Great meals you just had

[rabidtictac]

Mentally bookmarking this to come back to, thanks muchly.

EDIT: I ended up copying what you wrote into a word document with a recipe title so I can go back to it whenever I want. Again, thanks a ton.

I prefer to over-salt rather than under when I cook anything. I know some people don't like their food that way but I just think meat especially comes out much better with more salt. Salt and pepper bring out the flavor of everything.

Beef is not a very affordably-priced meat right now, so I might be more likely to adapt parts of this dish or other dishes to use a different protein source.

[Kugelfisch]

I prefer to over-salt rather than under when I cook anything. I know some people don't like their food that way but I just think meat especially comes out much better with more salt. Salt and pepper bring out the flavor of everything.

Using salt correctly is perhaps the most important thing to learn in cooking!

Realize that it really doesn't matter if you slightly undersalted a dish. That's easily fixed at the table by just adding a bit.
But if you oversalt, you can ruin everything very quickly without a fix!
Aim low, adjust later.

Also always use the same salt you're used to. I use sea salt. If I were to use the same amount of rock salt (or kosher salt as you lads love to call it) the dish would be inedible.



In any case, stews are simple and perfect to learn. You can substitute beef for pork or a mix of both, you can just use one pot for most of them, you can make noodles, rice or just a slice of bread as a side. Super flexible!

Instead of wine you can use water or stock or a fond from a jar. As long as you roast beef or pork, some onions along and extinguish with water, wine or stock and get the fond from the bottom of the pot, it'll be good.

Also a great way of getting rid of some vegetables you have left over. A single tomato? Throw it in! A bell pepper? Why not? Have some beans in the pantry? Make some kind of makeshift chilly or cassoulet.

Most traditional dishes are dead simple and have lots of slight variations.
Once you learn two or three stews you can just improvise and adjust in any way you want.

Making accurate, proper traditional dishes is for learning and exploration. Real cooking starts when you can take a look in your fridge and pantry on a lazy Sunday and just figure something out by knowing what generally works and improvising.

[Kugelfisch]

A fun example:
Stores are closed on Sunday in Germany. I wasn't interested in fast food, because fuck that shit.
I have a stock of canned meat rations, rice, noodles, dried beans and canned fish in my storage room.

Boiled the beans, fried some of the beef ration with chopped onions. Remembered that I had dry vermouth in the fridge and extinguished them with that.
Tasted and decided something was missing. Added some beef stock powder and water and reduced it down. Had a leftover tomato and threw it in to boil down. Added the beans, added some chilli powder for a kick.

Not the greatest dish ever made but it was way better than goyslop, quick and easy to make and kept me fed for two days.

[rabidtictac]

How did you do the fish? I use canned fish all the time (sardines are amazing) but I haven't done much cooking with it.

[Kugelfisch]

How did you do the fish? I use canned fish all the time (sardines are amazing) but I haven't done much cooking with it.

Oh I was just stating what I had in general. I just used what I mentioned.
Although, you can fry up canned sardines and then just scramble an egg in the pan when you think they are about done. A bit smelly but really good and a quick protein bomb.
Serve on toast, if you're feeling fancy.

[Lindsay's Liver]

Twice a week, I have steak and eggs for breakfast. I cook it myself, very simply. Salt, pepper, butter, steak (I tend to go ribeye), two eggs. That's it. A little salsa on the eggs sometimes.

One good thing is that it's a blast of protein and fat that fills me up for most of the day. I don't bother with lunch later on. I just don't need it.

The main thing though is that it tastes good and I feel great afterward. I consider it the perfect breakfast.

[RedLine]

it's a blast of protein that fills me up for most of the day.

The main thing though is that it tastes good and I feel great afterward.

Yeah buddy.

[Kugelfisch]

That's proper stuff! You know exactly what you're getting.

[rabidtictac]

Salsa is great to throw on everything. Adds so much flavor. You can make your own or buy it. Even in burgerland, salsas you buy are still fairly healthy iirc. Unlike most sauces here which are 100% corn syrup.

[Lindsay's Liver]

Good salsa is easy to make, but I don't know if some of the essential ingredients, such as jalapenos, cilantro, and hot green chiles, can be found everywhere. In Texas that stuff is easy to get, but so is organic, locally made jarred salsa with no garbage in it so I just buy that.