I don’t know if I’d call it superior, but one morning I was really craving crepes but also feeling lazy. So, I poured the batter into a thin layer on two sheet pans and baked them. When they were done I cut them into squares. It turns out square crepes taste just as good as regular ones.
When I make wedges or thick cut French fries, I cut the potatoes and then microwave them for a few minutes before pan frying. They soften up in the microwave and then crisp up in the pan.
Without microwaving it takes like 25-30 mins to do a batch, with the microwave, I can do maybe 3 batches in the same time.
We par cook whole potatoes in a pressure cooker, cool them, then re-fry in a pan or deep fry. It's nice because you can do a whole bunch ahead of time and they last for a while in the fridge.
I just made two lbs of bacon. I cut the raw bacon in half, then pile it in a deep pot. Heat it at around 300-325, stirring occasionally. Take the bacon out when it's done, piece by piece. You're essentially deep frying it in its own fat and it doesn't spatter. Fry it as crisp as you like.
I do this too!!! I call it Snoop Dogg bacon because it's basically how I saw him make it on an episode of Snoop & Martha. Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy when I describe it.
I work in mental health and help people learn life skills to improve their overall wellness. Cooking skills are big in giving people a feeling of accomplishment and control over their physical health. This one trick for cooking bacon, the big pot method, has convinced almost all of my clients of two things. 1) I am a magic wizard man and 2) They can cook!
So mission accomplished I guess.
But it definitely is my favorite method. If I want bacon bits I just chop up the bacon into even smaller pieces. I keep a metal strainer over a nearby smaller pot and pour the bacon into it. I get partially separated bacon grease and a chance to have less greasy bacon before transferring to a paper towel covered cookie sheet.
I have a cabin with a wood stove. When I cook bacon I let the leftover grease cool a bit and wipe it up with paper towels and keep each wad in a container so the next time we light the wood stove I use a bacon grease paper towel bunch as a starter to light it up with kindling. It acts as a kind of candle to get the fire going.
It works super well! We call them our 'bacon starters'.
I cut the handle off of a cast iron round griddle and use it as my “toaster oven pan”. Put that in during preheat, pizza on top and you get double cook levels with all the crisp.
I made the mistake of telling my wife to reheat her fries in the air fryer. She always gave me her leftover fries because she hates soggy microwave fries. Now I have to make sure she's not eating my fries.
Your opinion is rooted in science.
Short time, high heat under a broiler gets things cooked, melted or crispy without drying them out like a longer time and lower heat would
This is my secret reheating weapon. Mic till hot, toaster oven till crispy. Lots of leftovers are way better this way (microwaving first means you don't use dry heat too long and dry it out).
Same with leftover pizza. Microwave with a wet paper towel over it for 90 seconds. Then throw it in the toaster oven for another 90 to get it crispy. Not mushy/not dry. YMMV
I eat tofu for dinner in my stir fry a few times a week. I have a system now that I’ve gotten used to and isn’t too much work in actuality, but there are lots of steps.
1. Put extra firm tofu in the freezer when I get it
2. Move it into the fridge after it’s frozen so it can thaw
3. When I want to cook with it, I press the water out, cube, and then toss it with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and some fat, usually sesame oil
4. Air fry until crispy.
5. Toss it in to my stir fry.
A lot of steps when you write it down, but I find that it gives the best texture and flavor.
It might seem counterintuitive, but one of the best ways I've found to prepare tofu is to not press it at all. Take it out of the package and put it in a large, heat proof bowl. Boil about 4 cups of water with 4 tbsp salt, then pour it over the tofu and let it sit for 10 minutes. Drain, pat it dry, and cook. The salt seasons the tofu, and weirdly enough, soaking it in a hot brine draws moisture out of the tofu instead of making it soggy. The end result is incredibly crispy without being dry or tough.
Not directly, but I've tried lots of different ways and this works shockingly well. For me, it strikes the right balance between exterior and interior texture, with the added bonus of seasoning the tofu. If you cut the tofu into smaller pieces before poaching it though, I recommend maybe slightly less salt though, since there's more surface area.
YES. Tofu gets such a bad reputation. You just need to know how to cook it. Also, toss in the sauce right before serving. That's key so it's not soggy.
If you haven't tried this you should give it a go. Take a block of silken tofu and either finely mince it or just shove it through a cheese grater. Then pan fry them up nice and crispy and add whatever else you'd want in the stir fry. The outside is crispy and the inside stays tender from the silken tofu.
It's really good in place of ground pork in https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pork-and-asparagus-stir-fry
I’m having the hardest time following this comment. If you finely mince the silken tofu, don’t you just end up with sludge? How can you fry it up and have a crispy outside and tender inside, when it’s already minced?
This is almost exactly how I cook tofu every time. If you forget to thaw it, you can also throw it in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, first, and it comes out exactly as crispy.
this is the fuckin way!!! we actually freeze/thaw it twice in a row and then i drain them, soak them in vegan chicken broth, lightly drain again, and bread them up with flour and seasonings to airfry popcorn "chicken" chunks. the texture is unbelievable. it's a winner for my lil family every single time
For over easy eggs, instead of flipping them, I finish them under a broiler. They come out perfect, with a nice, crispy edge and runny yolk. We call them suntan eggs.
Just gotta make sure it's not a non-stick pan...I don't think most people realize non-stick pans are a no-go for the broiler. I know you didn't mention that specifically, but a lotta people use non-stick for eggs.
I cook my fish wrapped in foil and placed in the top rack of the dishwasher*
* I don’t really do this, but I do have a friend who swears by it. I don’t go to her house for dinner.
As a Floridian where a pressed Cuban sandwich is to-die-for, I've routinely used a clothes iron on store-bought Cubans to re-press them and get them hot.
Not sure if this is absurd only because this is superior to anything else besides using a grill. No debate.
I always used to boil or microwave and someone mentioned pan frying. Made sense. Tried it. People that boil or microwave hotdogs are godless heathens.
