Surviving with just a wok and a Panini press?

pixie1

I moved to Oz three weeks ago and next week I move out of my furnished rental into a long term unfurnished rental. Our furniture doesn’t arrive for another four weeks so we will be cooking with just an oven and a hob. We have a wok, not other pans or pots and today I have brought a Panini press, I don’t particularly want to buy anything that we already have on the way (money is tight) so im looking for meal ideas (lunch and dinners) that can be made with just these items? I don’t have any baking trays or very sharp knives, just a picnic set with plastic plates, knives, forks and spoons.

Many thanks for any help you can give

Pix

jackieglasgow

Hi Pixie, Congrats on your move, and good luck in your new home and new life. You can usr your wok for making pasta, rice etc, as long as you don't use metal utensils if it's non stick coated. Just remember to re-nature it after each use if it's steel.

I use mine for making Biryani type rice dishes, too - no recipes, I'm afraid, - I tend to just bung it in and see what happens. If you make pasta, simply drain and refresh it once it's cooked, then make your sauce in the wok, and reheat the pasta by either mixing it in the sauce, or plunging it into a bowl of freshly boiled water from the kettle.

You can use the panini press for pannini obviously, but also for grilling burgers, sausages, chicken breasts, etc., again I don't have recipes as such, I don't eat meat, but I'm sure there will be someone else along in a minute with ideas. HTH

Trinny

Hi there

Congrats on your move to Oz. I am pretty envious - its an amazing country.

I guess you could eat a lot of salads and cold meats as its pretty warm there most of the time

For the WOK - stir frys would be an obvious choice, as would easy cook noodles and currys - i guess you could use it for whatever can be cooked in a frying pan - so that would include sausages, bacon etc.

Do you have an outside barbie in your new place - lots of aussie houses do - that would give you chance to cook much more

Otherwise - not sure about the pannini press. If you purchase a cheep baking tray - you could start baking stuff - or roasting meat or veges

Best of luck

Trin

HariboJunkie

I'd buy a baking tray and a knife. As you have a hob and cooker you wouldn't be limited with what you can cook.

louisewh123

i broke my saucepan a few months ago and used my wok for an emergancy fried egg . . .i still havnt bought a frying pan lol i just use the wok. You can still cook bacon, sausage, fried eggd, srambled eggs in a wok. You can shallow fry chips, wedges, onion rings, somosas e.t.c you can make curries, idian and chinese e.t.c loads and loads.

Here are a few links for wok recipies

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=browseResults&COOKING+METHODS=Wok%2FStir-Fry&subCatsListed=false

http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=wok

there is over 500 there so you should find something!!

i would buy a sharp knife though lol

billionaire

Hi, I have been using an electric wok, george foreman, panini grill, and electric hob and NO OVEN for 1 year now. Long story..
The panini grill can do things like fishfingers, garlic bread, pizza, chicken nuggets, chips, just by carefully positioning the lid you won't cremate all your food. The wok is also good for everything like the obvious stir fries, and I am sure it would do a fry up if necessary. You will probably need to buy pre-cooked rice and then add your meat/chicken for a biryani type dish. At a push it would probably do rice, but you would need to continually watch it so the water does not dissapear. Also if you have a steamer attachment for your wok, then you could steam your veg & fish for a healthy option.
Good luck, you will get fed up of the same old food. Don't forget to eat out now and then!

LameWolf

louisewh123 wrote: »

i would buy a sharp knife though lol

I agree - one knife surely won't break the bank, and I think you'll go potty trying to manage without a sharp knife for best part of a month.