Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Nima Srinivasan]

Udhay - let me spend way more time wrapping my head around the idea that a
question is asked to not tabulate data :)

Thanks for the context.

On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 8:39 AM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 8:14 AM Nima Srinivasan 
> wrote:
>
> You know this is the sort of question that needs to be asked and answered
> > with Google sheets :)
> >
>
> If one were tabulating the data, yes.
>
> I was trying to get a sense of the time people spend in cooking *as an
> ingredient in the meal*, sparked by this book:
>
>
> https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/missing-ingredient-the-curious-role-of-time-in-food-and-its-flavour-by-jenny-linford-review-ppffqdhrq
>
> Udhay
>

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Venkatesh H R]

I have very little data because I haven't really cooked — ever — due to
combination of disinclination, and availability of someone to make food (a
cook and in recent years, a mother-in-law who loves to send food). But this
year, I'm learning. Bought the Instant Pot a few days ago and started with
rice and dal. Experimented with making yogurt. Made dosas. Small baby
steps. Maybe in a year, I will be a decent cook!

On Tue, Sep 4, 2018 at 8:24 PM Thaths  wrote:

> On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 8:05 PM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> > Something I am curious about.
> >
> > How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
> > make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past
> week
> > in total.
> >
> > Also, please mention whether you work outside home or primarily within
> home
> > (as a homemaker or a long distance worker)
> >
>
> I love food (and cooking). I eat breakfast and lunch at work. I tend to
> spend 4-6 hours on weekends shopping for fresh ingredients and cooking for
> the week.
>
> Every night assembling dinner takes anywhere from 10-60 minutes.
>
> On average, I'd say 60 mins/day.
>
> Thaths
>


-- 
H R Venkatesh
JSK Journalism Fellow 2018-19, Stanford University
Building a Coalition Against Disinformation

Co-organiser, Hacks/Hackers New Delhi
Ph: +91 9811824503
Twitter: @hrvenkatesh

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Thaths]

On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 8:05 PM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> Something I am curious about.
>
> How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
> make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past week
> in total.
>
> Also, please mention whether you work outside home or primarily within home
> (as a homemaker or a long distance worker)
>

I love food (and cooking). I eat breakfast and lunch at work. I tend to
spend 4-6 hours on weekends shopping for fresh ingredients and cooking for
the week.

Every night assembling dinner takes anywhere from 10-60 minutes.

On average, I'd say 60 mins/day.

Thaths

Re: [silk] Chickpea Recipes, was: How much time do you spend cooking?

[Suresh Ramasubramanian]

TMI sorry, but my least favorite thing to do with chickpeas is deal with the 
inevitable gas and bloating that follows.

Anything for a little protein I guess.

On 05/09/18, 8:47 AM, "silklist on behalf of Thaths" 
 wrote:

My favorite things to do with Chickpeas:

1. Chole Masala (lots of recipes online)

2. Sundal (a type of salad that could be eaten by itself as a snack or with
chapati/rice). My family recipe:

1 cup of chickpeas soaked overnight and cooked till just tender (or one
can, drained and washed)
1 inch of ginger (grated)
2 tbsp of grated coconut
2 tbsp vegetable or coconut oil
1 tsp urad dhal (black gram dhal)
1 tsp black or brown mustard seeds
1 green chili (stem and seeds removed if you want something less fiery)
1 tsp salt
4-5 sprigs of cilantro (chopped)
6-7 curry leaves (optional)
2 tbsp young mango (chopped into tiny pieces with skin) (optional)
0.25 tsp asafetida (optional)
Juice of 0.5 lime or lemon

Grind together coarsely the grated coconut, ginger and green chili. Heat
the oil in a wok/pan and add mustard seeds and urad dhal. When mustard
seeds start crackling add the curry leaves and asafetida. Add the chickpeas
and salt and toss to coat evenly. Add the coarsely ground things and toss
some more.  Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with dressing of lemon/lime juice

3. Hummus

S.



