Food Hacks - Cool tricks for dear frens

[AnOminous]

Definitly an aquired taste. I once ate a salad in an authentic Thai place and it was drowned in raw fish sauce, every bite was like a mixture of "man, that's good" and "holy shit, how can these savages stomach this shit?!", so i mostly agree with you.

Actual food hack: If you are making french mashed potatoes and you think it has enough butter in it, add more butter.

I love how Thai dishes use it, but you shouldn't do that to normies and it isn't really appropriate for normal dishes. I'd usually sub it in for some other savory like Worcestershire (also made with fermented fish specifically anchovies). Also definitely reduce salt in any recipe using it because it is absurdly high in sodium.

 

[Miss Misery]

You have an opinion on cutting it (chilled and cubed) into biscuit dough or pie crust or other pastry-like thing as you would with lard?

I imagine I would if breadmaking were in my wheelhouse. I barely dipped my toes into the waters of basic bitch breadmaking months ago, but kind of drifted from it quickly. But now that you mention it, I can't help but wonder how the cold bacon grease would taste in a crust for a pot pie, or blended with butter for making croissants. The idea of doing that for biscuits specifically is tempting me to learn how to make them just to get to try it out with the bacon grease, to be entirely honest. Could you imagine substituting the butter in a raised doughnut recipe to top them with a maple icing? You've got my mind running rampant with the possibilities.

Lard is legit the best fat to use for pie crusts, so it stands to reason that bacon fat would be (is, I've done it) comparable in pies that can stand up to the savory aspect (apple, pecan, sometimes pumpkin/sweet potato, mince). Lard makes the most tender flaky crust, but be sure to warn your vegetarian and/or Jewish friends if you care about dietary restrictions. (Let the Muslims eat the haram pie and have a giggle while they do it maybe?)

For biscuits I prefer butter, but that's just me. But also this is a great recipe for drop biscuits that doesn't involve cutting fat into flour (it's acceptable to great but do NOT attempt a similar method for pie crust) and I am sure you could use bacon fat instead: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/cooks-illustrated-best-drop-biscuits-50163024

(Note: I use soured half and half instead of buttermilk.)

 

[XYZpdq]

Definitly an aquired taste. I once ate a salad in an authentic Thai place and it was drowned in raw fish sauce, every bite was like a mixture of "man, that's good" and "holy shit, how can these savages stomach this shit?!", so i mostly agree with you.

maggi is great for bloody maries, but it's like, a glass needs literally half a drop
put a drop into a shot glass, then get only half of that into the final drink

also it seems like it shouldn't be a "hack" but the amount that nobody does it makes it worth mentioning
microwaves have power settings. you know how putting everything on broil is a thing you don't do? you'll be amazed what a microwave can do once you start using lower levels

 

[The Feline Solution]

I personally hate the taste of Maggi sauce except when i make Garlic Noodles, there's a distinct taste in it that is extremly overpowering to me. I found that Thai Seasoning Sauce is a nice alternative to it, comes in different strenghts (i think that's what the differently coloured labels indicate, can't read thai) and the mildest one is like toned-down Maggi.

 

[XYZpdq]

I personally hate the taste of Maggi sauce except when i make Garlic Noodles, there's a distinct taste in it that is extremly overpowering to me. I found that Thai Seasoning Sauce is a nice alternative to it, comes in different strenghts (i think that's what the differently coloured labels indicate, can't read thai) and the mildest one is like toned-down Maggi.

yeah a little Maggi can make lots of stuff great
too much Maggi will ruin literally everything

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

Add salt to your water before you boil your pasta. I think most people know to do that, but probably don't consider the reason too much. Similarly to cooking meat, this is your chance to get flavor into the pasta rather than just slopped on top of it by way of whatever delicious sauce you fancy today. Taking that into consideration, you should all be adding a bit of this or that to your water as soon as you get it onto a lit burner, if you care enough to do so. I suggest a generous amount of some kind of seasoned salt for convenience and balance. It might not seem like much, but it's very noticeable when you sit down to a good ol' plate of spaghetti bolognaise. Garlic powder and onion powder will work great at long as you mixed a bit of cool water into it first, or it will just turn into the world's most horrible dumplings because it won't separate in the pot. Hell, just toss in a crushed garlic clove or two with your salt. Sprinkle in some cracked fennel seeds, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, whatever is compatible with the dish you're making with your pasta and happen to have some extra of.

Have you ever smelled herbal pasta? It is, as the Karens like to say, "an experience".

