Last week I admitted to using Parmesan from a can, and there were shocked murmurs. I know, I know - it is shocking. It got me thinking, though, about the cooking compromises each of us are willing to make.
While I am willing to satisfy my Parmesan addiction with bottled flakes when I run out of the real thing, I draw my personal line at commercial pasta sauces. I can't remember the last time I used one. Also, I absolutely will not use a boxed cake mix, since making a cake from scratch is just too easy. And yet, I've been known to crack open a can of Betty Crocker fudge frosting now and then. A friend does just the opposite: she'll use a cake mix, but always makes her own frosting.
This is part of cooking at home on a budget in a fast-paced world. While we work to resist the marketing machine that tells us to stop cooking altogether and just pop a frozen dinner in the microwave, there is a realistic limit to how much we each can do on any given night. Part of becoming a consistent cook, for me, has been learning where to pick my battles and how to spend my time so that cooking every night becomes accessible and creatively rewarding - as opposed to long and daunting. I find great pleasure in learning how to make more pantry staples from scratch, but there are some nights when I am just going to open that can of curry paste instead of reaching for the spices.
There are certain compromises we're each willing to make for reasons of budget, health, or time - and others that will never seem worth it. As we head into this busy season of late nights and holiday shopping, what are yours? Got a good kitchen shortcut or product tip to pass along?
And on the flip side, what shortcuts will you never, ever take? (Or admit to taking, at least...)
For me, the line in the sand is canned cream of mushroom soup. I will never add this stuff to anything and call it a sauce. Ever. And yet, sadly, according to the New York Times' food section this past Wednesday, the newest edition of Joy of Cooking is now reduced to this instead of teaching cooks how to make real sauces.
Of course, the previous edition published some ten years ago was pretty much universally seen as inferior to the edition it had replaced. That's why in our kitchen, you'll find an old, food stained, falling apart copy of that older edition held together with a fat rubber band.
My compromises tend to be caused by the fact that my daughter needs to eat, too--either she's hungrier than I am and I need to do something fast, or it's not worth cooking what I want but what she won't eat.
I often use frozen vegetables, especially leafy greens -- kale, collard greens, etc. -- to save myself all the washing and chopping. I once had someone openly scoff at me for my... laziness, I guess, for using these.
However, I can't even remember the last time I used a bottled salad dressing. My mom thinks this is insane.
not to pick on my mom, but i found the funniest thing in her pantry last time i was home: bechamel sauce mix. i can't even begin to imagine (a) how that could be possible, and (b) how that could be easier than a real bechamel.
i refuse to buy instant oatmeal, hamburger helper, or any other kind of meal-in-a-box (except the occasional mac-and-cheese, for a nostalgia kick).
i like frozen veggies when fresh ones are out of season. also, since i live alone and usually just cook for one, i can use what i need and keep the rest in the freezer--less waste. i also use store-bought stock all the time (i never generate enough meat scraps to make my own).
otherwise, i make my own stuff when i have time, or buy it if i don't. boils down to that.
Why does everyone slag on the 1997 joy of cooking. I bought that copy when I moved out on my own and it is a champ. I miss that is doesn't have a jam chapter like my mom's, but it has everything else else I have wanted to learn the basics about.
As for short cuts, I figure if it's still healthy and tasty it's okay to take them.
Hmmm. I'm going to sound like a total freak because we cook nearly every thing from scratch, all the time, no exceptions (from pickles to pumpkin pie). I keep a pretty well stocked larder, so emergency dinners are things like an omelette and good bread, or smoked sardines and sliced onions on bread or something like that.
