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I think probably the cheapest tastiest cooking in the world is french provencial. Basically french peasant cooking. You have to work really hard to make veggies and basic herbs taste like a complete meal. Get yourself a copy of 'The Complete Robuchon', it has a range of recipes in there from 'I have a potatoe and an onion' to 'I shot a boar this afternoon'. It's easy to follow for a complete novice, and goes into enough detail for you to really develop your skills. A lot of the recipies also use the cheaper cuts of meat.
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Mar 4, 2012 23:20
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Eggie posted:Anyone know any recipes for cheap marinade? My meat-cooking needs an upgrade. RareBrit posted:I think probably the cheapest tastiest cooking in the world is french provencial. Basically french peasant cooking. Get some bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and rub them with garlic, salt, olive oil and herbes de Provence. (Pick up this herb blend in the bulk section at the fancy market. It has thyme, savory and lavender among other things, is cheap, and is also excellent on popcorn with grated Parmesan.) Set aside. Roughly chop some tomatoes (you can use pretty mediocre tomatoes for this and it'll be fine), shallots or onions, some more garlic, and pitted olives -- Nicoise are authentic but green or Kalamata work great too. Toss with olive oil, salt and more herbes de Provence, dump into a roasting pan, pour over a few glugs of white wine, arrange the chicken skin-up on top and bake at 425 until chicken is done. You don't need anything with this but bread, and it's really very good. VVV Oh yeah, I only ever marinate for an hour tops. Listen to this person if you like to leave your meat overnight or anything. spite house fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Mar 5, 2012 |
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Mar 5, 2012 06:48
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spite house posted:Soy sauce, pressed garlic and black pepper is all you will ever need. Maybe with a sweet element, like pineapple juice, for pork. Careful with the pineapple juice. It tenderizes so if you marinade it for too long, you get mushy meat. A good non-tenderizing substitute for a long marinade is apple juice.
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Mar 5, 2012 06:55
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I know I am a little bit late with all this, but I think a great place to buy spices and other dry goods is amazon. This is all of their spices, they have a lot of variety, and some of them are great deals(I just copied the url from my browser... it was real long, so I made a tinyurl for it.) I have bought a lot of my basic bulk spices, dry goods, and cereal from their for a while now, it works pretty well. v- yea but it just looked weird as gently caress when I was posting it. Colt Cannon fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Mar 5, 2012 |
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Mar 5, 2012 19:48
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Colt Cannon posted:This is all of their spices, they have a lot of variety, and some of them are great deals(I just copied the url from my browser... it was real long, so I made a tinyurl for it.) I have bought a lot of my basic bulk spices, dry goods, and cereal from their for a while now, it works pretty well. Definitely looking into Amazon for spices as NYC is too expensive. Also, I don't think the length of the url matters in the url tag here on the forums?
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Mar 5, 2012 20:09
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Also, I just thought of this, if you eat a lot of sandwiches, try to mix your various condiments. Like right now I am eating a sandwich, and the sauce I have on it is honey mustard sriracha. It is amazing, and so easy to make. http://youtu.be/7yEP8LCka3M After I do that I will take a little bit off of that batch, then add honey and sriracha to taste. Also the awesome thing about making your own mustard, is the fact that you can truly make it however you want, and make boring sandwiches into awesomeness. I normally have about ten to twelve little mason jars of mustard, each with different spices, herbs, beers, or whatever in them. The difference in using a mustard based with beer, and then using one based on jalapenos is pretty extreme.
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Mar 5, 2012 20:33
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Colt Cannon posted:Also, I just thought of this, if you eat a lot of sandwiches, try to mix your various condiments. I don't even like mustard and that sounds awesome.
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Mar 5, 2012 20:46
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I'm going into super poverty mode (like I've got $2 in the bank until the 16th) and will post updates on how it goes. I've got a few staples on-hand (flour, olive oil, spices, a sauce or two), but my refrigerator is broken and my landlords are lazy, fat assholes who are dragging their heels to replace/repair the thing. This adds some obstacles, but nothing that I can't overcome, I think. Tally-ho! 
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Mar 5, 2012 20:58
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scuz posted:I'm going into super poverty mode (like I've got $2 in the bank until the 16th) and will post updates on how it goes. I've got a few staples on-hand (flour, olive oil, spices, a sauce or two), but my refrigerator is broken and my landlords are lazy, fat assholes who are dragging their heels to replace/repair the thing. This adds some obstacles, but nothing that I can't overcome, I think. Refuse to pay rent till you get a working Fridge, that might be in your lease agreement.
