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Number 1 Sexy Dad posted:I think the texture is a lot better when cooked past pink. Also I think it's pointless to try to sear the ones that are marinated in their packaging, especially if the sauce is sugary at all. Depends where you are. Boneless tenderloins frequently go on sale for $1.99 a pound by me, which is less than the pork shoulders are when they're regular priced.
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Jul 22, 2015 02:38
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Yeah I see those on sale all the time, esp spring-summer. Ditto for london broil/flank. Usually when the latter is on sale I'll pick it up if it's cheap enough just because the leftovers can be repurposed very easily
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Jul 24, 2015 14:39
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THE MACHO MAN posted:Yeah I see those on sale all the time, esp spring-summer. Ditto for london broil/flank. Usually when the latter is on sale I'll pick it up if it's cheap enough just because the leftovers can be repurposed very easily I know it's the poor food thread but if you have access to a sousvide machine or the temp controller that you add to your crockpot (what I have) then london broil / top round is wonderful for making up really good steak from cheap beef cuts. I use about a 1lb, 1 inch thick cut in a bag for 4h at 133F and then put a crust on the outside. Always really nice and a lot cheaper than buying better cuts for steak.
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Jul 27, 2015 15:39
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I've been wanting to try sousvide for the longest time now. Anyone have any idea for getting a cheap machine for it, or making your won on the cheap? Keeping the water at that exact temperature for that long seems really difficult without some pricey equipment.
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Jul 27, 2015 15:57
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I won this in an ICSA contest a year and a half back or so, works great for me. http://www.amazon.com/Dorkfood-Sous...J7B3B955BS08A96 I pretty much only use it for steaks and poaching eggs. Tried a lot of other stuff but those two were always home runs and the other things ended up being stuff I liked prepared other ways.
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Jul 27, 2015 16:01
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neogeo0823 posted:I've been wanting to try sousvide for the longest time now. Anyone have any idea for getting a cheap machine for it, or making your won on the cheap? Keeping the water at that exact temperature for that long seems really difficult without some pricey equipment. You just need a thermometer and a large beer cooler. Google for 'french guy cooking sous vide beer cooler' for easy to follow instructions. Edit: Here it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h_y3svpNiw Lucy Heartfilia fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 27, 2015 16:39
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I'm bad at spices. For the canonical cheap food (rice and beans), what are good combinations of spices to mix up the flavor?
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Jul 27, 2015 18:00
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captkirk posted:I'm bad at spices. For the canonical cheap food (rice and beans), what are good combinations of spices to mix up the flavor? You will probably get an infinite variety thrown at you but for me you can't go wrong with lightly browning a bit of garlic in hot fat and adding in cumin and paprika.
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Jul 27, 2015 18:08
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That Works posted:You will probably get an infinite variety thrown at you but for me you can't go wrong with lightly browning a bit of garlic in hot fat and adding in cumin and paprika. don't forget to start with onion though, because.....................onion (edit to add that everyone is assuming you will add salt to taste/as needed, captkirk) paraquat fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 27, 2015 19:15
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paraquat posted:don't forget to start with onion though, because.....................onion Oh of course, onion, salt, black pepper almost went without saying.
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Jul 27, 2015 19:27
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captkirk posted:I'm bad at spices. For the canonical cheap food (rice and beans), what are good combinations of spices to mix up the flavor? Not a spice, but a smoked pork was made for beans. Lot of people like hocks, I prefer smoked neck bones.
