Here's how to cook dinner without access to a kitchen

Life without a kitchen can be tough, but it doesn’t mean you’re limited to bland frozen meals or expensive food delivery.

Whether you’re renovating, in a share-house where kitchen access is a struggle, or even holed up in self isolation with friends dropping off supplies, it’s still possible to cook tasty, affordable meals with limited space and appliances.

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Catherine Cullinane went a year and a half without a kitchen while renovating her home in Newcastle in New South Wales.

She says a camping stove and barbecue were “live savers” for her and her husband.

“I don’t know how many gas bottles I bought, but every day I was on that little camping stove cooking. If not, my husband was on the barbecue in the backyard. And that was the primary way of us surviving.”

She’s encouraging others to be “open-minded and creative” when working out of a temporary kitchen. But before you start cooking, be sure to follow all safety advice and warnings when using portable burners, which are often designed for use in open and well-ventilated outdoor spaces.

Even if you only have one appliance on hand, there’s still plenty of ways you can cook up a storm.

All I have is a kettle

Many noodles only require boiling water, so all you have to worry about are the toppings.

Nagi Maehashi, who writes food blog RecipeTin Eats, suggests vermicelli or flat rice noodles, which can be easily made by soaking them in boiling water in a bowl, then draining.

“You can make tons of salads with them,” she explains.

“Just chop up any leafy greens like finely shredded cabbage or carrots, bean sprouts, some herbs, and then shake up a fresh south-east Asian dressing with lime, fish sauce, bit of chilli maybe, and then douse it with that.”

If you prefer your veggies warm, food scientist and cookbook author Jules Clancy says you can make do with just a bowl and some boiling water.

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“Frozen veg are already pre-blanched for you. So frozen broccoli if you defrost it you can then just heat it up using hot water. Same with cauliflower and frozen broad beans or edamame.

“If it’s not hot enough after one go, you can always just drain it and then add fresh hot water to do it in a couple of batches.”

All I have is a microwave

Nagi insists that “absolutely anything you can steam and braise can be done in a microwave”.

“You can do mashed potato just by microwaving whole potatoes. Then you just press them through a potato ricer and stir through butter and milk.”

You can cook rice on the microwave by using the usual one cup of rice to two cups of water ratio, stirring every five minutes or so. This usually takes around 12 minutes. Ready-made microwave rice pouches from the supermarket can also be an easier option.

Rice with canned tuna, soy sauce, chilli flakes and some cut-up broccolini make a great meal. Pop the broccolini in the microwave for about a minute to cook it. You could also swap broccolini for some steam-in-the-bag frozen veggies.

For a breakfast option, Nagi suggests microwaved poached eggs and bacon.

“Put [the bacon] on paper towels and just microwave it until it gets crisp … the fat will drain into the paper towels.”

All I have is a sandwich press

While cheese toasties are the obvious choice, Nagi says you could also whip up some quesadillas for something a bit different.

Jules suggests using your sandwich press like a frypan.

“You could get like a minute steak from the butcher where it’s like really thin, or fish would cook quite well as it doesn’t need much heat.”

She says you’ll get better results if you close the lid, which will cook both sides of your meat. For salmon, wrap the fish in baking paper before closing the lid to make cleaning up easier.

Jules notes it’s important to slice up the food before you eat it to check it’s properly cooked through. You’ll also want to make sure you clean it thoroughly afterwards.

All I have is a slow cooker

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Catherine also relied on a slow cooker during her renovations.

“When you come home at night and you’re going through a reno, you want to feed your kids.

“If you’ve cooked [some meat] in there, you can just quickly buy a salad mix from the supermarket and you’ve got an instant meal.”

Jules opts for a multicooker, which combines a pressure and slow cooker into one device. Her favourite dishes involve pressure cooking lentils and beans.

All I have is a barbecue

Catherine says she bought frozen pizzas and used her barbecue to cook them like an oven, but Nagi recommends making your own.

“You literally just throw the pizza base on the grills, it doesn’t even have to be a flat plate.

“As soon as it hits [the barbecue] it pretty much seizes up straight away and then you take it off quickly, put the pizza sauce on it, then the toppings and you put it back on, close the lid and then three minutes later you’ve got perfect pizza.”

Nagi also suggests trying your hand at Asian dishes like Thai gai yang, satay chicken or Korean beef.

“The smell of Asian street food on the barbecue, you just can’t beat it.”

I don’t even have power

If you’re in a blackout or are short on power points, a hearty salad might be the easiest option.

For something more exciting, Nagi suggests whipping up some rice paper rolls.

“The sheets of paper … don’t even need hot water, you just soak them briefly in cold water and then you can wrap up anything inside them. Vegetables like finely shredded lettuce or carrot [work well]. Then you just wrap it up into a summer roll style and dunk it into a peanut dipping sauce, and it would be delicious.”

For protein when you don’t have a fridge, Nagi says canned food is the way to go. You could also add in some store-bought barbecue chicken.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Kitchens