Food Security Carnival Discussion Post.

[commodorified]

Solicit or offer ideas, cheer each other on, ask for or offer data or resources, team up and do a group-authored post or a mini-carnival cluster of posts, find a beta, be a beta ...

I would like to say: I am not at all worried about avoiding duplication, and suggest that nobody else be either.

If eight people do posts on How To Cook Eggs, they will all be different, they will all be right and useful, and each of them will be somebody's absolute most useful and favourite post of the whole carnival.

Carry on!

Comments

[kindkit]

I might make a post about roasting and using a whole chicken (since it's cheaper than buying chicken parts but many people are intimidated by it).

[jenna_thorn]

Would a "Basic pantry staples" list be helpful?

Thinking here from the point of view of someone who taught a college-aged friend that assembling sandwiches wasn't really cooking.

This is rice. Sticky (short grained) rice smooshes and is good for risotto or sushi. Long grain rice doesn't clump and will have basmati or jasmine on the label and be more expensive, but very tasty. Specific cuisines call for specific types. End of month calls for whatever is available.

Rice is dry storage until cooked, then needs refrigeration. If bought in bulk, separate into insect-proof containers, because bugs like rice, too, and losing one container of five is better than losing one five-pound container. Temperature isn't as important as humidity.

Ways to cook rice:
option a. 1 cup rice + 4 cups water, boil until toothsome, then drain the water.
option b. 1 cup rice + 2 cups water, bring to boil, cover, and turn off heat, let sit so that it steams. When the water is absorbed, the rice is cooked. Fluff with a fork.
option c. buy a rice cooker. Ask other poeple. I've no clue, but some folks love them.
option d. oven-baked, good for large groups
option e. ??

things to do with cooked rice.
option a - stuff with rice: mixed frozen veg or canned tuna or last night's leftover chili, heated separately then combined or, if not too cold, mixed in to heat through.
option b- stuff beside rice: Throw a little butter or salt, if you want, on your rice and use as a separate veg. next to your grilled chop or sausage in tomato or chunks of grilled portobello.
option c - stuff on rice: rice as foundation, including under chicken cooked in sauce or potato curry or tofu stirfry or slivered beef in teriyaki or ...
option d - stone soup (always and forever)
option e - heated, with milk and a bit of brown sugar for breakfast or then cooled, threatened with a cardamom pod and called rice pudding, om nom nom.

Bonus household use: in climates humid enough (Hello Texas Gulf Coast) to clump salt or brown sugar, a dozen grains of cheap white rice in your salt shaker on the table will help kept it usable. A thin cloth bag filled (not too full!) with rice and, if you've got it, a scent agent like lavender, tossed in the microwave for less than a minute, makes a lovely heating pad. Watch for bugs or empty it, though. (Have you seen the insects of the Texas Gulf Coast?)

And then something along similar lines for potato and dried beans.

[geeksdoitbetter]

"assembling sandwiches wasn't really cooking."

erm

that language makes me grumpy and sad

[dorothean]

me too.

[jenna_thorn]

my apologies

[jenna_thorn]

my apologies

[indywind]

I think the "basic pantry staples" list/discussion could be helpful.

But, "the point of view of someone who taught a college-aged friend that assembling sandwiches wasn't really cooking" might not be the most helpful POV from which to approach it.

I find myself resistant to learning when it's presented as the 'real', 'right' or 'best' way, or equally accessible or relevant to everyone. Especially if my choices or experience get invalidated in the comparison.

[havocthecat]

I think a post about different ways of preparing food might be helpful, based on this discussion. (Not one that I'm considering writing, just an idea I'm offering out there should anyone want to pick it up and run with it. Or not, for that matter.)

[jenna_thorn]

my apologies

[indywind]

Apology gladly accepted. Thanks for hearing me.

[bemused_leftist]

"isn't the only way of cooking"?

"isn't her only option for cooking"?

[auriaephiala]

My experience (which of course may differ from yours) is that:

1. 2 cups water to 1 cup rice produces rice that sticks together, at least for the basmati or other rice available here.
2. I prefer 2.5 cups water to 1.5 cups rice, or if that's just too much, 1+7/8 cups water to 1 cup rice.
3. I find rice is much less sticky if you bring the water to a rolling boil FIRST, then add the rice, then cover and turn down to low.

[(Anonymous)]

I *like* sticky rice, to go with Asian foods. Ideally use medium grain rice, but "regular" rice will do OK. 1c rice, 1.5 c. water, boil for 2 min, then reduce heat to lowest, cover, simmer 15 min, turn heat off but leave covered for 20 min.

We buy rice in bulk in my household. Up to 100 lbs when we're fully stocked in long grain, medium grain, brown, and the bits and pieces.

- Harimad

[bemused_leftist]

There are also quite different varieties that are labeled 'sticky rice' or 'sushi rice'.

[kake]

I might make a post about roasting and using a whole chicken [...]

This will be useful for me to link to from the post I plan on making! I'm going to talk about making use of takeaway leftovers, and one of the examples will be chicken. It'd be great to be able to say "but if you want to do your own chicken, check out kindkit's post here..."

I don't often roast chickens, but I do poach a whole chicken every now and then.