Has anyone made a non-sweet frosting?

I may have briefly discussed this awhile ago, but I'm ready to try my hand at making homemade pop tarts. If I make them normal Pop Tart size they'll just be Savory Pop Tarts, if I make smaller ones I'll call it Pop Tart Tapas.

Guests at my house will get 3 or 4 different ones.

1 - This will be stuffed with a cheese sauce.. probably will use Kenji's recipe. If you let it harden a little it's nice and hard, but if you heat it up it'll be nice and melty oozing out of my pop tart.

2 - This will be stuffed with mashed potato.

The other two I won't concern you with since they're not going to be frosted. However, for the above two I want a tomato soup frosting and a gravy frosting respectively.

How would you go about it?

Find a recipe for cream cheese frosting, but cut out any sweets and replace it tomato or tomato soup powder for that one?

Maybe there's a way to just get Campbell's Condensed Soup to stick on top? It's already thick enough if I don't water it down. Maybe it'll just stick on top.

Maybe I can reduce a gravy down to thicken it and it'll just stick to the top?

Thoughts are appreciated.

We've all seen those Kitchen Nightmares episodes where the chefs need to find the passion to cook again.

My Cousin graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. He ran a successful restaurant for a long time. I won't go into details (it's not some of the insane sanitary conditions or crap like, that just personal stuff), but some stuff went on and well he's back at home.

He works part-time. There's lots of kitchen jobs open, but he doesn't want to do it. I think he could be full time and getting paid more if he were back in the kitchen. I can't speak for him, but I'd like to see him get the spark back.. even if he doesn't want to do it forever, the added income can save up for something else to do.

I'm always interested in starting a hot dog truck. I've often thought of just saving up to buy a truck and roll up to his house horns honking.

Over the weekend I had some Peruvian food. I've had this dish before. I wanted to recreate the cheese sauce at home.. Huancaina Sauce.. it's a sauce made out of queso fresco cheese, aji amarillo peppers, maybe some evaporated milk, lime juice, and oil. You can Google a recipe.. some have different ingredients.

When I get it from a restaurant, I've tried it at two different, and the sauce was nice, smooth, creamy like. Here's a sample picture:

http://perudelights.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/papa-a-la-huancaina-lista.jpg

Queso Fresco is kind of crumbly. When I put all the stuff in my food processor it came out crumbly. Similar to this picture:

http://6998ec567c1ba0e4d1df-35f536080503e7803921781ced385773.r35.cf2.rackcdn.com/styles/250square/rcf/bf0691d5-70d5-4d74-af07-76ac2381344d.jpg

How can I get a smooth sauce? Is it because I used a food processor and not a blender? I tried adding some more oil, but that didn't help.

Maybe I need to add a little bit of some other melty cheese to bring it together, but then don't want to change the flavor..

I went to the dollar store and found some Cheddar and Ale flavored pretzels. They're very tasty, but also very hard on teeth. I decided to Google "Beer Buds" and found this:

http://www.sausagemaker.com/91056beerbuds.aspx

What other things do you think we could make with it?

I was browsing the web for something and came across this website.. foodservicedirect.com.. am I missing something?

12 jars of Newman's Salsa for $37.65 + shipping.. they're $1.99 each in the supermarket! That's only $24.

Tadah Falafel Wraps - $31.65 + shipping for 8.. they're $2.99 in the supermarket! $24!

Don Pepino tomato sauce. Inglehoffer Mustard. Mister Mustard. Everything I looked sounded like they just went to the supermarket, marked up the price to resell.

Does anyone shop there?

They're website claims

"That doesn't mean you have to pay more, though - with our truckload buying power, we are able to offer great value."

I've found nothing of value.

http://www.seriouseats.com/user/profile/qumabahi

I had a gift in mind for my Mom's Husband, but I asked my Mom and they don't really need the gift I had in mind. They live in Hawaii.

So, I thought there's no cheese shops out there or places to get Italian Meats.

So, I need your help finding a gift:

1st idea - I saw a show on Food Network years ago. Some dude made sausages.. he had about 30 kinds. I had visited his website, but it's been years. Some unique flavors. I can't find the website or one with a lot of interesting flavors.

2nd idea - A cheese grating device.. electric? hand crank? not one of those old school washboard looking devices.. maybe they could get some different italian cheeses and freshly grate them? Not sure how often they'd use it. Is there a good one someone recommends?

.. if someone else has some ideas throw them my way. I was thinking maybe a Cremilini meat sampler also. He's from New York originally and Italian so think along those lines.

I was going to get some Walter's Mustard and a shirt, because he grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, the same town as Walter's, but I'm not so sure about them. They have an order form on their website you have to send in. Who doesn't have online ordering these days? Their phone never answers. It says $9 shipping.. really? Even if I order 5 jars of mustard and two t-shirts and to Hawaii? No faster shipping methods offered?

I ordered two of these as gifts and will place an order for myself after the holidays:

http://www.markethallfoods.com/products.php?product=Mugolio-%28Pine-Cone-Bud-Syrup%29--from-Primitivizia

Looks interesting and I think the foodies in my life will love it.

