OT: Cooking at Home
rickdugan
Verified and Certifiable Super-Reviewer
I just finished a meal at a new restaurant that opened up locally and it reminded me of why I rarely eat out anymore. The eggs were too runny because of undercooking and a bad flip on the over easy, the country fried steak and homefries were way under-seasoned, the coffee was tragically weak, etc. The food in my own kitchen is far better than I can find in most restaurants, especially around here.
I'm not just talking about Mrs. Dugan's food either. Over the years my own skills have improved dramatically, to the point where I've taken over some of the weekly cooking duties. The dishes that I do exceptionally well include:
- My homemade red sauce for pasta, either with meat or without
- Beef and chicken roasts with pan gravy (the secret is good deglazing and using a roux not a slurry)
- Meatloaf (mix of beef and pork)
- Oven baked mac n cheese
- Alfredo sauce (with chicken or shrimp)
- Deep fried chicken (well seasoned flour and using peanut oil), fish (make a beer batter) and potatoes
- BBQ pulled pork
- Beef stew/pot roast (mostly the same process for either)
- Ham and beef hashes
- Creamy mashed potatoes
I can also grill, roast or pan fry pretty much anything (except pan frying doesn't work well for large bone-in meats) for quicker dinner options. I'm also trying to expand my baking range now, though Mrs. Dugan has me thoroughly licked in that department.
Pretty much anything in a liquid or sauce can easily be frozen, so I often cook my ass off on the weekend so that we have some heat and eat meal options during the week.
As I always tell my kids, if you can cook, you'll always live rich. Even with today's price inflation, most of the cost of food prepared by others is the the labor and business overhead, not the raw ingredients. I can buy better ingredients than most everyday restaurants are using (not counting the high end steakhouses) and make food that is not only much cheaper than ordering, but also tastes a heck of a lot better.
Anyone else here enjoy cooking and, if so, what dishes are good at?
I'm not just talking about Mrs. Dugan's food either. Over the years my own skills have improved dramatically, to the point where I've taken over some of the weekly cooking duties. The dishes that I do exceptionally well include:
- My homemade red sauce for pasta, either with meat or without
- Beef and chicken roasts with pan gravy (the secret is good deglazing and using a roux not a slurry)
- Meatloaf (mix of beef and pork)
- Oven baked mac n cheese
- Alfredo sauce (with chicken or shrimp)
- Deep fried chicken (well seasoned flour and using peanut oil), fish (make a beer batter) and potatoes
- BBQ pulled pork
- Beef stew/pot roast (mostly the same process for either)
- Ham and beef hashes
- Creamy mashed potatoes
I can also grill, roast or pan fry pretty much anything (except pan frying doesn't work well for large bone-in meats) for quicker dinner options. I'm also trying to expand my baking range now, though Mrs. Dugan has me thoroughly licked in that department.
Pretty much anything in a liquid or sauce can easily be frozen, so I often cook my ass off on the weekend so that we have some heat and eat meal options during the week.
As I always tell my kids, if you can cook, you'll always live rich. Even with today's price inflation, most of the cost of food prepared by others is the the labor and business overhead, not the raw ingredients. I can buy better ingredients than most everyday restaurants are using (not counting the high end steakhouses) and make food that is not only much cheaper than ordering, but also tastes a heck of a lot better.
Anyone else here enjoy cooking and, if so, what dishes are good at?
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I sear it for a couple of minutes on very high heat in a cast iron in a little oil and butter. Then I flip the steak, give it a quick spoon basting in the oil/butter/juice mixture in the pan and then move the cast iron into the oven at 400 for about 10 or so minutes. It helps to pull it out after 5, take the internal temp with a meat thermometer and also check to see if you need to flip it again if the bottom is getting too crisp.
The result is a steak with that nice crunchy outside and buttery soft meat inside. The problem with a grill, at least for me, is the loss of so much good fatty juices for my steak to finish in.
A big part of the reason I eat out is convenience (I live alone and don't wanna fo thru the effort of cooking an elaborate meal with multiple sides just for me).
Agree 100% that some dining experiences cannot be replicated at home, especially those requiring specialized equipment. For example, most home cooks can't replicate the searing process used by places like Capital Grill because we cannot achieve the temps they sear at. Also most home cooks don't have equipment like blast chillers, salamanders, wood fired ovens and other specialty equipment which allows high end and other specialty restaurants to do certain things that are difficult to replicate at home.
But as we also know it's a very tiny percentage of restaurants that offer those special dining experiences.
