LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Apr 7, 2017 8:27:33 GMT -5
What food prep operations really grind your goat? The stuff you almost never do, because you hate doing it.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Apr 7, 2017 8:29:58 GMT -5
I really don't like filling or stuffing things. Much as I love to eat, say, ravioli or stuffed shells, I'll almost never make these things, because stuffing the pasta is such an onerous bore to me. I don't find it overly difficult, I'm not bad at it, I just don't want to do it!
And while I still do this from time to time, because the results are so often worth it, I positively abhor doing any coating that requires a full breading station. Though in this case it's less the effort, which doesn't bother me, and more that it's impossible to do this neatly. I'm AR in the kitchen, and the mess that stacks up with a breading operation really raises my hackles.
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Post by pairesta on Apr 7, 2017 8:54:27 GMT -5
Doing the dishes! Waka waka
I think ravioli/anything stuffed is on point for me. I don't hate it, but lord does it grind me down and I always approach it with a vague sense of dread (not the least because of how many I'll throw out because they tore or got overstuffed). However, I will tell you this: having a little one help you really takes alot of that off. Especially anything that requires the stuffed pasta to be folded a special way, like bent around the finger. She makes perfect tortellini. Better looking than mine, and on her first try.
I'll also say anything that's done for presentation's sake, like carving or cutting a vegetable a certain way because it looks nicer. But that's just because I'm a big ol slob in the kitchen.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Apr 7, 2017 9:01:53 GMT -5
I really don't like filling or stuffing things. Much as I love to eat, say, ravioli or stuffed shells, I'll almost never make these things, because stuffing the pasta is such an onerous bore to me. I don't find it overly difficult, I'm not bad at it, I just don't want to do it! And while I still do this from time to time, because the results are so often worth it, I positively abhor doing any coating that requires a full breading station. Though in this case it's less the effort, which doesn't bother me, and more that it's impossible to do this neatly. I'm AR in the kitchen, and the mess that stacks up with a breading operation really raises my hackles. My stuffed shells are pretty damn tasty, but it is definitely a pain to do - boiling the shells but not tooooo much, making sure they're cool enough to handle, fumbling with the spoon and the floppy shell, trying to make sure the filling stays in. I don't mind breading, but it does bug me that I immediately get three bowls dirty without even eating anything.
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Post by Liz n Dick on Apr 7, 2017 9:14:13 GMT -5
I'm fully on board with hating breading stuff (for the mess and the fuss) and with stuffing pastas or whatever.
My big annoyance is cookies that involve any more work than scooping dough. Rolling chilled dough, cutting shapes, decorating before baking, decorating after baking... I can't be bothered with any of it. I loathe all the fussy shit, especially when there's dozens and dozens of a thing to be repeated. ::shudder:: Any cookie more complicated than Toll House chocolate chip is a non-starter for me. Hugs always gets all excited by the cookies in Martha Stewart magazines, and I'm always like, "Tell me how it went, once you're done making them."
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Post by Ben Grimm on Apr 7, 2017 9:27:22 GMT -5
I can't chop onions. I don't even mean they hurt my eyes, I mean I literally can't keep them open. My wife always does it.
Raw onions also tear up my stomach like nothing else (and I usually have a cast-iron stomach), so I've wondered if I've got an allergy or intolerance or something to them.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Apr 7, 2017 9:34:59 GMT -5
I'm glad I'm not alone in recognizing the utter bullshit that is breading food.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Apr 7, 2017 9:38:54 GMT -5
I can't chop onions. I don't even mean they hurt my eyes, I mean I literally can't keep them open. My wife always does it. Raw onions also tear up my stomach like nothing else (and I usually have a cast-iron stomach), so I've wondered if I've got an allergy or intolerance or something to them. I once watched Mrs. Snape's aunt spend a full five minutes dicing a single onion, because it kept hurting her eyes. Also her technique was terrible and so inefficient. I can reduce a whole onion to a clean dice in about 45 seconds, and if it was anyone else in the family, I would have been, "Hey, you want me take care of that for you?" But this aunt is the one other person in the local family who is considered a really good cook, so I didn't feel comfortable stepping to that turf. I wasn't ready to ball.
