So I work from home 1-2 days a week, and I'd like to take advantage of that time at home by cooking something that typically needs a lot of time. One example would be smoked pork shoulders, which is my normal go-to on WAH home days. What else should I cook?

11/19/2013 11:22:35 PM

Since you mentioned meat, I'll start there. boeuf bourguignon is a classic that takes forever to cook. http://food52.com/recipes/2969-beef-bourguignon

You can make a killer roast beef by roasting it at 190 degrees for 6 or 8 hours that looks like deli meat when it is done, since all the juice stays inside and the meat shrinks very little. If your oven will go that low, even 180° is good. just plan on adjusting your times accordingly. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/4021-slow-roasted-beef

Osso bucco and other veal shank dishes are also awesome to leave in the oven alllll day. this dish is a favorite in our house http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/453908



I always do bread. making your own bread is awesome and worth the labor. but it takes a long period of time to accomplish, though it only needs your attention in short spurts. perfect thing to do between emails or calls. If your fridge isn't perpetually full, you can even make '5 minute a day' dough that can stay in the fridge for 2 or 3 weeks and only takes an hour and a half or so to bake a loaf after the dough is made (no kneading) and chilled. Great recipe, even if you've never made bread before.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-knead-crusty-white-bread-recipe



It's not that time consuming, but it helps not to be in a rush to prepare a meal when you make homemade ricotta/paneer/queso blanco cheese. short bursts of attention, and then you have some ricotta that kicks the ass of anything sold in a store, and nice whey to make bread with as well. you can even do it in the microwave if heating milk in a pot is a big deal. http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/02/how-to-make-fresh-ricotta-fast-easy-homemade-cheese-the-food-lab.html

you can use that ricotta to make awesome stuffed shells, stuffed eggplant/rollatini, lasagna, chile rellenos, but the best use is probably making homemade gnocchi. and you can make a ton and freeze them and then whip them out to impress people later. http://www.davidrocco.com/recipes/pastas/ricotta_gnocchi.asp


If you like sundried tomatoes, these are even better. they just take 3 hours to cook. http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/08/slow-roasted-tomatoes/



Homemade lasagna made from scratch from start to finish takes fucking forever. Make a couple extra for the freezer.



French onion soup is another recipe I find very, very time consuming, though it might need more attention than you have, depending on how hard you work from home. I've tried a method where you caramelize the onions in the oven, which takes equally long but with much less stirring. It's ok, but you have to start with a loooot of onions. but again, great opportunity for freezer goodies.
http://www.food.com/recipe/authentic-french-onion-soup-courtesy-of-julia-child-356428

Broth/stock/consommé/demi-glace and all other kinds of stuff that just needs to simmer and boil for hours is always easy to do as well. I've never tried the whole-chicken broth method, but it supposedly makes a very clear stock. you can also just keep a bag in the freezer of bones and skin and crap you cut off of chicken, and make the stock when it gets full. http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/using-the-whole-chicken



[Edited on November 20, 2013 at 1:36 AM. Reason : ]

11/20/2013 1:13:00 AM

^/thread

Only other item I can think of to add might be braised lamb shanks. A decent amount of prep on the front end, but after that its mostly just slow-cooking.

11/20/2013 10:02:33 AM

I made this for dinner yesterday, which I started prepping on Sunday. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/shoyu-ramen# You can do the first two days of stuff in one day though if you soak the kombu first thing in the morning. It requires a trip to an Asian market, but it results in solid depth of flavor. (and, please, eat the stuff you use to make the broth; discarding it is so unnecessary)

And to go along with the bread thing, English muffins. They have to rise 3 times, which eats up a solid chunk of time. http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=499028

Keep a freezer container with all your veggie scraps/stuff that starts wilting too, minus cruciferous veggies and peppers. It takes a lot less time than meat broths, but I always make them at the same time so I can strain and freeze it all in one go.

11/20/2013 10:54:43 AM

Quote :

"Homemade lasagna made from scratch from start to finish takes fucking forever. Make a couple extra for the freezer. "

Gah. So true. I always ache the next day from standing up for so long. Totally worth it though.

