On August 13 2013 02:10 XaCez wrote: I'm moving out in a few months and need food advice, give me.
buy spice rack, but don't overpay for spices. chicken is always a nice choice of protein, very flexible, can cook tons of stuff with it. always have eggs, and milk in stock, as they're key ingredients in a lot of dishes. always separate meats the second you bring them home, so you can freeze them in small chunks
Biggest thing is planning out your meals for the week out ahead of time so you can buy appropriate amounts of groceries. Otherwise you end up eating like chicken parmesan for 12 meals straight because you bought too much cheese.
The other option is to buy food that comes with more preservatives (American cheese is all preservatives and so keeps in the fridge for months) or canned/frozen groceries rather than fresh ones (canned also means saving on prep time). The trade off is it doesn't taste as good.
Always have the basics at home, depends a bit on what you like though but a combo of frozen meat/frozenveggies/milk/rice/pasta/potatoes/spices/eggs/oils/onions makes sure you can always make something nutritious. I'd strongly recommend experimenting like crazy with cooking though. Learning how to cook some nice dishes is great for you (you get to eat them) and an awesome way for cheap ass dates. Getting something to store prepared food in is nice as well. If you're busy or just don't want to spend time cooking every day you can just cook once every other day.
Started Sharin no Kuni Himawari no Shoujo all this 'obligation' stuff is very weird, not a fan of these law systems but guess I'll start to like it as I play it through.
On August 13 2013 04:34 ticklishmusic wrote: On the other hand, chicken is hard to cook well. It's healthy and flexible, but it gets dry very easily and is kind of flavorless-- remember, when people say something tastes like chicken, they actually mean "oh it doesn't taste like shit, actually it doesn't taste like much of anything, meh".
I find a problem with a lot of meats these days, especially chicken, is how producers/whoever like to add water to it. It makes the meat look juicier, and also makes it weigh more. That meat you got for like $1.99/lb? I'd say maybe 1/4 of that price is actually water. So keep an eye out of the "water added" label. There's a lot of all-natural, no preservatives, never frozen stuff now, but added water is kind of an issue.
The added water causes another problem. First, it excretes a ton of water when you pull it out and let it defrost or sit. Also when you cook meats (apart from boiling) what you WANT to be doing is cooking it in its own fat and oil, which sounds delicious (but totally unhealthy). When you cook a meat that has added water, it means that you're basically boiling it. Doesn't matter if you're frying or grilling chicken breast on a pan or grill, if there's high water content you're basically steaming it. And it will come out not delicious and tender and grilled, but it will taste like slightly burnt boiled chicken.
For example, this is how steaks work. You buy a steak, slap it on the grill. It's pretty good, but doesn't taste like restaurant quality. Now, if you bought yourself a nice Angus whatever whatever at the grocery, your meat is actually probably better than the steak at like Outback or something. Why does it not taste as good? Well, because it wasn't aged. Aging is a process by which the water content is removed from the beef-- if you look at aged beef, that's why it looks like an Egyptian mummy. The steak you cooked yourself is basically half boiled in water, which is why its tough.
You can get around this problem pretty easily. First, use Kosher or sea salt (or something pretty coarse) and liberally salt the steak. You can add other spices here as well. For every inch of thickness of the steak, you need to leave it out for an hour. After the time has passed, take the steak and pour of the juice (there should be a decent amount of it), wash off the salt and other crap and then pat it dry. Then cook your steak. It will taste much better.
The above process works alright for pork. Chicken breast takes a little longer because it already has really low fat/oil content (usually you want to brine it). I've only ever marinated and baked thighs.
Marinating basically does the same thing to meat. It's basically all based on concentration gradients (yay high school chemistry). The salt and other stuff in the marinade generally does the same thing to get rid of some of the water, and it also helps "relax" the meat.