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Gumbercules
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Post by Gumbercules on Apr 7, 2017 9:59:47 GMT -5
I hate mincing the little pieces of garlic that you buy from the supermarket. I usually throw it away. If you get the good kind (which I do from working the farmers market), it only has 4 or 5 cloves, but they're large. It's not like having more garlic is ever a problem.
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Gumbercules
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Post by Gumbercules on Apr 7, 2017 10:02:03 GMT -5
Also, I hate drying. Doing dishes I'm fine with. But I will leave them in a pile and let them air dry. I can't tolerate using a rag to dry them (mostly because by the second item, the rag is just as wet). Also, when food items want you to drain, then dry, if it's anything more than just quickly pressing between paper towels, I won't do it. Tofu, eggplant... just no.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Apr 7, 2017 10:11:48 GMT -5
I hate mincing the little pieces of garlic that you buy from the supermarket. I usually throw it away. If you get the good kind (which I do from working the farmers market), it only has 4 or 5 cloves, but they're large. It's not like having more garlic is ever a problem. I say without shame that I make no time for the little sliver-cloves. If it looks like more work than it's worth, that stuff goes straight in the trash. The worst is when a clove's outward appearance is perfectly round and fat, but then you crush into it, and it's actually 3-4 tiny cloves, deceiving you "kids in the trench coat" style.
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Post by Powerthirteen on Apr 7, 2017 10:22:42 GMT -5
I have never met a clove of garlic I didn't hate mincing. The little bits all stick to the knife.
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Post by songstarliner on Apr 7, 2017 10:39:06 GMT -5
I hate making pie crust. It's not difficult really, but ugh so many steps: mixing just so, chilling, rolling. It's a pain in the neck. But Song, you say, why not make a bunch and store the extra in the freezer? Yes, good question. I just don't.
And blind baking? Fuck no.
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Trurl
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Post by Trurl on Apr 7, 2017 11:00:12 GMT -5
Prepping the type of veggies that are fiddly, like leeks - they get dirt in *everywhere*. And parsley/cilantro - picking over it is tedious and chopping it a pain in the ass.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Apr 7, 2017 11:08:46 GMT -5
I have never met a clove of garlic I didn't hate mincing. The little bits all stick to the knife. I've stopped mincing garlic. I use the frozen Dorot cubes or occasionally the minced jarred stuff. You can't convince me that mincing garlic is worth it.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Apr 7, 2017 12:02:23 GMT -5
I have never met a clove of garlic I didn't hate mincing. The little bits all stick to the knife. It's still work - I won't pretend it's not - but I often do the paste method. Give it a rough chop, nowhere near as fine as a mince, then sprinkle it with salt and repeatedly crush it under the side of the blade. In 15-20 seconds it'll be a paste which doesn't stick to the knife and which incorporates better into pretty much whatever you want to put it in.
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Trurl
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Post by Trurl on Apr 7, 2017 12:14:29 GMT -5
What are people's opinions on garlic presses? I'm not sure what problem people have with them.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Apr 7, 2017 12:20:56 GMT -5
What are people's opinions on garlic presses? I'm not sure what problem people have with them. I have nothing against them, as I've never used one. Outside looking in, they always struck me as a poor middle ground. If it's just a few cloves, I don't want to dirty the extra tool. I'd rather just use my knife and board which I'm probably already using anyway. And if it's a bunch of cloves, I have a food processor. On occasion I will bust out my microplane grater for garlic, especially if I'm already using if for something else (citrus zest, ginger...)