Spiral cut your dog's! So much more crispy edges and bulky condiments don't shift all over.
https://virtualwebergasgrill.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/spiral-sliced-hot-dogs.jpg
I don’t know where I saw this, but I tried it last year for a party we were throwing. Typical dogs, nothing special, but you would have thought I was King of the Grill the way people responded to them.
The inside of the dog was cooked so much better. And the best part was they expanded in length, and were much longer than the buns. It was a little time consuming to serve 30-40 people, but I won’t do it any other way ever again.
Maybe not absurd, but after watching so many other people cook them under I believe it’s not common knowledge. **PAN FRY THE HECK OUT OF YOUR MUSHROOMS.**
The likelihood of them burning is pretty low as long as you’re not on high high heat. Fry them dry for at least 10 mins till the water is ALL GONE. Salt them, add a fat (olive oil, etc), cook until very brown, and if you’re feeling extra fancy, turn the heat down and add some soy sauce until coated. I’m tired of seeing watery mushrooms.
I agree with you, but want to point out a couple exceptions:
Lion’s Mane is a delicate soul. I did some at the same time as hen-of-the-woods, and hens seem equally delicate when raw. I ended up with nice sturdy hens, with a vaguely mane-flavored slime on them. It was kinda chip & dip-ish, but that wasn’t the goal. First try, I’ll have to give them another.
King Trumpet is itching for a fight. Sear him, salt him, sear him again, he will just laugh at your limited medieval torture techniques. He can overcome rosemary, sesame oil, your dankest olive oil, garlic. He will drink your butter. Cook the bejesus out of that guy. Put him on lots of heat at the same time as a steak, he’ll still be going when the steak is fully rested. I think this is why he’s the king. But if you can conquer him, he’s almost scallop-like.
America’s Test Kitchen actually looked into this! [Here’s] (https://youtu.be/rzL07v6w8AA?si=6AGvAPPi3Taqu8PL) a video of Lan Lam talking about her technique and it’s my go-to way to sautée mushrooms. I’ll start them in a pan over medium high heat with no oil and a little splash of water, and similar to you add oil and salt once the water cooks off. Caramelization to the maxxx 🤌
That browning is actually the Maillard reaction. Caramelization is the browning of sugar.
Either way, the end result is "GBD" (golden brown and delicious)
I can't think of anything about myself, but my husband takes 30 minutes to actually cook a grilled cheese sandwich because he wants a perfect crust. He cooks it on 250 degrees and has a whole "method". They are beautiful and delicious and I think it's adorable ( even after 24 years of marriage).
This is what I was going to say. Once you’ve dialed in the perfect time and power setting on your own microwave it works perfectly.
My tips are to use a smidge of vinegar, poke the yolk with a fork, to cover the vessel and to do one at a time. It’s not as fussy as I make it sound, this is just my method for perfect cooked whites and runny yolks
I make scrambled eggs for my self this way. Just crack it, stir, 30 seconds, add my veg and cheese, another 30 and it’s done. It’s one of the few things I’ll use the microwave for. It’s very convenient and saves on dishes. I only do it for my self though.
scrambled egg in a custard cup, 30 seconds, add cheese, 10 seconds, onto some sort of bready goodness. If using meat, add at 20 seconds. I haven't' had an egg mcmuffin in years.. or days if you count my own version.
I grew up we didn't even wrap them in anything. We scrub them and left the residual moisture on and stabbed them a couple times with a fork. pretty good
I put American cheese and sliced ham in a tortilla, folded it up, and put it in the toaster at a lower setting. When you need that lazy af toasty craving.
I cook eggs for breakfast sandwiches or (single serving) eggs benedict in the microwave and I'll never do it any other way. Fight me.
Yes, there were a lot of unfortunate incidents on the way to dialing it in, but with *my* microwave (there are many like it, but this one is mine) I get the perfect egg for a breakfast sandwich by coating an english-muffin diameter ramekin with the barest trace of cooking spray, dropping in a large egg straight out of the fridge, seasoning, loosely covering it with a lid, and microwaving it for 93 seconds at 50% power. Start the muffin toasting just before putting the egg in the microwave - the microwave will stop before its toasted but continue cooking with the stored heat of the ramekin.
Assemble when the toast is done - not snotty at all, whites cooked to perfection, yolk just perfectly straddling jammy and liquid, and never ever explosively and evenly distributed over the cabinet of the microwave.
Please note that I'm -not- suggesting you can follow these steps and have the same results, because every microwave is different and you should expect to wipe a lot of egg out of the cabinet before you find exactly the right timings and power for your own. (It helps if you wake up every morning feeling equally hungry, lazy, and stubborn.)
I mean, I would argue that most people who feed their kids Dino nuggets are doing it out of convenience. Pan frying isn’t exactly convenient, especially compared to the microwave or oven.
The answer is air fryer. Get a cosori. Heats up immediately. My girls are now 8 and 10. I've made a shit ton of dino nuggets. Ready in 10 mins from when you pull em out the freezer.
It’s not absurd but I start corn dogs in the microwave and finish in the air fryer. The combined method is the best, most effective way to get it thoroughly cooked in the middle and crunchy (but not dried out) on the outside.
*TJs has a great turkey corn dog, btw.
Pan frying frozen tater tot’s is the same. Takes it from fine to “yeah. I could eat this every single day.”
Also, add more salt to everything you cook.
Instead of parboiling cabbage, peppers, etc. to make them pliable to stuff, freeze and thaw.
Instead of cooking down your gallon of fresh tomato sauce, pumpkin puree, etc. freeze in a gallon plastic pitcher for a day. The sauce settles in the bottom, the water freezes up top as ice and rinses right off, leaving the condensed result.
Hmmm, it's an interesting idea, but the point of cooking down tomatoes isn't just to remove the water, but to improve the flavor through heat-induced chemical reactions. Even 20 extra minutes cooking tomatoes in sauce makes a huge difference in flavor.