I made this Bacon Potato Hasselback recipe and it's fantastic and totally worth the wait.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/bacon-hasselback-potatoes-recipe/index.html

I'm wondering if this technique could be made with something else not in the potato family?

Could I make a "Beat Hasselback" similar way and make a sauce to go on top of it? How do beats cook, ie: in reference to if I need to make a time adjustment?

How would onions come out? They'd probably just burn or will they get nice and crispy? Sort of like a crispy fried onion without the greasy frying part?

I spoke with my Mom today.. she lives in Hawaii. We're from New Jersey most of our lives.

Anyway, she got the idea to find some Jersey Tomato items online. I was wondering if you guys had any other links to people who make Jersey Tomato items I can buy and ship to Hawaii.

She's already bought the following:

- 12 bottles of Jersey Tomato Ketchup. $58 includes shipping. I think she's crazy and you won't really taste the "jersey" tomato, but whatever.

- She also bought 2 cans of Jersey Tomato Sauce.. just plain old pureed tomatoes in a can I believe.

So far I've yet to turn up any other stuff online except for farms which I'd have to drive to go when they are open or a farmers market they attend.

Only thing is shipping to Hawaii was expensive, so the one item she had shipped to my Grandmother who will ship to her. 2 cans of Jersey Tomato Sauce for $2.52 each or something plus shipping.

She also bought like 12 bottles of ketchup made with Jersey Tomatoes for $58 lol. That included shipping.

I had a problem logging in. I was going to send a message, but my account was not found. Wrong email I entered!

I forgot I no longer have access to the email I signed up here with.

I've since got in (was entering wrong password), but if I ever do need to reset things I'd like to update myself to current email.

Hi, my name is Shawn and I'm a Gravy Master Addict.

As a kid whenever I'd see Gravy Master in my Grandmother's kitchen cabinet, I'd put a drop or two on my hand and lick it off.

As time went on, though, I craved that taste. If I knew it was in the house I had to sneak some.

My Grandmother wondered why they disappeared so quick and I said it wasn't me. So, she'd buy another bottle and it too would be gone in a day or two.

Back then there was no internet. If you're using it as much as I was it's pretty expensive. I couldn't just go online to their website and buy a whole case or see that they carry them in gallon bottles.

Look at the nutrition facts:
Serving size 1/4 teaspoon
Servings in a 2 ounce bottle: 48
Sodium: 30mg in 1 serving (1%DV), or 1440mg in a bottle (48%DV)

Yikes! As I'm sitting here typing I can't let go that there's some in my cabinet, nor can I let go that only tonight did I find out they sell gallon bottles and that I need one.

.. and for those of you who don't know of this tasty product I speak of:

http://www.gravy.com/

There needs to be an easier way to report a spam or inappropriate topic.

http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2012/08/sdgdsgdrytery.html

On the bottom of that page there's a link, but then I have to email you and manually paste the link? Too much work for me. Not because I am lazy or I don't want to help out your wonderful website, it's just that for all that work for me to report it, for all I know someone else already might have done it.

A quicker way to report things would be nice and if others reported it too I won't mind because I didn't spend as much time on it.

I don't like cabbage. It smells up the whole house when you make stuffed cabbage. I don't like saurkraut.

I have my Grandmother's recipe for cabbage and noodles, though, and it's the only way I'll eat it.

It's simple, cabbage, noodles, onions, salt, pepper, bacon, and the flavor booster is Gravy Master.

It starts by chopping up the cabbage and putting it in a large frying pan of butter, olive oil, and salt. It cooks down. Takes about 35 or 40 minutes for it all to get tender. After the initial butter was gone, I added some water and put a lid on it to steam. If it's crunchy I won't eat it.

Problem is one frying pan won't hold enough cabbage.. I can get a whole head in there, but there's not enough cabbage to noodle ratio.

Can I do cabbage in a slow cooker? This way I'll be able to fit more and I can start it in the morning.

I have some pancake mix in the cabinet. I was going to make it for my Girlfriend for breakfast, only she says she has no time. Maybe there is something I can do in the oven she can take with her?

I suggested me just making pancakes now and in the morning she can roll them up and eat them on the go.

I've Google'd a bit and found that you really can't make pancakes in the oven, which is no surprise to me.

I'm just wondering if there's something else I can do with it in the oven. Maybe something of a muffin like recipe, since they're blueberry.

Are the prices there any good if I buy some of their bulk items? I'm looking at their flyer online, but at the moment have no other prices to compare to. I'm looking at stuff like broccoli and cheese bites, zucchini bites, etc.

I have a large freezer chest and I have a Foodsaver vacuum sealer, so I can portion them out and date them.

I wonder how cheap it is to get a business license just to go to Restaurant Depot. I mean, I do want to start a hot dog business anyway, so why not just get the license for that name.

I just found out by accident you can scroll through the slideshows here with the left and right arrow key instead of clicking the buttons up top!

This is much faster!

I'm reading posts here about In-N-Out and the more and more I read, the more I want one. I see those "secret menu" where I can order it animal style and with extra slices of cheese. Sounds awesome. In fact tomorrow I'm going to grill my burgers with mustard right in it.