On Tue, Sep 4, 2018 at 1:57 PM Bruce A. Metcalf 
wrote:

> Heather Madrone wrote:
>
> > I figure that, if I cook chickpeas one day a week, the supply will
> > last close to 15 years.
> >
> > I have quite a few chickpea recipes and can alter other recipes to
> > include chickpeas, but I'd welcome a few more to round out my
> > repertoire.
>
> Rehydrate, toss in a hot wok with a bit of flavored oil and cook until
> nearly dry. Makes a nice quick hot snack. Not sure if it makes a good
> cold snack -- never made a batch that lasted that long.
>
> I normally use the oil left over from cooking Firecracker Shrimp: Clean
> large shrimp, remove shell and tail, and skewer from the tail end to
> hold straight. Dip in Sriracha, dust with corn starch, and dip into a
> hot oil bath for 30 to 40 seconds. Works even better with tempura
> batter, but I've not been able to figure that out yet. Big hit with my
> hot-palated wife, but it leaves behind a lot of Sriracha-flavored oil.
>
> Cheers,
> / Bruce /
>
>

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Suresh Ramasubramanian]

I can't stop recommending this. 
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/vegan-garbanzos-con-espinacas-jengibre-spinach-chickpea-stew-ginger-spanish.html

On 05/09/18, 1:30 AM, "silklist on behalf of Heather Madrone" 
 wrote:

Udhay Shankar N wrote on 9/3/18 8:05 PM September 3, 2018:
> How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
> make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past week
> in total.

I probably average 2 hours a day, but over the past week it's been 4. My 
eldest was staying with us before flying away to graduate school in 
Scotland. Last week, I cooked all the family favorites. #2 child is 
working in the area after finishing her undergraduate degree. She's been 
home weekends, and I've been cooking extra for her to eat during the week.

I work from home, and still have two college-student sons living at home.

My daughter worked as a research assistant on a drought-tolerant 
chickpea genetics project at school. Each year's data yielded several 
tons of chickpeas from strains that come from all over the world. She 
brought home 12 gallons of dried chickpeas from India, Morocco, Spain, 
Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, as well as hybrid 
varieties that do well in drought conditions.

Every weekend she comes home, I make falafel (because it's a good summer 
supper) with one of the chickpea varieties. I figure that, if I cook 
chickpeas one day a week, the supply will last close to 15 years.

I have quite a few chickpea recipes and can alter other recipes to 
include chickpeas, but I'd welcome a few more to round out my repertoire.

-- 
Heather Madrone  (heat...@madrone.com)
http://www.knitfitter.com/category/personal/

Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Udhay Shankar N]

On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 8:14 AM Nima Srinivasan  wrote:

You know this is the sort of question that needs to be asked and answered
> with Google sheets :)
>

If one were tabulating the data, yes.

I was trying to get a sense of the time people spend in cooking *as an
ingredient in the meal*, sparked by this book:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/missing-ingredient-the-curious-role-of-time-in-food-and-its-flavour-by-jenny-linford-review-ppffqdhrq

Udhay

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Nima Srinivasan]

You know this is the sort of question that needs to be asked and answered
with Google sheets :)

Roughly 30 mins over an entire month. If at all.

Entrepreneur with home office and fair degree of travel.

On Tue, Sep 4, 2018, 8:35 AM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> Something I am curious about.
>
> How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
> make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past week
> in total.
>
> Also, please mention whether you work outside home or primarily within home
> (as a homemaker or a long distance worker)
>
> Udhay
> --
>
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N))  ((via phone))
>

[silk] Chickpea Recipes, was: How much time do you spend cooking?

[Bruce A. Metcalf]

Heather Madrone wrote:


I figure that, if I cook chickpeas one day a week, the supply will
last close to 15 years.

I have quite a few chickpea recipes and can alter other recipes to
include chickpeas, but I'd welcome a few more to round out my
repertoire.


Rehydrate, toss in a hot wok with a bit of flavored oil and cook until 
nearly dry. Makes a nice quick hot snack. Not sure if it makes a good 
cold snack -- never made a batch that lasted that long.


I normally use the oil left over from cooking Firecracker Shrimp: Clean 
large shrimp, remove shell and tail, and skewer from the tail end to 
hold straight. Dip in Sriracha, dust with corn starch, and dip into a 
hot oil bath for 30 to 40 seconds. Works even better with tempura 
batter, but I've not been able to figure that out yet. Big hit with my 
hot-palated wife, but it leaves behind a lot of Sriracha-flavored oil.