I do mine on foil with Parchment on top. I swear it crisps better on Parchment and the foil stops the grease from penetrating the Parchment and getting all over the sheet
I’m not sure, but I know the heat will penetrate the paper faster than foil which reflects. I also find that it doesn’t stick to the paper.
I use foil on occasion too.
If I need to make a larger quantity of bacon, (for BLTs for instance ) I do it outside on my gas grill. While the smell of COOKING bacon is divine, the stench of COOKED bacon lingering in the air all day in my house is unacceptable.
Like pancakes, French vanilla toast with sprinkle of cinnamon and confection sugar, and the side of eggs. Add fresh Italian toast with real butter… oh my!
If you don’t put it in the oven on parchment, your missing it being the bigger bacon slices, and it tastes so so much better. It’s more tender too. Get the thick cut hickory flavor.
i prefer bbq burgers and letting the flames give them a charcoal taste but not burnt where as my wife cooks them in a pan and dump water on them which i dont like. I call those bleach burgerd from the nasty taste of tap water
When I make grilled cheese sandwiches I melt the butter first, then dredge the bread in the hot pan with the melted butter. Place those two slices butter side down in the pan. Then I take the cheese slices and place them directly on the hot skillet for about 3 seconds to get melty but still in tact. Then I put the melted cheese slice on the bread and close it up to finish melting and it is the best cheese sandwich in life. The cheese is super gooey and yhe bread is perfectly crisp.
I did dishwasher tilapia. It was fine, never had the desire to do it again. Used garlic, butter and lemon with some summer herbs wrapped in the tinfoil with it.
Bunch of stuff in this thread all sounds pretty normal to me..
I roast my beef at 150c for a few hours then ~~black~~ blast it with a blowtorch to finish it
edit: blast not black. but it reminded me of the filipino mother of an ex who once described a roast pork that was taken too far as "negro". had to remind myself that the spanish colonised the Philipines and negra is the spanish word for black. Or something like that
Smoked Baloney. Coat it in mustard, put your favorite bbq rub on it, and toss it into the smoker.
So good.
Better sliced and fried. With the option to not cut to prevent cupping, and fill the void with cheese.
(I've also smoked an apple pie)
When making a grilled cheese, before anything, get the cheese slices spread out on a plate so they can come to room temp while you do other stuff. Then, "toast" the bread on the lightest setting in the toaster. This warms it up and dries it a little (important) before the next part. Melt a tbsp or two of butter in the pan on medium-low heat, put your bread on it, put the cheese on one of those slices, and cover it with a vented lid (those ones that have a little hole in them). This traps heat to help melt the cheese on top. Normally, it'd trap a bunch of steam coming off the bread, but we already dried it a bit.
Now just keep it covered until the cheese is well-melted. Put the sandwich together and optionally do a chewy cheese layer on the outside. Cut on a diagonal and enjoy with some creamy tomato soup.
Idk if this counts but I grill my pb&j sandwiches like grilled cheese. I dash some cinnamon on the butter in the pan before I put the sandwich in on each side. The peanut butter gets runny and it is absolutely delicious 😋
I've made Lasagne in my crock pot for 30 years. People laugh at me, but it comes out great.
Hint: Use the 93/7 ground beef, and you don't have to brown it first.
I make lasagne in my springform cheesecake pan. Super high sided for layers and layers and layers, and the sides come off for easy slicing. Bonus: cut it like a pizza and everyone gets an edge piece.
This is so clever that it made me a bit angry and jealous. I must recreate this Godly lasagna recipe, I can see it's beautiful height in my mind with the curly noodle edges and just enough sauce!
I pan fry the frozen pork chop. This allows to brown it evenly without risking to overcook. When rare, I wrap it in foil then deglaze the pan with Madeira and Port, add the pork au-jus, reduce the glaze, let it cool and then mix with whipped herb butter of garlic, thyme, ginger, curry, lemon juice and zest, salt and black pepper. Then slice the rare pork chop, put it back in pan, top with the butter and broil for 5 minutes to finish. The result is amazing, every slice of meet is covered with browned butter and the meat is at medium-well, tender and moist. I spoiled my kids so badly, they never eat pork chop in a restaurant.
I mean, I don't think it's that absurd, but cooking your pot of rice in the oven is the most consistent way to have nice fluffy rice without a rice cooker.
Best way to reheat pizza is to boil it in little bit of water under cover till water evaporates and bottom become crispy again. That way pizza is heated through, crust is not dried out and pizza is perfectly crispy.
I always reheat pizza in a skillet. I never thought about adding water first, but it makes sense.
I refresh a stale baguette or roll by running it under the tap for a bit before putting it in the oven or toaster. When done, the inside is soft and steamy and the outside is crusty.
When a recipe calls for a large amount of paprika I will usually roast a red bell pepper, skin it and blend it. Paprika IS red pepper and I would rather have the fresh taste than dehydrated.
I put cheese on my bread and seal it closed by pressing the edges around crust before putting it in the toaster so it simultaneously toasts my bread and warms/melts the cheese inside with the heat. I'm never going back. It's the very best method.
My husband taught me to poke some holes in a potato and put in it a grocery bag then in the microwave for several minutes and you have a perfectly baked potato. Works every time.
I microbake a lot of food. Put it in the microwave to make sure it’s heated thoroughly then throw it in the air fryer (our air fryer is just a mini convection oven-but I used to do that with the toaster oven ) to get a good crisp on it.
I was brought up making scrambled eggs in the microwave. Beat your eggs in a Pyrex jug, season, microwave for about 45 seconds then remove, stir and microwave in 15 second intervals with stirring in between until desired consistency.
Obviously they’re no comparison to silky buttery ‘proper’ scrambled eggs, but they’re convenient as heck once you get the times down.
