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ventaQuite often I find myself in the situation of only having around half an hour to cook and eat my tea when I get in from work. So, realistically, I want to be able to cook whatever-it-is in 15 minutes or under.
I'm not really a huge fan of microwave meals - they're usually insubstantial and/or tasteless. I have no objection to instant-style things so long as they're nice (a current stand-by is Ainsley Harriott's instant cous-cous mix... the Moroccan one in particular. Takes around five minutes, and makes a reasonable snack meal).
However. I'd rather cook stuff. Quickly. And (here comes the crunch) I want to use moderately non-perishable ingredients, because I'm never together enough to have worked out what/where/with whom I'm eating in time to have done the requisite shopping. Our house is usually reasonably well off for standard vegetables so they're OK, but fresh meat/fish is right out. Tinned stuff is OK. So is dried. Things which live in jars full of olive oil and pretend to be fresh are very much approved of :)
So, last night was a mushroom and artichoke heart omelette. Took under 10 minutes to cook, and was made from things which were hanging about in the cupboard/fridge.
Anyone got any suggestions ?
I'm not really a huge fan of microwave meals - they're usually insubstantial and/or tasteless. I have no objection to instant-style things so long as they're nice (a current stand-by is Ainsley Harriott's instant cous-cous mix... the Moroccan one in particular. Takes around five minutes, and makes a reasonable snack meal).
However. I'd rather cook stuff. Quickly. And (here comes the crunch) I want to use moderately non-perishable ingredients, because I'm never together enough to have worked out what/where/with whom I'm eating in time to have done the requisite shopping. Our house is usually reasonably well off for standard vegetables so they're OK, but fresh meat/fish is right out. Tinned stuff is OK. So is dried. Things which live in jars full of olive oil and pretend to be fresh are very much approved of :)
So, last night was a mushroom and artichoke heart omelette. Took under 10 minutes to cook, and was made from things which were hanging about in the cupboard/fridge.
Anyone got any suggestions ?
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Noodles !
Useful things:
* Good quality dried noodles or 'wet' noodles in vacuum packs (expensive, but makes stir fries quicker by 5 minutes or so).
* Garlic paste (much quicker than 'real' garlic, fairly cheap and almost as good no matter what certain snobs say).
* Chickpeas, black eyed beans etc. in cans. Unlike most vegetables, these are best out of cans anyway and keep forever.
* At least 3 types of curry paste. I use the Patak's stuff, typically Korma, Balti, Tikka, Madras and Garam Masala.
* Jar or two of white sauce (sometimes misleading labeled as being for lasagna). Useful for those days when you're not in the mood for yet another tomato-based sauce.
Do I need to fill in the blanks ? Grab a random selection of vegetables from your collection, stir fry them, chuck in the sauce ingredients du-jour and the whole lot's ready in 5-10 minutes (depending on the vegatables).
Oh, and in case you haven't got into the microwave trick yet: Microwave mushrooms, brocolli, carrots, babycorn and anything else which doesn't need to be crispy in a big jug with a bit of water. Much faster than other cooking methods and doesn't require supervision of any kind, meaning you can do the rest of your prep at the same time.
Re: Noodles !
Date: 2003-05-29 01:05 am (UTC)I haven't :(
I persistently fail to use the microwave for anything more complicated than a bit of reheating. I think only about a quarter of my cooking life has been spent in a house with a m/w, and I'm slow on the uptake :)