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Jul 27, 2015 22:32
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Really, the answer is to try whatever you can think of. Beans are so cheap that "ruining" a batch or two with spices that don't make sense is easily worth more in learning experience than the cost of what you "ruined". I put ruined in quotes because even if you spice them horribly, there's other ways to use them that can make the spice pretty palatable. For example, you can carefully drain the beans and add them to hummus for some different flavor and color. You can also mash them up and use them wherever you need a thickening agent, like in soup, chili, chowder, or whatever. Heck, you can even cook them down till they're like day old refried beans and mold them into fun shapes to put on top of food like you're 5 years old. Personally, for rice and beans, my favorite recipe is also a relatively simple, cheap, and amazing dish that can be found in the cajun/creole cooking thread. C&P'D from there: quote:Here's a recipe I've used for several years now for Red Beans and Rice. I can't speak for its authenticity but its always gone over well for me and my friends. Truth is, I don't remember where I got it from, but I'm almost sure it got it from here. Now, to adapt this for the poor food thread, you can sub the andouille sausage for kielbasa. The andouille will give the dish more spice, but you can get over that by adding a bit extra hot sauce to the dish once you serve it. You could also potentially skip the sausage and go to your local grocer and ask them to slice your favorite ham product as absolutely thick as possible. We've achieved this before at Walmart, where they sliced us a section of smoked ham off the bone that was almost an inch thick. Cut that poo poo into cubes and you're good to go. It cost us about as much as the sausage would have, IIRC, but we got more. I don't remember exactly though, as it's been a couple years since we did that. For the ham bone, check local discount supermarkets like Save A Lot or Price Rite or whatever the equivalent is in your town. Odds are, at least one of them will have some sort of smoked ham bone that can be used for this for pretty cheap. You want smoked because it's going to impart a poo poo-ton of flavor to this dish. If it doesn't have chunks of ham attached to it, you can add more ham product as desired, but really the ham's more about flavor than substance in this dish. This dish freezes really well, and can be stretched as far as the eye can see, depending on how much rice you like to eat. It's simple comfort food, and now I'm craving it because I haven't made it in a while.
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Jul 28, 2015 01:55
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captkirk posted:I'm bad at spices. For the canonical cheap food (rice and beans), what are good combinations of spices to mix up the flavor? Cumin and sumac are good together. Pre-mixed spice powders can be good, too. I like Keen's curry powder once in a while although it stains everything fluro yellow from all the tumeric. Garam masala is another good Indian flavoured spice mix. If you've got an ethnic grocer nearby that sells small packets of spices and spice powders it can be a good idea to experiment by grabbing a few different things and trying them out when you cook as they're normally fairly inexpensive. Also, Dino's lemon rice recipe is a good introduction to cooking with whole spices rather than powders if you want to try it out.
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Jul 28, 2015 02:01
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Forget garam masala, it's just a spice blend and I've never found a nice one cheap, better of with a curry powder if going cheap. For starters in spices, get cumin seeds and grind them yourself in a mortar and pestle or a cheap blade coffee grinder, same for whole coriander seeds. Get regular and smoked paprika, ground white pepper, allspice and whole black peppercorns with a good pepper mill, dried bay leaves and cinnamon or cassia sticks. If you can't grow a few herbs in a pot, get dried oregano and basil. I use rosemary and thyme a lot, but I grow them and use them fresh, can't stand the dried versions of them; dried thyme has ruined a dish for me before. Out of all the dried herbs and leaves, I only like dried bay leaves, oregano and basil. Personally dried parsley, thyme, rosemary or mint just doesn't work so forget them. E: Also depending on cuisine, try grow fresh parsley, coriander/cilantro or mint if possible. And don't forget chilli, buy some chilli flakes and some cayenne powder or grow them at home too. Fo3 fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Jul 28, 2015 |
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Jul 28, 2015 09:26
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What are good cheap proteins? I'm thinking milk, eggs, and peanut butter, aside from the obvious cheap cuts of meat. Are there any cheaper peanut butters without added sugar? I thought that's what natural peanut butter was, but apparently not.
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Aug 4, 2015 21:03
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22 Eargesplitten posted:What are good cheap proteins? I'm thinking milk, eggs, and peanut butter, aside from the obvious cheap cuts of meat. Are there any cheaper peanut butters without added sugar? I thought that's what natural peanut butter was, but apparently not. Eggs (particularly the whites), though avian flu is causing them to spike in price quite a bit. Still cheap for what you get. Boneless skinless chicken breasts. Milk. Legumes are pretty good cheap sources of protein for being plant-based (chick peas, lentils, beans, etc). Peanut butter is an okay protein source but it's also rather high-calorie for the amount of protein present. Unless you like the sweetened Reese's style peanut butter, the only ingredients should be peanuts and salt (or no salt if that's not your thing). Shouldn't be terribly expensive unless it's some frou-frou "artisanal" bullshit peanut butter. Tofu is pretty cheap and an excellent protein source.