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Mar 5, 2012 21:04
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Doh004 posted:Definitely looking into Amazon for spices as NYC is too expensive. And I just realised that although I was RIGHT THERE in Subzi Mandi yesterday, I forgot to buy cardamom. Again. Damnit all. I got a huge fuckoff big bag of pistachios for $15. If you don't mind the broken pieces, cashews go for $4.45 a pound. I can get a litre of coconut oil for $6. They carry chickpea flour for around $1/lb. Rice flour is like $0.75/lb. Beans are generally $1/lb - $1.25/lb. Fresh ginger was like 2 lbs/$1. Cilantro was three GIANT bunches for $1. Lijjat Papad (my favourite brand) was $1/pack. Japanese eggplant was $1/lb. It's ridiculous how cheap everything was. Go to Jackson Heights.
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Mar 5, 2012 21:27
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dino. posted:If you go to Subzi Mandi or Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights, Queens, you'll find spices dirt cheap. Do not try to buy that poo poo in Manhattan, as you'll pay three to five times as much. I can generally find cumin seed for about $1.50 a pound, versus like $5 a pound at Kalyustan (or however you spell that). The same goes for pretty much any other spice I'm looking for. Queens scares me (is a big white nerd) 
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Mar 5, 2012 22:06
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Doh004 posted:Queens scares me (is a big white nerd) But then where do you eat greek food?
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Mar 5, 2012 22:18
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And where else would you go to find a wife?
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Mar 5, 2012 22:22
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Colt Cannon posted:Refuse to pay rent till you get a working Fridge, that might be in your lease agreement. Don't refuse to pay rent, that will go badly. Find out if your area has something where you can pay into escrow until they fix it.
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Mar 5, 2012 22:23
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Iron Chef Ricola posted:Don't refuse to pay rent, that will go badly. Find out if your area has something where you can pay into escrow until they fix it.
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Mar 5, 2012 22:26
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Hutzpah posted:But then where do you eat greek food? I was unaware Queens had good Greek food? I need to travel more outside of Brooklyn for food it seems. Mr. Wiggles posted:And where else would you go to find a wife? Que?
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Mar 5, 2012 23:17
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Iron Chef Ricola posted:Don't refuse to pay rent, that will go badly. Find out if your area has something where you can pay into escrow until they fix it. Where I live it is setup so if anything like ac units, fridge, and etc doesn't work, rent is prorated for it.
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Mar 6, 2012 00:28
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Doh004 posted:I was unaware Queens had good Greek food? I need to travel more outside of Brooklyn for food it seems. Learn to love the Astoria in Queens. Tons of great Greek restaurants. Everyone from my church in central New Jersey would go to Astoria to get dinner at least once a month.
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Mar 6, 2012 01:22
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Ethnic restaurants in the "lovely" part of any town usually have the best deliciousness:cost ratio. Making good food on the cheap is definitely something I personally strive for and take pride in but having some nice eating out options that won't empty the wallet is also hugely satisfying. Re: pork shoulder in the slow cooker: This carnitas recipe is the bee's knees and is super cheap. Pork shoulder around here usually costs between $15 and $25, but the per pound price is insane - that cost is for a huge shoulder that will easily last you several days if not a week or more. This recipe calls for 3 lbs, which should be about $5 worth of meat and will easily feed two for at least two meals. Have you been calculating your per meal prices? It's a bit complicated once you start cooking in large amounts but I find it's the best way to figure out good, cheap meals. With a bit more cooking and shopping under your belt, if you pay attention, you'll start to figure out what's a good price and base your meals around that. For example, I would never pay full price for a rotisserie chicken since they're always more per pound than a raw, whole chicken and the only difference is that the grocery cooks it for me. However, the smaller, local grocery near my house often puts their rotisserie chickens on 50% discount or more in the hours before closing - making it way more economical than even raw chicken. I can pick up one of those bad boys at 8 pm for $3, eat it for dinner that night, and have leftovers for sandwiches or salads for a day or two. Start keeping mental notes (or physical ones) of the per pound for various meats and cheeses and you'll begin to see patterns like this. Also, note where food is cheapest - my local grocery does specialty and prepared foods cheap because they have to move merchandise quickly, whereas the Meijer or Walmart doesn't have this problem. However, Meijer does have the best prices for produce and boxed goods. I'll make a trip out there once a month or so to stock up on those things and supplement it with the local grocery for other things. I'm not running all over town with a bagful of coupons or anything, just selectively shopping - and if I see a sale on something non-perishable (or slightly perishable, like Parmesan cheese wedges), I'll grab two or three. Frugality is often about what you eat, but it's also about when and where you buy. Pay attention to this and shop for the long haul (as long as space permits). Finally, if it's just you and your S.O., keep in mind that spoiled food = wasted money. I don't drink a lot of milk, so it would often spoil with more than half the container left. Now I buy organic milk, which is ultra-pasturized - it costs more per half gallon, but since it doesn't spoil, I can keep it much longer, which makes the extra dollar worth it. Likewise, invest in storage containers (even ziplock bags, a notorious money suck) - leftovers are worth it.
