Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cooking and frugal

that would be known as clarified butter after the ayurvedic tradition

Mutant — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:23:49 -0800

So I made ghee and bombed. I made ghee but things didn't turn out as planned. I'm left with a brownish mixture that won't set at room temperature, a concoction with a strange, granular texture and rather off putting taste. Not ghee like at all.

I suspect two points of failure: first, my filter didn't properly separate out milk proteins as needed. But that is easily fixable next time around.

But secondly while boiling the butter I perhaps allowed the milk proteins to carmelise a little bit too much, as manifested by black, not brown dairy residue, both left in the pan as well as mixing in with my faux ghee, destroying it's taste as well as colour.

Any tips or pointers newbie ghee cooker? I've seen enough recipes to think I'm executing the process correctly, but I blew it when I should have stopped boiling.

Other ghee makers - how many times did you have to try before you were producing a standard product? Anything else I cook (muffins, puddings, bagels, cakes, casseroles, etc) I can crank out time and time again. But ghee seems very process & temperature sensitive, at least much more so than anything I've cooked in the past.

I realise that making ghee is an exercise in both paying attention and being patient. I think I just let the ghee heat for a little bit too long, but I'm not totally sure.

I spent a month in India in 2005 and want Mrs Mutant to acquire a taste for ghee like I did while there, but as its a little pricey at stores here in The East End I'd like to make it myself.

Ghee goes well with pretty much everything, and now that I've got a little time freed up, making ghee is top of my to-be-acquired-skills list.

Any tips from consummate and polished ghee makers would be appreciated.

Summertime and the livin' is easy but damn that weather is changeable.

Mutant — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:49:08 -0800

Since London's fickle summer is in full swing, I need recipes for dishes that can be eaten either hot or cold. I do all the cooking at home and have a few stock recipes which adapt well to changeable weather; in other words, dishes that can be eaten either directly out of the oven or chilled then consumed, as ambient dictates.

At times its too damn hot to eat warm food, but then its not uncommon for the evenings to get so chill we need to get warmed up a little (it went down to 9C at night a couple times last week). Trouble is, I tend to plan out the meals a week in advance and would rather not have diet and my kitchen time dictated by London's changeable weather.

So I'm looking for dishes we can eat as we like. Today, for example, I'm making baked beans for dinner which is very suitable - bake for four hours, then since its a little humid and gross, chill for later. I've also got a couple of macaroni casseroles in my repertoire but am looking for other dishes.

Veggie preferred, but if they contain meat we'd rather this was a fractional additive like the ham in baked beans.

How to master ________ cooking on a tight budget?

Picklegnome — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:52:52 -0800

I need to eat cheaply. Can I do so while extending my cooking ability in a specific direction? What cuisines, categories, or focuses can my home cooking pinpoint while living on a budget? Just in case this isn't clear: are there types of foods, foods from specific regions, etc., that are generally low-cost while having a fair amount of breadth? Or is this a dumb question - do all cuisines have consistent scales that more or less overlap of low to high cost food?

Yuletide Christmas bagels

Mutant — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:05:54 -0800

Home made bagels. Christmas bagels actually. Mrs Mutant loves the bagels I've made using a variation of this recipe, and the price is certainly right (plain, about three pence each direct cost). Before baking I've dusted my bagels with confectionary sugar or chocolate chips, both of which have been received as well as good old plain (I always make mixed batches).

We're hosting kin for Christmas and as I'm doing the cooking I'd like suggestions on how to dress up the bagels into a food suitable for breakfast on the day itself, or Boxing day or pretty much anytime during the holiday period.

Fresh Ideas For Living Well In a Recession?

toomuchkatherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:14:28 -0800

Who has interesting ideas about how to live, travel, dress, and eat frugally during a recession? I've become quite obsessed lately with the recession and the things people are doing to weather it. I'm working freelance and, for now, close to my own subsistence level, so it's timely that the rest of the country is starting to wonder how to live well on less, too.

