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Old favorites?
One package of Kraft Mac and Cheese (the kind with the powder cheese) prepared according to the package directions (only with canned evaporated milk and cheap margarine instead of butter and fresh milk) mixed with one can of Hormel Chili with beans. I got this whenever I was sick, injured or just down.
Sad part is about twice a year, I make it and eat it. It's some kind of culinary Prozac.
Pre-mixed spice blends -
Cavendar's (sp?) Greek Seasoning, have used this one for years and have not found anything it does not taste good on.
Badia Complete Seasoning, awesome on meat or when you want a Caribbean/Latin flavor, which for me is often.
McCormick Salt Free Garlic and Herb seasoning, tastier and cheaper than Mrs. Dash and the texture is finer which I like.
Goya Adobo con pimento, as a kid this went on EVERYTHING and I still love it.
Shovel or Savor?
I used to be a serious shoveler. I would finish a plate of food without even realizing it. My partner of 18 yrs however is a VERY slow eater, she is usually just getting started when the rest of the table is ordering dessert. I am starting to pick up her habits and I now eat much slower and I have to say I enjoy my food much more. Also I tend to eat a lot less, because when you eat slower you give your self a chance to realize that you are full.
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
I like A1, though never on steaks, only burgers or fries and such. What I really adore though is Heinz 57 sauce.
Old favorites?
One package of Kraft Mac and Cheese (the kind with the powder cheese) prepared according to the package directions (only with canned evaporated milk and cheap margarine instead of butter and fresh milk) mixed with one can of Hormel Chili with beans. I got this whenever I was sick, injured or just down.
Sad part is about twice a year, I make it and eat it. It's some kind of culinary Prozac.
Pre-mixed spice blends -
Cavendar's (sp?) Greek Seasoning, have used this one for years and have not found anything it does not taste good on.
Badia Complete Seasoning, awesome on meat or when you want a Caribbean/Latin flavor, which for me is often.
McCormick Salt Free Garlic and Herb seasoning, tastier and cheaper than Mrs. Dash and the texture is finer which I like.
Goya Adobo con pimento, as a kid this went on EVERYTHING and I still love it.
Shovel or Savor?
I used to be a serious shoveler. I would finish a plate of food without even realizing it. My partner of 18 yrs however is a VERY slow eater, she is usually just getting started when the rest of the table is ordering dessert. I am starting to pick up her habits and I now eat much slower and I have to say I enjoy my food much more. Also I tend to eat a lot less, because when you eat slower you give your self a chance to realize that you are full.
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
Great question! Every weekly shopping trip we buy at least one item we have never tried. Living in an ethnically diverse area (West Central Florida) gives us some wonderful opportunities to try new and varied menu items. We also live about a quarter mile away from the largest Asian market in this part of the state (Oceanic Market), we can spend hours in there looking at all of the strange and wonderful things they have to offer. Every trip includes at least 3-4 bags of garlic & onion shrimp chips to further feed our addiction too.
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
@DwayneW -- I hear ya! No frozen or pre-made burgers at Whataburger.
Always fresh!
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
Sorry, I don't use A1 for burgers. I've tried A1 on burgers several times in the past, and it just doesn't work for me. I'm a ketchup and mayo guy myself, but I'm starting to use less and less condiments. I save the mustard for dogs.
A1 is ok for steak if it's a cheap cut. I consider steak sauce a guilty pleasure and I don't care what snobs think about it. I used to like H57 too, although I haven't had it for 20 years (I can't remember how long it's been). I'm not sure if I would really enjoy it today. When I was 16 I worked at Ponderosa steakhouse (horrible steak) and they had a H57 knockoff that I loved with fries.
When I was in Kenya (while in the USMC), they didn't really have "catsup" for the fries, all they had was HP. HP is fantastic on fries. I don't think the HP we get here is quite as good though.
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
@FastFoodCritic I love the Whataburger A1 Thick and Hearty. I like to stop and get one for breakfast, they make you pull to the side and it takes awhile but you get a hot fresh burger.
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
Montana, I'm with you! I remember these commercials from decades ago. I love it on steak but that's about it....