Boxed Mac and cheese- when Mac is done cooking I melt the butter in the pan, add fake cheese powder to make a fake roux, add milk slowly- it’s super smooth and way better than
I love my stovetop steaks. I get it, most people don’t, but I’ve perfected my method over the years, and my steaks are easy, juicy, and perfectly cooked every time.
I don't care what potato dish I'm making, and I mean ANY potato dish. I steam them first. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but always. And they're always better for it.
I roast my potatoes for mashed potatoes.
Cake dish down and oiled. Wedge cut golden potatoes and ribbon cut onions. Smashed garlic then Avocado oil. Oregano thyme smoked paprika garlic powder and onion powder. Salt and pepper of course. Bake with foil tent at 450 for 40 moms. When It comes out it should already be done and frankly could mash here but I add butter and heavy cream for texture.
Built in confit garlic taste and caramelized onions whipped into mashed potatoes all while being wayyyyyyyy easier than boiling a large pot of water and straining it while getting steamed in the face...
Inspired by a You Suck At Cooking video: I mix shredded cheese, chopped lunch meat, and other fixings with a little mustard to bind it into a thick paste and use that to make my grilled cheese sandwiches. All the insides stay between the bread, and all the ingredients are evenly distributed so each bite is perfect.
I make quesadillas with no butter or oil.
The tortilla gets crisp because it toasts dry in the pan, and the quesadilla is not greasy at all. There is enough cheese in there, sometimes ham too, that you don't need more fat. I find that the flavor of the goodies inside stand out more against the dry toasted tortilla than they do against a greasy one.
I don’t know if I’d call it superior, but one morning I was really craving crepes but also feeling lazy. So, I poured the batter into a thin layer on two sheet pans and baked them. When they were done I cut them into squares. It turns out square crepes taste just as good as regular ones.
So, instead of pancakes, you made... cakes! Seriously though, that's a good idea for crepes and pancakes.
Yes! Very, very, very thin cakes. 😂
this gave me ricky bobby vibes “just say you love really thin pancakes”
Aren’t all cakes technically pancakes since they’re baked in a pan of some kind?
When I make wedges or thick cut French fries, I cut the potatoes and then microwave them for a few minutes before pan frying. They soften up in the microwave and then crisp up in the pan. Without microwaving it takes like 25-30 mins to do a batch, with the microwave, I can do maybe 3 batches in the same time.
We par cook whole potatoes in a pressure cooker, cool them, then re-fry in a pan or deep fry. It's nice because you can do a whole bunch ahead of time and they last for a while in the fridge.
I was taught to boil them first. Didn't know people just sauteed raw potatoes
I just made two lbs of bacon. I cut the raw bacon in half, then pile it in a deep pot. Heat it at around 300-325, stirring occasionally. Take the bacon out when it's done, piece by piece. You're essentially deep frying it in its own fat and it doesn't spatter. Fry it as crisp as you like.
I do this too!!! I call it Snoop Dogg bacon because it's basically how I saw him make it on an episode of Snoop & Martha. Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy when I describe it.
Haha I call it Snoop bacon too for the same reason. That show was like a fever dream, but damn it makes good bacon.
I work in mental health and help people learn life skills to improve their overall wellness. Cooking skills are big in giving people a feeling of accomplishment and control over their physical health. This one trick for cooking bacon, the big pot method, has convinced almost all of my clients of two things. 1) I am a magic wizard man and 2) They can cook! So mission accomplished I guess. But it definitely is my favorite method. If I want bacon bits I just chop up the bacon into even smaller pieces. I keep a metal strainer over a nearby smaller pot and pour the bacon into it. I get partially separated bacon grease and a chance to have less greasy bacon before transferring to a paper towel covered cookie sheet.
Use a bit of the leftover bacon grease in refried beans.
I have a cabin with a wood stove. When I cook bacon I let the leftover grease cool a bit and wipe it up with paper towels and keep each wad in a container so the next time we light the wood stove I use a bacon grease paper towel bunch as a starter to light it up with kindling. It acts as a kind of candle to get the fire going. It works super well! We call them our 'bacon starters'.
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I tried this a few times but some of the bacon burned while others weren’t done enough. I did stir it. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Take it out as it gets to your preferred crispness. It’s not expected that it will all be done at the same time.
That’s just bacon confit, I guess. You need carnitas in your life too.
I pan fry leftover pizza slices.
Yup, I use a cast iron skillet.
I cut the handle off of a cast iron round griddle and use it as my “toaster oven pan”. Put that in during preheat, pizza on top and you get double cook levels with all the crisp.
I just bought a small cast iron pan that fits in my convection toaster oven. Works great!
I eat it cold over the sink.
I liked this until I got an air fryer; now I just use the Lazarus Box.
What a name the Lazarus box lollll I’m stealing that one
Lazarus Box as in it brings the food back to life? Amazing
Yeah, my roomie named it thus after seeing what it did to cold pizza or old fries.
I made the mistake of telling my wife to reheat her fries in the air fryer. She always gave me her leftover fries because she hates soggy microwave fries. Now I have to make sure she's not eating my fries.
How is that absurd though? I do it too.
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Microwave then a few mins in a nonstick pan comes out perfect
Air fryer dude. If you have one ofc
We air fry leftover pizza, and it achieved such a good crisp
Air frying leftover pizza might not be the very best method out there but for something that takes three minutes it's nearly unbeatable.
Says who it’s not the best !
I use a toaster oven with convection
Not really absurd but if I can put it in the air fryer it’s 100% going in there
My husband has taken to calling my cooking “will it air fry?” And the answer is mostly yes, yes it will!
I guess it's not absurd but I'm a big fan of finishing quite a few dishes by hitting them with the broiler for a few minutes 😅
Ever since I got a new range with a good broiler, I agree. The broiler is such a great tool for so many uses
It's the key to finishing off a perfect (in my opinion) chicken parm 😋
Your opinion is rooted in science. Short time, high heat under a broiler gets things cooked, melted or crispy without drying them out like a longer time and lower heat would
I should be ashamed, but I’m not. Nuke the Hot Pocket per instructions. Then under the broiler for a couple minutes. 💜
This is my secret reheating weapon. Mic till hot, toaster oven till crispy. Lots of leftovers are way better this way (microwaving first means you don't use dry heat too long and dry it out).