When I was on tour, probably somewhere out near Texas, we kept seeing these Whattaburger places. I had no real reason to go other than I kept calling it Weezerburger. The band should totally buy the company. We finally stopped in one, but the food was horrible. None of us liked it. It was worse than McDonalds and greasier.

I was in the supermarket tonight and they have some new soups in pouches as well as boxes. I think they're too expensive otherwise I'd have liked to try them.

I can't find a link online to the boxes, but I do remember a Tomato Bacon one. They had 4 or 5 flavors.. another one had tomato and one other seemed interesting to me, but I can't remember what it was. They were $3.49 I think, which is pricey for such a small box. Not counting Aldi's (they have Roasted Red Pepper and Butternut Squash in a large box for $1.99) I can still get other brands in bigger boxes for the same price or cheaper. That's what held me back from trying their line of V8 soups.

The pouches were $2.99 I believe. I remember seeing Smoked Gouda with Roasted Red Pepper. That one sounds awesome. They also had Coconut Curry With Chicken and Shitake Mushrooms. They might have had one more in the store by me, but I forget.

The pouches are intended to hit a younger audience. I don't really like the pouches, though. I mean, can's don't smush like a pouch would. Do they really need the word "holla" on the pouch and does anyone even say that anymore?

http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/campbell-counts-soups-a-pouch-spur-turnaround/232878/

http://www.packworld.com/sites/default/files/styles/lightbox/public/Campbells.jpg

I'm not a big fan of chicken, but I like processed chicken nuggets. I don't mind those videos of pink slime you see online.

Somewhere I thought I saw a recipe to make them at home.. does anyone have a recipe that might be similar?

Reason I ask is because I have some different coating I want to put on the outside when I make them.

I have some cooking magazine where they reviewed a few pressure cookers. I was thinking about maybe getting a Cuisinart electric one, so I don't have to sit and monitor the pressure, but it's $100 and I don't know what I'd use it for.

So, what do you use it for? The only thing I usually see on TV is fried chicken. I've also heard about beans, but that doesn't seem to interest me other than chili and that I just used canned stuff.

My main thing is if it can cook me good tender beef I'd be happy. I have trouble cooking steaks in the oven.. always get overdone. I have a wireless thermometer, but if not inserted right it doesn't give accurate results.. last time it wasn't in right it goes beep beep your food is almost done.. the meat was under done, so I put it back in and ended up over cooking it. Threw my portion out. Girlfriend at hers.

Will beef/steak come out stringy or just really tender in a pressure cooker? Is it easy to over cook in the pressure cooker? Like I have to keep watching it? I don't like stringy beef (you know like pulled pork sandwiches or that stuff mexicans stuff in tacos). I either like my meat steak or ground.

On an older episode of Food Network Star, chef Tom Pizzica tried it once. He had made the best dish they ever had and the worst dish they ever had in one season. Thing is he was under time constraints.

It was a slab of bacon that he was going to cook like a steak.

So, how about it? Ever tried it? Have any ideas on what to do?

I don't like seafood, however I do like the other ingredients that were in this crab cake recipe. In the 80's sometime (my teens), I made "crabless crab cakes" using this recipe. I just substituted extra bread for the crabmeat. Below is the original recipe off a tin of Old Bay Seasoning. They no longer have this recipe on the tin.

I made this a few years ago and my Girlfriend and her Daughter loved it. Whatever I did came out good. I wanted to make it again shortly after, but it didn't come out too good. I must have got cocky since the first time was so good, my second time was "dense" because of the bread.

Do you have any ideas of something I can use in place of the crabmeat instead? I like the texture of a crab cake.. nicely fried, so I'd like to try and keep that in mind. I guess I could just mix everything and dip the bread in like french toast.

Ingredients

2 slices dried bread, crusts removed

milk

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon McCormick® Parsley Flakes

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon OLD BAY® Seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1 pound lump crabmeat

Directions

In a large bowl, break bread into small pieces. Moisten with milk.

Add mayo, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, baking powder, OLD BAY, salt, egg and crabmeat. Mix lightly and shape into 4 patties. If time permits, refrigerate patties 30 minutes to help keep them together when cooking.

Broil or fry until golden-brown on both sides.

There was a place in Sayreville, NJ called Mr. Dee's. They served hot dogs among other things. I believe they had tax problems and closed. Not sure if the building sits abandoned or what.

They had a hot dog called called the "Special Dee". It was topped with a garlic relish. It seemed a little spicy from all the garlic, but it was incredible. I'd pack 5 or 6 down at a time and bought more for later. You could also buy containers of the relish.

Anyone have a good recipe for a garlic relish?

You can see a picture here:
http://www.hollyeats.com/MrDees.htm

I tracked down someone online on another forum who said the family might have a diner elsewhere, but I haven't been there to check it out, since I don't live in the area. If I found the family who had the recipe I'd most certainly want to make an offer to buy the recipe.

I've never bought or made escarole before. Someone at work is in a Community Supported farm, so she gets a lot of vegetables each week. She gave me a big bunch of escarole.

My only thought so far is escarole and potato soup or escarole risotto.