The other day, I began looking around for blogs that are specifically dedicated to cooking for the recession/new-great-depression/financial downturn we're in, and was surprised not to find much.

I *know* there have to be people and websites out there that have innovative lifestyle ideas for these troubled times. But what are they?

Proper Lasagna consists of RED & WHITE sauce, not PINK.

Mutant — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:10:51 -0800

We love lasagna. But my white sauce mixes with my red sauce and it all ends up looking pink. I'm using a rather basic lasagna recipe but consistently have been frustrated by sauces mixing together. It seems to be happening during cooking to some extent, but cutting portions and serving doesn't help much.

While the mixing doesn't effect the taste, my lasagna is rather unsightly compared to professionally prepared portions.

What can I do to keep the sauces as distinct as possible? It seems that professionally prepared (i.e., restaurant) lasagna has distinct layers of white and red sauce, separated by the pasta itself. Mine tends to mingle, almost to the point where I'm ending up with, at times, a pinkish sauce.

I'm not sure if it is caused by my sauce recipe or technique, but it has happened both with meat and veggie lasagna. The filler for either is as follows :

Meat: 1 lb. browned ground beef
Veggies: 1 lb of coarsly chopped broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, celery, green lettuce, all raw

Here is my red sauce :

Chopped onion, one large
Garlic, four cloves
Salt
Pepper
Tomato paste, two cans

This is generally prepared once a week in a large batch that I use for multiple dishes, lasagna included. Sometimes I'll make and use the sauce immediately, other times I've frozen and reheated it, but this hasn't changed my results.

If I'm making meat lasagna I'll mix it (after browning separately) with the red sauce otherwise, I spoon out red sauce, then cover with the veggie mix.

And my white sauce, which remains the same for meat or veggie lasagna :

Munster cheese
Four tablespoons butter
Four tablespoons of flour
Two cups of milk

I melt the butter, then add in salt & pepper. Blend in the flour then cook over over a low flame for two minutes, finally adding milk. Bring mixture to boil and let boil for two minutes.

Technique:

Parmesan cheese on the bottom, then some red sauce (if veggie then layer chopped vegetables on top of red sauce).

A layer of lasagna pasta sheets, more parmesan, then white sauce.

This is repeated three times in total, with red sauce and more parmesan topping off the lasagna.

Bake and serve.

I still don't have good control, and end up with the sauces mixing. Does anyone have any tips on how to insure that the layers don't intermingle too much? The professionally prepared portions that we get at a restaurant are much more visually appealing (and I seem to recall my great grandmothers as having sharp, distinct layers as well).

Thanks for your help!

More muffins more muffins more muffins!

Mutant — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:14:43 -0800

I can make apple muffins, banana muffins, and carrot muffins. So what else can I muffinise (oh, did I just invent a verb there)? I've gotten my recipes and technique down to the point where I can make, on demand, dozens of very standardised apple, banana or carrot muffins and that's great. But I wanted to expand my repertoire (and our diet) somewhat.

So what other fruits or vegetables can you recommend I include in my next batch of muffins? If it helps, my basic recipe (makes 18 muffins) is :

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup melted, unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners sugar (for topping muffins pre-bake)
2 large eggs
1 cup plain (or sometimes different flavoured but always rather light e.g., peach, vanilla, etc) yogurt
1/2 cup milk

Either Apples, Bananas or Carrots to suit, coarsely chopped (four Apples), mushed (four to six Bananas) or grated (six to ten Carrots).

On a whim I'll toss in 1/2 cup of either choco chips, walnuts or raisins (all faves of Mrs Mutant and I sorta like them as well). Technique involves the usual first prepare dry, then wet ingredients separately, then mix shortly together before the oven. I'm using paper muffin cups seated in a non stick pan as well.

Many thanks!