Cheers,
/ Bruce /

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Simmi Sareen]

On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 1:30 AM Heather Madrone  wrote:

> I have quite a few chickpea recipes and can alter other recipes to
> include chickpeas, but I'd welcome a few more to round out my repertoire.
>
>
>
Here's a bunch of chickpea recipes I cook regularly:
http://www.bombayfoodie.com/2016/04/the-zahav-hummus.html
http://www.bombayfoodie.com/2008/11/you-arent-punjabi-if.html
http://www.bombayfoodie.com/2009/11/chickpeas-spinach-tomato-garlic.html
http://www.bombayfoodie.com/2010/10/lazy-weekend-rice.html

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Charles Haynes]

Given you have Moroccan chickpeas, I recommend this Moroccan chickpeas
recipe "Kalinté". We had it in Chefchaouen and loved it. (I also recommend
socca if you haven't already tried it.)

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tangier-street-bread-kalinte

On Tue., 4 Sep. 2018, 10:00 pm Heather Madrone,  wrote:

> Udhay Shankar N wrote on 9/3/18 8:05 PM September 3, 2018:
> > How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
> > make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past
> week
> > in total.
>
> I probably average 2 hours a day, but over the past week it's been 4. My
> eldest was staying with us before flying away to graduate school in
> Scotland. Last week, I cooked all the family favorites. #2 child is
> working in the area after finishing her undergraduate degree. She's been
> home weekends, and I've been cooking extra for her to eat during the week.
>
> I work from home, and still have two college-student sons living at home.
>
> My daughter worked as a research assistant on a drought-tolerant
> chickpea genetics project at school. Each year's data yielded several
> tons of chickpeas from strains that come from all over the world. She
> brought home 12 gallons of dried chickpeas from India, Morocco, Spain,
> Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, as well as hybrid
> varieties that do well in drought conditions.
>
> Every weekend she comes home, I make falafel (because it's a good summer
> supper) with one of the chickpea varieties. I figure that, if I cook
> chickpeas one day a week, the supply will last close to 15 years.
>
> I have quite a few chickpea recipes and can alter other recipes to
> include chickpeas, but I'd welcome a few more to round out my repertoire.
>
> --
> Heather Madrone  (heat...@madrone.com)
> http://www.knitfitter.com/category/personal/
>
> Nothing worth doing is ever easy.
>
>
>

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Heather Madrone]

Udhay Shankar N wrote on 9/3/18 8:05 PM September 3, 2018:

How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past week
in total.


I probably average 2 hours a day, but over the past week it's been 4. My 
eldest was staying with us before flying away to graduate school in 
Scotland. Last week, I cooked all the family favorites. #2 child is 
working in the area after finishing her undergraduate degree. She's been 
home weekends, and I've been cooking extra for her to eat during the week.


I work from home, and still have two college-student sons living at home.

My daughter worked as a research assistant on a drought-tolerant 
chickpea genetics project at school. Each year's data yielded several 
tons of chickpeas from strains that come from all over the world. She 
brought home 12 gallons of dried chickpeas from India, Morocco, Spain, 
Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, as well as hybrid 
varieties that do well in drought conditions.


Every weekend she comes home, I make falafel (because it's a good summer 
supper) with one of the chickpea varieties. I figure that, if I cook 
chickpeas one day a week, the supply will last close to 15 years.


I have quite a few chickpea recipes and can alter other recipes to 
include chickpeas, but I'd welcome a few more to round out my repertoire.


--
Heather Madrone  (heat...@madrone.com)
http://www.knitfitter.com/category/personal/

Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Shrabonti Bagchi]

I love to cook, but I don't have much time for it. I have live-in help
who's been with my family for years and knows exactly what we want, so I
don't waste time telling her what to do unless she asks, which is rare. We
(my husband and I) mostly order groceries and even meat and fish online,
because neither of us is really into all the check-beneath-the-gills kind
of stuff and the last time he went to get his meat fresh from the butcher a
cleaver stuck his foot and he had to get stitches, so that suits us just
fine.

On weekends I usually spend a couple of hours making something special like
mutton curry, or try to make something new and unusual using a recipe, but
that's about it.