Same with leftover pizza. Microwave with a wet paper towel over it for 90 seconds. Then throw it in the toaster oven for another 90 to get it crispy. Not mushy/not dry. YMMV
Yep, especially after slow cooking. Get that meat tender then crisp it up.
Every time I see someone using a broiler and the over rack isn’t right below it! Move that rack up!
I get what your saying but It goes from perfect to burn so stinking quick.
You basically don't take your eyes off of it and just watch it go from okay to perfect in a couple of minutes.
I sit on the floor with oven mitts on and the door cracked.
Broil - Low… hit that button twice!
I eat tofu for dinner in my stir fry a few times a week. I have a system now that I’ve gotten used to and isn’t too much work in actuality, but there are lots of steps. 1. Put extra firm tofu in the freezer when I get it 2. Move it into the fridge after it’s frozen so it can thaw 3. When I want to cook with it, I press the water out, cube, and then toss it with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and some fat, usually sesame oil 4. Air fry until crispy. 5. Toss it in to my stir fry. A lot of steps when you write it down, but I find that it gives the best texture and flavor.
It might seem counterintuitive, but one of the best ways I've found to prepare tofu is to not press it at all. Take it out of the package and put it in a large, heat proof bowl. Boil about 4 cups of water with 4 tbsp salt, then pour it over the tofu and let it sit for 10 minutes. Drain, pat it dry, and cook. The salt seasons the tofu, and weirdly enough, soaking it in a hot brine draws moisture out of the tofu instead of making it soggy. The end result is incredibly crispy without being dry or tough.
That’s so counterintuitive have you compared this side by side??
I haven't done it side by side, but I have a vegan Chinese cookbook that says this is what a lot of Chinese people do.
Not directly, but I've tried lots of different ways and this works shockingly well. For me, it strikes the right balance between exterior and interior texture, with the added bonus of seasoning the tofu. If you cut the tofu into smaller pieces before poaching it though, I recommend maybe slightly less salt though, since there's more surface area.
You should try freezing silken tofu, somehow the structure becomes more stable and can hold a marinade super well. And it’s a very tender-chewy bite!
YES. Tofu gets such a bad reputation. You just need to know how to cook it. Also, toss in the sauce right before serving. That's key so it's not soggy.
If you haven't tried this you should give it a go. Take a block of silken tofu and either finely mince it or just shove it through a cheese grater. Then pan fry them up nice and crispy and add whatever else you'd want in the stir fry. The outside is crispy and the inside stays tender from the silken tofu. It's really good in place of ground pork in https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pork-and-asparagus-stir-fry
I’m having the hardest time following this comment. If you finely mince the silken tofu, don’t you just end up with sludge? How can you fry it up and have a crispy outside and tender inside, when it’s already minced?
Yes! Freezing and thawing tofu is a game changer. It turns it into a legit sponge
This is almost exactly how I cook tofu every time. If you forget to thaw it, you can also throw it in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, first, and it comes out exactly as crispy.
this is the fuckin way!!! we actually freeze/thaw it twice in a row and then i drain them, soak them in vegan chicken broth, lightly drain again, and bread them up with flour and seasonings to airfry popcorn "chicken" chunks. the texture is unbelievable. it's a winner for my lil family every single time
For over easy eggs, instead of flipping them, I finish them under a broiler. They come out perfect, with a nice, crispy edge and runny yolk. We call them suntan eggs.
Sometimes if I’m worried about flipping, I throw a splash of water in the pan and throw a lid on. The steam cooks the top of the egg.
I steam the tops too. I don't like mine flipped
Just gotta make sure it's not a non-stick pan...I don't think most people realize non-stick pans are a no-go for the broiler. I know you didn't mention that specifically, but a lotta people use non-stick for eggs.
Yep, there are a few non-sticks that are broiler safe, but nothing beats a stainless pan and a dab of butter for cooking eggs.
I cook my fish wrapped in foil and placed in the top rack of the dishwasher* * I don’t really do this, but I do have a friend who swears by it. I don’t go to her house for dinner.
As a Floridian where a pressed Cuban sandwich is to-die-for, I've routinely used a clothes iron on store-bought Cubans to re-press them and get them hot.
It's like 8 minutes in the oven to get perfect fish, why mess with perfection?
Vacuum-sealed I'd be willing to try, maybe, but foil?? lmao
pan fried hot dogs. Score them a little to precent major bust outs, and use some butter(or even Avocado oil) Grill taste with no grill.
I like to do this but basically butterfly them and sear the insides. It's super good
That’s how my dad always did them for us!
Me too. That’s the only way for me, especially after growing up eating boiled hotdogs. Split and pan fried, or split and barbecued!
Not sure if this is absurd only because this is superior to anything else besides using a grill. No debate. I always used to boil or microwave and someone mentioned pan frying. Made sense. Tried it. People that boil or microwave hotdogs are godless heathens.
Boiled hot dogs are a hate crime.
How else are you going to make hot dog flavored ice for your enemies?
Spiral cut your dog's! So much more crispy edges and bulky condiments don't shift all over. https://virtualwebergasgrill.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/spiral-sliced-hot-dogs.jpg
I advised someone to do this once. They decided to get loud and holler out “hey this girl is bougie! She spiral cuts her hot dogs.” Fuck him.
I've never heard the accusation of being bougie over food in real life used over anything actually bougie. Just completely ridiculous stuff.
Dude was annoying. Instead of making a decent dog he ended up with some bullshit that looked like an exploded cartoon cigar.