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Aug 4, 2015 21:14
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Beans and lentils, frozen fish fillets are usually pretty reasonable as well.
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Aug 4, 2015 21:15
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22 Eargesplitten posted:Are there any cheaper peanut butters without added sugar? I thought that's what natural peanut butter was, but apparently not. Can make your own peanut butter, it's just unshelled peanuts (unsalted if you want to add your own salt level) and a little oil (vegetable oil or actually use peanut oil). You will need a blender or food processor to chop up. Shell the peanuts -> chop it up depending how much on if you want it chunky or smooth -> add the oil -> 2 teaspoon is enough, taste it add salt or honey depending. Then just store it fridge until you need it.
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Aug 4, 2015 21:19
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The Midniter posted:
Boneless skinless chicken breasts often cost almost as much as beef. Other parts of the chicken are cheaper.
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Aug 4, 2015 21:23
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captkirk posted:Boneless skinless chicken breasts often cost almost as much as beef. Other parts of the chicken are cheaper. Where can I find this mythical beef that's nearly as cheap as chicken breasts? Yes, you can buy legs for 30/lb or thighs for $.99, but paying $1.99/lbfor breasts is still a ton of protein for very little money. I've never seen beef that cheap.
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Aug 4, 2015 21:37
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The Midniter posted:Boneless skinless chicken breasts. The boneless skinless chicken breasts I've seen at my local stores are generally around double the price of split breasts with the bones and skin still attached, whether it's conventional or organic/fancy. With this being the cheap thread, it's probably more cost effective to buy your breasts for half the price and spend a minute removing the skin and bones yourself (rather than pay for the butcher to do it for you via huge price increase), and then you can keep the skin and bones for your stock pot and extract extra flavor, nutrients, and substance that can be used in other dishes. And then again, bone-in thighs or leg quarters are even cheaper than split breasts. With the dark meat parts being so much cheaper than breasts, might still be better bang for your buck in regards to protein even though thighs have slightly less protein per serving than breasts. Robo Boogie Bot posted:Where can I find this mythical beef that's nearly as cheap as chicken breasts? In the packages labeled "beef shank" and such.
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Aug 4, 2015 22:30
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On chicken: I usually get them with skin and bones both because it's cheaper and because you can cut up the skin into strips and render perfectly good chicken fat from it. Ashkenazi jews call the stuff 'shmaltz' and it's a key ingredient in kosher cooking. Also, the bones are great for stock. Whenever I can get this big thing of chicken thighs, I do. I kind of prefer chicken thighs and dark meat in general, and they tend to be cheaper in my area than white meat.
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Aug 4, 2015 23:26
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Authentic You posted:In the packages labeled "beef shank" and such. I've yet to see beef shank for less than $4/lb.
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Aug 4, 2015 23:38
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Robo Boogie Bot posted:Where can I find this mythical beef that's nearly as cheap as chicken breasts? Yes, you can buy legs for 30/lb or thighs for $.99, but paying $1.99/lbfor breasts is still a ton of protein for very little money. I've never seen beef that cheap. I almost never see breasts for $1.99, or anything for 30 cents per pound. I'll see if I can find no sugar added peanut butter at Kroger, if not I will try Trader Joe's and Sprouts. The calories aren't a huge concern for me, I just need more protein in my diet. I might also ask my dad if I can have a dozen or two eggs a week, he runs a little farm as a hobby and has like 40 laying hens. If not, eggs still aren't expensive. Is there anything to certain diets giving eggs different nutritional value, or can I just go hog wild at Costco? This made me think, what are the cheapest greens for a salad that don't completely sacrifice nutrition like iceberg lettuce?
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Aug 4, 2015 23:58
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Costco eggs should be fine. If there's a farmers market near you you can likely find mixed greens (arugula / spinach / etc) for very low cost, but they're not going to keep more than maybe 3-5 days with proper storage. Someone else can correct me on taht.