11/20/2013 11:54:19 AM

add to my topics

11/20/2013 11:59:44 AM

Oh no, Exiled, this thread isn't done yet!

Any home brewers in the house? It takes about 6 hours to make beer from whole grains, and a lot of that time is sitting around watching stuff boil. Why not do it with your laptop perched nearby? That's something I'd really like to get into again, but the space requirement for the setup is quite large, and my house is already getting overstuffed.




Skwinkle, I throw bell peppers and occasional bits of wilted cabbage leaves, cauliflower leaves and broccoli stems in my stock occasionally. as long as it is a small portion of the total vegetable mass, I think it adds a little depth of flavor. Jamie's version calls for rutabaga. It's apparently an old jewish grandmother trick to add a pound of parsnips to chicken broth as the secret ingredient. I've tried that and it is pretty amazing.



Minka, if you're up for epic bread-making challenges, sourdough bread is the granddaddy of them all. Winter is the perfect time to make sourdough bread, since the cold temperatures promote extremely long rise times, which in turn means that the wild yeast produce relatively more citric acid as a result, and the bread is more sour than it would be if proofed at a warmer temperature. I don't really fuck with it in the warmer months, but a suitably large sample can be dormant in the fridge for a long time, if properly contained.

I got some of King Arthur Flour's sourdough starter last year, and it's still going strong. I actually just woke it up from a 6-month nap and it acted like nothing happened. Since i had shit tons of old culture, I actually started a rye and whole wheat culture too. I've been accumulating lots of recipes for unfed starter, but I'm thinking I should really make a bread thread to discuss that an not hijack this thread.

11/20/2013 12:36:07 PM

Crock pot recipes are great for this. Throw them on sometime between breakfast and lunch and it'll be ready for dinner. Pulled pork tenderloin with your favorite BBQ sauce is an easy one that will pair up just about anything (salad, canned/frozen vegetables, peas, corn, potatos, etc.) You can cook potatos, carrots, rice, etc in there with the meat too. I'll usually throw those in about 1/3 to1/2 way through so they don't get over cooked.

Dried beans or bean soups are good too since they take so long to soak. I'm soaking garbanzos right now.

[Edited on November 20, 2013 at 2:41 PM. Reason : s]

11/20/2013 2:39:35 PM

personally, i think pretty much all crockpot recipes are better done in the oven or on the stovetop, where you have better control over temperature and humidity, if you've got the time.

11/20/2013 3:00:54 PM

I agree, but there's something nice about the "set it and forget it" nature of a crock pot when you're working from home.

11/20/2013 3:39:21 PM

Quote :

"Minka, if you're up for epic bread-making challenges, sourdough bread is the granddaddy of them all. Winter is the perfect time to make sourdough bread, since the cold temperatures promote extremely long rise times, which in turn means that the wild yeast produce relatively more citric acid as a result, and the bread is more sour than it would be if proofed at a warmer temperature. I don't really fuck with it in the warmer months, but a suitably large sample can be dormant in the fridge for a long time, if properly contained. I got some of King Arthur Flour's sourdough starter last year, and it's still going strong. I actually just woke it up from a 6-month nap and it acted like nothing happened. Since i had shit tons of old culture, I actually started a rye and whole wheat culture too. I've been accumulating lots of recipes for unfed starter, but I'm thinking I should really make a bread thread to discuss that an not hijack this thread."

yes, a Bread thread would be awesome!

11/20/2013 3:59:07 PM

I'm exactly in your position here - I WFH 3-4 days per week and end up getting a LOT of time to cook. We virtually never eat any processed or prepared food any more, which is a big bonus.