My favorite quick winter meal isn't really a short-cut, but it's fast, tasty, and good for you without being obnoxious about it. Leek and potato soup via Julia Childs. Take equal amounts in weight of potatoes and leeks. Split the leeks lengthwise to the root (but don't cut through it) and trim off all the really tough yellow or faded green leaves (but leave the green green leaves alone). Rinse your split leek under water to get the dirt off the leaves, roughly slice it to the root, peel your potatoes and roughly chop them. Put in a pot, nearly cover with water, add some salt (more then you think) and simmer until everything is soft. Use a stick blender (or not)to give it a smooth texture. Put in bits of vegetable you have lying about and want to use up if you wish, or enrich with cream or milk. You can also use chicken stock instead of water but it isn't necessary. Tasty stuff.
regards,
trillium
Having finished university a while ago, I've moved well beyond the insta-meals of hamburger helper, lipton sidekicks with added frozen veggies and the ever-present packages of instant noodles (with frozen veggies and an egg added).
But when stomachs are growling and time is short, I take a frozen pizza and add toppings; there's never enough anyways. Any small quantity leftover ingredients: the one bell pepper, the 5-6 sad mushrooms, deli meat...all with some basil, oregano, hot pepper flakes and a generous layer of cheese. Little muss or fuss.
I cannot understand under what circumstance anyone would used canned minced garlic instead of the real thing.
I found out something interesting at a cooking course I took recently - the powdered parmesan in a can is actually finely ground rinds of parmesan - you know, the waxy part. Its not real cheese, but Im sure we all assumed that already...
the shortcut i use that i cannot understand why people scoff at is... a garlic press
i love my garlic press!
sometimes, i really want pasta with olive oil and garlic, but i dont feel like chopping it up b/c i've just spent 12 hours at work, so i just pull out my garlic press, press the garlic into my bowl, pop the hot pasta on top, season and add a glug of olive oil
instant comfort food with very little wash up
i just dont get why people feel the need to scoff at them! they're handy
and i love jarred spaghetti sauce for the same reason, but i always jazz it up with, pressed garlic, some balsamic vinegar and whatever other goodies i have in my pantry
i think garlic press dissers are haters yo ;-)
My staple shortcuts are boxed chicken stock, jarred pasta sauce (though I'll often doctor it up with onions and ground beef), yellow cake mix, frozen spinach, and the occasional pre-packaged pie crust or puff pastry. I used to use the pre-packaged fajita spice mixes all the time, but have slowly gotten away from that habit. I have no problem using box cake mixes for yellow cake--I don't think I've ever had a homemade yellow cake that tastes quite right to me.
I really think you have to pick your battles, especially if you love to cook and also have a demanding job. There's just not enough time to do everything from scratch. So for me, homemade stock isn't worth it. And while homemade pastry might be better than storebought, my version of homemade pie crust is terrible. But homemade salad dressing, or guacamole, or most sauces? I can do it easily, and well, and it's absolutely worth it.
This feels shameful, so I have to preface: I love to cook, I cook nearly every meal, I am a firm believer in cooking from scratch and in mincing your own garlic. Whew. That said, I have used the following things with great relish:
-frozen peas
-boxes of chicken stock (as someone else mentioned, I don't really come across chicken bits)
-instant oatmeal
-pie crust (I get the ones at whole foods, it makes a fresh baked pie insanely easy)
-bags of baby carrots (I know, how hard is it to peel and cut up your own carrots? Hard, apparently)
There are probably others, but those are the biggies.
Oh yes, and I also have a tin of curry that I use pretty regularly.
My hands-down favorite 90-second meal are the Annie Chun's udon soup noodle bowls: I can have a lovely, healthy dinner in the time it takes to boil water. I buy them in bulk for the times when I'm too busy to cook but not quite exhausted enough to pass out without eating anything.
I also doctor jarred pasta sauce with veggie sausage, garlic, olive oil, cream, and/or vodka: I'm really, really pick as to the consistency of my tomatoes, and it's the least-fussy way to get my preferred texture.
Oh-- I didn't want the "mincing your own garlic" comment to be seen as hating on the garlic press. No judgement.
I'm guilty of using jarred, minced garlic. I know it's weird -- I make everything from scratch, but I just don't feel like I have time to peel garlic. Where I come from, garlic comes powdered, usually mixed w/ salt, in a plastic jar!
