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Ask HN: got any food hacks?

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Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#91

Post by mattmaroon »

PostOnce wrote: post #89
phugoid wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amen. Cooking is an investment. The more you cook, the better you get at it; the faster and tastier the results. And the more you cook, the healthier you will eat overall (at least if you're living in North America). As for hacks, here's one. Take semi-prepared food, like macaroni & cheese in-the-box-with-the-faux-cheese-powder-in-the-paper-pouch, and augment it. The basic recipe is written on the box and fool-proof.…

Isn't it strange to talk about cooking being an investment, and healthier eating in one sentence, and then recommend a way to prepare mac & cheese in the next?

Especially the kind made out of cheese-tasting chemicals.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#92

Post by bhseo »

You can use miracle fruit (or miracle berry) to make sour/bitter things taste sweet. It binds to your tastebuds for about half an hour, during which sour things will taste quite sweet. You could suck on a lemon and it will feel like sweet lemonade. It's a good way to cut down on sugar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#93

Post by btilly »

The trick is called advance planning.

Similar to the "whole bunch of meals" I remember a fellow grad student who would cook a large dish every Sunday, then parcel it out into meal sized portions which he would then freeze. He always had meals from multiple weeks in there, so he could microwave chili, lasagna, stew, etc, whatever he felt like.

He did this with a normal sized freezer, but it was a well organized one.

Personally I'm fond of pancakes. I always cook more than I need, put the excess in the fridge, then microwave one when I want a pancake. See http://www.recipefiles.org/view_user.php?user=ben_tilly for some of the pancake recipes I make. Particularly with the buttermilk, I find that the pan gets hot in the same time it takes me to make the batter, and cooking from scratch tastes a lot better.

You'll also find there something called "Daddy's chicken". I do that as a marinade in the fridge. Many marinades are surprisingly fast to cook. You just prepare them, let them sit in the fridge, then the next day pop them into an oven and come back when they are done. Sure, it takes 40 minutes to an hour of cooking time. But that is wall time, not your time.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#94

Post by edj »

rjett wrote: post #30
edj wrote: post #29

A few of things I do: 1) Leftovers. I often cook chili, dal, chana masala, or soups in large quantities. I eat them fresh, then from the fridge for a day or two, then freeze the rest. Anything flavorful and goopy works (since textures degrade with freezing and reheating). 2) Rice cooker. Most useful kitchen appliance I've ever owned. They really are fire and forget. I bought mine for $13 at target. It only has one bu…

Regarding #3: I've found that blending the boiled down onions, celery, [and carrots] into your stock after boiling it makes a much better base.

If you like a thicker broth, go for it. My preference is to consider that first round of veggies as flavor enhancers.

When I cook thicker soups I blend, e.g. with butternut squash soup, I always blend the sauteed onions and garlic, as well as a portion of the squash.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#95

Post by armandososa »

Well, I think I'm going to advocate tacos. The best thing about tacos is: they are easy to make and can be filled with just about anything.

Take one or two hours off the weekend you can cook nice meals for the rest of the week. Cook some meat wit tomato sauce, fry little potato squares with some olive oil, grill some chicken steaks. Also grab a can of beans, some cheese (mozzarella or oaxaca for better results) and of course good tortillas.

That's it. You can have an infinite variety of tacos for each day of the week.

Dude, this thread made me hungry.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#96

Post by huhtenberg »

samdk wrote: post #15

Couscous. It's cheap, cooks really quickly (about 6-7 minutes), makes no mess, and requires no dishes other than the pot it's cooked in. It's also really versatile. I often use it instead of rice in simple rice dishes (rice and beans, etc.), and it can substitute for pasta too.

The absolute best couscous recipe is the one from Jamie Oliver. Basically throw in some shallots, garlic, spices and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. It is mind-bogglingly good.

http://www.lovelyrecipes.com/recipe.php?recipeid=3460 - the recipe

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#97

Post by huhtenberg »

aw3c2 wrote: post #90
mmaunder wrote: post #77

You need the Julia Child Omlette! All you need are eggs, water, butter and a hot pan and it takes 3 minutes and tastes awesome! The water is the trick. When you whisk water and eggs together, as they hit the hot pan the water turns to steam and fluffs the eggs up. I've made this many times and once you get the pan shaking and timing right, you will impress the hell out of your friends every time. http://www.youtube.c…

I use a drop of milk for my delicious omelette. Maybe it's the same effect. Add a bit of rosemary and curry and it tastes even better.

It is hard to beat a Gruyere and thinly sliced ham combination :-P

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#98

Post by bluesmoon »

I'm a geek living alone and working long hours. I like to eat healthy. I treat cooking the same way I treat website optimisation... iterate till I get it right, and I blog about my cooking experiences (at least the ones that work) at http://food.bluesmoon.info/

The food's good enough that I can invite people over for dinner every now and then. Some of it takes time, but my stirfrys and salads are all under 10 minutes preparation time.

I went from being 20Kg overweight to 8Kg overweight.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#99

Post by JesseAldridge »

jackowayed wrote: post #66
JesseAldridge wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My list is similar. Healthy, cheap, and dead easy to prepare. 1. Cereal and milk 2. Oatmeal 3. Rice and beans - You have to soak the beans overnight before you cook them - After that, you cook them with rice in a rice cooker - After they're cooked, mix in some frozen vegetables and cook for a while longer to thaw the vegetables - Some kind of sweet and sour sauce is good with this 4. Noodles (all kinds) - You can als…

You can make pasta in a rice cooker? Do you just stick the noodles and water in and check it periodically until they're done?

I use a rice cooker that you stick in the microwave.

This one, to be specific: http://www.amazon.com/Maxi-Aids-Microwave-Rice-Cooker/dp/B00...

13 minutes works for spaghetti in my microwave.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#100

Post by fbailey »

oh god, don't hack food... it's not worth the saved time. Just learn to cook, good food is cheap. I make dinner for friends all the time 5 courses and the cost per person is 5€ if I want. Preparing good pasta never takes an hour, a simple rice dish is fast, you can cook nearly everything with very little preparation time, it's just a matter of training. So don't hack food hack your food preparation skills. It's like buying something like this http://www.stimrx.com/instead of finding a a better way to exercise. If you learn to cook well, you will be able to do it without concentrating on it, so it's not lost time. Now imagine how long you are going to eat.. 60 years for every day? What would you do with every other kind of work you have to do for that amount of time? How long did you need to learn driving? Or to learn to programm?

And don't believe anybody who tells you with some kind of powder and some nutrients you will be perfectly healthy, if the research into nutrition has shown anything it's that the system is pretty complex and the only safe bet is a mixed traditional diet.

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