Food And The Law of Diminishing Returns?

[Gluggy]

Probably not worded the title very well but the mrs and I were talking about the cost / time taken to prepare a meal compared to the quality of the end results or for want a better way of putting it where the "sweet spot" is? Using Lasagne as an example...

Chilled ready meal

Made using jars of sauce and dried pasta

Made 100% from scratch

Can't stand ready meals and as much as I'd love to have a go at making from scratch I don't have the required equipment or the space to store it so for me its option 2, always end up adding extras to the sauce and use two different type of cheese plus a drop of chilli sauce to tweak it a little.

Guess if you can option 3 would probably be the best way to go, but does the extra time / effort and possibly cost outweigh the others?

[Big Al.]

IMHO and Mrs BA

Made 100% from scratch! everytime no options.

BUT we are both retired and have unlimited time on our hands, saying that things don't have to be complicated or for that matter take a long time to prepare, a little forward thinking/meal planning goes a long to making things simpler.

[Jambo85]

For something relatively simple such as lasagne, I was wondering what extra equipment you need to make it from scratch - then I realised you probably meant making the pasta! So I’d propose a 4th option which is my sweet spot - make it all from scratch except the pasta, dried being perfectly fine. Fresh homemade pasta is better but if pushed for time it’s a corner worth cutting for sure, and it’s not a significant cost either (which jarred sauces are IMO).

Also I don’t want to be that guy but nothing wrong with an M&S ready made lasagne.

Puff pastry is the classic example of something that no one will try to convince you is worth your time making from scratch.

[Melman Giraffe]

Should only take 30 mins to prep including the Béchamel and tomato sauce so not really a slog in the kitchen and a million times better than a jar IMO

[Gluggy]

Meant food / meals in general rather than just lasagne but fair point re the jars, will give it a go from fresh next time :-) In terms of equipment was also thinking of a meat grinder as well as a pasta machine, grinder could be used for all sorts but again lack of storage is an issue - probably not a bad thing otherwise would have far too many kitchen gadgets lol.

[Cotty]

Melman Giraffe said:

Should only take 30 mins to prep including the Béchamel and tomato sauce so not really a slog in the kitchen and a million times better than a jar IMO

The Jamie Oliver version I followed takes 2hours to make the ragù
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/food/1121062/jam...

[Riley Blue]

Disregarding lasagne for a moment, if you don't have the equipment or space to prepare a labour intensive meal I'd suggest a slow cooker and room for a chopping board are what you need. We rate our slow cooker as the best value bit of kitchen kit we've ever bought; easy to use, versatile, consistently good results, economic etc. etc.

[sherman]

Lasagne.
Bechamel - 10 minutes
Tomato sauce - 30 minutes
Passata, tomato puree, garlic, herbs ,
beef mince(optional)
Dried pasta sheets
Grated cheese
Layer up and cover with cheese whack it all in the oven for 40 mins or until golden and pasta soft.


Even the most fancy restaurants will not cook/prep everything from fresh. Dry stores are in every kitchen.

[geeks]

sherman said:

Lasagne.
Bechamel - 10 minutes
Tomato sauce - 30 minutes
Passata, tomato puree, garlic, herbs ,
beef mince(optional)
Dried pasta sheets
Grated cheese
Layer up and cover with cheese whack it all in the oven for 40 mins or until golden and pasta soft.


Even the most fancy restaurants will not cook/prep everything from fresh. Dry stores are in every kitchen.

I don't disagree but....

Bechamel - 10 minutes + 10 minutes digging out ingredients.
Tomato sauce - 30 minutes + as above
Passata, tomato puree, garlic, herbs - Ingredients we should all have knocking around.
beef mince(optional)
Dried pasta sheets + 20 minutes checking only to realise you don't have any and then +20 minutes popping up the shop.
Grated cheese - Mmmmm cheese!
Layer up and cover with cheese whack it all in the oven for 40 mins or until golden and pasta soft.
+ 1 hour spent cleaning/washing up.

2+ hours lost for a Lasagne. It is easy to see how jars of sauces or ready made become appealing to people when the steps to cooking are, remove packaging, burn in oven for 30 minutes.

[Gluggy]

Riley Blue said:

Disregarding lasagne for a moment, if you don't have the equipment or space to prepare a labour intensive meal I'd suggest a slow cooker and room for a chopping board are what you need. We rate our slow cooker as the best value bit of kitchen kit we've ever bought; easy to use, versatile, consistently good results, economic etc. etc.

Have a couple of slow cookers, the larger one also has an extra pot which is divided down the middle so we can do two different things at once - agree they are great for all sorts of things.

Have tried making curries from scratch a few times and never quite got the hang of it, use a jar (with spice cap) and add in plenty of extra veg, chillies etc. Make own Yorkshire pudding as so easy to do and far far better then anything ready done.