For those who love the cheese in a can, check this out (it's significantly better, but still in a can!)
http://www.bertozzi.com/product_detail.asp?lang=eng&ID=245
Working full time and living with a chronic illness which comes with serious physical pain and fatigue, cooking everything from scratch is simply not always an option. My shortcuts:
-I love Trader Joe's pasta sauces, but I usually doctor them up.
-Pre-made tamales
-Bread. I buy my gluten-free bread at the store. I intend to buy a bread machine soon, though.
-Frozen peas.
-Occasional Tasty Bite pre-made Indian food for when I really don't have the physical ability to cook
-Boxed chicken broth
-Frozen gluten-free waffles
-Curry pastes
I for one am a devoted follower of the "semi-homemade" movement. Neither my husband nor I get home from work most days until at least 9 and "everything from scratch" is usually not an option if we want to eat and digest our food before we go to sleep. I'm a big fan of adding fresh corn and cilantro to the boxed corn chowder, ginger or other spices to the boxed butternut squash soup, etc. I proudly wield my jar of Ragu (yes, I said Ragu) sweet basil and marinara sauce (with frozen basil cubes from Trader Joe's) and I can make a mean paella in 15 minutes. That said, there is no replacement for fresh produce, nor for freshly baked bread (the latter of which happens here maybe once every other month...sigh).
Between working, volunteering, going to school, staying healthy, and seeing friends (along with all the other commitments of a modern life), I don't think that using certain convenience foods to streamline the cooking process is something over which anyone should feel any shame. I use jarred pasta sauce (though, like most of you, I make my own additions), boxed chicken broth, frozen peas (I find that, unlike most vegetables, petit pois freeze reasonably well), and "baby" carrots.
On the other hand, I don't use pre-made anything when I'm baking, though that's largely because I only bake when I have the time to do it properly. Personally, I'd rather buy a dessert from a good bakery than use a boxed cake mix or a pre-made crust if the issue is time (or a lack thereof).
Not all of us have the luxury of time, and I'd rather commit the (apparently) cardinal sin of using the odd convenience ingredient if it means not getting take-out again.
I find it much easier to use a yellow cake mix than to actually bake a cake from scratch -- my cakes always turn out dry, and it's frustrating. But I'm with your friend: frosting is easy to make and always better, to me, than canned stuff.
I stock up on Thai Kitchen soups packages. I add some miso, spices, veggies/mushrooms and onions, it's a complete meal in under 10 minutes.
jarred tomato sauce? not a fan. but personally, would rather have an olive oil, garlic & herb "sauce".
Ahhhhh, frozen veggies. Actually, they can be pretty good--good for you too. I'll sometimes cook some frozen spinach [cut leaf, rather than chopped, if I can find it] and drain it thoroughly, squeezing water out of it in the collander by pressing on it with a fork. I'll put a little olive oil [or butter, if I'm feeling decadent] in the now empty pan and sauté some minced garlic just until it's fragrant, then stir in the spinach and warm it up a bit. Voila! The lazy man's way to sautéed spinach.
I'll also add frozen spinach to my heavily doctored pasta sauce [yeah, I use it too].
And I just discovered another frozen vegetable that stands up to freezing quite well--whole frozen okra. Cook it at the short end of the time range and it will be plenty tender--and delicious.
I'm a fan of frozen veggies to have on hand for a quick meal (with pasta and jarred sauce!!!) when your crisper is empty.
The frozen veggie that I avoid is ASPARAGUS. Doesn't hold up well in the freezing process at all.
Interesting. It sounds to me like some of the jarred sauce people are spending more time on your doctoring then I do on the "scratch" stuff. I'd call what you're doing cooking! Some of my favorite sauces only have a couple of ingredients besides tomatoes. My "go to" sauces are amatriciana, butter and onion or or non-tomato ones like garlic, anchovies, red pepper and broccoli or kale.
We work 9-10 hour days, but most nights I find cooking the most relaxing part of the day. Over the years I think I've become pretty darn fast at certain things like mincing onions and garlic. That, and the fact that there are two of us doing the cooking, means dinner is on the table in under an hour. I can completely understand that not everyone wants to spend that time in the kitchen, and I certainly wouldn't ever consider using a convenience item a cardinal sin!