With the recipe I provided, you're only finishing the steak in the over after a basted pan sear. And some of the highest end steakhouses actually sear at up to 1500 degrees.
For me one of my great pleasures is visiting a high end steakhouse. Not only is the meat superior to anything we can get ourselves, but as we discussed, they can do things that we can't. I also love ordering scalloped potatoes at those places because they are labor-intensive bitch to make at home.
Then there are the old school pizzeria's that use wood fired ovens. When the dough, sauce, cheese and toppings are good, that crunch that the wood fire gives it just makes it all come together.
And what I wouldn't give to enjoy a good meal at a classic French restaurant again. The best we have around here sucks in comparison to those I used to visit in the northeast. No touch is missed, from the baked in house bread to the sumptuous flavors of much of the cuisine, including their knowledge and use of different cheeses.
Finally, while my red sauce is better than any I've found in any Italian restaurant around here (immodestly stated I will admit), I do miss some of the wonderful pasta dishes I used to enjoy in Boston's North End and a few spots in NYC. Not only were the pasta and bread freshly made in-house, but the sauces had a delicious complexity that started with excellently sourced ingredients - again likely better than we could source ourselves in retail stores.
But again, each one of these experiences is far from everyday.
There’s also that study that showed a sand which made by yourself doesn’t taste as good as when somebody else makes the exact same sand which. There might be some of that at a play. There are things restaurants do that you wouldn’t necessarily do too that would give them an unhealthy advantage https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EGbRwUojtc… great stuff from Bourdain there
Recipes I’ve especially liked so far and will definitely recreate in the future:
Hummus Beet Wrap
Turkey Bacon and Bok Choy Salad
Lemon Grilled Salmon & Veggies
I honestly believe just following the right recipes can beat out about 80% of restaurants out there, no matter one’s skill level.
I wanted to chime in though and say imo restaurants are convenient, and doesn’t need to be a high end steakhouse to justify itself as worth it. Don’t feel like simmering broth for 6-10 hours? That pho place down the road has got you. Don’t feel like (or can’t) acquire a bbq pit and feel like waiting 8-10 hours for brisket to finish smoking? Just go somewhere and buy bbq by either the pound or half pound.
As for what I've been cooking, on game days I've been doing a lot of smoked meats. Brisket, ribs. Mixing it up with various styles. I've gotten fairly decent but I still fuck up periodically. I also got a sous vide cooker, or whatever you call that thing. So I've been playing with that thing a lot. I'm shocked at how easy and forgiving it is to reliably do things like steaks. My next step is to combine the two, and do a sous vide smoked brisket. I am a single guy who hates doing dishes, so weekday meals on the grill are pretty common. Combine that with working from home and you get grilled food for lunch too.
@rick, Providence beats the North End for Italian food.
At home, I can cook but hate the clean-up. Therefore, I use the grill when I can. Luckily I have a natural gas grill a few feet from my couch so that is easy. During the lockdown, I bought a slow cooker and found some very tasty recipes on the internet that I would cook on Friday and have for the entire weekend. Cooking in the slow cooker caused a build-up in anticipation because of the smells that would fill the kitchen as time went on.
Now strip cliubs I’m now in South Florida and that’s really ground zero
Certain stuff I can usually top, Burgers is a big one. Homemade hamburgers from scratch on the grill are always better than the ones I get outside. Another is Diners who think they can make everything, you could probably top most of it except the greek stuff which is runs the diners in the first place at least by me. And shakes. Shakes are always so sugary and make me thirsty as fuck when I get them from fast food joints, it's all trash. Just take some ice cream and mix it with milk at home, better than 99% of milkshakes you would get outside.
Sorry to break it to you, but the upper New England states have NY beat hands down. In almost every town in those states there is excellent everyday food to be had, including a ton of hole in the wall joints serving up delicious stuff. The diners and delis littering the NY metro area, by comparison, are serving up dog food.
Same thing with the average pizza joints in upper NE vs. NY. In New England excellent pizza can be found almost anywhere - it's a high art form. Even small little bars are selling delicious thin crust pizzas out the side door. I won't even get into the full serve Chinese restaurants vs the crap Chinese takeout joints littering the state.
When I moved from my home state to the NY metro area it was a horrible culinary shock. I had already traveled enough for work to realize how good I had it, but to have to live full time with the shitty excuses for food and lose all the everyday wonderful options I had took some getting used to. In fact that move is what motivated me to start cooking more for myself to begin with.