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Mar 6, 2012 01:42
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Colt Cannon posted:Where I live it is setup so if anything like ac units, fridge, and etc doesn't work, rent is prorated for it. Even then, "hey look judge I even paid the money to a responsible third party!" instead of "lol my heat is leaking out gently caress you landlordman" is way less sketchy and will win you all the small claims courts suits.
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Mar 6, 2012 01:45
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Doh004 posted:Queens scares me (is a big white nerd)  Jackson Heights is gentrified. The streets are clean, and people are genuinely friendly. When you're in said Indian store, if you don't know what something is (especially produce-wise), and you turn to someone and ask what it is, they'll not only tell you what it is, but also eagerly share their recipe for making it at home. The stores all take credit card, and the subway station is enormously spacious and bright. You'd have the same comfort level walking down a street in Murray Hill, where most of the spice houses are in Manhattan. Also, you're going to find stuff that you can't find elsewhere, like Nepali food, or Tibetan food, or Indian Chinese food. The shop workers are exceedingly friendly, and will help you find something if you can't locate it, because frankly those stores are freaking dizzying in their variety of stuff they stock. @Hutz: There's a scene in the film Coming to America, where the prince wonders aloud where he would find a suitable queen. He naturally chooses Queens. Hilarity ensues.
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Mar 6, 2012 01:50
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I wish the ethnic markets near me were that nice. My favorite has a really minimal produce section, but they're really cheap, well-stocked, and extremely friendly. The other one is basically the opposite. Don't be afraid of ethnic markets. They're just grocery stores. I'm almost itching to take a trip down there tomorrow, but I don't need anything right now and I always buy about $10 worth of things that are really interesting, but I have NO IDEA what to do with them. This, of course, leads to googling and experimenting, and I somehow wake up with multiple new cookbooks on my shelf. What I'm saying is take the trip. But if it's a good distance, be sure to keep that in mind and go with some idea what you're looking for, and know what you use a lot (but don't stick strictly to a shopping list). If you use lots of chili garlic paste, for instance, make sure you pick up enough until you can make the next trip cost-effective. (I have no idea what transit costs are like in New York).
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Mar 6, 2012 05:09
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Iron Chef Ricola posted:Even then, "hey look judge I even paid the money to a responsible third party!" instead of "lol my heat is leaking out gently caress you landlordman" is way less sketchy and will win you all the small claims courts suits. Anyway, tonight: risotto without any kind of cooking stock/broth! Found a cup of arborio hiding behind my pepper jar. I've done this before, and adding twice as many herbs makes it at least edible, and I've borrowed some asiago, so it'll be a filling dinner, at least. Calories > nutrition, at least until the 16th. scuz fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Mar 6, 2012 |
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Mar 6, 2012 05:11
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I wish this thread was around when I graduated from college and got cut off by the parents and had no clue about how and what to buy. Even so, I've learned the long hard way about how to cook delicious food on the cheap, but it's been an awesome journey on which I've discovered all the awesome butcher shops, ethnic markets, produce stands, and fish mongers in my city. I'm definitely going to try some of the recipes in this thread - lots of them sound awesome. Whenever I go out to the food market district, it feels like I'm participating in an earlier part of the century before processed food was invented, and it's awesome. I get really happy bringing home bags full of produce, bulk grains and spices, and odd cuts of meat. For a hearty recipe for meat lovers (and I heard a mention of Greek food), I'll share the stew I made for my boyfriend this weekend. He's in a financial bind right now, and is usually working late into the evenings. so I figured I'd help him out in the food/meal prep department. I made a variation of the beef stifado recipe taken from the free cookbook our local Greek Orthodox church was handing out at their annual food festival. This is what went into it (with some price rounding/quantity approximation for easy math): 6 lbs beef shank sections, $3.25/lb - $20 2 lbs Spanish onions, $.69/lb - $1.50 (usually stifado calls for boiler onions or shallots, but neither are as dirt cheap as Spanish onions) 1.5 lbs potatoes, $.50/lb - $.75 6-8 garlic cloves, $2.00/lb - uh.. $.25 1 can tomato paste - $1.00 1 bottle red cooking wine - $2.00 Bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, allspice - eh.. $1.00 total (I'd already bought these) 1 beef soup bone: $1.00 That's $27.50 for all the ingredients - add a few pounds of rice and that brings us to $30 or so bucks. EDIT: Added garlic! Can't believe I