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Aug 5, 2015 00:02
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The farmers market I went to a few weeks ago was more expensive, not less. I'll try some other ones, but I live in Boulder Jr, so they can command a higher price than grocery stores. Half of the tables are woo-woo medical crap, too.
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Aug 5, 2015 00:51
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My perspective is from California so I'm probably way off base regarding prices elsewhere. Costco sells volume greens for a pretty good price though.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:08
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Chicken thighs are delicious and leg quarters are less than a dollar a pound around me. If you plan a meal around it you can get a few good dishes from chicken and broccoli. Here is a cheap one. What you need: 2 leg quarters 1 onion 1 lemon 1 head of broccoli 1 cup rice 1 bunch Italian parsley 2 cloves garlic Take 2 leg quarters, salt and sear in oil and put in baking dish. Brown sliced onion, garlic and the chopped stalks of the broccoli. Soften these and deglaze the pan with water. Dump this on top of the chicken. Slice the lemon and place on top of the chicken. Pick the leaves off the parsley and chop it, sprinkle 3/4 of it over the chicken. Cover the baking dish and place in oven at 300 for an hour. Avter 30 minutes make rice. When the chicken is done take it out, strain the vegetables of the broth and reduce the broth in the pan you browned the chicken in. While this is reducing put the broccoli florets in a pan with butter and a little water, salt and pepper and steam them. While you are doing this turn your broiler to high, put the chicken skin side up back in the baking dish uncovered and put it under the broiler. The skin will crisp back up. Make a mound with half the rice on a plate. Spoon the reduced lemon chicken broth over the rice. Place half the braised veg and a chicken leg quarter on the plate and half the steamed broccoli. Sprinkle the leftover fresh parsley onto the dish. Eat this. It serves two and is cheap and healthy. You can make this for under 10 bucks and serve 2 normal people or one big fat goon. Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 04:23
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Just buy a whole chicken every time unless you have a specific recipe you're going for. You get variety and it's almost always cheaper. It's incredibly easy to carve up after the first couple learning attempts and you feel like a loving chef even though you just seasoned a big piece of meat and popped it in the oven for a little less than two hours
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Aug 5, 2015 05:23
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Pharmaskittle posted:Just buy a whole chicken every time unless you have a specific recipe you're going for. You get variety and it's almost always cheaper. It's incredibly easy to carve up after the first couple learning attempts and you feel like a loving chef even though you just seasoned a big piece of meat and popped it in the oven for a little less than two hours And you can do a bunch of things with a chicken, before or after cooking. I like to part them out, so I have varied chicken parts (instead of bags of thighs or whatever) and so I can use all those bones for delicious stock. Occasionally I make milk chicken (click the link, it's worth it) because despite sounding disgusting this is the best roasted chicken I've ever eaten.
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Aug 5, 2015 06:36
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Pharmaskittle posted:Just buy a whole chicken every time unless you have a specific recipe you're going for. You get variety and it's almost always cheaper. It's incredibly easy to carve up after the first couple learning attempts and you feel like a loving chef even though you just seasoned a big piece of meat and popped it in the oven for a little less than two hours Yep, unless there's a really good special, buy the chickens whole. Sometimes it's cheaper not to, it just depends on local prices, and of course your freezer space to store the chicken parts and the stock you make. And to break down a chicken, use the Jacques Pepin way, even if you're not doing a ballotine it gets most of the carcass butchered nice and clean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfY0lrdXar8 Just stop at the deboning the thigh part if you want chicken thighs for a curry or tomato simmer sauce or something, and obviously don't break the drumstick bone if you want to roast drum sticks. Ignore that step and just separate the thigh from the drumstick at the joint. Fo3 fucked around with this message at 12:36 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 12:26
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:And you can do a bunch of things with a chicken, before or after cooking. I like to part them out, so I have varied chicken parts (instead of bags of thighs or whatever) and so I can use all those bones for delicious stock. Occasionally I make milk chicken (click the link, it's worth it) because despite sounding disgusting this is the best roasted chicken I've ever eaten. This recipe sounds pretty awesome, but my wife has a milk allergy. Is the cooking process enough to denature the lactose in the milk, or should I have her take a 2nd dose of Lactaid before having this dish?