Was wondering more what other peoples sweet spot / thoughts are as pretty sure I'm not the only that on the odd occasion reaches for the frozen roast potatoes lol

[Melman Giraffe]

Cotty said:

Melman Giraffe said:

Should only take 30 mins to prep including the Béchamel and tomato sauce so not really a slog in the kitchen and a million times better than a jar IMO

The Jamie Oliver version I followed takes 2hours to make the ragù
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/food/1121062/jam...

Yes but for an everyday version you dont need to spend 2 hours, thats just ridiculous

[21TonyK]

The problem with food is everyone has different tastes and expectations. Yours may be higher or lower than mine. You can put M* food in front of a lot of people and they would prefer a ready meal, some love Dolmio sauces, others think Dr Oetker pizzas are the best in the world. Some won't eat anything other than hand made fresh pasta or organic meat. And that's before you even get into the science behind taste and flavour interpretation.

There is definitely a point where for home cooking reaches its limits and for me thats when the time taken to cook stops me doing more important things.

[Melman Giraffe]

21TonyK said:

The problem with food is everyone has different tastes and expectations. Yours may be higher or lower than mine. You can put M* food in front of a lot of people and they would prefer a ready meal, some love Dolmio sauces, others think Dr Oetker pizzas are the best in the world. Some won't eat anything other than hand made fresh pasta or organic meat. And that's before you even get into the science behind taste and flavour interpretation.

There is definitely a point where for home cooking reaches its limits and for me thats when the time taken to cook stops me doing more important things.

Agreed, but 30 mins is plenty of time to knock up a well balanced meal in the evening after a day at work, A grilled piece of meat or fish with salad or veggies isnt going to take an age to cook. the key is being organised, ie marinade said meat tonight for tomorrow etc - plan ahead.

For example we are having pork stroganoff tojnight, apart from cutting up the meat everything else is in the fridge ready, so by the time the rice is boiled the meal will be ready. The only ready made item is some garlic bread

Edited by Melman Giraffe on Monday 4th January 16:44

[sociopath]

Nothing wrong with a ready meal lasagne if you pick the right one.

I like it overcooked and crispy anyway, so that will probably make some of the cordon bleu chefs spin

[Chicken Chaser]

Would be delighted if some of the slow cookers could give some recipe ideas out. I've tried a few slow cooks, and they're a bit of a mixed bag. I've cooker beef with onions and red wine and whilst it was ok for me, the kids found it far too strong in flavour!

[Cotty]

Chicken Chaser said:

Would be delighted if some of the slow cookers could give some recipe ideas out. I've tried a few slow cooks, and they're a bit of a mixed bag. I've cooker beef with onions and red wine and whilst it was ok for me, the kids found it far too strong in flavour!

I can't get anthing edible out of a slow cooker, failed too many time to keep trying.

There is a thread for recipe ideas here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Jambo85]

Gluggy said:

Meant food / meals in general rather than just lasagne but fair point re the jars, will give it a go from fresh next time :-) In terms of equipment was also thinking of a meat grinder as well as a pasta machine, grinder could be used for all sorts but again lack of storage is an issue - probably not a bad thing otherwise would have far too many kitchen gadgets lol.

I’d suggest forget the meat grinder unless you have your own cows!? If you want to know what’s in your mince then any butcher worth his salt will mince whatever you want while you watch.

[geeks]

Cotty said:

Chicken Chaser said:

Would be delighted if some of the slow cookers could give some recipe ideas out. I've tried a few slow cooks, and they're a bit of a mixed bag. I've cooker beef with onions and red wine and whilst it was ok for me, the kids found it far too strong in flavour!

I can't get anthing edible out of a slow cooker, failed too many time to keep trying.

There is a thread for recipe ideas here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Not to derail a thread here, but what did you try? Only a couple of things have come out badly in ours, one case it was my fault and the other it was my fault too

Lean meat isn't what you want if that helps?

[Leithen]

You of course need to account for the additional Keith Floyd cooking factor, otherwise known as a perfect excuse for a bottle of wine whilst cooking.

An excuse entirely absent when nuking a ready meal....

[Zarco]

geeks said:

Cotty said:

Chicken Chaser said:

Would be delighted if some of the slow cookers could give some recipe ideas out. I've tried a few slow cooks, and they're a bit of a mixed bag. I've cooker beef with onions and red wine and whilst it was ok for me, the kids found it far too strong in flavour!

I can't get anthing edible out of a slow cooker, failed too many time to keep trying.

There is a thread for recipe ideas here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Not to derail a thread here, but what did you try? Only a couple of things have come out badly in ours, one case it was my fault and the other it was my fault too

Lean meat isn't what you want if that helps?

I made this on Saturday. Very easy and delicious.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-bacon-...

Love the BBC Good Food app.