forgot the garlic. To make stew: Get a giant stock pot (this nearly filled my 8-qt stock pot), put in a few cups water (I think I put in four..), the wine, tomato paste and soup bone, and start it off at a lowish heat. Add at least 6 bay leaves, two broken-up cinnamon sticks, and two teaspoons of allspice. And some salt and pepper, I guess - the interesting part about the bay and cinnamon is that it doesn't feel like it really needs much salt, and the cookbook recipe didn't call for it). Cut up the beef into cubes, brown in a skillet, and add to pot, include the bones. Cut up onions into chunks, saute them. While they are sauteing, cut up potatoes into chunks and toss into the pot. Add onions. Stir everything up, make sure meat and other goodies are covered in liquid, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for three hours, stirring occasionally. Serve in bowl or over rice. I recommend serving over rice - it's delicious and it'll stretch the stew farther by a good amount. All in all, this should yield a dozen or more meals, at $2.50 per hearty substantial meal. To make it cheaper, use less beef and more potatoes/onions. I just store the stew in the fridge, pot in all, and for each meal, scoop some into a smaller pot and reheat on the stove - which is the same effort level as heating a can of soup. So after the initial effort, it's super convenient night to night, and keeps/reheats very, very well. In addition to learning what to do to eat well and cheaply by experience and the reality of being poor, I've also learned what NOT to do by observing my housemate, Dave. Dave's a smart dude (though fairly  ), but in all his years of living in a closet-sized room on a shoestring budget, he has not figured out how to buy good food and stop bleeding money on processed poo poo. It's sad and frustrating watching him stick some lovely frozen pizza in the oven while we're out grilling chicken and veggies (after we'd offered him some), turn down my offer of extra potatoes only to go buy a bag frozen potato wedges, buy food at CVS on a regular basis, and stink up the kitchen with some microwave poo poo while I'm making something from lovely base ingredients. I don't think his eating or food buying habits will ever evolve. Guys, please don't be like Dave, especially if you don't have a lot of money 
Authentic You fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Mar 6, 2012 |
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Mar 6, 2012 06:21
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vonnegutt posted:my local grocery does specialty and prepared foods cheap because they have to move merchandise quickly, whereas the Meijer or Walmart doesn't have this problem. A lot of people, including me, no longer have a local grocery(I used to be able to do that like 10 years ago). Just a meijer or a Walmart. Which will be everyone eventually I assume.
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Mar 6, 2012 06:33
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scuz posted:an oven that sets off the smoke detector without having anything in it [it's very clean, by the way],  Clean oven that sets off the fire alarm, if it's a gas oven, sounds like it may be a monoxide problem. There are combined fire and monoxide alarms. I'd definitely get that checked out if it is a gas oven. If it's an electric I've got no idea beyond charred wiring.
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Mar 6, 2012 12:40
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dino. posted:
Don't mind my being scared. I'm more of a bitch who's getting more and more comfortable exploring the city. Maybe I'll make a trip out this weekend if the weather's nice. Ghost of Reagan Past posted:I wish the ethnic markets near me were that nice. My favorite has a really minimal produce section, but they're really cheap, well-stocked, and extremely friendly. The other one is basically the opposite. I'd have to make up a list of spices that I'd want to try out, maybe find some good recipes. Also, it wouldn't cost me anything to travel there. It'd be about a ~50 minute subway ride and I already pay for an unlimited pass for work. That's the good thing about living and working in the city.
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Mar 6, 2012 14:23
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Authentic You posted:And some salt and pepper, I guess - the interesting part about the bay and cinnamon is that it doesn't feel like it really needs much salt, and the cookbook recipe didn't call for it). Cooking wine has a poo poo ton of salt added to it to make it undrinkable so it can be sold without a liquor license. edit: I may be wrong about the reason, that's just an assumption I've made, but the fact is that cooking wine is very, very salty, Randomity fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Mar 6, 2012 |
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Mar 6, 2012 16:13
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Iron Chef Ricola posted:Even then, "hey look judge I even paid the money to a responsible third party!" instead of "lol my heat is leaking out gently caress you landlordman" is way less sketchy and will win you all the small claims courts suits. In a lot of states it is perfectly legal and proper to withhold rent provided you inform the landlord as to your (valid) reason for doing so. A malfunctioning refrigerator, and multiple notices to fix it having gone unanswered is as valid a reason as any.
