How could I forget about the national treasure that is Delia!
HFW is a bit of a hempie hippie, but the man knows how to skin a rabbit, and a book on meat is always awesome.
Plot twist…
You never see them in the same room together, coincidence…I think not!
Alright I have de-railed this thread far too much, let’s get it back on track:
How would you recommend a British meathead improve their cooking? (It must still include baked beans and probably take no more than 30 seconds of prep).
Yeah, America really can’t say anything about tans as long as orange Jesus is around. But at least Ramsey can make good food, instead of just word salads at rallies.
That’s not much wiggle room. I’d say get a slow cooker, pre-portion your meat and veg, then start it in the morning. Braised meats are easy to do in batches, are mostly hands off, and you can cook the beans at the same time.
Or get some skirt steak or flank steak (or even “mince,”) and learn to make white-people tacos.
I have and overall I think it’s great. I don’t advocate counting and tracking macros in most situations though for a couple of reasons.
I think the Vertical Diet approach is great for a certain subset of people but it’s not the perfect fit for everyone. My approach is to set folks up with a solid eating template designed for them, their goals and their lifestyle and then let them loose. As long as they stick to that template, the numbers should line up and they’ll get the results they’re after.
As one client told me early in my career, “Amy, I’m paying you to worry about the numbers. If I have to do it, this isn’t going to work.”
I’ve adjusted my approach accordingly and it’s not failed me yet! I do have some clients that want the numbers, and in those cases the approach is a bit different, but for the most part I avoid giving them out. It also really helps avoid falling into an IIFYM debacle too. Donuts and fries don’t fit nicely into my templates, but they can be worked in more frequently if we’re just filling in numbers.
It was mostly a tongue in cheek comment, I know how to cook reasonably well (for a Brit) the issue is time/prep/planning - that and it’s hard to beat beans on toast!n
This is great advice though and the slower cooker is an underutilised device in my household.
I do what I’d assume where white people burritos, (mince, beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, chilli, garlic and cumin) soft tortilla and cheddar, easy and pretty healthy (compared with fish and chips - because you know, British comparison needed).
Either one of you ever follow the works of Brad Marshall over at “Fire in a Bottle” and his use of stearic acid? Or just have any first hand experience cooking with stearic acid? I find it an interesting product, but Brad’s recommendation of using it to enhance butter seems like it’s beyond my meager culinary capabilities.
Unrelated follow-up: what is the wildest idea you’ve observed/implemented to meet a high calorie threshold? I’ve heard a story of a long distance runner that would eat spoonfuls of mayo under the premise that 'When the engine is running hot enough, it’ll burn anything", similar to Dave Tate’s retelling of the J M Blakely eating protocol.
It doesn’t work with making friends when you open it in a small room
The problem there is the wrong friends!
I totally hear this and agree, however I’m currently finding it very useful to track them because the focus on high protein is a new game for me, and I’m not yet intuitive about it. Obviously that wouldn’t matter if I had someone to track for me, but I don’t, and am too well educated to feel that I need someone. I’m a walking calorie counter, so I’m inclined to know what’s happening on that front without tracking, but the macros have needed my attention for some time. My plan is to continue tracking until it is more intuitive. I can tell I’m getting closer to that - because I basically allow myself all the protein and non-starchy veggies I want at this point, which is going well until I get to social time, which in my crowd tends to be food-and-drink-y. Sometimes I go to the effort of tracking those days (e.g. Sunday’s party here, with chips and guac and ice cream sundaes) just to get an idea of what’s happening, other times just leave it blank. I’m assuming I’ll wean off tracking after January’s planned cut.
Hahahaha, NO. It’s not.
Yeah, braise 10 pounds of chicken, pork butt, or beef and bag it up. You have meat for days and save the cooking liquid to reheat/make a sauce.
That’s actually better than what we did over here. We took this -
then decided “I only like cheeseburgers” and came up with this -
From a culinary standpoint, I’m not impressed.
“A new and improved butteroil in the classic tradition of ghee- making it smooth, nutty, well-incorporated, and spreadable. It does not contain water or protein and does NOT need to be refrigerated.”