After reading this I would take you out on a nice respectable man date and even call you afterwards. No homo
Edit: I'm trying to get back into the fitness routine, stopped going to the gym after I moved up north for my new job and have been putting it off. I bought some work out things and really want to go but seshing Netflix has been so much fun
protip about chicken: dont buy chicken breasts. white meat has less flavor than dark, and the thickness of the cut means that you have to cook it longer (resulting in dryness), and it's harder for flavors to penetrate to the center. What do you buy instead? chicken THIGHS. smaller, easier to cook, more flavor, and crispy skin is delish. it's also fattier so you just trim off some of the fat.
On August 13 2013 05:03 caelym wrote: protip about chicken: dont buy chicken breasts. white meat has less flavor than dark, and the thickness of the cut means that you have to cook it longer (resulting in dryness), and it's harder for flavors to penetrate to the center. What do you buy instead? chicken THIGHS. smaller, easier to cook, more flavor, and crispy skin is delish. it's also fattier so you just trim off some of the fat.
White meat is fine, it's a matter of learning how to cook it. Also lean protein is always good.
I may be wrong, but I feel that white meat is negligibly healthier. So I see no reason to not go with the tastier and easier to cook thighs every single time.
On August 13 2013 05:09 caelym wrote: I may be wrong, but I feel that white meat is negligibly healthier. So I see no reason to not go with the tastier and easier to cook thighs every single time.
Breasts so cheap sometimes. Have had plenty of times gotten chicken breasts for a 1$ lb.
Also, buy a slowcooker/crockpot, plenty of easy meals to be made with it.
On August 13 2013 05:09 caelym wrote: I may be wrong, but I feel that white meat is negligibly healthier. So I see no reason to not go with the tastier and easier to cook thighs every single time.
Breasts so cheap sometimes. Have had plenty of times gotten chicken breasts for a 1$ lb.
Also, buy a slowcooker/crockpot, plenty of easy meals to be made with it.
easiest meal ever, rice + chopped up sausage (any kind you want) + frozen veggies into a rice cooker. Add soy sauce afterwards to taste.
On August 13 2013 05:09 caelym wrote: I may be wrong, but I feel that white meat is negligibly healthier. So I see no reason to not go with the tastier and easier to cook thighs every single time.
Breasts so cheap sometimes. Have had plenty of times gotten chicken breasts for a 1$ lb.
Also, buy a slowcooker/crockpot, plenty of easy meals to be made with it.
easiest meal ever, rice + chopped up sausage (any kind you want) + frozen veggies into a rice cooker. Add soy sauce afterwards to taste.
Best sausage is the dried chinese pork sausages with garlic and stuff inside. So nommmy.
On August 13 2013 05:14 Kenpachi wrote: so awkward having your ex girlfriend on your lol friendslist. ...
My friend had to put his gf on ignore list so she couldn't see if he was online while he was doing ranked.
On August 13 2013 05:08 SnK-Arcbound wrote: Good, so I'm not a freak for prefering drumsticks/thighs to breast.
Thank god there are others out there.
Also, OWB, I think the pen makes some people immediately assume what you're talking about is both relevant and sagely. If I were you and saw someone new on the GD, I'd screw with him an ungodly amount.
On August 13 2013 05:08 SnK-Arcbound wrote: Good, so I'm not a freak for prefering drumsticks/thighs to breast.
Thank god there are others out there.
Also, OWB, I think the pen makes some people immediately assume what you're talking about is both relevant and sagely. If I were you and saw someone new on the GD, I'd screw with him an ungodly amount.
Haha when I first started writing I didn't even think I'd get a pen so I figured post count was the next best thing xD I mean it's not just spam in the LR threads, there's real discussion too. Nice mix I'd like to think.
Edit: Also I'm clearly always relevant and sagely hue.
On August 13 2013 04:34 ticklishmusic wrote: On the other hand, chicken is hard to cook well. It's healthy and flexible, but it gets dry very easily and is kind of flavorless-- remember, when people say something tastes like chicken, they actually mean "oh it doesn't taste like shit, actually it doesn't taste like much of anything, meh".