I feel blessed to have my J didi taking care of us, I truly do.

On Tue 4 Sep, 2018, 23:41 Jim Grisanzio,  wrote:

> On 2018/09/04 12:05, Udhay Shankar N wrote:
> > Something I am curious about.
> >
> > How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
> > make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past
> week
> > in total.
>
> Both my wife and I cook. A lot. Every day -- easily 2-3 hours minimum.
> Mostly Japanese food but a variety of types of food. We do eat out, but
> cooking is a top priority due to our desire to always eat the best
> quality food possible for ourselves and our daughter.
>
> > Also, please mention whether you work outside home or primarily within
> home
> > (as a homemaker or a long distance worker)
>
> I work at home, at the office in Osaka about an hour away, on planes,
> and all over the place I guess. It sucks to eat while traveling so I
> fast a lot (especially on planes, I never eat the food on planes). Some
> restaurants are good while traveling, of course, but cooking your own
> stuff is generally better. :)
>
> Cheers
> Jim
>
>

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Jim Grisanzio]

On 2018/09/04 12:05, Udhay Shankar N wrote:
> Something I am curious about.
>
> How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
> make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past week
> in total.

Both my wife and I cook. A lot. Every day -- easily 2-3 hours minimum.
Mostly Japanese food but a variety of types of food. We do eat out, but
cooking is a top priority due to our desire to always eat the best
quality food possible for ourselves and our daughter.

> Also, please mention whether you work outside home or primarily within home
> (as a homemaker or a long distance worker)

I work at home, at the office in Osaka about an hour away, on planes,
and all over the place I guess. It sucks to eat while traveling so I
fast a lot (especially on planes, I never eat the food on planes). Some
restaurants are good while traveling, of course, but cooking your own
stuff is generally better. :)

Cheers
Jim 

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Simmi Sareen]

On Tue, Sep 4, 2018 at 8:35 AM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> Something I am curious about.
>
> How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat?
>

I have a maid who comes in to cook every morning. I spend 5 minutes
reheating lunch, another 10 minutes putting together dinner from prep she's
already done and maybe another 5-10 minutes making 1-2 cups of tea or
coffee I drink during the day. So less than half an hour on a weekday.

I take up longer projects like making sauces from scratch or baking bread
over the weekend, so it could be 1-2 hours a couple of times a week.

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Charles Haynes]

Since we've been travelling I've been cooking less. So maybe 90 min / week.
Most of that is 15 min / day making coffee every morning (hand grinding for
two people, brewing by hand, cleaning up). Back when I was cooking more
regularly, I'd estimate 8 hours a week, including shopping, prep, cooking,
and clean up. Of that maybe 40 min / day actually prep + cooking. That
includes things like feeding the Kombucha, culturing yoghurt, preserving
lemons, etc.

-- Charles

On Tue., 4 Sep. 2018, 1:01 pm Bruce A. Metcalf, 
wrote:

> On 09/03/2018 11:05 PM, Udhay Shankar N wrote:
>
> > Something I am curious about.
> >
> > How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat?
>
> It varies greatly, largely because my wife and I don't have a consistent
> schedule.
>
> Breakfast ranges from 0 to 30 minutes, with most events at one of the
> extremes.
>
> Lunch I tend to slap together in about 5 minutes.
>
> Dinners well, it depends on how you calculate time. Last night I
> made soup in about half an hour. Last week I made short ribs that took
> 72 hours to cook, though obviously most of that I was sleeping or
> elsewhere (don't ask me about sous vide unless you have time). Some
> nights it can take up to 90 minutes.
>
> Other things need to be counted too. I make my own mustard at 1/2 hour
> per batch; marinara sauce, which takes about two hours per batch; and my
> own stock, which takes 8 hours for vegetable stock and overnight for
> bone stock.
>
> As for averages, I won't even try. We dine out too often and too
> irregularly for any average to be a useful figure.
>
> All of these times are up from four years ago when I retired from my
> part-time job and took up cooking with some enthusiasm.
>
> Don't know if this helps much.
>
> Cheers,
> / Bruce /
>
>

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Bruce A. Metcalf]

On 09/03/2018 11:05 PM, Udhay Shankar N wrote:


Something I am curious about.