The ONE thing I will give NY over New England is the widespread availability of breakfast sandwiches on hard rolls. Even gas stations are making them fresh to order on a grill. They are cheap, filling and often delicious, especially when I say "salt, pepper, ketchup" when I place the order. But outside of this one bright spot it's not even remotely close.
Cat Cora
Brooklyn is the world capital of Pizza, pastrami, and if you want a hot dog Manhattan has Katz Deli just a few blocks before the BrooklynnBridge 😁😁😁
Oh, and Brooklyn pizza is WAY overrated. 😉
If I go out, I prefer to go after international fare that I can't cook (or don't want to take the time to learn). Example ... I love sushi, but I'll never invest the time into learning how to make it properly.
I love using some Irish butter on my steak when cooking.
I enjoy cooking fish and wild game as well as roasting home grown vegetables. I like my own grilled salmon and lake trout better than anything I can find in a restaurant. I’ve also started grilling walleye and crappie as a change of pace from a fish fry. But I’m a newbie at that and have a ways to go on grilling those species.
I make an amazing chicken biryani
American taco egg rolls. Ground beef my own Mexican spice blend in egg roll rappers and pan fried. Served with home made salsa or Chinese mustard
Braised pork belly with wild mushrooms garlic onion served over rice
Fried cauliflower with home made tartar sauce
Shrimp quesadillas. Grill the shrimp then toss them with smoked Chipotle chilies and melted butter. Some Jack cheese. Fry in a tortilla on a Comal. A volcanic rock you heat up to make tortillas on.
Pasta with sun dried tomatoes zucchini garlic infused olive oil and Fetta cheese.
I used to eat out a lot more but quality went down hill in most places.
I always loved cooking so I don't mind it. It's relaxing and relieves stress and so is cleaning up.
Then maybe just ignore the thread?
Then maybe just ignore the thread?"
^ don't worry Ricky, scrubby is just trying to start an argument so we can all javhavee great make up sex on our next romp. 😉
With many hotels offering fridge and microwave, I extend that mindset to traveling scenarios. I'd keep precooked grocery store chicken and frozen veggies in fridge. Nuking frozen spinach on dual paper plate for~ 8 minutes seems to work. Put frozen spinach in microwave, take shower, eat spinach, eat sub (IMHO grocery store subs better than Subway, etal, and I'm good to go. Alternative suggestion: Put spinach in micro, read a Papi review, eat spinach while still reading review, nuke chicken for 3 minutes while reading review, eat chicken while finishing reading review. I'm ready for club action now, just might make the 8pm cutoff time for day/night cover charge changeover.
PS- desertscrub should really learn how to home cook vs eating at McDonalds. Then he could take a shit in his own bathroom vs having to search for a crapper with a door on it.
Now when I travel over 5 days I find a hotel with a kitchen (pots, pans, plates, appliances, etc.), not really for the cost savings but because I just get sick of road food after a while. If I'm driving my own car it's even simpler because I can bring spices, storage containers, utensils and a slow cooker with me, but even flying I can usually make it work. I arrive on the Sunday before my work week starts and cook a couple of big dishes that become dinners for the week ahead. I've also left stuff in a slow cooker while I'm on the job site.
Do not believe Mr. Dugan’s restaurant reviews. Restaurant food is better when you can afford something better than “whatever is in the dumpster behind the Waffle House”.
Most of Mr. Dugan’s “specialties” are bullshit. Except the Alfredo sauce. But you should stay away from Dugan Alfredo. It’s really his cum. Juice told me and Juice wouldn’t lie.
In summary: if Mr. Dugan tells you something about food you should consider the source and believe the exact opposite.
You’re welcome!
I will second Dugan on the use of cast iron. A well seasoned cast iron pan is a phenomenal cooking tool. They’ve been used for hundred(s?) of years but I only learned in the last few years how awesome they are. They need to be ‘seasoned’ by coating with oil and then heated and cooled several times. The oil bonds with the pan and you have a nearly indestructible and nearly nonstick surface. You can wash it with soap but should put it away dry. If it ever rusts, you can sand it down to the metal and reseason it and it’s good to go again. Best is that you can heat it to 600 or 700 degrees if you like to sear your steak or scallops that way. I do this on the gas grill outside or on my kitchen gas stove. You get a good sear and Maillard reaction for a nice flavorful crust on the meat/fish. It will smoke a lot at that heat so if you do it on the stove you need a good range hood. That crust tastes way better than ‘grill marks’ which are mostly for show. The flavor is in the crust. It’s part of the reason shake shack burgers taste the way they do and why they stack smaller burgers rather than just using a bigger patty, more crust.