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Post by Liz n Dick on Apr 7, 2017 12:22:17 GMT -5
What are people's opinions on garlic presses? I'm not sure what problem people have with them. They generate a lot of waste, or you just end up chopping all the bits that stuck inside the press anyway. Little tiny garlic cloves really are the worst... and I generally have no one to blame but myself for having them on hand. I'm terrible about sticking to growing the types of garlic that have big, nice cloves, because I get swayed by the descriptions of all the different types in the seed catalogs. So we'll grow, like, one type of actual functional garlic, and then two types that turn out to have itty-bitty annoying cloves, and those kinds always end up rotting faster, too. So I'll have 150 heads of garlic that need to be used within a month of picking, and they're all made up of 15-20 itsy-bitsy impossible cloves. Now that I think about it, growing my own garlic is just making my life worse!
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Post by Liz n Dick on Apr 7, 2017 12:27:27 GMT -5
I should add that anything with garlic that gets served at stately Dick n Hisses manor has rough-chopped garlic. I do one grade of chop with garlic, and that's it.
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Post by The Sensational She-Hulk on Apr 7, 2017 12:28:03 GMT -5
I absolutely fucking goddamn hate chopping/mincing herbs. Hate.
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Post by Liz n Dick on Apr 7, 2017 12:34:53 GMT -5
Prepping the type of veggies that are fiddly, like leeks - they get dirt in *everywhere*. And parsley/cilantro - picking over it is tedious and chopping it a pain in the ass. OMG, getting parsley/cilantro clean is a fool's errand. My CSA yields buckets of cilantro every fall, so I'll have, like, six bunches of it to chop up and put into the freezer (at least I only have to mince cilantro once a year that way). My approach to cleaning it before the big chop event has become, over the years, increasingly lax. Now they get a cursory rinse, a vague pat dry... and then I apologize to Boomer and Hugs for the grit every time we eat something with cilantro in it. Boomer's always like, "The minerals are good for us." Like turkeys! Keeps our gizzards in fine working order!
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Post by songstarliner on Apr 7, 2017 12:43:24 GMT -5
Prepping the type of veggies that are fiddly, like leeks - they get dirt in *everywhere*. And parsley/cilantro - picking over it is tedious and chopping it a pain in the ass. OMG, getting parsley/cilantro clean is a fool's errand. My CSA yields buckets of cilantro every fall, so I'll have, like, six bunches of it to chop up and put into the freezer (at least I only have to mince cilantro once a year that way). My approach to cleaning it before the big chop event has become, over the years, increasingly lax. Now they get a cursory rinse, a vague pat dry... and then I apologize to Boomer and Hugs for the grit every time we eat something with cilantro in it. Boomer's always like, "The minerals are good for us." Like turkeys! Keeps our gizzards in fine working order! No, no, no - submerge them in a bowl of water, swish around, then lift them out of the water and shake dry. The grit stays in the bowl. It's the only way. It is known. Also, I know it makes an extra dish to wash, but I love using my salad spinner. Lettuce, herbs, mushrooms, really anything that needs to be washed and dried.
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Trurl
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Post by Trurl on Apr 7, 2017 12:47:43 GMT -5
OMG, getting parsley/cilantro clean is a fool's errand. My CSA yields buckets of cilantro every fall, so I'll have, like, six bunches of it to chop up and put into the freezer (at least I only have to mince cilantro once a year that way). My approach to cleaning it before the big chop event has become, over the years, increasingly lax. Now they get a cursory rinse, a vague pat dry... and then I apologize to Boomer and Hugs for the grit every time we eat something with cilantro in it. Boomer's always like, "The minerals are good for us." Like turkeys! Keeps our gizzards in fine working order! No, no, no - submerge them in a bowl of water, swish around, then lift them out of the water and shake dry. The grit stays in the bowl. It's the only way. It is known. Also, I know it makes an extra dish to wash, but I love using my salad spinner. Lettuce, herbs, mushrooms, really anything that needs to be washed and dried. What I do with cilantro and parsley, what makes it such a chore, is individually pick the leaves off the stems, then take the pile of leaves and soak them in a bowl, then rinse and pat dry. No dirt, no stems, no slugs, no wonky rotting leaves. Takes bloody forever.
