November 25, 2009
Posted by Erin Zimmer, November 19, 2009 at 8:30 AM
"Eating Stovetop is kind of like eating Cheerios. There are really no surprises—you know exactly what it's going to taste like."
So much bread mush. [Photographs: Robyn Lee]
Ah, stuffing. Nobody pays much attention to you all year and then bam—Thanksgiving hits and the starch junkie in all of us comes out. Technically this tasting involved "dressings" and not "stuffings" since we baked them in casserole pans, not inside the turkey's hollowed-out body. And for the record, we'll probably just keep calling it stuffing.
Lots of spoons were used in this process.
We shopped around and rated the following brands: Stovetop, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods 365, Martin's Potato Rolls, Pepperidge Farms (both Herb-Seasoned and Cornbread), and Canterbury Organics. The results, after the jump.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, November 5, 2009 at 3:15 PM
[Photographs: Robyn Lee]
We're not big on endorsing frozen pies. Shortcuts are fine for many foods, but something about insta-pie just seems wrong and sad. However, we realize how busy the holidays get and wanted to see if the freezer section was hiding some delicious or at least decent apple pies. We tried six: three of the classics (Marie Callenders, Sara Lee, and Mrs. Smith's) and three less processed, dare we say healthier pies (Vermont Mystic, Amy's, and Wholly Wholsome). There were many scoops of vanilla ice cream involved. The results, after the jump.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, October 7, 2009 at 3:45 PM
Yup. We tried 39 mustards.
[Photographs: Robyn Lee]
Mayo phobia is understandable. Ketchup disdain can be justified (people always have complex relationships with tomatoes). But not liking mustard? Oh, come on. Mustard is just the little something-something that sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, salad dressings, and pretzels need. When people say they don't like mustard, alarms sound in my head: Not to be trusted.
But even a mustard enthusiast would have trouble stomaching 39 kinds of mustard. We dolloped, squeezed, scooped, and dunked into jars and tubes of all types of the yellow condiment—sometimes it wasn't even close to yellow.
After visiting four stores and staring at many condiment aisles, freaking out any nearby employees and shoppers, we found mustards to fit into the following categories:
- Yellow
- Dijon
- Deli-Style and Spicy Brown
- Honey
- Full of Seeds
- "Other" (trust me, they didn't fit anywhere else)
The results, after the jump.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, September 30, 2009 at 3:30 PM
[Photographs: Robyn Lee]
A reader emailed us recently with a million-dollar question. Does good-quality, cheapish olive oil exist? She writes:
I was cooking something out of an Ina Garten cookbook and she always calls for 'good quality olive oil.' Since I'm on a college student budget, it's not really practical for me to splurge at a luxury store. I was standing at the supermarket, looking at a whole row of olive oil, wishing someone would tell me what brand to buy.
And so, our olive oil taste-test was born. We tried nine olive oils—nothing over $20 per liter, with most bottles hugging the $10 price point. Some of us chose the bread-dipping technique; others believed a spoon was more official. Potentially, there were some olive oil shots taken. But defining "good" was tough.
On one end of the spectrum you have Ed, who willingly admits to being an olive oil wuss. He likes them buttery and calm, while just about everyone else in the office craved the peppery, cough-inspiring, sharper flavors. So we'll refrain from judging Ed and just say, good olive oil is relative. Which oils were mellow? More intense and spicy? The most like water? The results, after the jump.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, August 25, 2009 at 12:00 AM
"If you're really into that trademark sour Greek yogurt funk taste, go with Fage, whereas Chobani is best for intimidated beginners."
[Photographs: Robyn Lee]
Greek yogurt inspires an obsessive, almost cultish following that few other foods ever will. It's tarter than the average Yoplait, as thick as crème-fraîche, and packed with protein. Newbies have to work up to the tang, adding honey or fruit in the training wheels period. But the hard-core Greek yogurt eaters can handle it straight up. Fage remains the pioneering brand but many competitors have popped onto the fridge aisle.
What exactly defines a Greek yogurt? The real kind from Greece is typically made of sheep's milk, but in most parts of the world, the term just refers to any extra thick yogurt, no matter the milk type, where the whey has been strained out. We put our lactose tolerances on the line to find the best. The results, after the jump.
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