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

Try adding a splash of vanilla hazelnut coffee creamer to your bowl of cereal. Seriously, just trust me on this one.

 

[Nader's Branch]

Add salt to your water before you boil your pasta. I think most people know to do that, but probably don't consider the reason too much. Similarly to cooking meat, this is your chance to get flavor into the pasta rather than just slopped on top of it by way of whatever delicious sauce you fancy today. Taking that into consideration, you should all be adding a bit of this or that to your water as soon as you get it onto a lit burner, if you care enough to do so. I suggest a generous amount of some kind of seasoned salt for convenience and balance. It might not seem like much, but it's very noticeable when you sit down to a good ol' plate of spaghetti bolognaise. Garlic powder and onion powder will work great at long as you mixed a bit of cool water into it first, or it will just turn into the world's most horrible dumplings because it won't separate in the pot. Hell, just toss in a crushed garlic clove or two with your salt. Sprinkle in some cracked fennel seeds, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, whatever is compatible with the dish you're making with your pasta and happen to have some extra of.

Have you ever smelled herbal pasta? It is, as the Karens like to say, "an experience".

I can't say I've ever done a seasoned salt to my pasta but salting the water is a must. Really seasoning every component of your meal is the rule here. A trick or habit I picked up from J Kenji Lopez Alt is keeping a small container of kosher salt next to the stove. Mine has a tiny spoon in case my hands are too wet to season my dish by just grabbing a pinch.

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

I can't say I've ever done a seasoned salt to my pasta but salting the water is a must. Really seasoning every component of your meal is the rule here. A trick or habit I picked up from J Kenji Lopez Alt is keeping a small container of kosher salt next to the stove. Mine has a tiny spoon in case my hands are too wet to season my dish by just grabbing a pinch.

Try an off-the-shelf seasoned salt like Lowreys the next time you have spaghetti bolognese, seriously. The difference is absolutely shocking, especially if you don't go with something super thin like angel hair.

 

[DankSmoker]

Putting a little bit of flour on your bacon keeps it from curling up.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

This is sort of a reverse food hack but something that enables more people to do something they might not think they can do, the hack is that there is no need for equipment or anything that costs money.

You do not need a pasta press/machine/thing. You just need a rolling pin or a sturdy cylinder of some form. Be careful with anything glass like a wine bottle.

Even if you suck at baking or working with doughs you will end up with a mostly circular or elliptical sheet of pasta after rolling it out(always flour layers between folding, fold often). Then gently roll it up and cut it into desired thickness, keep some flour on the side to toss the strands in or they will stick together.

OR! From the whole sheet(can be divided into pieces if the counter/work surface isn't large enough) you can make filled pasta like tortellini, easy peasy, just look it up on youtube, they're also working from larger sheets like that except more square:ish.

Does it take longer to do it than using a pasta machine? Probably a minute or two longer longer.
Is there any extra effort put into it? Maybe a little bit, 12-18 kcals. You're not going to lose weight making pasta this way.

If you have Jamie Olivers(tm) pasta machine will the dough make itself? NO! And that is the part that takes by far the most effort and energy, you will have to do that yourself. The pasta machine just flattens it. A rolling pin can do that. Again, that's the food hack. Follow all the pasta dough recipes you can find and ignore the machine, return it to the same surface following the same advice and work it.

Does it taste better than dried pasta? Of course.
Does it taste better than store bought fresh pasta? Oh absolutely, even if you fuck up your first try and it is a bit uneven and weird you will feel the potential.

You can do it! always use eggs, one egg per portion

 

[Double Dee]

French vanilla coffee creamer in hot cocoa is very delicious.

Speaking of hot cocoa: when you're making it from powder, don't fill your cup with water/milk immediately. Pour just enough in to cover the dust, then mix together. Scrape the sides and make sure you get the pockets of dry incorporated. When it comes together (kind of like brownie batter), add in the rest of your liquid and stir again. It comes together smoother/less clumpy that way IMO.

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

French vanilla coffee creamer in hot cocoa is very delicious.

Speaking of hot cocoa: when you're making it from powder, don't fill your cup with water/milk immediately. Pour just enough in to cover the dust, then mix together. Scrape the sides and make sure you get the pockets of dry incorporated. When it comes together (kind of like brownie batter), add in the rest of your liquid and stir again. It comes together smoother/less clumpy that way IMO.

I must ask that you do yourself a favor and throw that powdered mix into the trash where it belongs. I'm going to say that you probably deserve better.

