Recently, the American public was issued a challenge by the folks at KFC (formerly "Kentucky Fried Chicken," but "fried" just didn't sound healthy). The fast-food joint argues in its latest commercial that you cannot "create a family meal for less than $10." Their example is the "seven-piece meal deal," which includes seven pieces of fried chicken, four biscuits, and a side dish -- in this case, mashed potatoes with gravy. This is meant to serve a family of four.
I'm not really a competitive soul, but this was one challenge I could not resist. When it comes to food, America has been sold a bill of goods. We've been flimflammed, bamboozled, hoodwinked. We've been tricked into thinking that cooking is a chore, like washing windows, to be avoided if at all possible, and then done only grudgingly and when absolutely necessary. On the contrary, cooking is a vital, spiritual act that should be performed with a certain reverence. After all, we are providing sustenance to the ones we love -- can anything be more important?
And don't get me started on advertising. It never ceases to amaze me that, with the exception of political ads, people don't focus on the falsehoods. Commercial advertising washes over people without the slightest analysis; we truly need a FactCheck.org for business advertising.
In the KFC commercial, a mother and two kids hit a grocery store for the necessary ingredients. When they fail to get them for under $10, Mom cheerfully announces, to the kids' delight, that they are going to KFC. In these hard economic times, Colonel Sanders wants you to think that giving him your money is the cheaper way to go. I respectfully disagree.
Groceries, Point Blank
The ingredients shown or mentioned in the ad include seven pieces of chicken, a five-pound bag of flour, and -- in an oh-so-adorable scene featuring the son and a clueless store clerk -- "seven secret herbs and spices." The rest of the ingredients are presumably edited out for time.
The grocery store itself has the look of a somewhat higher-end place (read: more like a Whole Foods than a Wal-Mart). Since we don't have a Whole Foods in Iowa, and I can't get myself to give Wal-Mart money, I compromised and shopped at a local independent grocery called the Bread Garden Market. They do a nice job of splitting the difference between organic and everyday; in other words, they carry both Kashi and corn flakes, tofu and ground beef.
The recipes I used are available to anyone with access to The Joy of Cooking (mine's the May 1985 edition), but for convenience they're at the end of this article.
I compared commodity products and organic ones, and calculated for each. The market had only one kind of chicken. It was far from the free-range, organic, local chicken I would normally use, but it was hormone-free from a network of family farms and faced nowhere near the cruel conditions suffered by KFC's chickens. One of the latter would have been even cheaper than the $4.76 I paid for this one. In fairness I should note that the little girl in KFC's ad asks the butcher for seven pieces, already cut up, but I have faith that a home cook can cut up a whole chicken. I should also note that KFC cuts chicken breasts in half, so there are 10 pieces in a whole bird (four breast halves, two legs, two thighs, two wings).
I rounded up everything I needed for chicken, biscuits, and mashed potatoes with gravy and totaled my costs, accounting for ingredients that were a fraction of a cent (small amounts of spices, for example) by rounding up to $0.01. I must admit I don't know the seven secret herbs and spices, but as a professional chef, I know you can do an awful lot with salt and pepper. The bottom line? The KFC meal, including Iowa state sales tax of 6 percent, is $10.58. I made the same meal (chicken, four biscuits, mashed potatoes, and gravy) for $7.94 -- and I got three extra pieces of chicken and a carcass to use for soup.
Even allowing for the whole batch of 24 biscuits, the meal still comes in at $8.45. In fact, using organic or other high-end items where the market carried them (flour, grapeseed oil, butter, milk), my total bill for the meal came to $10.62. Here's a GoogleDocs spreadsheet of my prices in case you want to check my math or compare your own recipe.
I can already hear folks saying, "Sure, but how long did it take you?" Yes, it took a little longer than the drive-thru, but it is important to recognize the value of spending time preparing a good home-cooked meal. How is it, after all, that with all the modern conveniences afforded us in the 21st century, we still don't think we have the time to do something everyone had time for until the middle of the 20th century?
In America, if we are what we eat, most of us are fast, cheap, and easy. We should aspire to be more, and gathering the family around the table is the best way I know how. Bring your family together around a home-cooked meal. Get them involved in the preparation. Do it so often that it's no longer an unusual thing in your house. It'll beat the drive-thru every time because it has the most important ingredient: love.
Kurt's Seven-Piece Meal Deal
The following recipes were adapted from The Joy of Cooking, 1985 edition.
