COVID19 and Stretching your Buck For Food
Usually, I have a deep and dark distaste for those blog posts that have a recipe at the bottom but start off with four pages of how their grandmother brought this recipe over on the Titanic, and it got stuck in a chest that floated across the Atlantic until being retrieved by a cobbler in Maine and shipped to their mother who was tearfully waiting for her now deceased relatives in New York.
And so I won’t bore you with that. But unfortunately, this is still a blog post and I do have to sort of talk somewhere about what is going on and where this is coming from.
When I started F-Quad I made a promise to myself to get a post up on the site every Monday. The only way you can get any sort of traction on the internet is to be consistent, and while I would have loved to push 2 or even 3 posts out a week, that simply wasn’t in the cards with all the other responsibilities I have.
Then COVID-19 hit the States. I live in Ohio, and as of this writing (a few days before it will post) we haven’t quite yet gone into Shelter In Place, but it is in the cards. I’m hearing rumors of essential jobs already getting paperwork to keep them from being arrested if they are on the streets.
Add to all that my current work - a manager of drivers for FedEx, along with being a driver myself. As you can imagine, shipping and delivery services are super important right now… and entirely super busy. The time I had blocked out during my week to write the next blog post was suddenly gone, consumed in a flurry of trying to train new drivers, keep them from being sick, and figure out what to do with thousands of boxes that suddenly can’t be delivered - all the while trying to get the stuff that must be delivered to the people who need it.
I have a tiny bit of free time today and so… here is my first COVID-19 blog entry.
Cooking dinner when you don’t know what the supply situation is going to be like in the near future.
First, don’t misunderstand me. We are not about to enter an apocalyptic style scenario of scarce resources. I am in Logistics - at the base level, but I still have an ear to the ground. There are no supply issues. There is not going to be food shortages. Maybe in a few months there will be shortages of electronic parts and plastic bits, but suppliers in China are already reporting they are starting to turn around from the virus. It is a long road ahead of us, but it won’t get so bad you won’t be able to get food.
However. Many people are losing their jobs, going on temporary laid off situations, or other circumstances where they don’t have a reliable income anymore. So I am here to give a bit of advice on how to survive in this situation.
Buy In Bulk while you still can
If your money is going to be tight soon, now is the time to get that 25lb bag of rice from the warehouse store (Costco, Sam’s Club, ect). It is also a good time to get as big a bag of beans as you can. Adding beans to your rice gives you much needed protein when it may be difficult to afford meat. It is also extremely easy to make quantities of it, store for a few days, and season it differently so it doesn’t get too boring. People in Asia do this constantly!
A variety of canned or frozen vegetables can go a long way to keeping variety in your life.
As I stated above, supply chains are not likely to be disrupted anytime soon. However, fresh vegetables are expensive, and frozen and canned can last a long while (as long as you have power of course). They can also add a lot of variety to whatever you toss them in with.
In the same way… Spices are the Spice of Life
Spices are expensive. But having a few bottles of them can go a long way to keeping everything tasting good. If you are short on cash, concentrate on the following:
Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Chili Powder - These enhance any cuisine you add them to. They are staples.
Basil, Oregano for Italian.
Cumin, Cayenne for Mexican.
Ginger for Chinese.
Turmeric, Garam Masala for Indian.
Chinese Five Spice, Paprika, Thyme, Dill, Bay Leaves, Coriander are all wonderful to have, but not necessary. If you are on a tight budget pick Garlic, Basil, and Cumin, adding Cayenne and Turmeric if you have the extra.
Don’t buy the pre-mixed spice combinations if you are on a budget. They are generally only good for one or two things, and you can make them yourself with only just a few simple spices and a bit of googling.
And don’t forget the Salt and Pepper!
Another helper for expanding variety is sauces!
I don’t mean gravy and cheese sauce. I mean Worcestershire. Sriracha. Soy Sauce. Fish Oil, Rice Wine Vinegar, White Vinegar, Red Vinegar. Couple of dashes of any of these in the appropriate cuisine enhances flavors all over the place. Doesn’t need much, just a couple of dashes per serving, but they can really enhance flavors.
Here we go, onto the basics:
The secret to this advice is that Rice and Beans are high in calories. They will get you through a lot. The starchy rice fills you up so you don’t feel hungry. The beans give you protein you will need. A half a cup of vegetables tossed in with it gives you a good variety of additional nutrients so you wont get malnourished. In addition, these things are cheap to buy in bulk and even a small bag lasts for a long time if properly handled.
Even more importantly, raw beans in a bag last pretty much for as long as you might need as long as they stay dry. Rice is the same way. Cooking them is a process though - they are full of starch, and starch takes a long time to break down.
Cooking Beans
For all beans, you must soak them before cooking. Rinse the beans until the water runs clear, then put them in a Tupperware container with about an inch of water above them. Cover it and let it sit. 6 hours is the minimum, but I just let a container sit for 3 days in the fridge. That didn’t hurt it per say, but you need to be careful - once beans start soaking they also have the opportunity to grow unsavory friends. Soak your beans in the morning and cook them at night is the best way to handle it.
Rinse them again before cooking. Put them in a pot with water about 2 inches higher than the beans. Bring it to a boil then turn it down to a simmer, uncovered. How long it takes depends on how long you soaked them. After 3 days in the fridge it took about 40 mins to get tender. 6 hours of soaking is going to require at least an hour, possibly an hour and a half. I did imply this was a process.
Don’t add any salt until the last 20 mins or so.
Don’t add any spices yet. I’ll explain why soon.