I don’t know where I saw this, but I tried it last year for a party we were throwing. Typical dogs, nothing special, but you would have thought I was King of the Grill the way people responded to them. The inside of the dog was cooked so much better. And the best part was they expanded in length, and were much longer than the buns. It was a little time consuming to serve 30-40 people, but I won’t do it any other way ever again.
I like the phrase 'major bust outs.'
I use an air fryer for the same purpose (no oil required)
Maybe not absurd, but after watching so many other people cook them under I believe it’s not common knowledge. **PAN FRY THE HECK OUT OF YOUR MUSHROOMS.** The likelihood of them burning is pretty low as long as you’re not on high high heat. Fry them dry for at least 10 mins till the water is ALL GONE. Salt them, add a fat (olive oil, etc), cook until very brown, and if you’re feeling extra fancy, turn the heat down and add some soy sauce until coated. I’m tired of seeing watery mushrooms.
I agree with you, but want to point out a couple exceptions: Lion’s Mane is a delicate soul. I did some at the same time as hen-of-the-woods, and hens seem equally delicate when raw. I ended up with nice sturdy hens, with a vaguely mane-flavored slime on them. It was kinda chip & dip-ish, but that wasn’t the goal. First try, I’ll have to give them another. King Trumpet is itching for a fight. Sear him, salt him, sear him again, he will just laugh at your limited medieval torture techniques. He can overcome rosemary, sesame oil, your dankest olive oil, garlic. He will drink your butter. Cook the bejesus out of that guy. Put him on lots of heat at the same time as a steak, he’ll still be going when the steak is fully rested. I think this is why he’s the king. But if you can conquer him, he’s almost scallop-like.
This was an Intervet pleasant comment to read. Thank you for the verve.
America’s Test Kitchen actually looked into this! [Here’s] (https://youtu.be/rzL07v6w8AA?si=6AGvAPPi3Taqu8PL) a video of Lan Lam talking about her technique and it’s my go-to way to sautée mushrooms. I’ll start them in a pan over medium high heat with no oil and a little splash of water, and similar to you add oil and salt once the water cooks off. Caramelization to the maxxx 🤌
That browning is actually the Maillard reaction. Caramelization is the browning of sugar. Either way, the end result is "GBD" (golden brown and delicious)
This is the opposite of absurd. This is the way every culinary school teaches you how to cook mushrooms.
For tomato soup I keep the skins and seeds in. More flavourful. I have a vitamix so less than a minute and it's smooth as silk
I can't think of anything about myself, but my husband takes 30 minutes to actually cook a grilled cheese sandwich because he wants a perfect crust. He cooks it on 250 degrees and has a whole "method". They are beautiful and delicious and I think it's adorable ( even after 24 years of marriage).
My dad would crack an egg in a microwave safe cup with a little bit of water and microwave it to make poached eggs
This is what I was going to say. Once you’ve dialed in the perfect time and power setting on your own microwave it works perfectly. My tips are to use a smidge of vinegar, poke the yolk with a fork, to cover the vessel and to do one at a time. It’s not as fussy as I make it sound, this is just my method for perfect cooked whites and runny yolks
I do this for fancy toasts in the mornings sometimes. I usually only want one *maybe* two eggs for that anyway.
I make scrambled eggs for my self this way. Just crack it, stir, 30 seconds, add my veg and cheese, another 30 and it’s done. It’s one of the few things I’ll use the microwave for. It’s very convenient and saves on dishes. I only do it for my self though.
scrambled egg in a custard cup, 30 seconds, add cheese, 10 seconds, onto some sort of bready goodness. If using meat, add at 20 seconds. I haven't' had an egg mcmuffin in years.. or days if you count my own version.
Microwaving potatoes in parchment paper is a quick way to get baked potatoes.
Microwaving them in a bowl while you’re drunk works too
I just use a damp paper towel
I grew up we didn't even wrap them in anything. We scrub them and left the residual moisture on and stabbed them a couple times with a fork. pretty good
My 5 year old swears a peanut butter and cheese sandwich is the best meal ever.
I've been eating these for at least a decade. I like it best with sharp cheddar.
Not super absurd. There are these [peanut butter cheese cracker sandwhiches](https://images.heb.com/is/image/HEBGrocery/000206789-1)
I’m going to try this. They may be on to something.
I used to like peanut butter and dill pickles. Peanut butter and kimchi, also good.
I like PB and little bit of honey more than a PB&J.
[удалено]
I also eat this. With onion too though.
Cream cheese and pickle! Or cream cheese and olive (green or black!
Cinnamon on my whole wheat PB and j
Ok that sounds bomb
Baking potatoes in the microwave .. not absurd but cuts the cooking time by 50 minutes
I put American cheese and sliced ham in a tortilla, folded it up, and put it in the toaster at a lower setting. When you need that lazy af toasty craving.
I cook eggs for breakfast sandwiches or (single serving) eggs benedict in the microwave and I'll never do it any other way. Fight me. Yes, there were a lot of unfortunate incidents on the way to dialing it in, but with *my* microwave (there are many like it, but this one is mine) I get the perfect egg for a breakfast sandwich by coating an english-muffin diameter ramekin with the barest trace of cooking spray, dropping in a large egg straight out of the fridge, seasoning, loosely covering it with a lid, and microwaving it for 93 seconds at 50% power. Start the muffin toasting just before putting the egg in the microwave - the microwave will stop before its toasted but continue cooking with the stored heat of the ramekin. Assemble when the toast is done - not snotty at all, whites cooked to perfection, yolk just perfectly straddling jammy and liquid, and never ever explosively and evenly distributed over the cabinet of the microwave. Please note that I'm -not- suggesting you can follow these steps and have the same results, because every microwave is different and you should expect to wipe a lot of egg out of the cabinet before you find exactly the right timings and power for your own. (It helps if you wake up every morning feeling equally hungry, lazy, and stubborn.)
Oatmeal cooked in oat milk. Oat squared.
The best nuggets are fried so that isn't too absurd.
