Marilyn Haggerty's amazing Olive Garden review and the subsequent viral shitstorm

isn't that what you do with frozen veg?

yep! or steam them. both work.

Sure! But its ok to do it with fresh veg too! They take a lil longer to cook, tho. Frozen veg are slightly pre cooked :)

Lex you make me go all mumsy and wanna show you how to cook simple things, bless yer.

Getting a steamer with a timer for £20 might be worthwhile if you have the counter space and eat a lot of vegetables.

read that as "if you live in outer space and eat a lot of vegetables"

I swear that guy is actually saying "keep pluckin' that chicken" and erryone just wants to wilfully mishear it.

I read that his comment was a reference to a joke about tenderizing chicken by fucking it. I think in the joke the chicken is alive?

Which explains the other thing he says, "it takes a tough man to make a tender forecast."

if there's heat on it then you risk getting cancer-causing chemicals in your food

if no heat no problem

whoops

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rtEfGneubno/TSZo9abFbPI/AAAAAAAAABY/ZkLv-FFXN4w/s1600/GaryLarson_2001.jpg

the other big problem is WHERE ARE THE ELEMENTS ON THAT STOVE

^ shld not be overlooked

There is something deeply, psychically disturbing about that

ya its kind of like 'seeing behind the curtain' for a second

I am supposing "very cheap landlord has decided that one element is sufficient for the tenants"

it's like a face with no mouth

I am supposing "very cheap landlord has decided that one element is sufficient for the tenants"

But then you'd have to buy some weird, custom stove top without holes for the heating elements, offsetting the cost savings of swindling your tenants out of their rightful allotment of cooking surfaces.

I'm wondering if we should think of cooking as an essential skill in life

idk if ILX has more to say on this or if we've all vented enough itt

- i like the steamer baskets that have the fixed base and the 'skirt' bit that opens up or closes around the veges.

- double boiler type steamer also work really well, but they're usually for a larger amount of veggies, not great for 'steamed veg for one'.

- you can steam veg in the microwave. Like, carrots for example: put them in a microwave safe bowl, with a tablespoon of water. Cover with cling wrap or w/e. cook on high for 4 min (you may need to add another minute or two depending on your microwave.)
Let it sit for 1 min, and voila.
You can do the same with green beans, but you only cook them for 2 min.

Tracer you don't have to have a lid to cook it but it will cook faster that way and it will cook faster if the colander is inside the pot than perched atop it. There's really no reason why you can't simmer the veg in water, either at low boil. The thing to try for is not to overcook the broccoli/green beans. Mostly these days I'd just use my wok.

it's like a face with no mouth

― the prurient pinterest (Hurting 2), Friday, March 16, 2012 11:42 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I Have No Mouth, And I Must Steam

I'm wondering if we should think of cooking as an essential skill in life

Not necessarily. That would be eating.

i recommend endorse helen chen's asian steamer

joyce chen has a good one too

that sounds like a sexual position xp

I've never really gotten down with bamboo steamers. I think that makes me a bad person..

i like the double boiler type steamers because they're so fricking easy. the little collapsible jobbies are cool from a design perspective i guess but they seem to hold like two small pieces of broccoli and that's it. when i steam stuff i like do do enough for like two days of veggies.

xpost LOL phil

yeah Tracer I def find the collapsibles better for 'steamed veg for one' or a small amount of steamed veg for 2 people. double boiler is the best for large amount of veg, it's a good workhorse.

I've never really gotten down with bamboo steamers.

Also good for dim sum!

I've got a silicon gadget thing that goes inside your saucepan so you can steam things through it. Like the colander but purpose designed and therefore safe.

"i was going to drive to my friend's house and crashed my car into a tree and sat there in the wreckage, but i didn't seem to ever arrive at my friend's house. CONFUSING"

still lol'ing at this

you can steam veg in the microwave. Like, carrots for example: put them in a microwave safe bowl, with a tablespoon of water. Cover with cling wrap or w/e. cook on high for 4 min (you may need to add another minute or two depending on your microwave.)

You can also steam some veg in the microwave - asparagus is particularly suited to this - by wrapping the trimmed asparagus in a wet paper towel and microwaving it for 2 to 4 minutes, depending on your preference/microwave.

once I roasted my asparagus I could not for the life of me understand why I had ever steamed it

xpost I've never tried that. Nice!

you know the only vegetable i steam is red chard

i feel like steaming tends to kill the flavor, color and nutritional value of foods

only if you steam them for too long!

I can't think of anything worse, texture-wise, than steamed chard.

I'll steam veggies sometimes before putting them in something else (curries mostly) but never really just eat steamed veggies by themselves. a bit boring.

chard requires smothering

and some kind of animal fat

yeah to me chard needs some braising, or blanching at the very least pre-sauteeing to get the metallic taste out of the leaves.

when i steam chard it turns out like gently wilted spinach leaves

i actually "braise it in reverse", meaning i steam it first and then add the oil, as opposed to cooking in oil and then adding liquid to steam

also that "metallic taste" is the antioxidants! you *want* that metallic taste (or at least i do)

that doesn't sound right

chards taste metallic

I actually sometimes pre-steam for a few minutes and then sautee

I do the opposite. I wilt or soften whatever veg in my wok and then I add some stock to finish it. It doesn't require much oil, if any, 'cause the wok retains enough from being used so much and so often.

I used to always blanch chard and then sautee, and lately I've just been lightly sauteeing it and then adding stock and covering it for a few minutes, it seems to remove the metallic tast/antioxidants/whatever