On the hunt for the tantalising and elusive French Croissant

Mutant — Mon, 26 May 2008 06:17:36 -0800

Recommendations for French Cooking courses in London or Paris? I'm taking a year off work, and one of my self improvement goals during this period is to markedly improve my cooking skills. I cooked in a diner while taking my undergraduate degree, make all our meals at home and don't have too much of a problem with a range of baked goods - e.g., breads, cakes, cookies or muffins - but French croissants are (still) frustrating me somewhat.

Thanks to folks taking the time to answer my previous question, I've managed to improve my product somewhat, but my croissants are still noticeably flat compared to bakery offerings, lacking lightness and distinct, multiple layers i.e., some of my layers collapse into each other.

I'm aware there are different styles for learning, and it would appear I'll have to see the process of croissant banking in order to reach my goal. I've watched several videos which were interesting & helpful, but I'm apparently lacking critical feedback on technique which would help me markedly improve my croissants. As my Grandmaw taught me to cook at a very young age, I undoubtedly acquired more basic cooking skills the same way.

Can anyone recommend a French pastry course, preferably lasting one week or less, in London? Paris would be acceptable as well, and while I realise this would sharply increase the range of courses available, would have to be taught in English.

Many thanks!

You can take the boy out of the farm but you can't take the farm out of the boy

Mutant — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:36:46 -0800

Best practices on home canning? So much to the amusement of Mrs Mutant, I've laid in about a dozen tomatoe plants, five Broad Bean vines, ten Bell Pepper plants and five Cucumber plants. I'm also planning to plant some potatoes and onions.

As we live in London and our flat is located on land with a history of industrial use (and I'm too cheap to pay for an evaluation of the earth in our garden) all planting is being done in 47cm pots. From the bottom we've got rocks, sticks, earth, compost, with the seeds in the compost.

I should be able to start harvesting in about two months, but wanted to get some ideas about best practices for home canning. I'm ashamed to admit that back on The Farm my grandma canned frequently but, as I was more interested in cartoons, I didn't absorb much more than cutting, boiling and bottling.

From reading I realise that cleanliness is key, and further, that tomatoes appear to be the safest (due to acidity). If things go well, we should have a large quantity of those to be canned.

Can we combine the tomatoes with other vegetables? I was hoping that perhaps the acidity would help with other vegetables that might be troublesome on their own.

What combinations, if any, can we make from what we're planning to plant? Or should we focus on canning vegetables individually?

Finally, what about fruit? We can get very cheap deals on seasonal fruit from street markets but I've read the sugar makes this a relatively riskier undertaking. Does anyone have a view on canning fruit?

Many thanks!

My homemade ice cream gives homemade a bad name.

Mutant — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:56:02 -0800

A big problem and a small problem with my home made ice cream ... I need some tips and pointers on home made ice cream. Specifically, I've had inconsistent results across two dimensions - clumping, or the creaminess (more properly lack of) of my ice cream, and layering of fruit.

After much trial and error, I've settled into this basic recipe:

6 egg yolks
3 cups single cream
1 cup sugar (granulated)
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
Juice from a small lemon (fresh squeezed)

As we can get reasonably priced Spanish strawberries this time of year, my most recent attempts have me using 400g (maybe one half a quart) of the fruit. I puree about half, and split the remaining strawberries down the middle, but will cut again if necessary to render all pieces no larger than 1/2".

Over low heat, I whisk the egg yolks, ten tablespoons of the cream together than add sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. I continue whisking until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, all the while careful to keep the heat in check (i.e., avoid boiling). I try to let this cook for about ten minutes or so.

At this point I then add the remaining cream and strawberry puree, and continue whisking until the mixture thickens significantly. Then I add the remaining strawberry slices.

I freeze in a stainless steel bowl for between two to three hours (this part of the recipe is still changing) and we then consume immediately.

Here are my problems:

Big problem - The ice cream is very inconsistent in terms of thickness; sometimes almost soupy, other times it thickens up too much. Is this normal for homemade ice cream? The variance in batches is frustrating me somewhat (Mrs Mutant is a champ, and never complains!) as I'd like to at least have a repeatable process.