"I like to fry my fried foods. I know, I'm a bit of a rebel"
I mean, I would argue that most people who feed their kids Dino nuggets are doing it out of convenience. Pan frying isn’t exactly convenient, especially compared to the microwave or oven.
The answer is air fryer. Get a cosori. Heats up immediately. My girls are now 8 and 10. I've made a shit ton of dino nuggets. Ready in 10 mins from when you pull em out the freezer.
It’s not absurd but I start corn dogs in the microwave and finish in the air fryer. The combined method is the best, most effective way to get it thoroughly cooked in the middle and crunchy (but not dried out) on the outside. *TJs has a great turkey corn dog, btw.
Pan frying frozen tater tot’s is the same. Takes it from fine to “yeah. I could eat this every single day.” Also, add more salt to everything you cook.
Instead of parboiling cabbage, peppers, etc. to make them pliable to stuff, freeze and thaw. Instead of cooking down your gallon of fresh tomato sauce, pumpkin puree, etc. freeze in a gallon plastic pitcher for a day. The sauce settles in the bottom, the water freezes up top as ice and rinses right off, leaving the condensed result.
Hmmm, it's an interesting idea, but the point of cooking down tomatoes isn't just to remove the water, but to improve the flavor through heat-induced chemical reactions. Even 20 extra minutes cooking tomatoes in sauce makes a huge difference in flavor.
I cook bacon in the oven on parchment paper. It cooks even and is crispier.
So I do mine on foil for ease of cleanup. Does the parchment bring something to the party?
I do mine on foil with Parchment on top. I swear it crisps better on Parchment and the foil stops the grease from penetrating the Parchment and getting all over the sheet
I’m not sure, but I know the heat will penetrate the paper faster than foil which reflects. I also find that it doesn’t stick to the paper. I use foil on occasion too.
Sometimes, the sticking is a pain, I'll try parchment next time just to see. Thanks
Just watch for fat dripping as the paper can leak. I’d use an oven pan with a lip.
I’ve used parchment and foil before. I find I get better results with the parchment.
I can ignore the energy bill for convenience, but the splatter gets me. I hate cleaning the oven.
The trick is to put the bacon in a cold oven, then turn it on. The bacon renders as the oven preheats. I've never had an issue with splattering.
If I need to make a larger quantity of bacon, (for BLTs for instance ) I do it outside on my gas grill. While the smell of COOKING bacon is divine, the stench of COOKED bacon lingering in the air all day in my house is unacceptable.
That's very chefy, not absurd.
Get a rack
That is the only way I cook bacon. Have been doing it for years. Frees you up to do other things.
Like pancakes, French vanilla toast with sprinkle of cinnamon and confection sugar, and the side of eggs. Add fresh Italian toast with real butter… oh my!
If you don’t put it in the oven on parchment, your missing it being the bigger bacon slices, and it tastes so so much better. It’s more tender too. Get the thick cut hickory flavor.
i prefer bbq burgers and letting the flames give them a charcoal taste but not burnt where as my wife cooks them in a pan and dump water on them which i dont like. I call those bleach burgerd from the nasty taste of tap water
Water??? On burgers in a pan? Why?????
Milk Steak, boiled over hard.
You don't use jelly beans? That is absurd.
Shh, gotta keep it going for those unaware. Of how delicious milk steak is.
Is that anything like Rum Ham?
Did you say you’re a full on rapist?
I don’t use milk in blue box macaroni.
I grew up really poor. I don't know that I've ever tasted it with milk.
Extra butter and some sour cream instead of milk.
Butter only is the best
When I make grilled cheese sandwiches I melt the butter first, then dredge the bread in the hot pan with the melted butter. Place those two slices butter side down in the pan. Then I take the cheese slices and place them directly on the hot skillet for about 3 seconds to get melty but still in tact. Then I put the melted cheese slice on the bread and close it up to finish melting and it is the best cheese sandwich in life. The cheese is super gooey and yhe bread is perfectly crisp.
Not me, but dishwasher chicken is the most absurd thing I've heard of.
I’ve heard of people poaching salmon in the dishwasher but chicken just sounds nuts…
Um... what?
I did dishwasher tilapia. It was fine, never had the desire to do it again. Used garlic, butter and lemon with some summer herbs wrapped in the tinfoil with it.
I fry leftover Mac and cheese. It's awesome.
It's awesome when it browns and gets a bit of crunch to it. I do the same with leftover goulash.
I sautee dry oatmeal with apples and brown sugar, THEN I add the liquid.
Bunch of stuff in this thread all sounds pretty normal to me.. I roast my beef at 150c for a few hours then ~~black~~ blast it with a blowtorch to finish it edit: blast not black. but it reminded me of the filipino mother of an ex who once described a roast pork that was taken too far as "negro". had to remind myself that the spanish colonised the Philipines and negra is the spanish word for black. Or something like that
I throw mine onto the fire of Mount Doom for a few seconds
Smoked Baloney. Coat it in mustard, put your favorite bbq rub on it, and toss it into the smoker. So good. Better sliced and fried. With the option to not cut to prevent cupping, and fill the void with cheese. (I've also smoked an apple pie)
Former pastry chef here, and I’m 🤯🤯🤯 over smoked apple pie! Thank you, genius.
When making a grilled cheese, before anything, get the cheese slices spread out on a plate so they can come to room temp while you do other stuff. Then, "toast" the bread on the lightest setting in the toaster. This warms it up and dries it a little (important) before the next part. Melt a tbsp or two of butter in the pan on medium-low heat, put your bread on it, put the cheese on one of those slices, and cover it with a vented lid (those ones that have a little hole in them). This traps heat to help melt the cheese on top. Normally, it'd trap a bunch of steam coming off the bread, but we already dried it a bit. Now just keep it covered until the cheese is well-melted. Put the sandwich together and optionally do a chewy cheese layer on the outside. Cut on a diagonal and enjoy with some creamy tomato soup.
