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Food When was the last time you cooked for yourself?

Discussion in 'Tilted Food' started by Taliesin, Aug 24, 2013.

  1. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    An aside but most of the "30 minute" recipe cookbooks I've seen are bullshit.
    The recipes would take 30 minutes if you had a sous chef to do the washing, prep and cutting/chopping along with the clean up.
    Otherwise forget the 30 minute part of it.
     
    • Like Like x 4
  2. Taliesin

    Taliesin Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    Western Australia
    My life has certainly changed since i begun this thread all those years ago.
    The mining boom in Western Australia ended and there is no more need for drillers & exploration people to live out in the bush. Thus, i no longer travel around Australia setting up caravans for them. So these days i'm working a job in town and coming home each night. I'm also living with someone now.
    My SO cooks a lot of the time. She cooks and i do the dishes. I reread my original posts and i said i hate dishes. I don't anymore. I can happily do dishes every day while listening to something on the TV. (music or a tv series)

    We eat a home cooked meal pretty much every night although it's been almost 2 weeks since i've cooked. We're the kind of people that make our decisions about dinner during the day and we go to the supermarket almost every day.
    We try to keep it pretty healthy with fresh vegetables or salad and meat being our most common meal. Chicken fillets, steak, lamb chops with roast or grilled vegetables.
    Once a week we make pasta dishes or stirfrys, my SO likes Chinese soups but we live in a tropical area and don't make soups that often.

    We do eat out at restaurants/cafes, mostly for brunch but sometimes dinner, and we get pizza or kebabs occasionally as well.
    As for the title question...
    I'm off to the shops now to buy something that i'll cook tonight
     
    • Like Like x 2
  3. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Depends on my mood...but I cook quite often.
    But lately I've been going out more to get out & about with people after working remote at home.
    So, if I cook...I'm doing it for lunch.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    I cook nearly every day, unless I'm on the road. Sometimes just for myself, sometime for my SO as well. I usually only eat two meals per day, and some days I cook and eat both meals at home. Gasp!:eek:
     
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  5. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    I do most of our weeknight cooking. MW doesn't travel or have many overnight stays away from home, so I can't recall the last meal I actually cooked just for me. When I do, what I decide to cook depends on my/our recent eating habits. It's really no big deal, I'll usually cook the normal amount of food as though MW was home; we'll just have extra leftovers.
    --- Double Post Merged, Apr 25, 2017, Original Post Date: Apr 25, 2017 ---
    Don't forget making sure you actually have the necessary ingredients.

    I hate trips to the grocery store for just a couple of items, even though I could easily walk to two local grocery stores.
     
  6. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    I just made Cook's Illustrated's Best Quick Tomato Sauce, which comes in at about thirty minutes, and so much better than the jarred or canned pasta sauces. It's also a great base for "doctoring," and I often add mushrooms, veggies, Italian sausage or changing the spices adding fennel, rosemary, or the like.
    However, I don't trust Cook's recipes for foods that should have some "kick." They seem overly sensitive to hot spices, often listing what seem like miniscule amounts of things like chiles. I would never trust a chili recipe that comes out of Boston.:rolleyes:
    Some recipes also seem overly salted, but maybe that's just my taste.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  7. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    In the process of doing so now.

    Having friends over for dinner. Smoking a brisket flat, pork shoulder, and some baked beans.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    Shoulder is about 8lbs, so it is already on. Brisket flat is small, so it'll go on in an hour and a half or two hours.
     
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  8. POPEYE

    POPEYE Very Tilted

    Location:
    Tulsa
    Every day, all the time. Cooking is therapy, and I really don't enjoy restaurants as I do my own clean kitchen.
    I deboned a chicken and cooked it down into stock just 2 days ago. After refrigeration and skimming the fat I made soup with vegetables and rice. So good.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  9. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I did a big meal prep ahead of camping. Since I have been back, it was my birthday, so we went out quite a bit. But I'll be back cooking for the two of us today.
     
  10. martian

    martian Server Monkey Staff Member

    Location:
    Mars
    I didn't cook yesterday, because Magpie did. I cooked the day before. @snowy would probably be intrigued to know that I made omurice. Because she is a weeb, and apparently I am too.

    Tonight I'm cooking veggie burgers.

    Until very recently I cooked almost every night. Magpie has graciously volunteered to take up some of the cooking duties so it's not just me anymore.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  11. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    Now I want omurice. So yummy.

    I made a corn, black bean, and quinoa salad, as well as sesame soba noodles. Both are pretty tasty.
     
  12. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    Do you mean that your make chicken stock without using the bones?

