Kitchen Quirks
I was reading the most recent issue of Everyday Food recently (a magazine I absolutely loved seven years ago, but that I’ve felt like has really declined in recent years. . . each issue seems to have more and more weird recipes), and it had a little section called “Are They Worth It?”
It went through five items and discussed whether or not it was worth the time, money, and flavor to buy store-prepped versions or whether to just do it yourself.
I was more amused than I should have been by it because of the five items, four of them are ones I use frequently (the one I don’t is a stir-fry mix because I can’t actually stand stir-fry), and in all four cases, I went exactly the opposite way they did.
First, they said you should buy chicken broth because it takes too much planning ahead to make your own. I haven’t bought chicken broth in a couple of years because it’s so ludicrously cheap and easy to make yourself and I just basically stuff my entire freezer full of yogurt containers full of it. No mechanically separated chicken parts and trans-fat for me, thank you.
Then they said you should peel your own garlic because the flavor is so much better. Frankly, the only time I use fresh garlic is when it comes in my CSA box. Other than that, I am all about the giant bottle of pre-minced garlic. I do not enjoy trying to mince a slippery piece of garlic into a bazillion tiny pieces and I really do not enjoy having hands that smell of garlic for the next four days. Plus it is extremely cheap to buy a huge huge thing of it and it lasts forever (one time Ralphie called when we were coming over for dinner and asked us to bring some garlic because she was out and on the way over, Bart noticed that our jar had expired two years earlier. Still tasted fine (are you getting the impression that I don’t really care about expiration dates? You are not wrong)).
Breadcrumbs? They said to buy it, I say “Twenty seconds in the food processor and I have breadcrumbs made with homemade bread that I can stick in the freezer for the next fifty years.” I mean, really? Bread crumbs take no effort whatsoever. And I am lazy.
And then. . . .lemon juice. When we first were married, I was convinced that real lemons were the only way to go (and I know for a fact that it was because of Everyday Food that I was sure of this). After a couple of months, Bart suggested that it was possible to buy a bottle of lemon juice. And then, the clincher. “My mom uses bottled lemon juice.” Well. If Bart’s mom, who is a ridiculously high-level cook and also loves lemons, can use bottled lemon juice, I could too. And when I went to buy some and saw how cheap it was (far far cheaper than buying actual lemons), I never looked back. I only buy lemons if I’m making a recipe that absolutely requires zest. Other than that? A giant bottle of cheap happiness.
Apparently I’m lazy in all the wrong ways. Oh well, Everyday Food never has to know.
Fresh garlic really does taste different although I understand the allure of the bottled.
Besides the ease/cost factor of chicken broth, there is a huge health difference between homemade broth and store bought. You get all the minerals and nutrients from the bones in homemade stock that is missing from store bought. That being said, I will occasionally buy some broth (no extra additives) to have on hand when we run out.
For lemon juice, I have both on hand. I use real lemons when the lemon flavor is the main flavor of a dish. If not, I use the bottled for convenience. I have also recently made the switch to the organic lemon juice that doesn't have any other ingredients. You can taste the difference. But by then it is cheaper just to juice your own lemons.
I don't bother with bread crumbs, even when I could eat them. 😉
Ha ha ha! I could not disagree with you more on the lemon (mostly because I need the zest in most of my lemon-friendly recipes), garlic, and chicken stock. Our lives are so different.
Could you post on how you make your own chicken broth and breadcrumbs? It would be helpful to get instructions and maybe pictures too. Thanks!
Janssen has probably already replied, but here is the method I always use: http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2012/04/easiest-homemade-chicken-broth-in.html
I am totally with you on the Chicken broth and bread crumbs. I hate store bought, and making my own is SO easy. We just save scraps of veggies and chicken bones when we roast one in a baggie in the freezer, and when we get enough, whip up a batch of broth.
However, I am totally NOT with you on the garlic and lemon juice. That jarred garlic just seems so slimy and weird to me. It doesn't taste at all the same as fresh to me. I'm also not huge on the garlic press. My trick for fresh garlic is to smack the cloves hard with the flat side of my knife. This smooshes the clove so the skin comes right off, and it also doesn't slip around when you try to cut it. Also, super-sharp knives are ESSENTIAL for safely cutting fresh garlic. And that bottled lemon juice tastes so bitter and chemical-y to me. The only time I use it is for canning tomatoes, where the acid percentage is super-important (fresh lemons don't have a consistent level of acidity, especially if you get a lot of Meyer Lemons from neighborhood trees, like I do)
I have to say I agree with Everyday Food on all of the above. I do want to start making chicken stock, however, because I feel like we're always out of it.
(p.s. totally agree that Everyday Food has gone WAY downhill as of late.)
I've never made my own breadcrumbs. Do you let the bread get stale first?
I don't use chicken stock too often but if I do buy it, I buy organic so it doesn't have all of that grossness in it. But I'd say I buy it maybe twice a year. As for garlic, I do love fresh, but I've always never tried the jars and I'm definitely curious now! I've used both fresh lemons and bottled lemon juice. I think bottled is totally fine for a dessert but I like fresh for fish.
One super helpful tip for garlic or any other scent on your hands-fish, onions, stinky things…if you have a knife, or any other certain small-ish kitchen item that is stainless steel, if you hold it in your hands as you rinse cold water over them and kind of just hold the metal and move it around like you were washing your hands, it neutralizes the scent. I don't know why, it just does. I got this tip from my brother who used to sell knives. (and I apologize if I used sell wrong. I can do most grammar things just fine but sell and sale seem to trip me up way more often than I'd like to admit!)
Haha, love this post! I think actual garlic tastes better than bottled, but not ENOUGH better to make it worth it! *clink* (the sound of me toasting your bottle of garlic with mine). 🙂