Pan-Fried Chicken (pg. 424)
8 ounces flour (seasoned with salt and white pepper, or the seven secret spices if you know them)
8 ounces lard, butter, or grapeseed oil (or a mix)
Heat the fat in a large frying pan until fragrant. Meanwhile dredge the chicken pieces in flour, then place in pan. Brown lightly, then turn and brown other side. Turn down heat to medium-low and continue cooking, 35-40 minutes, turning frequently, until cooked through. Serve immediately.
Poultry Pan Gravy (pg. 341)
1/4 cup flour left from dredging
Chopped giblets from the bird, if you like
Enough boiling water from the mashed potatoes to make 2 cups (or boiling stock, if you have it made already)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a new pan over medium-high heat and add flour to make a roux (a thickener made of equal parts flour and fat). Cook, stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes. Add giblets and boiling water or stock. Simmer 15 minutes. Season to taste and serve immediately.
Mashed Potatoes (pg. 318)
This recipe says it serves 6, but I figured 4, since everybody wants more potatoes.
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup hot milk
Boil the potatoes in 4 cups of water until tender (about 20 minutes). Strain and reserve water for gravy if desired, and mash potatoes to desired texture with remaining ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve immediately.
Buttermilk Biscuits (pg. 634)
Yield: 24 1.5-inch biscuits
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup lard or 5 tablespoons butter (cold, diced)
3/4 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Sift together the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter or lard. Stir in the buttermilk until just incorporated, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 30 seconds. Pat down to 1/4 of an inch thick, then cut with biscuit cutter.
Bake on sheet pan 10-12 minutes.
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Comments
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rufwork Posted 12:45 am
30 Oct 2008
That sounds good, but really, how long did it take you? And, "as a professional chef", I'm betting it's less likely that you botch the chicken. I've got to figure there's a 30% chance I'd fry the $7.94 into carbonized oblivion! ;^)
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carolcarre Posted 12:54 am
30 Oct 2008
The other thing most people don't factor in is the amount of time and the fuel costs for going to the drive in. Dinner made at home: 45 minutes. Dinner from the drive in at rush hour: probably 45 minutes when you factor in driving and waiting.
Plus if you go shopping, you can buy many meals' worth at the same time, so the notion that the whole meal time includes the time you spent shopping isn't valid. Plus if you have your family help in the prep, they learn that food is real, not something you can get out of a drive through window with no idea what went into it.
Plus...plus...plus!
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texasjenny Posted 1:01 am
30 Oct 2008
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 1:26 am
30 Oct 2008
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 1:35 am
30 Oct 2008
Pasta Pomadoro (or just about any pasta)
Red Beans & Rice
Lentil curry
Most stir-frys
Steamed or sauteed fish with rice and veg
Broiled pork/lamb/veal chops with mashed potatoes and peas
grilled tuna & asparagus with quinoa (and/or spaghetti squash)
Not to mention that many dishes require long cooking times but not time spent hands-on attending to it, like roasts.
And another note - none of this is a criticism of anyone except KFC and their marketing people, least of all hardworking single parents.
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tammyhennig Posted 5:36 am
30 Oct 2008
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argalite Posted 6:04 am
30 Oct 2008
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Linderelli Posted 9:48 am
30 Oct 2008
I am what I eat, and that is fresh, local, and low-sodium. My live-in boyfriend and life partner has a hereditary disease which forces us to adhere to a very low-sodium diet. If I didn't cook, and made him eat take-out 3 nights a week, (because I was too busy) his health would be at risk. I am not a professional chef, but I love trying new things, and let me tell you - THAT takes time. I rarely get dinner on the table before 8pm, but it never matters. Because love truly is the most important ingredient, and that's what I use every night.
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kmp Posted 11:16 am
30 Oct 2008
Those posting here, claiming no time to make dinner, seem to have seen the commercial in question. I've never seen it - because I don't make time to watch TV. I'm too busy cooking. :)
This really is not a criticism; I "don't have time" for many things that I don't like to do. More about recognizing that you will make time to do the things you like to do... so if you want to cook more often, practise, persevere, and learn to like it. You'll find the time.
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Taherah Posted 7:22 pm
30 Oct 2008
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redambrosia99 Posted 2:44 am
31 Oct 2008
I see this commercial and laugh. I can make so many delicious meals for less than $10. Plus, you know, their "chicken" is disgusting.
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Liz Borkowski Posted 6:40 am
31 Oct 2008
Honestly, the thing that bothers me most about the commercial is the idea that meat + starch = appropriate meal. Couldn't they at least sub peas for potatoes?