I find a problem with a lot of meats these days, especially chicken, is how producers/whoever like to add water to it. It makes the meat look juicier, and also makes it weigh more. That meat you got for like $1.99/lb? I'd say maybe 1/4 of that price is actually water. So keep an eye out of the "water added" label. There's a lot of all-natural, no preservatives, never frozen stuff now, but added water is kind of an issue.
The added water causes another problem. First, it excretes a ton of water when you pull it out and let it defrost or sit. Also when you cook meats (apart from boiling) what you WANT to be doing is cooking it in its own fat and oil, which sounds delicious (but totally unhealthy). When you cook a meat that has added water, it means that you're basically boiling it. Doesn't matter if you're frying or grilling chicken breast on a pan or grill, if there's high water content you're basically steaming it. And it will come out not delicious and tender and grilled, but it will taste like slightly burnt boiled chicken.
For example, this is how steaks work. You buy a steak, slap it on the grill. It's pretty good, but doesn't taste like restaurant quality. Now, if you bought yourself a nice Angus whatever whatever at the grocery, your meat is actually probably better than the steak at like Outback or something. Why does it not taste as good? Well, because it wasn't aged. Aging is a process by which the water content is removed from the beef-- if you look at aged beef, that's why it looks like an Egyptian mummy. The steak you cooked yourself is basically half boiled in water, which is why its tough.
You can get around this problem pretty easily. First, use Kosher or sea salt (or something pretty coarse) and liberally salt the steak. You can add other spices here as well. For every inch of thickness of the steak, you need to leave it out for an hour. After the time has passed, take the steak and pour of the juice (there should be a decent amount of it), wash off the salt and other crap and then pat it dry. Then cook your steak. It will taste much better.
The above process works alright for pork. Chicken breast takes a little longer because it already has really low fat/oil content (usually you want to brine it). I've only ever marinated and baked thighs.
Marinating basically does the same thing to meat. It's basically all based on concentration gradients (yay high school chemistry). The salt and other stuff in the marinade generally does the same thing to get rid of some of the water, and it also helps "relax" the meat.
After reading this I would take you out on a nice respectable man date and even call you afterwards. No homo
Edit: I'm trying to get back into the fitness routine, stopped going to the gym after I moved up north for my new job and have been putting it off. I bought some work out things and really want to go but seshing Netflix has been so much fun
That would be my first date in like a year and a half. #foreveralone
On August 13 2013 05:03 caelym wrote: protip about chicken: dont buy chicken breasts. white meat has less flavor than dark, and the thickness of the cut means that you have to cook it longer (resulting in dryness), and it's harder for flavors to penetrate to the center. What do you buy instead? chicken THIGHS. smaller, easier to cook, more flavor, and crispy skin is delish. it's also fattier so you just trim off some of the fat.
While it is true that the white meat has less taste than the dark meat and that breasts are easier to overcook than thighs it's not quite as simple as 'you have to cook it longer therefore it becomes dry'. What dries out meat is not so much water evaporating over the cooking time but rather the proteins in the meat contracting as a result of heat and pretty much squeezing water out. If cooked to a temperature of say just below 70C (I normally aim for roughly 65 which will kill off just about any microorganisms that might be there if held at that temperature for like 2 seconds) you will have a quite moist and delicious breast. Easiest method of achieving it is probably quick sear in a hot pan and then into the oven on a relatively low temperature until the desired temperature is reached.
Also the reason why thighs don't overcook and dry out as easily is because the moistness in the thighs come in part from the fat and the collagen that breaks down to gelatin. This is pretty much the same reason as to why pork butt doesn't dry out when cooked for 10h on a bbq, or why ribs stay moist even after long cooking times. And the collagen is the reason why if you were to cook those cuts to 65C it'd be terribly chewy because none of the collagen would have turned to gelatin. Also the fat would likely not have melted and it just wouldnt be very nice.
The tl;dr is: get a thermometer, never eat dry meat again
EPT
