I know Isaiah did a similar thread on this last year, ( https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/off-topic/c… ) but instead of necro-ing that one and shifting the topic I thought I'd start anew.
AM is very slow in December. Our clients are out because most of their clients don't want to think finances, the required quarterly data is pretty stale, etc. Because of this I've had a bit of down-time, since there aren't any designations that I see as worth my time, and I really can't put more than 45 minutes a day into learning to code without burning out.
Because of this I've been doing a lot of cooking, and while I've had some flops I also think I've been doing some things that I can actually carry into the busy time that will start on 1/3/23 for me. I'm wondering if anyone has any others:
Quick breads. (baking soda levened) Yeast can be fun to play with, but takes a ton of time. If you're OK with the texture of a soda-bread or similar this is the solution. With 15 minutes of work and 30-60 minutes back at the desk in your home office while they cook you can look like a half decent baker.
Sous-Vide steaks and roasts. I was an early adopter, buying my machine in 2016, but let it languish for a while. Steaks have always been key. Give me my Anova and a good hot pan, and I can cook that steak as well as the best steakhouse. Granted, sourcing and aging the meat still makes a big difference, but I will never go to a "B" grade steakhouse again. Recently I've done a couple roasts using it, which I never did before. I've been even more amazed. Granted the cooking time is measured in DAYS, but the results are outstanding. I've been eating cheap cuts that are competitive in tenderness with a really nice roast while having much more flavor. Spending the 10 minutes to do a decent homemade horseradish sauce is also clutch here.
Anybody else have any other ideas or suggestions?
Chop up and blend to a purée one zucchini and one yellow squash, one jar store bought tomato pasta sauce, cook your favorite ground meat/ground meat substitute on a pan with some onions, mix it all in a crockpot/sauce pot, cook for as long as you have (I normally go 3-4 hours on low, stirring here and there), and make a boat load of spaghetti/favorite pasta. Serve with Parmesan on top. Have a veggie rich, delicious pasta dish that really only takes 15 minutes to cook the meat and pasta. Also, you can freeze some of the pasta sauce if you don’t want 12 servings in a row and just heat it up later. The best thing is it really doesn’t taste like normal tomato sauce, so it will feel like a mix up from your standard spaghetti/meat sauce combo.
I really don't get this. Throwing a zucchini, a yellow squash and a few tomatoes in a pan, cooking then adding pasta is a super simple summer meal. it sounds like you're basically making a bootleg ragu, and I was trying to stay away from specific recipes and just looking for inspiration.
Here's a simple throw-away: Never buy pasta sauce. Throw 3 anchovy fillets in a sauce pan (trust me here, this is good and I don't like fish) sauté them in oil until they disintegrate adding garlic half way thru then add crushed tomatoes. Salt & pepper appropriately, add red pepper flakes if you want heat. Cook for about 10 minutes then either save or add the pasta (or both) as you desire. You'll never buy pasta sauce from a store again. This is one of the few sauces that actually works well with spaghetti, (along with aglio e olio) which is a massively overused specialist pasta, and about my third least favorite behind angel hair and farfalle (bow-ties)
Not me. I dislike cooking and have little time or patience. I think better that I become a speed cook.
A bit of a cop out, but an air fryer has been a big time saver for me. Can do basically everything in there (depending on what it is can come out perfectly). Tbh I'd love to have a place with a background so that I could grill, frying a steak on the cast iron really smokes up my place which is a hassle to deal with, especially now that it's cold outside, and unfortunately my range fan doesn't actually drag outside so I have to open a window and get a fan going. Really inconvenient.
The more I cook, the more I realize... the air fryer is actually NOT a cop-out. I think that theory originated from the prominent usage of college kids getting frozen fish sticks and throwing 'em in there. Those one-off meals with no real substance led to the air fryer stigma if you can call it that.
However, I can't tell you how much easier my life has gotten by properly using the thing. Raw chicken breasts/thighs, mushrooms & cauliflower, broccoli, and other vegetables, you name it. I can make a 'homemade' meal from scratch and use the air fryer for all my cooking regardless of the type. It cooks faster, more evenly, and comes out with a lot less mess than the traditional pan-fry or even convection oven options. It's totally the future!
I feel similar to the InstaPot. I got one like six years ago - it's ridiculous. You can literally just throw WHATEVER you want in it, and it comes out great. I think a lot of people were turned off by it due to the similarities between InstaPot and the standard crockpot, which can often be... bad. I just think modern food tech has evolved in so many ways so that we can take ordinary people and have them whipping up chef-style meals after a couple of tries. I would throw raw chicken, raw pasta, different broths, waters, cheeses, broccoli, zucchini, and seasonings in the InstaPot... saute'd it for less than ten minutes and I had a dish I could serve at a restaurant. It's wild how much easier it's made life for me!
To OP - look into batch cooking, and study your seasonings - seasonings can take a three-primer (protein/grain/veggie) meal and unlock hundreds of thousands of combinations. The magic is in the sauce and flavors - you can create ENTIRELY different meals by just modifying the sauces and seasons that are used. Batch cooking with this combo can be largely beneficial!
Maybe a bit obvious, but have you looked at Meal Kits (Hello Fresh etc.)? I generally found they were pretty good (and somewhat of a compromise between always getting take out vs. always having to plan every meal).
Also RE: learning to code, make sure you're focussing on actual projects, rather than just learning techniques/LC. I find I burn out far less with that approach.
Slow cookers, they’re not great for everything but for soups and stews they’re a very solid choice. The best part is those very flavorful, albeit tough cuts respond well to low and slow.
Pasta dishes like cacio e pepe and carbonara are pretty straightforward.
Quesadillas and Paninis.
Caesar Salad, the proper way.
Air fryer is clutch for making things crispy.
Cast iron is amazing for meat.
I'm with you. Sous vide was a game changer for me. So was my smoker - I've got an XL BGE and probably fire it up once a week on average for everything from cold smoking cured salmon to smoked salsas and sauces, snack mixes, and more traditional "bbq" cuts. I'll also occasionally smoke then sear a steak although often go sous vide for that. In addition to my more complex recipes, I always try to rotate in a few that build flavor over time but that have minimal "hands on" time so that they will work if I have 30 minutes of free time in a WFH day. I've got a nice Ragu, a gumbo, and a birria recipe that I've honed over time. I make pizza more lately and play with different dough recipes but it's a little tough to manage on work days. Cooking is an incredible and rewarding hobby and I'm always surprised more people don't enjoy it!
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