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Aug 5, 2015 13:26
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22 Eargesplitten posted:I'll see if I can find no sugar added peanut butter at Kroger, if not I will try Trader Joe's and Sprouts. The calories aren't a huge concern for me, I just need more protein in my diet. Literally Kroger brand natural peanut butter is exactly what you want.  Or Jiff has jarred stuff that is very low on added sugar, like 2 or 3g a serving I think?
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Aug 5, 2015 14:01
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neogeo0823 posted:This recipe sounds pretty awesome, but my wife has a milk allergy. Is the cooking process enough to denature the lactose in the milk, or should I have her take a 2nd dose of Lactaid before having this dish? Lactose is not a protein but a kind of sugar/carb. Can't denature those with normal cooking temperatures.
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Aug 5, 2015 14:14
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KettleWL posted:Literally Kroger brand natural peanut butter is exactly what you want. Awesome. I had bought a different brand of natural peanut butter, and it had added sugar. If I can get thigh quarters for the same price per pound as a whole chicken, should I still go for the whole thing? Probably not making stock. I will look into it, since I do have a stock pot, but I don't really use stock that much.
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Aug 5, 2015 15:43
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KettleWL posted:Literally Kroger brand natural peanut butter is exactly what you want. I always buy Jif, because it's good. If you live on the west coast, though, and have a Winco Foods near you, you can make peanut butter in store.
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Aug 5, 2015 17:11
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22 Eargesplitten posted:Awesome. I had bought a different brand of natural peanut butter, and it had added sugar. You can totally get a couple chicken thigh quarters if that's all you need for a meal, but you really should get a whole chicken. Thigh quarters aren't the perfect part of the bird for every meal. Sometimes, you'll want thighs, or breasts, or wings/legs, whatever. Chicken carcasses freeze magnificently, so you can save them and make stock later. Buy 1 chicken every 1-2 weeks, save up 2-3 carcasses, make stock and freeze, use stock in place of water, wine, or in rice, tomato sauce, pasta, or wherever you wanna add more flavor. You can take a whole chicken, break it down, and have different parts for different meals. Use the breasts for salad/grill, the thighs for a curry/stew/slow cooker recipe, the legs/wings for other dishes. Cook the whole thing in your stock pot and make a giant gently caress-off pot of soup for fall/winter. There's way too many possibilities to really even list here. As for stock, why not make more stock? It's cheap, delicious, and makes things taste great. If you're not used to making it, go simple and use Alton Brown's chicken stock recipe as a base and branch out from there after a few tries. BBQ rubbed and roasted chicken makes its resulting stock taste amazing, for example. And making your own stock is easy. Toss poo poo in a pot and simmer for hours while you work/sleep/whatever. Then freeze in your chosen manner. I've frozen it in ice cubes before, but personally, I like to throw 2 cups at a time into sandwich bags and pin them to the wire rack to freeze. They just pack better that way, I think, and how often do you use less than 2 cups in something? neogeo0823 fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 18:57
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neogeo0823 posted:This recipe sounds pretty awesome, but my wife has a milk allergy. Is the cooking process enough to denature the lactose in the milk, or should I have her take a 2nd dose of Lactaid before having this dish? Denaturing by heat isn't feasible as the amount required would ruin everything else. You can ferment some of it out in yogurt / cheese etc but even then you still carry over a fair amount so it depends on the sensitivity of the individual. Generally if its enough for them to have a real problem with regular milk it'll still be a fairly noticeable problem with a ferment.
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Aug 5, 2015 22:41
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22 Eargesplitten posted:Awesome. I had bought a different brand of natural peanut butter, and it had added sugar. Do you have a pressure cooker? That also speeds up stock making a ton if you don't have the time to stick around the house for a long stretch.
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Aug 5, 2015 22:56
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A the season approaches look for deals on turkeys. Turkey is delicious, easy to break down and freezes fuckin awesomely. With turkey prices sometimes getting as low as 30 cents a pound a while before and a little after thanksgiving you can stock up on lots of parts.
Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Aug 6, 2015 |
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Aug 6, 2015 00:11
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