think they are worth buying dried. You should also always have lemons. When you season with dried herbs, add them early in the cooking process. Fresh herbs at last. When you season to taste at the end of cooking, before serving, use salt and pepper -- and lemon juice and a fat, like butter or olive oil.
Speaking of taste, a lot of things are up to your personal taste. I strongly dislike jarred and granulated garlic (and onion powder). To me, they all have a metallic taste. But who cares what I like if I'm not there? If it works for you, do it! That said, there are a lot of dishes that are heavy in garlic but don't really need to be. Italians use far less garlic than you'd think, judging from recipes online and American-Italian restaurants. One example that causes a lot of controversy is garlic in spaghetti carbonara. Another is garlic in risotto. These dishes don't need garlic at all. Ragu bolognese doesn't need garlic, but is much easier to make in a pressure cooker.
Authenticity is a complicated term, and not in itself an indicator of good value. But recently I've been trying a lot of old home-cooking recipes from all over Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and India, and I've noticed that they are often far simpler than modern recipes, while still really tasty. It makes sense: people had primitive kitchens, maybe just an open fire or two gas burners and access to a communal oven. They didn't have long countertops and four knives, and absolutely no fridges. So maybe one approach to "shortcuts" in cooking would be to cook more like our great-grandmothers and less like professional chefs.
posted by mumimor at 11:27 AM on September 28 [4 favorites]
Re: jarred garlic, it always tastes a little sour to me. When I was an international housesitter I bought a half kilo bag of dehydrated minced garlic, and would rehydrate as needed. It doesn't take very long at all to rehydrate - mix it with a little water first thing when you start prepping, and it's ready by the time you need to throw it in the pan. It doesn't have the sour taste of jarred garlic, it keeps a lot longer, doesn't require refrigeration and is a lot lighter in weight than hydrated garlic.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 6:53 PM on September 28 [1 favorite]
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 6:53 PM on September 28 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for all the tips! It is good to hear different perspectives, too.
posted by NotLost at 7:25 PM on September 28
posted by NotLost at 7:25 PM on September 28
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i always take as much time as possible with food preparation: chopping & peeling veggies well goes a long way
posted by HearHere at 9:44 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]