Small problem - Fruit - it all seems to end up on the bottom, at least the pieces. Is this just the nature of the product? I can't seem, for the life of me, to get uniform distribution. I've tried freezing the mix for a period of time then adding the heavier pieces, but still I end up with most - if not all - of the fruit chunks on the bottom of the ice cream. What are you folks doing to get a uniform distribution? I've tried mixing after freezing but before serving, but sometimes its difficult to even spoon out, let alone mix (see 'Big Problem' above).

I'm using this recipe each time as I'm trying to get a standard product. I'm eager to add flavours to my repertoire, but seems I'm having difficulties with the basics.

Any tips or suggestions welcomed. Willing to change recipes as well.

Thanks for your help!

Eat 'em before they get mouldy!

Mutant — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:44:51 -0800

Why do my banana muffins go so mouldy so quickly? I was a short order cook while working my way through my Undergraduate degree, so since marrying Mrs Mutant I've taken on responsibility for cooking our meals. I particularly enjoy keeping the house full of cakes, breads and muffins.

However I've been frustrated by mould rapidly appearing on some of my muffins. Although this sometimes happens in as little as three days, its very inconsistent in terms of time, and I don't understand what's causing it.

I made several dozen carrot muffins (we juice a lot and muffins are a good use for the pulp) that never developed mould over the two plus weeks it took to consume them. Same thing for apple muffins over a one week horizon. Last Sunday, however, I made two dozen banana muffins, several of which developed mould in three days while in sealed a plastic container, which was never opened (there were plenty of other muffins to be eaten). Other batches of banana muffins moulded in less than a week.

Thinking it was perhaps the self raising flour, I've switched brands, twice now. The recipe I'm using is pretty basic (proportions & actions left out for brevity) :

Bananas
Honey (we avoid processed sugar)
Olive oil
Milk
Eggs
Butter
Self-raising flour
Salt
Cinnamon
Walnuts

I've tried a couple of brands of different self-raising flour with the same results. Perusing the labels I haven't noticed any preservatives listed. We live in London - is it possible the ingredients don't detail a sufficient level of granularity, and the flour does indeed contain preservatives?

Even so, I'm very puzzled why only my banana muffins mould. I can purchase three dozen ripe bananas for two pounds (after a little negotiating) at a London street market, so I'd like to continue to use this cheap fruit for muffins. But it's only my banana muffins that go bad so quickly.

Any suggestions?

Pass me the homemade bread.

lucyleaf — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:06:11 -0800

What parts of your cooking do you strictly DIY? I'm looking for more ways to incorporate "doing it myself" into my cooking. Do you make your own snack mix? Make cookies instead of buying them? Make your own vanilla extract? Make your own liquers?

Can you offer any tips for foods or drinks or edible treats that are easy to do yourself but most people buy?

Better with age

Mutant — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 22:33:57 -0800

Why does my tomato sauce taste so much better the day after? I'm a frugal sort and purchase economy brands whenever possible. To the bottled sauce I buy I typically add garlic, a couple of sliced tomatoes, olives, a couple tablespoons of kosher dill pickle juice, pesto, a dash of red wine (usually a Shiraz) then boost the volume by about 50% with cold water.

Then I reduce the sauce back to it's original volume by a slow boil and serve over (economy, of course) pasta shells with grated cheese and olive oil.

Both GalPal and I have noticed that the sauce markedly improves upon a second heating, usually a day later. We generally don't make enough to last more than three days, but when we have we both agree the sauce is even better on the third day. The difference is so pronounced that I've taken to making a batch Friday evenings when we're going to be eating home over the weekend, so we'll can consume after a single days "ripening" for want of a better word.

From a rudimentary googleing we suspect something in the sauce is oxidizing, but what? Any tips on controlling or perhaps even improving the process? Bonus points if you can explain this in simple monosyllables a banker like myself would understand.