It's not that. Not at all. The vast majority of my at-home meals are home-cooked as well. And I enjoy cooking. It's a creative outlet of sorts.

It's just that I've always prided myself on being somewhat... minimalist, I suppose. I can't explain it. I've always owned old cars, I ride a cheap bike every day, I use an old* desktop PC at home, I haven't cable or satellite service for 6 or 7 years, I wear inexpensive clothing and only own one wristwatch...I just prefer to live a simple existence. I say this, somewhat counterintuitively on the face, as someone who lives in a hi-rise in Manhattan, but even that has a sort of logic behind it. I needn't have a car, or even ride the train each day... I even use the stairs to get to and from my 6th floor apartment, rather than taking the elevator. For the past decade and a half, I've prided myself on the fact that all of my earthly belongings fit comfortably into a 16' Penske truck, a fact which I seem to insist on proving every 2-3 years on average.

I find it difficult to justify the acquisition of material objects which are not, well... essential.

And yet my last 3 cars have been Miatas, two of which were heavily modified with nonessential components. And I enjoy fine food.

**** it all. I just don't know who I am.

 

While I envy your simplistic life style every time I even consider moving again, every time I consider it I walk down the stairs from my 500sq/ft living space down to my 750sq/ft garage I stop envying it there. I need the space and the things. If I'm left alone with my brain I go crazy, I need to be doing things, right now I'm simultaneously rebuilding the rear end 3rd member in my 72 F100, tearing apart the Miata every week, trying to make a stupid go cart, keeping my gfs jeep on the road, fixing up a dirt bike for her. The hecticness keeps me sane. I used to drink. A lot, I started working on my truck, I stopped almost completely.

I hate owning so much junk. But I love having this much junk.

It's a constant battle in my head. I really wish my gf would stop mentioning moving. I can't imagine downsizing after being this spoiled.

I actually went out and bought a rolling cart, because I have room to roll it around my garage, it blows my mind. I wish I owned the place though. Moving is going to suck.

Random rant over.

 

My most-missed kitchen stuff here in NZ is all my cast iron cookware. You can do so much with it. Single purpose? That's a vision limitation of the chef, not an inherent liability of the cookware.

A properly seasoned 12 inch skillet will do a lot for you. Eggs, steaks, pizza crusts.

Get the griddle for easy excellent fish and other things.

Season with flax seed oil. Google as to why, but it works better than vegetable oil.

 

Agreed. A 12 inch cast iron skillet is probably the most versatile piece of cookware there is.

--Ian

 

If you are as minimalistic as you say, you would own one or two cast iron skillets and do 100% of cooking with them.

 

we use avocado oil on almost everything now.

 

Well, if I were starting out on a reality show where the goal was to be as minimalistic as possible, and you got to choose two items of cookware at the beginning of the show to use for the next year... a cast iron skillet still wouldn't be one of them.

Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I'd want to cook (aside from the underside of a pizza) which is better done in a cast iron skillet as opposed to something else.

Stir-fry? Large pan with lid.

Pizza sauce? Large pan with lid.

Fried rice? 6 qt pot.

Chili? 6 qt pot.

Roasted vegetables / chicken / tofu? Roasting pan.

Pizza? Still working on that one.


I don't fry eggs-over-easy, I don't cook steak or griddle-cakes...


Gimme a few years to mull it over.

 

to be fair, you can't really do acidic stuff in cast iron.

But the stir fry and roasting can be done in it. cast iron does great on top or inside the range. I have two cast iron pans. one lives on the stove top permanently (9") and the other (12") hangs on the wall but is often used in concert with the first. Sometimes you have to make fajita veggies while you're searing the meat and not in the same pan.

Seriously Joe, you can do awesome things with cast iron. Go get a 12 inch pan, a side of cheap flap or skirt, an onion, and a bell pepper, a stack of tortillas, and whatever else you want and get to work. Then the pizza will work itself out.

BTW parchment paper prebakes on pizza dough mean never having to say "cornmeal".

 

So now we're talking about a pan, in addition to a griddle?




This does sound yummy. I've never done fajitas...

 

the distinction between pan and griddle is fairly trivial. one allows you to take action on the contents.

 

If I had to pick just one, it would be the pan.
The skillet just makes it a bit easier for things that require a lot of spatula work.

 

And the other allows you to easily slide a pizza into and out of it.

 

BTW Joe, your knife will hold a sharp edge longer if you wash it right after use and immediately dry it. Apparently oxidation occurs during air drying that dulls the blade.

I'm told that it also works with razor blades - if you dry them right away(blow dryer?) they last for months.

 

I do dry my knife after washing. Force of habit- I store it in a drawer, and hate putting away wet things. (The flatware air-dries in the rack.)

Never thought to try it with a razor blade. Not really sure how I'd do it, actually.

I'm not especially worried. After Gillette discontinued the first-gen "Sensor" series, I purchased several handles and about two decades' worth of cartridges from an Asian-domestic-market supplier. I tend to change them about once a month anyway (save me the drama about how I'm ******* up my face. I have rugged, swarthy Mediterranean skin.)

Not really concerned about running out any time soon. And I ******* hate change.

 

Get off his lawn!

 

I hate change, like not being able to +prop Joe anymore for yet another cool post

 

I probably make it 2-3 months on a sam's club mach 3 blade shaving daily. Always make sure it's clean and turn it blade-up to dry when I'm finished.

Skillet is a wonderful tool for searing steaks, scallops, fish, and butterflied backstrap.

 

Speaking of shaving, I switched to old school safety razors and brush/creme and I couldn't be happier. I can change blades whenever I want and it costs me very little. My face is as smooth as any gilette shave and I enjoy the shave experience.

 

^ Fooger =

 

I really, really hate winter daylight hours. I leave work at 4:30. Home by 4:45. Change clothes, take a walk with my wife and child and by the time we get back to the house around 5:30, it's almost completely dark.

I've been halfway through a stereo (re)install on the Sentra for nearly a week now because I have missed the tiny windows of daylight available to me to work on it. I guess I could get up at 4:30 AM tomorrow morning.