How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat?


It varies greatly, largely because my wife and I don't have a consistent 
schedule.


Breakfast ranges from 0 to 30 minutes, with most events at one of the 
extremes.


Lunch I tend to slap together in about 5 minutes.

Dinners well, it depends on how you calculate time. Last night I 
made soup in about half an hour. Last week I made short ribs that took 
72 hours to cook, though obviously most of that I was sleeping or 
elsewhere (don't ask me about sous vide unless you have time). Some 
nights it can take up to 90 minutes.


Other things need to be counted too. I make my own mustard at 1/2 hour 
per batch; marinara sauce, which takes about two hours per batch; and my 
own stock, which takes 8 hours for vegetable stock and overnight for 
bone stock.


As for averages, I won't even try. We dine out too often and too 
irregularly for any average to be a useful figure.


All of these times are up from four years ago when I retired from my 
part-time job and took up cooking with some enthusiasm.


Don't know if this helps much.

Cheers,
/ Bruce /

Re: [silk] How much time do you spend cooking?

[Peter Griffin]

TL;DR

> Also, please mention whether you work outside home or primarily within
home (as a homemaker or a long distance worker)

Do some part of my work from home, but go to office too.

> How much time here do people spend actually cooking the food they eat? To
make the data more useful, calculate the time you spent over the past week
in total.

I have a lady who comes in to cook and clean twice a week. So my cooking is
purely based on whether I feel up to it. I usually cook on weekends, and
time actually spent exclusively in preparing the food would be about an
hour, maybe two.

> > I would expand the question to "How much time do you spend managing the
food ecosystem in your household?"

Our cook and housekeeper takes care of ordering basics from our
neighbourhood store, which delivers. I shop for things I want that our
kirana guy does not stock, and a bit of meat and fish, usually once every
two or three week, a couple of hours each time, including getting to the
mall and back.


TM;SI*

I can barely claim to cook. Until a few months ago, I prided myself on a
good fluffy omelette, getting the coffee powder right in my filter, and
recombining leftovers and sauces.

The lady who cooks for me isn't comfortable outside the spices-and-oil
thing, though she uses far less in my house than she does in her own home
or elsewhere. She does rice, daal, veggies, a meat dish enough for a couple
of meals.

My cooking is purely based on whether I want something different from the
stuff she knows. She has worked for us for nigh on 15 years, and when Mum
was alive, she would cook under her supervision, not really paying
attention to the methods, so she can't re-create family recipes,
Anglo-Indian food. Also, she's Muslim, so we had no pork, which I love, and
now we can eat that, since I buy and cook it.

I only started cooking regularly a few months ago, when I resurrected my
mum's electric rice-cooker. Yes, it cooks lots more than rice, once you get
the hang of figuring out adding ingredients at different stages depending
on cooking times and prepping some things before tossing them in. I've been
messing around with it, learning from advice from friends and recipes
online. Mostly it's one-pot cooking, with some prep (rinsing, soaking,
chopping, marinating, sometimes a little pre-cooking on the stove). With
the RC, once it's in the pot, I practice delegation and go off and do other
things while it does its thing. So time taken varies depending on the prep
work needed and what else I have to do.

My grocery shopping is mainly to indulge this quest of mine, getting herbs,
spices and veggies the carts near home don;t have, and mildly exotic stuff
from the foreign goods shelves, as well as meats.

By the way, if any of you, like me, did not cook because you'd never
learned, I thoroughly recommend a rice-cooker. It takes a lot of the pain
and trial-and-error out of cooking, is simple (two options: Cook and Warm
(the third is switch off the power at the plug)) very versatile, and rather
foolproof (I have no culinary disasters to date, and I'm a bigger doofus in
the kitchen than in other parts of life). This Ebert essay -
https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/the-pot-and-how-to-use-it -
helped me make up my mind to just go for it. You might like the read.
Cooler friends are recommending the Instapot and variants of it, These
basically have more controls.I haven't reached the limitations of the RC
yet, so I haven't been tempted.

I found some of Mum's handwritten recipes, and once I get used to the idea
that I can sort of cook, the next goal is to try and make those.


* tangential meandering; safely ignored