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Friday Five: The home cooking edition

In my quest to become less of a culinary nohoper, I have learned a few things along the way.

I will never buy tortillas or burritos again!

I live by this Jamie Oliver flatbreads recipe. All it takes is a little elbow grease and a bit of time (and a bit of mess on the kitchen counter) but these only cost a few cents. Beats paying up to $7 for a pack at the supermarket

Tortillas

The key to making Indian food at home…

Well, I don’t know, because I haven’t cracked it yet. But cream is definitely an essential ingredient. It helps a lot.

I am becoming a generic snob

I buy home brand dairy, bread, and pasta. But the amount of products that I insist on buying name brand is far longer: Ketchup, cereal, biscuits, pasta sauce, juice, fizzy drinks, ice cream (everything else I choose based on the best deal).

Food processors are worth the money

Ours has been amazing for making everything from mayonnaise (although I’ve mastered the technique for getting the right consistency, I’m yet to crack the perfect flavouring. Any tips?) to tabbouleh and cheesecake toppings.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-FP1600B-8-Cup-Processor/dp/B0038KPRG6

But I do wonder if we still need…

A stand blender, you know, with double whisks that you place your bowl under.stand blender

Got any cooking tricks to share?

(I’m still a bit of a kitchen fail, in case you were wondering, but I’m probably now closer to ‘competent’ on the scale than ‘can’t boil an egg’.)

5 thoughts on “Friday Five: The home cooking edition

  • Reply Tracey June 22, 2012 at 14:25

    Those mixers are so expensive for what they are – I just use an electric hand-mixer.

    Agree with you about the home-brand vs name-brand. I think the home-brand is excellent for “basic” foods and pickles etc, but for real flavour they usually can’t beat name-brand products. You’ll always have your favourite.

  • Reply sybaritica June 23, 2012 at 02:31

    And the homemade tortillas taste better *every* time!

  • Reply Rina June 23, 2012 at 04:43

    I <3<3<3 Jamie Oliver. Like, ridiculously so. He's terribly admirable and smart and funny and cute and talented and I'd make ANY one of his recipes without doubting it for a second.

    Also, Indian food? *drooling*

    We buy a lot of generic (save for a few things that just don't taste right if not brand name). Good on you. Yay saving money!

    I've been dreaming of a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, the one with the glass bowl? Priced at nearly $500 though, way outta my league. I typically don't use a mixer, either hand or stand, even to whip heavy cream. Good exercise.

  • Reply fromshoppingtosaving June 24, 2012 at 05:10

    I want a food processor! Homemade flatbread sounds really good… I gotta give that a shot. I’ve become somewhat of a snob with not buying generic for a lot of things too… exactly the ones you mentioned – soda, ice cream, ketchup, etc.

  • Reply SP June 24, 2012 at 07:07

    I’m kind of shocked that tortillas are $7 at the store. I feel like ours are only a few bucks for a rather large package!

    I’m a brand snob when it comes to: soda (i drink it so rarely that it seems silly to cheap out), chocolate (high quality only), and cereal. Mostly because there are no “cheap” cereals with the same nutritional value as, say, Kashi.

    Also, I just use a hand mixer too. I think a stand mixer would be nice for making brread, perhaps, but I can’t really see how it would be worth the $$$ for any other things I make. but i’m not a regular baker.

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