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Shan Posted 6:46 am
31 Oct 2008
When we prepare our food at home you know what your getting and how it's prepared but most importantly, have you seen some of those kitchens?? not to mentioned how often they change the oil and do they cover it at night so bugs don't get in it?? Think about it next time. Really I would rather pay $15.00 or more to feed my family a home cooked meal rather than pay $10.00 to feed them food by a company that FIRST tortures their chickens before servicing it to our families..
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 8:37 am
31 Oct 2008
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Jeremy Smith Posted 9:56 am
01 Nov 2008
I go shopping once a week on Sunday morning, which takes me about 90 minutes including travel (bike, not car).
Most meals take me around 30 minutes. If I know I'm going to be home for an extended period of time, say on the weekend, I'll cook more elaborate things for the week.
Whenever I've probed people about this, it's usually about training and knowledge, rather than lack of desire.
Cooking is not an inborn skill, and we don't have classes in our schools to teach things like how to shop, how to prepare a dinner, and how to run a household.
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Philip Posted 1:53 am
02 Nov 2008
Couple of other points. Kurt: I've got to call foul on a 30 minute meal of red beans and rice. No way can you get decent red beans in less than an hour (not counting soaking time), at least not the way we make em down in South Louisiana.
Rufwork: I think I might have botched cooking chicken at home twice in many years of cooking, and that was only when I was getting experimental. Try baking the chicken in a pot. Takes a few minutes on the stove top then about an hour in the oven.
Some of the best times in my life have been in the kitchen with friends and family preparing meals.
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kimisu Posted 4:17 am
02 Nov 2008
I think Jeremy is right that many people who claim "no time" might more accurately say "I don't know how." Not their fault, just something they never learned (or perhaps more accurately were never taught).
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 4:23 am
02 Nov 2008
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Philip Posted 3:41 am
03 Nov 2008
One of our modern day time savers that can work beautifully with people who have a time crunch is the microwave oven. I like to spend time on the weekend preparing things like red beans (with spicy andouille sausage) that can be heated up quickly in the micro wave during the week. Time can be given to the meals properly and they can be saved in the fridge until we're ready to heat them up for dinner. Besides things like red beans and rice, gumbo, jambalaya are always better a day or two after cooking.
I remember once a girlfriends mother prepared Sunday lunch. She put a cut up whole chicken in a roasting pan with vegetables and rice. Put that in the oven and we all went to church. When we got home a couple of hours later the chicken, rice, and vegetables were cooked and ready to serve. Total time to prep; about 15 minutes.
Gotta run cooking some pinto beans for the week.
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Pangolin Posted 11:05 am
03 Nov 2008
After you put the chicken in clean your potatoes and oil lightly with olive oil and place in the same oven. You could also slide in a dutch oven with some lentils and get triple duty out of the heat.
Make slaw with a cabbage, red onion, oil and vinegar and you've got food for several days. Don't forget to make stock with the bones.
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mjgoeglein Posted 11:37 pm
03 Nov 2008
I agree with Lindi, above...as a 31 yr old that cooks, I feel like something of an oddity. However, the satisfaction that I get out of taking a few simple ingredients, combining them, and creating a yummy meal is better in every way than the guilt I feel after stuffing my face with fast food. There are a bunch of cookbooks out there geared toward quick, easy meals...and devoting a Sunday afternoon to recipes that heat up well later seems to me to be an investment. Making big batches of soups, stews, etc., and then freezing some creates just about the easiest meals imaginable...a quick grilled cheese while you defrost the soup in the microwave!
Baking bread is probably my favorite thing to do in the kitchen, and although the total time needed is several hours, at least two of those hours are free time while the bread is rising and baking. And nothing smells as good!!
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frolis Posted 5:43 am
04 Nov 2008
This article and conversation are inspiring though and thought provoking. thank you
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solargecko Posted 6:34 am
04 Nov 2008
I'm especially wary of arguments of, "How is it, after all, that with all the modern conveniences afforded us in the 21st century, we still don't think we have the time to do something everyone had time for until the middle of the 20th century?". The "everyone" that had been cooking for their families were usually women, who, until the mid-20th century, had fewer options for how to spend their day as compared to today, when they can spend their days doing surgery or flying airplanes or whatever it is they love to do.
If you enjoy cooking enough that that's how you want to spend your free time, then that's a great hobby. But if not, then why should you, as long as you can find other ways of getting healthful nutrition?