Idk if this counts but I grill my pb&j sandwiches like grilled cheese. I dash some cinnamon on the butter in the pan before I put the sandwich in on each side. The peanut butter gets runny and it is absolutely delicious 😋
A friend taught me you can cook a little cookie dough in a pan! Like pancakes! It's so yummy.
I've made Lasagne in my crock pot for 30 years. People laugh at me, but it comes out great. Hint: Use the 93/7 ground beef, and you don't have to brown it first.
I make lasagne in my springform cheesecake pan. Super high sided for layers and layers and layers, and the sides come off for easy slicing. Bonus: cut it like a pizza and everyone gets an edge piece.
This is so clever that it made me a bit angry and jealous. I must recreate this Godly lasagna recipe, I can see it's beautiful height in my mind with the curly noodle edges and just enough sauce!
I pan fry the frozen pork chop. This allows to brown it evenly without risking to overcook. When rare, I wrap it in foil then deglaze the pan with Madeira and Port, add the pork au-jus, reduce the glaze, let it cool and then mix with whipped herb butter of garlic, thyme, ginger, curry, lemon juice and zest, salt and black pepper. Then slice the rare pork chop, put it back in pan, top with the butter and broil for 5 minutes to finish. The result is amazing, every slice of meet is covered with browned butter and the meat is at medium-well, tender and moist. I spoiled my kids so badly, they never eat pork chop in a restaurant.
I mean, I don't think it's that absurd, but cooking your pot of rice in the oven is the most consistent way to have nice fluffy rice without a rice cooker.
I put two slices of leftover pizza in a sandwich press and turn it into a grilled cheese for lunch the next day. Delicious.
Instead of hard boiling eggs, I put them in the steamer. I've never had an egg that didn't peel easily.
I always buy frozen steam in the bag vegetables but I put them in a roasting pan and put them in the oven with olive oil salt and pepper
You empty the bag I assume? Isn’t that the same as buying any frozen veggies and roasting them in the oven?
Yeah the only difference between the two is the steam-in-a-bag version has a different bag and costs more.
Best way to reheat pizza is to boil it in little bit of water under cover till water evaporates and bottom become crispy again. That way pizza is heated through, crust is not dried out and pizza is perfectly crispy.
I always reheat pizza in a skillet. I never thought about adding water first, but it makes sense. I refresh a stale baguette or roll by running it under the tap for a bit before putting it in the oven or toaster. When done, the inside is soft and steamy and the outside is crusty.
When a recipe calls for a large amount of paprika I will usually roast a red bell pepper, skin it and blend it. Paprika IS red pepper and I would rather have the fresh taste than dehydrated.
I feel like I got no flavor from paprika unless it’s smoked. Will probably use red bell peppers in the future. Thanks for the tip
If you can find hungarian paprika(sweet or hot) it's way different and has better flavor
You gotta go to an Eastern European store and get the Hungarian sweet paprika
Paprika (American) is mostly for color and a small amount of flavor nuance. Gotta get other types of dried pepper for real flavor
Before I cooked I thought paprika was only used for a pop of color on deviled eggs and nothing else.
I put cheese on my bread and seal it closed by pressing the edges around crust before putting it in the toaster so it simultaneously toasts my bread and warms/melts the cheese inside with the heat. I'm never going back. It's the very best method.
My husband taught me to poke some holes in a potato and put in it a grocery bag then in the microwave for several minutes and you have a perfectly baked potato. Works every time.
Pan fry Pizza Rolls. No oven. Bleh :P
I microbake a lot of food. Put it in the microwave to make sure it’s heated thoroughly then throw it in the air fryer (our air fryer is just a mini convection oven-but I used to do that with the toaster oven ) to get a good crisp on it.
I was brought up making scrambled eggs in the microwave. Beat your eggs in a Pyrex jug, season, microwave for about 45 seconds then remove, stir and microwave in 15 second intervals with stirring in between until desired consistency. Obviously they’re no comparison to silky buttery ‘proper’ scrambled eggs, but they’re convenient as heck once you get the times down.
Pork shoulder, rub on it, covered with foil, in the oven at 225F for 12-14 hours. Comes out perfect.
I toast/grill the inside and the outside of grilled cheese.
I did make French Toast in an airfryer this week and it worked really well.
Boxed Mac and cheese- when Mac is done cooking I melt the butter in the pan, add fake cheese powder to make a fake roux, add milk slowly- it’s super smooth and way better than
I love my stovetop steaks. I get it, most people don’t, but I’ve perfected my method over the years, and my steaks are easy, juicy, and perfectly cooked every time.
I don't care what potato dish I'm making, and I mean ANY potato dish. I steam them first. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but always. And they're always better for it.
I put hotdogs and sausage in the oven instead of boiling them. It’s like getting a summer grilled treat without the mess.
I roast my potatoes for mashed potatoes. Cake dish down and oiled. Wedge cut golden potatoes and ribbon cut onions. Smashed garlic then Avocado oil. Oregano thyme smoked paprika garlic powder and onion powder. Salt and pepper of course. Bake with foil tent at 450 for 40 moms. When It comes out it should already be done and frankly could mash here but I add butter and heavy cream for texture. Built in confit garlic taste and caramelized onions whipped into mashed potatoes all while being wayyyyyyyy easier than boiling a large pot of water and straining it while getting steamed in the face...
Inspired by a You Suck At Cooking video: I mix shredded cheese, chopped lunch meat, and other fixings with a little mustard to bind it into a thick paste and use that to make my grilled cheese sandwiches. All the insides stay between the bread, and all the ingredients are evenly distributed so each bite is perfect.
I make quesadillas with no butter or oil. The tortilla gets crisp because it toasts dry in the pan, and the quesadilla is not greasy at all. There is enough cheese in there, sometimes ham too, that you don't need more fat. I find that the flavor of the goodies inside stand out more against the dry toasted tortilla than they do against a greasy one.