Oh, and except when they're in season locally, I always use frozen corn and peas, canned or jarred tomatoes, and canned coconut milk.
happy cooking (er, or eating),
trillium
Frozen vegetables for sure, especially the ones (for instance, broccoli) where it is not important to buy organic. I also cook up a couple of Stouffers meals each week (lasagne for my son, sometimes french bread pizza for hubby and I).
The things I never compromise on are chicken (must be at the very least antibiotic free), milk (has to be rspt free, which includes Farmland), strawberries and yogurt. Also we always eat organic grains, because we have a wonderful health food store close by (Perelandra) where the bulk organics are pretty much the same price as non organics.
Should have been RSBT free.
i love this question--and everyone's responses. i don't cut many corners bc when i bother to cook, i cook (ah, takeout always looms as a friendly option). but i do use boxed (free range) chicken stock, and canned crushed tomatoes when making a winter sauce, i spose. my pressure cooker made cutting corners so much less essential!
Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes and any other MG Organic tomato item is tops on my list of convenience foods I'll use. Organic boxed chicken stock is second. I buy locally line caught, canned albacore and, occasionally, frozen prawns which I know are a no-no so I'm trying to wean myself from them. And my husband couldn't live without canned organic re-fried black beans.
Organic free-range boxed chicken broth is a staple in my kitchen. So are cream of [blank] soups. Yeah, yeah, muy horrible, but I rarely have milk on hand.
My favorite convenience is the frozen garlic cubes from Trader Joes.
Because I hate to peel garlic, I can't seem to get the garlic press to work for me, and it really tastes as good as fresh garlic.
I cook so much I have to buy a box a week!
I love it. Saves my doctored sauces, my scratch Indian food, and even a wilting bunch of greens if I want to save them at the last minute.
Oohh, what a lovely confessional we have going on here!
I second boxed chicken stock and canned diced tomatoes (as a pasta sauce base and for soups). For quick, easy meals, Trader Joe's is my hero. We stock up on their frozen dinners every time we go--healthy, quick, and yummy. I'm going to have to check out their frozen basil. My basil plant recently decided it wasn't going to even TRY to see me through the winter and I miss it already.
What brands of frozen veggies do y'all like? I've been pretty disappointed with bland, over-cooked veggies whenever I've tried them. I've only ever bought Jolly Green Giant frozen corn.
I'm a scratch cooker too (my notion of convience food is pre-peeled fresh garlic cloves) but I'm down with the canned tomatoes and frozen veg. I have a long term pizza crust that is good enough to make me cry, but will settle for a frozen French Meadow crust of Boboli if necessary.
However, what's up with all the boxed broth? Wanna know a secret? Making broth is about has hard as making tea and soooo much better.
I'll make a batch, boil it down and freeze it. Then for my desperation dinners I have options like risotto or ravioli floating in broth if I have 20 minutes instead of five.
I guess in general, my approach is that building a freezer with things like broth and tomato sauce or building a batch of carmelized onions takes some time while I'm reading the Sunday paper...but means a high flavor wallop that I can use on long work days to throw something together.
I use frozen peas all the time but I cannot STAND canned. In fact the only canned vegetables I can deal with are corn and tomatoes. Everything else, Eeeewugh.
I use boxed brownie mix if I have to make those, but it's seldom I do.
I buy pre-made salsa a lot of the time.
I never buy garlic that's not fresh. It doesn't save that much time, and I think it's a big difference flavor-wise.
I will not eat pre-made guacamole. Mine is way better.
Amber, I'm with you--I won't even look at sotre bought guacamole. This is probably because my fmaily is mexican, and I grew up on it--but guacamole is so easy and so much better with fresh ingredients. Same thing for salsa.
And DEFINITELY same thing for tamales. I cringe over the canned ones. I don't even like restaurant ones--I miss my grandma's so much.
I always just thought I had a fetish for the way canned frosting and cake mix tasted. I know some cakes and frosting are easier--but yellow cake and chocolate frosting--I could not do anything like that, ever. And it always beats a cake bought at a supermarket.