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hiitsjustmee Posted 7:14 am
04 Nov 2008
And BTW, that 'meal' proposed by KFC is obscene! Look up the nutritional info - it's horrifying. You probably couldn't even eat the caloric equivalent of cajun red beans & rice in one sitting, even with a sausage. And I can guarantee that two cans of red beans, a can of tomatoes, a couple cups of cooked rice, and some spices cost way the hell less than $10.
You're either going to spend time or money. With a little pre-planning, you don't have to spend the time all at once. And if you're going to spend money, please spend it on something that resembles nutrition.
(I've started keeping track of successes and failures of my 'Project Weeknight' dishes, with notes for next time, on my food blog justmeeating.blogspot.com.)
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ajazzfan Posted 8:42 am
04 Nov 2008
Time is money too. You spent time going to/from the store, shopping for the items, then cooking the meal when you got home. When you factor your time as a cost, you are probably behind. KFC also must do these things, albeit on a much larger scale, but you don't get a separate bill for this, it's included in the final price that you pay.
So if you consider these factors, KFC is right.
(and no, I don't work for KFC!)
You might think I'm nit-picking here, but it's important to consider all facets of a problem, and not ignore the factors that don't support your thesis.
John
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Pangolin Posted 7:36 pm
04 Nov 2008
Also include hypertension medicine, statins, blood test strips and meter to deal with the type II diabetes that are promoted by high-fat, high-salt diets.
The red beans and rice listed above and a light slaw will same you reams of time in comparison. We won't even discuss how fast three-can chili and frozen string beans can be.
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 11:50 pm
04 Nov 2008
Now I'm no fascist about this and if you don't want to cook for your family then you shouldn't; not least because it won't be very good if you don't want to do it. But cooking is one of those precious things that makes us distinct from the rest of the animal kingdom. You can find virtually any other human behavior in other animals, from laughing to using tools to killing their own kind. Some even prepare their food, such as spiders and alligators. But we are the only ones who apply heat to our food, and I believe that makes cooking deserving of a certain reverence.
Cooking is not just the primary way I provide sustenance to my family. It is one of the ways I impart my love.
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 11:57 pm
04 Nov 2008
As for time, everyone in the world has exactly the same amount of time each day. It is a matter of priorities and what we each consider to be worthy of our time. As I said above to SolarGecko, if you don't want to do this, then by all means don't. But you will miss out on something especially rewarding.
And please don't fall victim to the fast food contagion that mistakes frenzy for efficiency.
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sfogg Posted 2:31 am
05 Nov 2008
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 3:24 am
05 Nov 2008
Check it out at
http://www.culinate.com/mix/dinner_guest/three_days_on_on ...
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ajz Posted 6:26 am
05 Nov 2008
I love to cook, but not everyday. It's not a spiritual thing with me, it's that when I cook, I'm cooking something I really love. I don't really love things like fried or baked chicken, potatoes of any kind, or vegetables of most kinds.
On Sunday, maybe. On Tuesday, when I can stop at KFC on the way home (no extra energy consumed), and we can eat as soon as I walk in the door? Hellyeah.
Like solarGecko pointed out, the comment about mid-20th century people having time for it so why don't we now, is so absurd... I can't even think of something equally absurd to compare it to. It was just one absurdity in an elitest, steaming pile of them.
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anjwinter Posted 7:27 am
05 Nov 2008
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Philip Posted 9:53 am
05 Nov 2008
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ctcook Posted 2:54 am
06 Nov 2008
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likesforests Posted 6:10 am
06 Nov 2008
I'm a busy professional. When I get home I want to relax in front of the television or with a book, but I do it on a treadmill instead of the couch. Cooking a stir-fry takes only 10 minutes of work once you get a little experience. And bakes, grills, pastas are also pretty easy.
* To ajz:
"when I cook, I'm cooking something I ... love."
If you don't love fried chicken, it's all the worse you're eating KFC's--it's very fattening! You can turn an "average dish" into something you love with only a little work, 10-15 minutes.
If potatoes are boring, how about roasting them with olive oil and a bunch of fresh garlic? In your sandwiches you can substitute salami for cheese, or make toppings from a seasonal fruit, or add a splash of balsamic & oil).
"(no extra energy consumed)"
Yes, a big problem with our society is we consume way too much energy. ;)
"we can eat as soon as I walk in the door?"
Why wait? I keep granola snack bars in the car, and a bowl of fruit and roasted almonds on the counter. We eat whenever we're hungry.