I prefer mayo, lettuce and tomato on a burger.
YES, MAYO!!!!!
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
A1 is a delicious addition to any burger, but I prefer to mix a bit in with the meat whilst I'm making pattys
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
@Christian Smith
You got my mouth watering just by mentioning Heinz 57... I've enjoyed that stuff since I was a kid. Burgers, Steaks, Fries, dipping rolls in it, whatever, LOL.
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
Yum! This just reminded me to eat more A1 - I love it on burgers & turkey burgers!
A1 Steak Sauce on a Burger?
We've stopped buying A1 after trying Jack Daniels' steak sauce. The Jack Daniels' sauce just seems to have a much better flavor.
Old favorites?
My mom is a good cook, and some meals were just simple -- and perhaps cheesy to the majority of people who post on this site -- because of all the clubs and activities I did in school: shake 'n' bake pork chops; pan enchiladas; ground beef mini-patties with gravy, mashed potatoes and corn (on the side -- not in the meat!); and chicken and rice casserole (yes, it had a can of cream of mushroom soup!).
She also made good stew (which I have a hard time replicating!), clam chowder, and lasagna with sauce that would take a day or so to make.
Old favorites?
My mom was/is the cook. There are lots of things that she doesn't cook anymore, for health reasons or just for the fact that the kids have moved out. She doesn't have to do those easy weeknight "feed a crowd" meals anymore, and now when we go over for dinner she likes to make a more special meal.
I miss: her macaroni and cheese
Chicken tortilla casserole
Spaghetti and meat sauce
and for dessert, brownie pudding.
Old favorites?
My mom used to make a pork dish that was basically boneless pork chops - she cut the fat off and rendered it to cook the chops. Then she added bottled salsa and, no lie, apricot preserves. It turned into this whole spicy, sweet/sour thing. I haven't had it in years, but I occasionally think about making it.
I also can't make my beef stroganoff or my chicken marsala taste like my childhood memories of them, good as my own recipes are.
Old favorites?
@SSMom--
My mom makes a similar version of Chicken Devan that I used to love.Except, she would always sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and I hated the crispy layer it made. Now, that's about the only part of it I do like (augh, mayonaise--CRINGE!!). My mom still makes (I'm only 19, so I still get to go home on my college breaks...) an African-type dish called Baboutie. Has anyone ever had this? It's a ground beef dish, combined in a mixture of onion, egg, and torn bread pieces and curry flavored. She serves it with rice. It is so delicious!
I could list so many more things that my mom makes as "specialties"--and she's always been one to measure spices and food simply based on her memory--pinch of this, large splash of that, etc...
Old favorites?
caldo verde! my mom just called it portugese soup but boy was that stuff bliss in a bowl!
Old favorites?
My Moms pot roast. Her secret? Go read the paper until it's almost burned. Man was that good.
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
I like to try new things, but don't like to spend a lot of money. So I do it in small doses. My cheese shop keeps a basket of tiny cheese pieces, and I like to see what they have to offer. I also like the Asian market. Even if I'm really not in love with something I've purchased, I'll try to make the best out of it, and work the ingredient into a recipe I already know I like.
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
@pumpkinbear, I've bought crema before, but this is more yogurt-like. I'd say it's about halfway between yogurt and sour cream in flavor and texture.
The label says it's Jocoque and the brand is La Vaquita.
I don't know what it is, but I like it. :-)
If something isn't too expensive, I'll usually buy first, then look it up online later. For one thing, the better finds are usually not close to home, so I'd rather buy it and be disappointed than to decide later that I want it and have to drive back to get it. And with my luck, whatever new treasure I've found is something with a short growing season, and when I go back in a month or two, it's not going to be available.
At the worst, I might end up planting the seeds, if it's a fruit or veggie, just to see what the plant looks like.
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
Yay, you've discovered the wonder that is crema! It's basically sour cream, us Mexicans put it on just about anything you'd put sour cream on, but there's no need to use as much. It's much more rich and thick than regular sour cream.