I do a ton of bread baking - I did loaves with commercial yeast for a while and the no-knead method, then I started doing sourdough recipes, which take a lot longer, but work out well with my schedule. Mainly, I do sandwich loaves with commercial yeast, and I make dinner rolls, boule, and English muffins with sourdough. The sourdough is nice because you can do the levain/poolish in the afternoon, make up the dough before bed, then leave it to ferment all night because it's like 60F in the unoccupied areas of the house at night. Get up the next day, crank up the oven, and throw it in. English muffins are basically the same process, just adding a second rise and cooking on a griddle.

As far as main dishes go, I've had good luck doing a lot of braised meats in a dutch oven. Pot roasts are awesome since you can throw it all together around lunchtime and you've got dinner ready in 4-5 hours. I've also done "country-style" ribs in the oven with BBQ sauce, and 8 hours at the lowest your oven will go is perfect for those. Whole pork shoulders and carnitas (cubed pork shoulder slow-cooked in lard) are favorites of mine since they're occasionally on sale for 0.99/lb and one of the highest return on investment as far as flavor goes. I also use them to make sausage, but that's pretty labor intensive and outside the scope of this thread.

Roasted stuff works well too. Whole chickens are cheap and easy to work with, just make up a brine the night before, toss the bird in until the next day, then pop it in after lunch and do it low and slow all afternoon. Pull it, crank the heat, and pop it back in for a couple more minutes - perfect, fall-apart tender roasted chicken. Rib roasts are fun, but pricey. If you get a hold of a good one, it takes hours to do right, so it's a good candidate for work-at-home grub. The last one I did might have been one of the best things I've ever made, so definitely consider that at some point, maybe a special occasion or something.

Speaking of stock-making, there's lots of awesome soups you can make too, and they're usually really low-input. Make it all up at lunch and let it simmer until dinner. Whole hams are frequently on sale this time of year, so grab one and break that down - cube and freeze the whole pieces for casseroles and soups, use the sliced parts for breakfast and sandwiches, then take that bone and make a big-ass pot of lentils or split-pea soup. You can take the afore-mentioned chicken stock and make potato soup, cream of mushroom, noodle soup, sausage and kale soup, broccoli cheese soup - whatever you can come up with using leftover odds and ends in the fridge is always good.

11/21/2013 8:49:57 AM

Quote :

"Whole chickens are cheap and easy to work with, just make up a brine the night before, toss the bird in until the next day, then pop it in after lunch and do it low and slow all afternoon. Pull it, crank the heat, and pop it back in for a couple more minutes - perfect, fall-apart tender roasted chicken. "

plz 2 explicit instructions

11/21/2013 4:31:04 PM

Paella

11/21/2013 5:19:37 PM

a properly roasted goose. They are delicious.

11/21/2013 6:10:51 PM

[Edited on November 21, 2013 at 6:42 PM. Reason : c]

11/21/2013 6:42:09 PM

spatchcock a chicken, brine it for 4 hours, then cook it on the grill

11/21/2013 7:38:55 PM

I will add Pho and Adobo to this list.

and http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/spicy-glazed-pork-ribs

11/21/2013 8:07:12 PM

bbq

11/21/2013 8:58:24 PM

Quote :

"boeuf bourguignon"

That was the first thing that came to mind for me! That dish is fucking aaaaawesome...put takes FOR-E-VER.

11/21/2013 9:41:15 PM

Pot roast takes a while but it's easy.

if you want to go all out, you can make Pho. this involves a trip to the Grand Asia Market and purchasing tons of stuff you probably don't have. once you get all the basic spices, etc. it's a really cheap meal but this takes about two days to make.

[Edited on November 22, 2013 at 12:35 AM. Reason : .]

11/22/2013 12:33:49 AM

IBTMeth

11/25/2013 12:02:28 AM

Chili.

12/14/2013 11:17:22 AM

Pulled pork is a good all day recipe. It requires a little more work than your typical slow cooker recipe, but it's definitely one that takes pretty much the entire day start to finish.

12/14/2013 7:27:27 PM

BBQ

12/15/2013 10:30:14 PM

I have a 2 lb cross cut roast. I've seen some people saying they are awesome in the oven at low temp, others saying it's too tough for anything but pot roast. what say you, tww?