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Shuvi Posted 3:14 am
07 Nov 2008
I was wondering if you use certain cook books for meal ideas. If so, can you recommend them? If not, do you have a couple of your own recipes that you wouldn't mind sharing? I do tend to use meat substitutes as there is a member of my household that does eat meat when he can and I strive to find a balance between my vegetarian preferences and his meat eating preferences. Have you ever used meat substitutes?
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Caroline Cummins Posted 5:11 am
07 Nov 2008
As for the folks who wanted Kurt's energy bills broken down to reach the "true" cost of cooking at home, maybe they should calculate how much it costs to drive to KFC for a "family meal."
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 11:16 pm
07 Nov 2008
For Shuvi - I am a devoted omnivore, however for vegetarian recipes my go-to books are any in the series by Deborah Madison. All delicious and very approachable.
And to many others re: adding vegetables - yes absolutely. The only reason I did not here was to stick to the spirit of the "challenge." Since vegetables are relatively cheap, you can easily add some and still be within the price range.
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Pangolin Posted 9:26 am
08 Nov 2008
A restaurant kitchen that serves small portions priced reasonably can provide food at far less energy cost and waste than a home kitchen.
A communal kitchen, managed properly, can feed people even better and cheaper. My mother's cohousing project typically serves organic, vegetarian food for $2.50 per person for a full meal plus dessert. Very little is wasted in comparison to home kitchens where spoiled food is a major percentage of all food purchased.
Should food supply ever get to a shortage situation community kitchens are far more likely to feed everybody well than the overfed/underfed divide of households.
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 1:22 am
09 Nov 2008
But what I object to in the KFC ad is that it is the perfect encapsulation of the mass delusion that mistakes frenzy for efficiency. It perpetuates the myth that cooking is a chore rather than a sacred practice, and furthers the concept that we are consumers rather than citizens.
Nourishing our families is more important than fueling our cars, and the two processes should not be conducted in identical manners.
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willa Posted 12:57 am
12 Nov 2008
I mean, yes, cooking can be fun, probably spiritual ("spiritual" just ain't my thing), etc...but it helps when it's not a chore. When men cook, it's about artistry and love for one's family and whatnot, because it's not a baseline expectation for men
I 100% do not support eating at KFC ever (and I think I can honestly say I have never eaten there, so I guess I don't know what I'm missing, other than animal cruelty), but I think you should understand that yours is not the only perspective. When putting dinner on the table is a thankless task that's only noticed if it doesn't get done, it certainly raises the appeal of a ready-made meal.
And yes, Virginia, that expectation is still alive and well. Even women who do fly planes or perform surgery or whatever all day are still doing a far greater than equal share of the housework.
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Expat Chef Posted 3:51 am
12 Nov 2008
For the last comment, cooking should not be a thankless job. You are not a drive-thru window. You want gratitude? Make the family cook for themselves for a while, and cook for you. I know there would be an uproar if I walked off KP detail, even though I am the only one around the house with a full time job now.
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Kurt Michael Friese Posted 2:17 am
13 Nov 2008
And as for knowing that mine "is not the only perspective," of course I know that, and have said so repeatedly. Doesn't make mine invalid.
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lorallen Posted 9:46 pm
14 Nov 2008
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Pangolin Posted 2:58 pm
15 Nov 2008
People live at all points on the cooking ability line and we need to provide decent, healthy meals for all of them. I have several family members who really shouldn't try to cook for themselves for fear of poisoning/fire. I just don't think that the solution to that problem is corporate-clone, fast food joints. I think we agree there.
Local, family restaurants held to high standards by health departments can provide healthy food at affordable prices. I think they should be given some sort of tax advantage given the importance of food to culture and health. IMHO corporate fast-food on the other hand is pretty close to poison physically and culturally.
Keep up the good work.
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keleon01 Posted 11:46 pm
24 Nov 2008
Anyway, what I haven't even seen anyone mention is using coupons (lots of stores even offer their own store coupons that you can stack with manufacturer's coupons as well) and buying the items on sale. It doesn't hurt to sit down once a week or every two weeks and look at the grocery ads and plan what to buy. We are so forced in this society to spend so little time on our personal lives that it's apparently "ok" to just go and buy fast food crap at the last minute. By planning your grocery trip, making the meal on Saturday or Sunday so you can have lots of leftovers for the week, I think people could save a lot more money and eat a heck of a lot better. Plus, some might even find cooking fun! Let's all be better to ourselves!
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