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Mar 6, 2012 16:45
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Riptor posted:In a lot of states it is perfectly legal and proper to withhold rent provided you inform the landlord as to your (valid) reason for doing so. A malfunctioning refrigerator, and multiple notices to fix it having gone unanswered is as valid a reason as any. Even then, there is generally a process that must be follower. Certified notice, waiting period, etc. I live in Virginia where you can't do that at all. The law prescribes a method of tenant's assertion, whereby you give the landlord notice, time to remedy the defect, and then deposit rent into the court escrow account until a hearing can be held. Ultimately, you need to know your state's law before you do something that could get you evicted and ruin your credit. No matter where I was though, I would start by sending a certified, return receipt letter stating the problems, and indicating that they are a threat to the wellbeing of the occupants.
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Mar 6, 2012 16:54
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In any case the point is moot since they just called me and were very apologetic. They're going over right now to replace the fridge  Next step is to borrow my dad's CO detector and see just how toxic that oven is.
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Mar 6, 2012 17:15
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Doh004 posted:Don't mind my being scared. I'm more of a bitch who's getting more and more comfortable exploring the city. Maybe I'll make a trip out this weekend if the weather's nice. I love being able to jump on and off the trains and just pay that flat fee for unlimited rides. I'm up in Washington Heights, so it's a bit more of a schlep for me, but I still do make the trip once in a while, because it's just worth doing.
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Mar 6, 2012 18:36
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Randomity posted:Cooking wine has a poo poo ton of salt added to it to make it undrinkable so it can be sold without a liquor license. That is, in fact, the reason, and it's why no one who's of legal age should buy cooking wine.
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Mar 6, 2012 22:53
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I'm giving that "pulled pork with root beer" thing a whirl, here's hoping it turns out well. I'm also baking a beer bread out of the quick breads thread. If all goes well, my lunch tomorrow will be the envy of the office. Regardless of how they work out I want to thank this forum for putting so much helpful information out there, you guys rock.
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Mar 6, 2012 23:23
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indoflaven posted:A lot of people, including me, no longer have a local grocery(I used to be able to do that like 10 years ago). Just a meijer or a Walmart. Which will be everyone eventually I assume.  This is why I give my local grocery lots of business even though they are rather spendy for off-the-shelf stuff. I can't afford to do all my shopping there but I try to do a lot of it there - it's too loving convenient, plus they've been super nice about accommodating my weird requests ("I need fish sauce and two pounds of cauliflower by tomorrow!"). Plus they get local baked goods and have a wine shop attached with some pretty affordable wines for cooking with (NOT cooking wine - just <$10 reds that are fairly tasty). If you have anything like this, seek it out, it's worth it. Oh, also, recipe idea: Thai curries require some special ingredients: coconut milk, fish sauce, and curry paste, specifically, which will require either a super upscale grocery or ethnic market. However, if you stock up, those three things allow you to absolutely transform boring meats and veg and will last a while. General idea: -Cut your meats into bite sized pieces and brown in oil. -Remove meat to a plate and add vegetables to oil, stir-frying lightly -Then pour over 1 can of coconut milk and start adding fish sauce teaspoon by teaspoon until it tastes good. Scrape pan bottom to bring up all the good meat bits. -Add meat back and bring all ingredients to a simmer. Simmer until meat and veg are done to your preference. -Add curry paste to desired level of heat and flavor. Serve over rice or as a soup. Sorry the recipe isn't more specific, but it's what me and the bf do a lot to leftover bits of this and that. It's not particularly authentic but it is a nice variation for when you want something hot and filling.
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Mar 7, 2012 00:35
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vonnegutt posted:coconut milk, fish sauce These two seem to be at every grocery store, even out here in South Dakota.
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Mar 7, 2012 00:59
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Practice making risotto. The two key ingredients are Risotto rice and some stock (use quick cubes/jelly). Then add whatever vegetables you have, mushrooms, broad beans, peas, whatever. Risotto seems to impress people, can pass as gourmet, is not as difficult to get right as everyone makes out.
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Mar 7, 2012 01:04
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taqueso posted:These two seem to be at every grocery store, even out here in South Dakota. "Good" fish sauce is not super available - you want Red Boat brand. Coconut milk is totally available everywhere.
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Mar 7, 2012 01:16
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vonnegutt posted:"Good" fish sauce is not super available - you want Red Boat brand. Coconut milk is totally available everywhere.
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Mar 7, 2012 02:51
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vonnegutt posted:"Good" fish sauce is not super available - you want Red Boat brand. Coconut milk is totally available everywhere. What is so much better about that fish sauce? Is it worth seeking out even if I would have to mail order it?
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Mar 7, 2012 03:09
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