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Trurl
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Post by Trurl on Apr 7, 2017 12:51:29 GMT -5
I sometimes use a garlic press when I have more than a few cloves to do (there are recipes that call for fewer than four cloves of garlic, I always assumed that it's a typo). Upside is you can get a lot chopped without drenching your hands in garlic juice, which is what I find always happens when I have to chop a lot of garlic. But mostly, yeah, rough chop the garlic.
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Post by Liz n Dick on Apr 7, 2017 12:55:23 GMT -5
No, no, no - submerge them in a bowl of water, swish around, then lift them out of the water and shake dry. The grit stays in the bowl. It's the only way. It is known. Also, I know it makes an extra dish to wash, but I love using my salad spinner. Lettuce, herbs, mushrooms, really anything that needs to be washed and dried. Yeah, yeah... but this cilantro comes cut short and tightly bunched. So I'd have to undo the bunches, and then everything gets messy because there's cilantro everywhere, and the leaves are too tender to do in the spinner and at the end of the day I'd rather just eat some grit now and again! (Taller-cut herbs, or more slender bunches -- or fewer of them, if I'm being honest -- work great with the submerge-and-swish approach, though!) As for the salad spinner, I have a love-hate relationship with mine. I mean, it's fun and all... but when I'm trying to put together a dinner with a side salad, and the spinner needs to come out for that in addition to everything involved in the dinner proper, it always seems like a bridge too far. And a bridge that often doesn't even get everything fully clean, no matter how many times I spin through! Lettuce season from our CSA is another time of year that's good for our gizzards. I actually was going to bitch about the salad spinner earlier, but figured I didn't want to admit how much dirt we eat at stately Dick n Hisses manor. Well... now you all know. It's a lot of dirt.
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Post by songstarliner on Apr 7, 2017 13:21:54 GMT -5
No, no, no - submerge them in a bowl of water, swish around, then lift them out of the water and shake dry. The grit stays in the bowl. It's the only way. It is known. Also, I know it makes an extra dish to wash, but I love using my salad spinner. Lettuce, herbs, mushrooms, really anything that needs to be washed and dried. What I do with cilantro and parsley, what makes it such a chore, is individually pick the leaves off the stems, then take the pile of leaves and soak them in a bowl, then rinse and pat dry. No dirt, no stems, no slugs, no wonky rotting leaves. Takes bloody forever. At the Middle-Eastern restaurant where I worked for like ten years, I picked whole cases of parsley at a time and got pretty dang good at it. I'm not saying I like it. But I can pick a bunch of parsley in no time at all - two minutes maybe?
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Trurl
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Post by Trurl on Apr 7, 2017 13:25:19 GMT -5
What I do with cilantro and parsley, what makes it such a chore, is individually pick the leaves off the stems, then take the pile of leaves and soak them in a bowl, then rinse and pat dry. No dirt, no stems, no slugs, no wonky rotting leaves. Takes bloody forever. At the Middle-Eastern restaurant where I worked for like ten years, I picked whole cases of parsley at a time and got pretty dang good at it. I'm not saying I like it. But I can pick a bunch of parsley in no time at all - two minutes maybe? There's a reason I've made very little tabbouleh in my life.
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Trurl
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Post by Trurl on Apr 7, 2017 13:26:54 GMT -5
Also, by far the *worst* food prep operation is cleaning squid. Messy, smelly, and a pain-in-the-ass when you can just buy squid tubes and be done with it.
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Post by pairesta on Apr 7, 2017 14:08:24 GMT -5
Also, by far the *worst* food prep operation is cleaning squid. Messy, smelly, and a pain-in-the-ass when you can just buy squid tubes and be done with it. Yeah I can't even remember the last time I actually saw whole, unprepped squid that you'd have to clean yourself. I can't even imagine.
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