I too buy foods I'm not familiar with, especially when it comes to vegetables. If I come across something at an ethnic market, I'll buy it and then come home and read online about what I can do with it. There's a little India near me and I've bought some pretty strange looking things from Indian bakeries that I quickly grew to love. It's one of the best parts about being open when it comes to food and loving to cook; you find everything worth trying at least once and you come to embrace things you wouldn't have otherwise.
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
We don't go out of our way to buy stuff we don't recognize, but we often search for recipes that we don't have a lot of ingredients for or have never heard of, for a change of pace. It's similar to what you do...but the reverse.
Growing up with Japanese markets, and then going to Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean grocery stores as an adult, I don't typically find too many surprises there. Going to Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European grocers on the other hand, are always fun. I keep telling myself to go to the Gaelic grocer nearby, but cannot find the time. It's partly due to their store hours - they're business hours are weekdays (8:00 - 18:00) and they're closed on weekends.
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
I do that a lot more now with the advent of the internet and having access to just about every instruction on the planet.
Shovel or Savor?
Shovel, but I'm trying to eat much slower (savour) when I dine at friend's houses or in a restuarant. It's hard though...
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
I won't buy any produce I can't identify, just for safety reasons (wouldn't want to make a mistake on par with cooking with rhubarb leaves), but I will happily try clearly-labelled products I've never seen before. Drinks, snacks, canned goods... all fair game. Ethnic supermarkets are immensely fun.
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
The farmer's market is a lot of fun, for sure. I love finding odd veggies to try. Nothing makes me happier than when I find some new veggie that I've never seen. Second best is a new variety of something familiar. The purple green beans were a disappointment -- they turned green when I cooked them.
Recently I went with a friend to a big Asian supermarket, and we spent a LOT of time browsing, and I came home with all sorts of things. And before we shopped, we had dim sum. My friend pretty much knew what most of the stuff was, but I had no idea. It was all good, though.
There's a large Mexican supermarket that I've been to a few times since I discovered it -- it's a bit of a drive, so I have to plan for it. They've got a great selection of dried peppers and the produce section is interesting. It's the only place I've found fresh banana leaves. Huge variety of meats and cheeses and spices and sauces. Not all Mexican, either. They've got a section that seems to be more Carribbean, which is great, too.
And there's a huge cheese store in the area. They've got some olive oils and crackers and other things, but mainly it's a big, cold warehouse full of cheese. The owner took me on a personal tasting tour of the place when I was writing an article about them, and it was fantastic. I have to keep myself in check when I go there, or I can go way overbudget.
MMmmmmmm...cheeeeeese!
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
We have a great Asian Supermarket in the area (it really is a supermarket, not just a small grocery), and while I have my "regular" shopping list when I go there, I often pick something I am entirely unfamiliar with. Sometimes it's a hit, sometimes it's a miss (this is how I found out that pickled mango is definitely not my cup of tea:-)), but I certainly enjoy trying new stuff! Same goes to the farmer's market nearby (it's actually some kind of a hybrid between an Asian grocery and a farmer's market) - whenever I see something new and interesting there, I give it a try.
Life would be really dull if we never tried anything new:-)
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
I love trying new things. It's my one and only cooking strategy - had I never attempted anything new, I'd never have eaten eggplant, lentils, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes, dark winter greens, or any ethnic cuisine/ingredients, since I grew up in a chicken-or-chops-with-frozen-vegetables household.
I agree. Dragonfruit's no fun.
Do you buy foods that you aren't familiar with?
I'd forgotten about horned melons. I love the way it looks--like the egg of a sea-monster or something--and enthusiastically scooped one up, and it tasted like... cucumber. Only not as exciting.
The problem with trying something new is that it is often impossible to know how they're supposed to taste, ideally; I'm still kind of hoping that if I try some of these apparently flavourless fruits again, they'll turn out to be delicious, and discover that the previous ones I had were had been force-ripened, or a specific hybrid raised for export.
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About Christian Smith
Website: http://www.myspace.com/chr1st1an95
Location: Ybor City, Tampa, Florida
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I like A1, though never on steaks, only burgers or fries and such. What I really adore though is Heinz 57 sauce.