Ask HN: Hackers who cook

Stir-fry random is a miracle.

I'm answering you because geeks and cooking are a great combo - everyone should give it a serious try at some point.

1) I love cooking. I'm (mostly) vegan, and I get a better diversity of food by doing it myself. It's more cost effective. My food is more healthy, and I'm a far better cook than the average food you get at a cheap restaurant (and the expensive ones are just that. :). Add to that that my kid has some digestive allergies -- but I cooked when I was a single omnivore, too, but only 5 days/week instead of 6-7.

2) Half and half. Big meal components get planned on weekends so that I only have to shop once per week. Sides, veggies, salads I replan dynamically based upon what's in the fridge and what looked good at the store.

3) If you read through Veganomicon, World Vegetarian, Vegan Eats World, and some random Chinese and Indian cookbooks, plus a little bit of Julia Child, you'll have it nailed! :)

4) I'm vegan, family's not, but no - just no meat/dairy.

5) Practice. Force yourself to accept restrictions on how and what you cook with -- try cooking vegetarian, vegan, every cuisine of the world. Read the food science texts, too, because understanding why things work gives you room to experiment. Experiment. You'll f- it up. That's ok, it's still edible.

Learn to chop efficiently and get a really sharp, appropriate-weight (for you) chef's knife or santoku. You'll love yourself for it for the time it saves doing prep.

The stuff about mise en place? IT's RIGHT. Unless you're in a crazy hurry, prep first. Buy some little prep containers to hold things after you prep them. It'll cut your mistake rate in half. Have everything assembled and then start. (Note: I violate this rule at least once per week, but it's when I know what I'm doing already and am in a rush and don't mind if I skip something minor.)

  1. Both.  We don't save a ton of money as we tend to buy mostly from local organic farmers (except for buying 5 lb boxes of blueberries for 20 bucks, etc.)
  2. Yes and No.  We cook for the majority of the week on sundays.  So we'll cook 3 or more large-ish meals (with enough leftovers).  That means most nights are simply up for reheating or some sort of finishing.  One or two weeknights i'll do something else as well (fire up the grill, put something in the sous vide in the morning, etc.)
  3. Yes.  Seriously.  We'll try to cook anything and everything.  We tend to try to cook based on season (so now that it's fall there's going to be lots of root veg...probably lots of braises, stews, soups, etc.).  I like to grill a lot as it's simple and makes most things taste great (really lets the ingredients shine).
  4. Nope.  Wife is pretty paleo.  Kiddo (2 yrs ish) eats everything except potatoes.  Weirdo.
  5. As most have mentioned brush up on knife skills and keep 'em sharp.  Beyond that I think it depends on what you're trying to optimize.  If you're trying to cut down on prep time, etc. then learn to make things in bigger batches and / or things that take very little time (a quick pizza will take 15 mins with a decent dough...boom..some bocconcini...some olive oil or pesto...in the oven...pull it out and toss on some prosciutto and arugula and a couple pinches of salt.  Melt in your mouth ridiculous).  Beyond that I tend to to get into trying to make something perfect (for me) over time.  My latest kick was chicken pot pie.  I can honestly say mine is the best I've ever had (and I make it a point to try it at any fancy places).  Granted I probably cooked around 2 or 3 dozen of 'em trying little differences.   Anyways..those are 2 different optimizations...optimizing for prep time / yield and optimizing for taste.  There are also in betweens...like sous vide techniques..which can knock out both of those.

Cooking is like startups..don't be afraid of failure. Worst it'll cost you is a couple bad tastes and a couple bucks (salmonella and cross-contamination aside).

1)

- because it's fun, and I really like to eat what I cook

- cooking for a girl and being told it tastes good is one of the things I live for

- it's the only occasion where I can eat really well.

2) typically I recognize a nice occasion or it catches my whim a few hours to a day before the act.

3) a big-ass stir-fry, with or without a bit of meat

4) no

5) cook simple

Cooking great dishes for people you love is the one of the best things you can do to express your feelings. I have an Italian bloodline, and remember my "nono" saying that you should always try to eat, drink and breath well - how can you live well doing such essential things carelessly?

Start with simple recipes for dishes you like. After some time you will start to mix recipes and get creative. Just use the fresher, top quality ingredients you can find and you will probably do well. Try to grow some vegetables, nothing like fresh herbs and condiments.