1/28/2014 6:25:38 PM

brisket

lasagna and manicotti can take a while if you let the meat sauce marinate right

homemade gyros (make meat, tzatziki, hummus, and pita separately)

[Edited on January 28, 2014 at 11:47 PM. Reason : .]

1/28/2014 11:46:30 PM

down south chicken and rice. made it today, it only takes 2-3 hours though but is perfect for this weather.

1/30/2014 12:26:14 AM

bttt!

Think I'm gonna try a boeuf bourguignon...my gf insists that I use Julia Child's recipe. What say you?

2/24/2014 10:46:15 PM

i say that julia child's recipe calls for way too much moving the meat around and washing out the pan you just used. what the hell, just sit the meat back in the pot it just came from and save your fingernails, julia. also, i'm pretty sure it's fine just strain the sauce into the skillet you just used for mushrooms without washing it. and the herbs should go in with the meat instead of the onions. in short, i think it's way too fussy to cook everything separately. I brown the meat on the stovetop and just jam the vegetables in with the meat, maybe saving the mushrooms to be sauteed at the end if i'm feeling fancy. but maybe you have to do it 'the way' once, just so you can convince yourself that it's just as good after taking all the shortcuts later

2/26/2014 9:45:05 AM

I think I'm going to make a sous vide and then freeze a bunch of preseasoned meals. Chicken with a cranberry sauce, lemon caper chicken, raspberry vinaigrette beef roast, cinnamon butternut squash in broth, etc.

Anyone else tried this and care to report?

2/26/2014 12:40:12 PM

do you have the sous vide supreme, another sous vide machine, or are you doing it in the sink with boiling water and ziplocs?

2/26/2014 2:05:10 PM

You can easily sous vide in a crockpot if you have a temp controller.

I use my homebrew system though I have a HERMS (heat exchange recirculated mash system) and can hold water at any temp I want. LOVE IT.

2/26/2014 2:19:59 PM

a twwer that hasn't been around in a while posted about making corned beef a couple days ago on FB. Anybody do that?

[Edited on March 6, 2014 at 2:41 PM. Reason : ]

3/6/2014 2:41:00 PM

I'm planning on making this one, unless there's a better one I happen across before I get around to ordering the parts: http://makezine.com/projects/make-25/sous-vide-immersion-cooker/

My crockpot is old and kind of small and crappy so I would prefer that my sous vide didn't depend on it. I have a small cooler I can use as a container for smaller things, and I'll just wrap a rubbermaid container in blankets if I want to do a turkey.

3/6/2014 3:10:51 PM

^^ My wife did a baller corn beef for New Years. I'll see if I can find the recipe if you're interested.

3/6/2014 3:23:26 PM

^^so what about that cooker makes it better than the units you can just hang onto any pot, i wonder? looks like a lot of work, for not a lot of savings if you don't have some of that stuff just lying around.

3/6/2014 3:46:48 PM

This one can handle a larger volume of water, saves me over $125 (I already have some of the stuff), and I get to make something. Plus the clips on some of the $200 home ones don't seem all that versatile. This one also has the potential of adding an arduino later if I want to have it hold at a different temperature after cooking for a certain amount of time at a different temp, etc.

3/6/2014 4:35:10 PM

bttt!

2/16/2015 11:08:11 AM

ribs

2/16/2015 11:59:14 AM

Chili. or BBQ. Or Stew.

2/16/2015 2:11:32 PM

making chili right now actually

2/16/2015 3:26:55 PM

chiliallday

2/16/2015 7:11:34 PM

Thanks to this thread I ended up with:

2/16/2015 10:04:30 PM

Once I had food poisoning, and I made the toilet look like ^

2/17/2015 3:35:47 PM

You poo swiss cheese?

2/17/2015 3:50:48 PM

carnitas take about 4 hours if you do it right, but are easy and fucking delicious

2/17/2015 4:30:12 PM

^ got a good recipe? i usually crock pot them...i can only assume that's not the right way

2/17/2015 11:01:32 PM