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The Sad Bastard Cookbook

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Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#251
post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you mention this appliance by name? Also, what are some fun recipes?

I got the actual Instant Pot. This is my second actually, I got the one that also does air frying. It's a great purchase. Get some cheap protein that needs to cook for long, get some vegetables, brown the protein a bit (can be done in the Instant Pot), add chopped vegetables, salt, spices, and a little water; pressure cook for 1 hour. Shorter version: add meat, add vegs, add water, turn on. You can get fancier as you…

> You can get fancier as you learn, but stews are my favourite food because they require cheap ingredients, and with the instant pot I don't even need to take care of it while it cooks. Toss everything together and turn the thing on. It has a timer and a keep warm function, so you can literally fill it in the morning, and come back from work to a warm pot of stew.

This is the main issue I have with my model: it won't let you stew for more than 30 minutes at a time. It's a huge PITA to come back to it and start it again, since you can't just go out and about your business and leave it to do its thing.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With an Instant Pot, an induction burner, and a toaster oven you can make anything that would require a normal kitchen, just in smaller portions (as in, you aren't cooking a whole turkey or a giant casserole).

On that note, I've been wondering about the recent hype about "air fryers", which - best I can tell, after looking into it repeatedly - are basically countertop, underpowered version of fan ovens that have been, in my life, a standard appliance in every kitchen I've ever seen. But maybe it's a sign of worsening economical prospects of the generation - people no longer own, only rent, increasingly worse quality apartm…

Not so much underpowered, but rather faster heat, higher fan speed and smaller (so proportionally higher powered but only useful for smaller portions). That makes it more convenient for many people than a regular convection oven. Not to say they are not over hyped, but they have their niche.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#253

The trick for me is to apply engineering to the kitchen. You can actually enjoy really elaborate meals if you simply make more each time and utilize pyrex+freezer. Why make only 6 servings of spaghetti when there's still 50% free space available in your instant pot? (that 'max fill' line is but a polite suggestion :D) Planning ahead, logistics, etc. can make all the difference in the world. Imagine spending one hour…

"Imagine spending one hour in the kitchen to only feed yourself one time. That would be peak insanity to me today." YMMV. For me, spending time cooking is a great way to take a break from my computer and spend time away from a screen. And like showering, the process of cooking is now mechanical enough that it allows me to focus on broader tangents in whatever I'm working on and set myself up for the next session of c…

One thing I've noticed: cooking for myself and my parents feels like less of a chore than cooking only for myself. That's a big part of why, for just myself, I'd rather cook up a big batch and freeze portions for later, aside from recipes not always scaling down well.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#254
post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, we did try to outright ban alcohol and make it illegal. It just didn't work. If people in mass acted towards any drug like they did with alcohol, they'd cave. See: Marijuana

In Iceland they do a good job largely banning alcohol.

According to Wikipedia their ban lasted 7 years before they legalised wine, then another 13 years before they legalised everything except strong beer, and during that period they had substantial smuggling and illegal brewing.

Is that info wrong?

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#255

The trick for me is to apply engineering to the kitchen. You can actually enjoy really elaborate meals if you simply make more each time and utilize pyrex+freezer. Why make only 6 servings of spaghetti when there's still 50% free space available in your instant pot? (that 'max fill' line is but a polite suggestion :D) Planning ahead, logistics, etc. can make all the difference in the world. Imagine spending one hour…

[deleted]

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#256

Any non-wealthy single person faces an uphill battle to both 1. earn a living 2. take proper care of themselves. In the Middle Ages people invented a rather neat solution for this problem: go live together in a big building, work together, pray together, cook together and call it a monastery.

Nowadays you can join a commune, shared appartment (Wohngemeinschaft) or multi-generation home.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#257
post #116

I just canceled my HelloFresh subscription, because the meals took too long to make, occasionally some ingredients were missing or wrong, I had no space to store all the ingredients that were delivered, and I hated the amount of cleanup I had to do afterwards. This cookbook is exactly what I need.

Protip: you can cook things like pasta, roasted veggies, etc ahead of time, say a weeks worth, and store it in ziploc bags in your fridge. Just head a portion in the microwave to eat. It cuts down on work (including dishes) hughley and tastes just as good, or on the case of the roasted veggies, better.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#258

When It's really bad I just buy multiple costco rotisserie chickens, some frozen veggies, put food on plate, microwave, cover in sauce, eat. Add in premier proteins, fit crunch, and clif builders and you can shop for like 2 weeks in a single run and not die. My "I cant be bothered" template is the following. is essentially pick one from each category * 1/2 LB (225g) veggies * 1/2 LB or 1 fruit * 1 protein * Caloric l…

Recommendation: Gado gado sauce from Indonesian (and some Malaysian) supermarket. Comes as a small square/rectangular brown block. Might be called gado gado salad dressing, bumbu kacang, sometimes sambel pecel. It's a block of pre-cooked peanut/satay style sauce that you add to some hot water, stir, and serve. Fragrant, hints of lime, good for unexpected vegan guests.

Delicious! Well worth having in the cupboard, keeps for a ~year. "Pedas" is spicy (ie. hot chilli), "tidak pedas" is not spicy, and "sedang" is medium (in that context anyway). Common export brands are Karangsari and Enak eco.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#259

Any non-wealthy single person faces an uphill battle to both 1. earn a living 2. take proper care of themselves. In the Middle Ages people invented a rather neat solution for this problem: go live together in a big building, work together, pray together, cook together and call it a monastery.

We had other solutions for a while too: get married and have one person do the more-than-fulltime job of homemaking. But that role disappeared because corporations needed more cheap worker-units and politicians needed more GDP, so they rode each others' coattails to eliminate that role. With each homemaker now a worker-unit, there are twice as many worker-units but employee costs are the same, household income is the…

>and have one person do the more-than-fulltime job of homemaking.

After many years of denying this would be better for us, my wife and I have recently decided that one of us (maybe her, probably me) will focus full-time on the kids and house. A big shift after 20 years of working, but we’re looking forward to it.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#260

When It's really bad I just buy multiple costco rotisserie chickens, some frozen veggies, put food on plate, microwave, cover in sauce, eat. Add in premier proteins, fit crunch, and clif builders and you can shop for like 2 weeks in a single run and not die. My "I cant be bothered" template is the following. is essentially pick one from each category * 1/2 LB (225g) veggies * 1/2 LB or 1 fruit * 1 protein * Caloric l…

>Would love recommendations for other sauces that allow me to squeeze a nationality of cuisine over my template to make it taste like that country's food (kinda). Yeah I got you: We're going to use two different basic techniques. The first is extremely simple: throw everything into a blender and then blend until your desired consistency (normally smooth). Mexican: Combine tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, lime juice, an…

> Call it stovetop simmering.

Here's another simmer sauce that I came up with (I'm not sure this one could really have a nationality):

(American customary measurements)

* 1.5 oz. honey [44 ml]

* 1.5 oz. lemon juice

* 5 oz. white wine (pinot grigio is a good choice) [148 ml]

* 2 tsp. powdered ginger [10 ml]

Mix until the honey dissolves, and use it in the simmering.

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