Cooking methods

In order to cook using whole foods you have to understand the basic cooking methods. Unless you will be eating everything raw (which is an option I suppose...except for chicken and other poultry)....I don't think there will ever be chicken sushi. You will be doing one of the following things to your food: boiling, steaming, poaching, sauteing, frying, stir frying, roasting, broiling, braising, stewing, souping (souping?), microwaving. These are the main ones that matter for most people most of the time. There are certainly many others including the most ancient of all, cooking over an open fire. The closest most of us get to that is grilling, which is like a religion to some people. Most us us will, on any given day;

• Pan saute or pan fry....... a hamburger, a chicken breast, for example. fast
• Boil......pasta, potatoes. fast
• Steam......vegetables, shrimp. fast
• Poaching.....eggs, chicken, fish. fast
• Frying (deep frying)....chicken, fish. Not really recommended for the average cook on an average day. It's messy, dangerous and unhealthy. It will make you hate cooking unless you know what your doing and have the proper tools. But it tastes really good!
• Stir frying....vegetables, small pieces of tender meat. good and very fast
• Broiling.....usually used for tender meats. fast
• Roasting......roasts, turkeys. Think Thanksgiving. slow
• Braising......stews, roasts. Slow but delicious
• Stewing.....braising is better for stews, stewing is better for soups. Now your really confused! slow
• Microwaving...potatoes, vegetables, leftovers. fast

The techniques highlighted in red are the ones you will be depending on for most quick, cheap meals.

Spent $106.56 last week. That's not including the $50 gift card I spent at The Fresh Market. I bought a small bag of coffee, a jar of anchovies, a bunch of arugula, a small block of Parmesano Regiano cheese, some real buttermilk, lump crab meat, an avocado, a red pepper and some frozen artichoke hearts. Yes, I guess I'm a food snob but I can't afford that stuff so thanks for the gift card Mavis!