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Cooking's Easier When You're Well Stocked
Nov. 16th, 2022 11:00 amI've written a few times recently about how cooking delicious meals requires time + planning. Sometimes the planning people do is very focused on one meal. Like, "To make X and Y with a side of Z, I'm going to need these 23 ingredients" — and many of those ingredients are in small quantities. Think of all the ways tasty cooking involves adding a pinch of this, a teaspoon of that, and sprinkling the other thing to taste.
Frankly it's not practical to plan shopping around getting everything for a specific meals. I know, because I've seen people try it, and they almost invariably get overwhelmed by the sheer number of things needed if starting from nil. Instead it helps to build up a well stocked kitchen over time. Once you do that you can extemporaneously create great meals— or at least class up otherwise simplistic ones.
I did that recently when my plan for dinner was "roast beef sandwich". Don't get me wrong; I enjoy roast beef sandwiches. The ones at delis taste great. But the ones at home are usually poor cousins. Instead of making just-another sandwich of cold cuts and cheese and mustard I decided to make a hot prime rib sandwich.
I started with the cold, sliced roast beef. "How does one make this hot again?" I asked. I made 2oz. of savory broth in a dish (I used water plus a "Better than Bouillon" paste we have a small jar of in the 'fridge), soaked the roast beef slices in it, and microwaved them for 45 seconds or so. Meanwhile I sliced open a sandwich-sized roll and spread some tasty sauce on both sides (a yuzu sauce we have a bottle of in the 'fridge). I layered on the hot, moist roast beef slices— now very much like hot, sliced prime rib, because, well, they are prime rib— covered it with a mixture of two kids of cheese (we have 4-5 different kinds in the 'fridge), and broiled it to melt the cheese.
How good was the result? Well, it wasn't quite as good as a prime rib sandwich I pay $20 for at a restaurant... but it wasn't far off, either! And it cost a lot less than $20 and didn't require going out to eat. And I could pull it together in 5 minutes on the spur of the moment thanks to having any number of things ready to go in my kitchen.
Frankly it's not practical to plan shopping around getting everything for a specific meals. I know, because I've seen people try it, and they almost invariably get overwhelmed by the sheer number of things needed if starting from nil. Instead it helps to build up a well stocked kitchen over time. Once you do that you can extemporaneously create great meals— or at least class up otherwise simplistic ones.
I did that recently when my plan for dinner was "roast beef sandwich". Don't get me wrong; I enjoy roast beef sandwiches. The ones at delis taste great. But the ones at home are usually poor cousins. Instead of making just-another sandwich of cold cuts and cheese and mustard I decided to make a hot prime rib sandwich.
I started with the cold, sliced roast beef. "How does one make this hot again?" I asked. I made 2oz. of savory broth in a dish (I used water plus a "Better than Bouillon" paste we have a small jar of in the 'fridge), soaked the roast beef slices in it, and microwaved them for 45 seconds or so. Meanwhile I sliced open a sandwich-sized roll and spread some tasty sauce on both sides (a yuzu sauce we have a bottle of in the 'fridge). I layered on the hot, moist roast beef slices— now very much like hot, sliced prime rib, because, well, they are prime rib— covered it with a mixture of two kids of cheese (we have 4-5 different kinds in the 'fridge), and broiled it to melt the cheese.
How good was the result? Well, it wasn't quite as good as a prime rib sandwich I pay $20 for at a restaurant... but it wasn't far off, either! And it cost a lot less than $20 and didn't require going out to eat. And I could pull it together in 5 minutes on the spur of the moment thanks to having any number of things ready to go in my kitchen.
