Now you're cooking

[cathleeninnh]

To get us started discussing self-sufficiency, I will start the topic of cooking, something near and dear to my heart (..er stomach).

What techniques, recipes, tools or hints do you have for feeding folks if the world as we know it comes lurching to a halt?

Cathleen

[Ron Helwig]

• Have a wood burning stove (not just pellets, but logs etc) that you can cook on
• Make sure your important appliances (dishwasher!!!) can be powered by a generator
• Get a generator
• Make sure you have enough land to grow something
• Have something you can trade (produce and/or silver)
• Get to know your neighbors, especially those that grow produce
• Create a larder/pantry and stock it with long lasting basics
• Learn to cook (and enjoy) simple stuff
• MREs! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRE

I'm a big stir-fry fan. They're fairly fast, easy, and healthful. You don't really need a recipe - just toss some veggies in a pan with a little oil and fry them.
Add whatever sauce you want...
Add some peanut butter and chili paste/powder and you've got a Thai stir-fry. (Add the peanut butter towards the end)

[cathleeninnh]

Thanks and good start!

Ultimately, some things will not be available like thai curry paste. Do I waste "emergency supply" space on these things or wean myself off of them?

Cathleen

[Lex]

It's funny but nowadays many people like sauces and spices because the normal food that they buy at the store is just so tasteless... If you start growing your own food, naturally without pesticides, etc. and you get some organic seeds (not genetically modified ones that pests don't even want to eat). Basically here is my philosophy: If the bugs don't eat, it's no good.   Truely organic food requires a bit more work but tastes so good you don't have to add spices and sauces.

[Lex]

Above applies to animals: give your chickens plenty of room to run around and eat tasty little worms and what not (just don't let them on your graden...). if you have goats make sure that the pasture has lots of different flowers. flowers = honey, you will taste the sweetness in the milk, i kid you not, i grew up on goat milk from "free range" goats, it's really really really good stuff, very healthy for you too.

[AlanM]

Above applies to animals: give your chickens plenty of room to run around and eat tasty little worms and what not (just don't let them on your graden...). if you have goats make sure that the pasture has lots of different flowers. flowers = honey, you will taste the sweetness in the milk, i kid you not, i grew up on goat milk from "free range" goats, it's really really really good stuff, very healthy for you too.

When I was a kid, before most seeds were genetically altered, the vegetables from the garden had wonderful flavor.

[Otosan]

A good book telling you what is eatable in your yard is very handy.

I have found 5 mulberry trees in my yard, a red oak tree (the indians use to make bread out of the acorns, there are several web sites telling you how to make bread from these  acorns, and the acrons are not bad to eat right off the ground).

[fourthgeek]

Build a Smokehouse to preserve your meats.

As far as cooking is concerned, here's some good hints:

1. Hot sauce makes rancid meat taste okay. This is why many cultures originally used hot spices.
2. Simplicity. Meats with some simple butter, fruit, or vinegar marinades can be suprisingly good.
3. The less that you cook something the more nutrients it has. Cook as little as possible (while remaining healthy) in any survival situation. Especially vegetables. But, as a side note: cooking less means you need to chew more to break down the cells. Our bodies aren't very able to break down plants that are not completely chewed up (see: Corn in Stool).
4. Grow familiar with local herbs and plants. There are many sites that can help with this.

[AlanM]

This organization sells non-hybrid heirloom varieties of a number of common fruits and vegetables. Their mission is preventing the NWO from gaining complete control of the gene pools of our various foods. I've bought from them in the past and have been pleased with their products and services (lots of good info).

http://www.arkinstitute.com/

Thanks for the link.

[cathleeninnh]

Spices don't cover up bad meat , they offer some preservation.

Cathleen

[fourthgeek]

Oh, psh. All the same.

[Marcy]

The one (expensive) but indispensible cooking tool:  a pressure cooker.

If you haven't used one -- or were scared silly about your parents/grandparents' stories of pressure cookers exploding all over the kitchen, think again.  Pressure cooker technology has improved vastly since the first unreliable versions came out around World War II -- mine comes with several safety features that make it almost idiot-proof.  The device works by using a special lid that regulates the pressure, which cooks food more quickly than conventional methods. (Estimates are 70% less time, half the fuel).  I decided to experiment with a pressure cooker last year, and I wouldn't trade it.  We found a two-pot model that stacks and can be used like a double boiler on the stovetop.  Each individual pot will accept the pressure cooker top.    With a pressure cooker, using any fuel that you'd normally use to bring water to boiling, you can:

** Cook presoaked beans in 10 to 12 minutes (would take you a couple of hours on the stovetop).

** Cook a 5 pound chicken in 25 minutes (would take 1 1/4 hours in the oven)

** Brown rice cooks in 20-22 minutes; 45 minutes on the stove top.

** Meatloaf takes 20-25 minutes,  and you can even find recipes for cheesecake.

** You can cook multiple things in individual containers that fit in the pressure cooker, for even more time & energy savings.

Because all the juices and aromatic oils are trapped inside the pot, meats emerge tender and succulent, stews are thick and rich, soups and sauces taste as if they have been simmering slowly for hours. The short cooking time combined with the airtight cooking environment also results in maximum retention of nutrients.

With the addition of a rack to hold jars, a good sized pressure cooker allows you to can low-acid foods you wouldn't dare try to can with normal water bath methods. For those unfamiliar with home canning of food....without a pressure cooker, you're limited to "high acid" foods such as tomatoes and applesauce -- and then, it takes hours on the stovetop.  A pressure cooker not only cooks your food quickly in the first place, it then enables you to can your own beef stew, turkey or chicken broth to use in homemade soups, green beans, carrots, spaghetti sauce with meat, chili and a bezillion other delicious foods for winter-long consumption.

If you could only buy one kitchen device....get a pressure cooker.  In a pinch you can use the pot portion as a regular pot -- and using the pressure cooker as intended, you'll save time, money, fuel and aggravation.

[Otosan]

I also have a pressure cooker, and it is great.
Another Item you may think about is a Dutch Oven.
Great for open fire(charcoal brick) cooking.

[Ron Helwig]

I just might have to try this pressure cooker thingy myself.

I once spent a day watching a co-worker's wife cook, and eating the results! They were from India, and I love Indian food.

Anyway, she used a pressure cooker that had 4-5 trays that fit into it. Each tray got a different food (mostly derived from rice and lentils).

The one (expensive) but indispensible cooking tool:  a pressure cooker.

** You can cook multiple things in individual containers that fit in the pressure cooker, for even more time & energy savings.

[Otosan]

Another item that might/is handy is a vaccum pack system.....