Cooking Rice
Rice works on a wonderful method of 1-2-3. 1 part rice, + 2 parts water = 3 parts cooked rice. In a bit more clear terms, start with 1 cup of rice, add 2 cups of water, cook, and you’ll have 3 cups of cooked rice. That’s generally enough for 2 to 4 people, depending on what else is served with it.
The longer the grain of rice, the more of a particular type of starch it has - Amylose is the term - which doesn’t swell out of the grains until a higher temperature than shorter grains. This means it takes longer to cook, and it is far less sticky. Shorter grains have more Amylopectin starch, which swells and pops the grain at a lower temperature, meaning shorter cooking times and more sticky rice.
I love Basmati and Jasmine rice, both on the longer (if not longest) side. Brown rice is another that needs a bit more cooking time. Your typical white rice is in between the two sides, and Sushi rice is of course a super small grain - you need sticky rice for that!
When I cook long grain rice I tend to add an extra bit of water - about a quarter cup for every cup of rice. I also find it super important to rinse long grains before cooking them. That is excess starch that is being rinsed off, which really can make the rice gummy.
With short grain I never wash the starch off - after all if I’m using a short grain, I want it to be sticky. They also cook much faster, so you have to keep an eye on them. I do love a bit of Rice Wine Vinegar in Sushi rice!
Add the water and the rice to a pot, bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and cover until the water is almost entirely gone. It is best if you have a glass lid - steam really helps the rice cook to a good consistency, and no one likes al dente rice. I say glass because you want to be able to watch to see when the water is pretty much gone without having to let the steam all escape. Toss in some butter and a bit of salt and pepper once it's cooked and fluff with a fork.
Seasoning and You:
Seasoning is one of those things that is very difficult to explain - because just like seeing colors is a bit different for everyone, so is taste. It takes time to find out how your taste works compared to others, and how adding heat to a particular spice can change it. However, when you are on a budget proper use of spices, sauces, and other flavors will make what may seem like the same boring rice and beans into a variety of different foods that keep you from getting absolutely sick of the same thing every day.
If you are stuck at home, hey, there is a great project for you. Take a your spice rack and try a tiny bit of each one. See where it hits your tongue - front, back, sides, if you feel it in your throat, and whatever else you notice. The beginning goal when cooking with spices is to combine similar cuisine flavors to get a whole mouth experience - so if one spice touches the tip of your tongue, you don’t want to add a second that does as well - you want another spice that hits the back of your tongue. (At first - more advanced uses of course break all rules).
For now if you don’t have a lot of experience, follow these guidelines:
Italian: More Basil, less Oregano. Some sugar if using Tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce. Garlic, lots of it.
Mexican: Earthy spices: Cumin, Allspice, Cayenne, Paprika (Smoked!) Garlic. Of course.
Indian: True Curry powders are mixes of spices - not just a single spice you get at the store. Every cook in Indian and every Indian mother has their own curry spice recipe. Look up some online - they can use quite a lot of different spices! So if you are in a bind - Turmeric and Garam Masala plus earthy spices can go a long way. Don’t forget that Garlic!
Chinese: Ginger is pretty much the only spice you need - Five spice is nice, but is very powerful so be careful with it. What you really need are sauces. Fish Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Hoisin (Plum) Sauce, and of course Soy Sauce - and that’s just the tip! The combination of these and various types of vinegar gets the flavor you expect - no shame here in looking up what to use! Did I mention Garlic?
Now: The Rest:
Tonight I made fried rice with frozen vegetables, 2 eggs, black beans, and some soy sauce.
I deliberately made 2 cups of uncooked rice (so if you are following along, that is 6 cups of cooked rice - 2c rice, 4c water, 6c cooked rice) and a cup and a half of black beans. There is only my wife, myself, and our 2 year old daughter in this house. We did not need that much rice.
However, once cooked and cooled off, I stored the remaining rice and beans we didn't need for tonight. Tomorrow or the next day I can turn that into something Mexican, or something Indian with just a few spices and some different types of vegetables. This is why I said not to add any spices! If you spice it now, you are stuck with what you have. Leave it a blank slate. Tonight Chinese. Tomorrow? Mexican!
When cooling rice and beans it’s best to spread it out on a sheet pan of some sort. Having a silpat under it is nice, but if you don’t have one then a bit of plastic wrap or parchment paper will do fine. Spread it out flat on the pan then stick it in your freezer for about 15 minutes. You don’t want to freeze it! Just stop the heat. As long as there is heat in food, the various molecules that are good for us to eat are breaking down - making it mushy. It takes longer to cool down if it is clumped together in a Tupperware container. This results in excess moisture - and that leads to food spoilage.
Once it’s completely cool, then you can put it in a container and store it in the fridge.
For the Fried Rice tonight it was really simple.
(Ah… I took forever to get to the “Recipe” even though this isn’t really much of one)
Make the beans and rice and keep what you need out, cooling the rest
Saute some frozen vegetables with salt and butter (or oil, or your choice of other cooking ingredient)
Once that’s cooked, toss that in with the rice. Season it to your liking! I used a bit too much Chinese Five Spice, some Rice Wine Vinegar, and some Ground Ginger.
In the pan you just used, melt some butter.
Crack a single egg into the pan. Scramble it as it cooks (or don’t, that’s your choice).
Add a serving size of fried rice to the cooked egg, however much soy sauce you like - if you like it spicy some Sirracha or Gochujang works great.
Saute the rice until its starts to get just a tiny bit crispy on the edges, then put it in a plate and hand it to your loved ones before making your serving.
I used a basic birds eye frozen vegetable pack, but you can use whatever suits your fancy. If you got a bit more cash, a can of water chestnuts or baby corn can make it really authentic.
Don’t forget to clean up as you go! Being contained in our own home makes it super important that we keep it clean as we go, otherwise it builds up even faster than you think!