1. Get yourself a mug that you're going to microwave for hot chocolate.
2. Dump some dark/semisweet chocolate chips or other small pieces of dark chocolate into it; enough to cover the bottom by maybe about two centimeters, adjust more or less depending on the shape of your mug and the amount of space between the pieces cause by their size and shape.
3. Add enough milk so that just the top of the chocolate is sticking out.
4. Microwave on your normal setting for 10-20 seconds until the milk just starts to foam and boil; adjust the time as needed through observation.
5. Stir the chocolate until it completely melts and mixes into the milk. Congrats, you just made a ganache base, and it only took about 50 seconds.
6. Slowly pour in enough milk to fill your mug, stirring as you go.
7. Nuke it again for another two minutes; time depending on your wattage and the size of your mug. Please watch for boil-over.
8. Enjoy a cheap yet fantastic mug of hot chocolate that takes under five minutes to fix up.

Add some espresso between steps 5 and 6, reduce the amount of chocolate in the base, and you've got yourself something that will make you realize how disgusting and overpriced Starbucks really is.

 

[High Level Rad Waste]

Go to the asian store, buy a bag of MSG, substitute half the salt in any recepie with MSG instead. Shit's magic.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

This is a controversial one, because its definitely not healthy and health faggots (usually Yankees) hate it.
Boil your veggies with a dollop of bacon grease. Yes it will balloon the calories of the food, kill your heart, and make you fat. Yes it will be greasy. But if those aren't dealbreakers, it imparts a strong meaty, smoky flavor to the veggie that also draws out the veggie's flavor too. I can't stand Northern green beans because they don't do that. In the South it's called "killing" the vegetable. (This is mostly done to green beans, but it can be done to other things.)

 

[AnOminous]

In the South it's called "killing" the vegetable. (This is mostly done to green beans, but it can be done to other things.)

I actually just boil green beans with actual bacon. Also greens of any sort, collard greens usually, but turnip greens, mustard greens, whatever. I don't usually add much bacon itself, if any, because I only make this with something else that I'm using most of the bacon for.

For green beans, my usual preferred method for fresh beans (not canned) is to roast them at about 500 after lightly tossing them in sesame oil, maybe some minced garlic, then tossing the result in toasted sesame seeds. Looks fancy, it isn't enough to be too unhealthy, and takes little effort.

If the sesame oil is already toasted, maybe just spray them lightly with another oil and finish with the sesame oil.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I actually just boil green beans with actual bacon. Also greens of any sort, collard greens usually, but turnip greens, mustard greens, whatever. I don't usually add much bacon itself, if any, because I only make this with something else that I'm using most of the bacon for.

For green beans, my usual preferred method for fresh beans (not canned) is to roast them at about 500 after lightly tossing them in sesame oil, maybe some minced garlic, then tossing the result in toasted sesame seeds. Looks fancy, it isn't enough to be too unhealthy, and takes little effort.

If the sesame oil is already toasted, maybe just spray them lightly with another oil and finish with the sesame oil.

Well, i do often see it in restaurants studded with bits of ham, I imagine that's how they make it. I just save bacon grease from the pan in a jar.


Speak of which, another Southern practice is to pour some hot bacon grease directly on a salad as a dressing. I have not been brave enough to do this, it's just a step too far for me (might as well eat lard straight out of a jar at that point).

 

[AnOminous]

Speak of which, another Southern practice is to pour some hot bacon grease directly on a salad as a dressing. I have not been brave enough to do this, it's just a step too far for me (might as well eat lard straight out of a jar at that point).

A pretty common dressing, usually for spinach salad, is bacon, bacon grease, vinegar and sugar.

 

[Kuritan Deplorable]

Didn't see it here, you can substitute chicken broth (Or others I guess, but chicken usually tastes best) for water when cooking rice, to end up with a super lazy flavorful rice. When I don't have time to cook, I'll do that with some tinned sardine or mackerel and its surprisingly tasty, better than butter or sauces in a lot of cases. I don't even keep fresh broth around, just use bullion cubes.

 

[AnOminous]

Didn't see it here, you can substitute chicken broth (Or others I guess, but chicken usually tastes best) for water when cooking rice, to end up with a super lazy flavorful rice. When I don't have time to cook, I'll do that with some tinned sardine or mackerel and its surprisingly tasty, better than butter or sauces in a lot of cases. I don't even keep fresh broth around, just use bullion cubes.

Cubes are awful. Just any time you have any kind of meat in water, and it's left over, leave it on in low heat until it gets really small and dark, then put it in ice cube trays, freeze it, you now have concentrated secret ingredient for anything. "Just add this to anything."