Butter is mostly fat, but also contains water and milk proteins, which makes it such a versatile ingredient. If you want to refine it, you can clarify butter or make ghee. Clarified butter is made by gently melting butter and skimming all the protein that rises to the top. It has a higher smoke point than normal butter due to removing the solids. Ghee is made by boiling the butter until the solids fall to the bottom and are slightly caramelized, then strained off. Ghee has a higher smoke point than clarified butter since it cooks longer and drives off most of the water.
If you want to go further, you can make brown butter by keeping the solids in. It makes a really good vinaigrette for fall dishes with some apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Also toasting it before making baked goods can add depth. Or lets go even further - Beurre noir. Actually burn the butter until it’s black. It has a strong flavor, usually a liquid acid is added to halt the cooking process, but it’s pretty good with egg dishes and fish, as long as they have some other smokey element.
But back to your question - I’m not a fan of the MCT claims or Bulletproof coffee, so this whole mish-mash of fats seems to be a new version of margarine with a healthy selling spin.
Appreciate that perspective! I am a huge fan of ghee these days, preferring it much more to butter. I’ve heard about brown butter, but haven’t ventured down that rabbithole.
Agree 110%.
@Brant_Drake Is it actually practical when mass prepping zucchinis to cut the seed beds out so they are less mushy? (Not gumbo related)
Any advice for cutting a lot of bell peppers into a dice? I typically trace long the outside to avoid the seeds and cut into strips then into dicing but there has to be a faster way for a lot of them
Any advice for a dicing a lot of onion? Curious to know if there’s a faster way but I typically do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCGS067s0zo&t=36s
It’s gumbo season here and when I make some, I make a lot so the veggie prep takes a hot minute
This a fun question. I’ve done a bunch of absurd stuff like poaching salmon in goose fat, whipping truffles with chicken fat, Thanksgiving stuffing with foie gras and caramelized cornbread, frying eggs in heavy cream (actually this one could be good for carnivore/keto people), etc.
I think that most people who are into fitness tend to look at a plate as macronutrients on some level, so we tend to gravitate towards easy things to count, like chicken breasts, rice, broccoli. But when cooking starts, the fuckery begins.
“Would you like to eat a pound of butter and a pound of sugar?”
“No that sounds awful.”
“Ok, I whipped them together and now here’s a tub of frosting, a spoon and a hallmark movie.”
" . . . god damn you."
“Hey, I made it again, but also added a pound of flour and a pound of eggs. I call it pound cake.”
" . . . I need the whole thing."
Or -
“Would you like 3 hardboiled eggs before your burger?”
“No that’s way too much.”
“What if I cut them in half, mixed the yolks with mayo and stuck them back in?”
“That sounds wonderful, I’ll have two dozen and add bacon to my burger.”
No. Unless they’re older and the seeds stick in your teeth.
There are fancier industrial versions of this that we use to make big batches of stuff, for a brunch omelet station as an example. But I use something like this at home to do meal prep.
Just don’t show up to work hungover because Alexjandro got you drunk at his house and you are running off 3 hours of sleep then slam your finger in the blades.
I’d order steak with a side of steak, and a double of wings, asking that they be served at the same time.
Then I’d use the 20 min. rule. Clean both plates in 20 minutes. Same with pizza. Extra large with steak, bacon, pepperoni, crumbled sausage, & extra cheese. Then just destroy it.
My 20 minute rule also works in reverse. Eat a single something of what ever then stop. Wait 20 minutes. Not hungry anymore.
Marry, F*ck, Kill:
Pressure cooker
Air Fryer
Sous Vide
Knives, fire, and salt.
Sexy tasting menus.
The sugarcane plant.
I was hoping you’d play the game with the 3 cooking implements I listed…
But I do appreciate your list.
Oh, my bad. I didn’t understand the rules.
Marry - Sous vide. The calm sane one. Has food ready to go when you come home.
Fuck - Air fryer. Good for quickies on the counter.
Kill - Pressure cooker. I’ve got enough things blowing up in my life - don’t take that tone with me Mary!
