Kitchen & Bar

On this phone

How to get around

The bar under the name is the map. Swipe it sideways if a destination sits off-screen. On Tonight, the button pinned to the bottom cooks the lead dish.

  1. Tonight — What you can cook first, plus drinks that fit the same shelf.

  2. This week — Five dinners from the shelf, urgent things cooked first.

  3. Shelf — Edit what you actually own.

  4. Written methods — Every dish and drink with a method somebody wrote out.

  5. The pantry — Start from one ingredient: what it does, and everything built on it.

  6. Out of it — What to use instead, judged by the job the missing thing was doing.

  7. Photo review — Review a demo shelf photo and confirm every item before adding it.

  8. Flavor Lab — Pairings with a track record: classic matches and the mixology behind them.

  9. Wild cards — Combinations with no tradition behind them, only shared aroma notes.

  10. Send to Occasion OS — Prepare confirmed shelf availability for Occasion OS.

  11. The field — The gap this layer owns.

Keep it on the home screen

  1. iPhone — tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
  2. Android — open the browser menu, then Install app or Add to Home screen.

After that it opens as Kitchen & Bar, not a browser tab. Inventory stays on this device.

Substitutions · 66 dishes here use it

Out of beef

Fat and connective tissue decide the method. A lean cut wants fast and rare, a tough cut wants slow and long, and the middle ground is where beef goes gray and disappointing.

Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.

1 of the 66 dishes here that mention beef list it as optional — 2% of them. In those, the correct substitution is nothing.

What to reach for

Instead · 1

pork shoulder for braises, ground pork for ground beef

one for one

What it gets you
The same fat, the same collagen and the same cooking times, and it browns identically.
What it costs you
The iron-heavy flavor beef has. A ragu made with pork is sweeter and gentler.

Instead · 2

mushrooms, browned hard

a pound and a half of mushrooms per pound of beef

What it gets you
Savory depth and a meaty chew, provided they are cooked past the point where they release water.
What it costs you
Fat and protein. A dish built on this needs oil added back or it reads as thin.

Instead · 3

lentils, brown or green

two cups cooked per pound of ground beef

What it gets you
The texture of ground meat in a sauce, and they hold sauce better than meat does.
What it costs you
Browning entirely. Build the flavor with tomato paste, soy or miso before the lentils go in.

Where you can just leave it out · 1

These dishes list beef as optional. They were written to work without it, so no ratio is needed and nothing has to be bought.

Where the swap will be tasted · 8

These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer, which makes beef a quarter of what is in the pan. Make the swap a decision rather than a repair.

Check what else is in the pan

The company beef keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.

What to make with beefRank what I can actually cookAll substitutions