    I always make stock with whole chickens (or pieces) and then strip the meat off of the bones.
     
  13. POPEYE

    POPEYE Very Tilted

    Location:
    Tulsa
    I meant to say, I baked and deboned a chicken. I use the bones and drippings with water to make stock, plus any and all vegetable scraps that I may or may not have. @Lindy I try to use and store all foods, no waste is always the goal. And better flavour
     
    • Like Like x 1
  14. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    I'm forever puttin stuff away in the freezer to use later for soup. Sometime I pull it out much later and scratch my head and think "now what the hell is this?"
     
  15. Japchae

    Japchae Very Tilted

    I have a bag of veggie scraps now that I add to until the gallon baggie is full. Then I buy a rotisserie chicken and make stock from the bones and use the meat in the soup. I've cooked a lot in the past two weeks.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  16. redravin

    redravin Cynical Optimist Donor

    Location:
    North
    I do it everyday but pretty much hate cooking for myself so it tends to involve just searing a steak or making sausage & peppers.
    When I cook for other people I will go all out but for myself, I can live with a burrito heated in the microwave.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  17. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I love cooking for just myself. I made a full English breakfast for myself this morning. I will regularly make a dish with just me in mind, especially if my husband is gone. Then I get to roast whole chickens and try the reverse sear method on a steak. I've also smoked ribs while he's been gone :)
     
    • Like Like x 1
  18. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    When my partner is out of town and I'm cooking solo, I will sometimes sear a nice thick ribeye in a very hot skillet, seasoned, and in a little oil. I'll take it out of the pan seared, but still rare, cut it (more or less) in half, cut one of the halves in half and put each of those in a ziplock and stick them in the fridge or freezer.

    I put the larger piece back in the skillet, flip it once or twice, then plate it and let it rest for the time it takes to eat some green salad or fruit. Sometimes I'll have veggies (broccoli, asparagus, wilted kale, etc.) with the steak, sometimes not.

    Then I'll use the small pieces for another meal or two. They're rare enough that I can chase one across the grill or a hot skillet just long enough for a little warmth; and to make it about medium rare. And one of those is just the right size for breakfast or a steak salad.:)

    Guffaw! You sound kind of like a "meat-aholic" hiding your addiction from your disapproving family until you're alone.;)
    But I know that you're just respecting husband's vegetarian sensibilities.

    By "reverse sear" do you mean warming the steak in the oven before searing? I've only tried that once, and it did not end well. I must have left it in the oven too long; because by the time it got a good sear in the pan it was cooked into the medium-well range.:( Not inedible, but not what either of us likes.

    I've also tried preheating the skillet in the oven and then using high heat on the stovetop to sear. That worked perfectly.:)
     
    • Like Like x 1
  19. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    Lately we've done a lot of reverse searing with steaks, usually ribeyes. I'm a big fan, but there are some things that are kind of necessary for it to be successful IMO.

    First, you have to have a fairly thick steak. I usually only reverse sear something over 1" thick. It's possible to do less, but the margin for error is smaller. Then, put the oven on a very low setting, I use around 180-200*. Next, make sure you've taken the steak out of the fridge a few hours before hand, so the internal temp can come up a little. As the steak is cooking in the oven, monitor the internal temp very closely. Sometimes I'll use my smoking meat thermometer to have instant readings in real time. Other times I'll use a quick read thermometer, checking it frequently once it gets over 85* or so. It's not going to hurt anything if you are opening the oven door a lot like it would baking.

    When the temp gets right around 100-105*, I'll pull the steak out of the oven and let it rest. At this point I'll crank up the stove top as high as it will go and put either some high smoke point oil, or just some plain butter, in it. Expect lots of smoke, so depending on your home set-up, it may be good to open some doors, turn on fans, or whatever you do to keep the smoke detector from blaring. :D Let the skillet get very hot, so it is consistently smoking. Then throw the steak in there and let it sear. Usually I'll do 60-90 seconds on each side for a thinner (~1" or 1.25") steak. Longer for a thicker one. If it is a very big steak sometimes I'll sear one side, let it rest for 2-3 minutes while the cast iron skillet gets really hot again, then sear the other. I'll also hold it sideways in between to sear the edges. During the searing I'll throw another thin pat of butter on top as I sear each side. And at this point you can either check the internal temp again with a quick read thermometer, or by feel if you are experienced with that.

    These pictures aren't the best, but this post gives you an idea of what I end up with after all that: What's For Dinner Tonight?

    :)
     
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  20. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    tuesday... wife and daughter were at the barn and ate before they left. i got home and made mac and cheese