Behemoth

I guess I missed all the angry posts, but I would probably count myself more in the from scratch category. Here's why. When we first moved to the US, my brother and I gained a lot of weight in a very short period of time. We were pretty alarmed but couldn't figure out the cause. (We'd never had a weight problem before then.) My dad simply said, avoid packaged foods and see what happens. Sure enough, we both lost all the weight we'd gained, and never had a problem since then, and apart from packaged food, we both eat pretty much anything we feel like eating, no problem. I do buy frozen vegetables, canned tuna, canned beans, dried pasta and some canned vegetables, but the ingredients need to read: "tuna, olive oil, beans, corn, wheat" and nothing else. No hydrogenated fat, no sugar, no weird stuff I can't pronounce. For me it was not so much fanaticism as pragmaticism. (I hate dieting, and I'm not so keen on gyms either.) The weird thing is, the longer I stay away from packaged foods the weirder they taste to me when I try them again. I bought a box of cereal the other day because I wanted something with which to finish my milk. Way too much sugar, and this was a supposedly healthy brand. I will finish the box because I hate wasting food, but it just doesn't taste that good. Back to oatmeal for me, I guess. Similarly packaged pastries, supermarket breads, frozen foods all have a weird texture to me now -- kind of heavy, kind of greasy, I don't know. I just don't care for it anymore. As for how I manage my time? I cook on the weekends, and freeze stuff. On weekdays (we both work long hours) we tend to eat more defrosted stuff, quick soups with defrosted stock, or maybe a can of tuna or octopus with olive oil, lemon and garlic, with pita bread, or a quesadilla, or an omelette, or a quick pasta sauce...Or even just a good sandwich. We try to have salads or some sort of sauteed greens (they take a few minutes, but not more.) Nothing fancy, but good and reasonably healthy.

How do people feel about basting? I generally avoid it because I think it keeps the skin from getting crispy enough. This means I have to do a few acrobatics to keep the breast from drying out -- so I start the thing on lower heat breast side down, then flip it over for a while and crank up the heat at the end. Maybe stuffing something under the breast eg butter or some sort of seasoning paste would work instead?

the miracle of yeast.

It probably does, but I don't know where the good ones are in NY. The Jerk Hut version is really good though, especially in the summer when you can eat it outside.

Take a train to Philly and go to the Jamaican Jerk Hut. Seriously.

Its okay, but kinda pricey for bread dough as far as I'm concerned. I just make a double batch of reinhardt dough every once in a while = 12 pizzas. Considering how good it is, and how cheap, there really isn't any point for me in doing anything else. And since I favor a quick plum tomato/olive oil sauce and sliced fresh mozarella, it ends up being practically no work at all. (In other words, I'd rather spend money on the cheese ) I didn't count frozen vegetables in "heat and serve" since you have to do something to them. Frozen peas and corn are great for quick soups, but then I think it's getting into actual cooking. Oh, I do like certain Korean frozen dumpling brands, one vegetarian kind and one fish & shrimp kind. I would love to find a good premade gnocchi, but all the ones I've tried taste weird to me (including the overpriced ones we had tonight...) Anyone found good ones?

Are you sure they are GMO? They are packaged as organic. In any case, they were always more like a vehicle for mustard & onions. To be honest, since I went back to eating meat I just eat real hamburgers made from real (albeit local grass-fed organic etc etc) beef. But I still prefer tempeh reubins to real ones! I dunno, I outgrew a lot of convenience food at a certain point, I really have no idea why. For the most part I find it just as easy to keep frozen pizza dough in the freezer, defrost a day ahead & throw together when I get home. Take up less freezer space, too. Plus I find cooking relaxing for the most part.

Chufi, if you haven't settled on a dessert yet -- I like to browse through David Leite's list sometimes for ideas: link (Scroll down -- plus there are photos of everything which really helps in making a choice.)

American frozen pizza really stinks. German frozen pizza is really really good. (Well, some of it. In particular, Dr. Oetker's tomato mozzarella pizza.) I also like a boca burger now and again, and mac n cheese out of a box now and again though I haven't done either in a while.

Wow, I wouldn't have thought I was in the minority here. I make my own. In a blender, there's nothing to it. The only downside being that I end up with a cup of mayo I need to use for something. (Any suggestions welcome, BTW...)

Seared lamb chops -- local grass fed, raised for 4H. Amazing. Pan deglazed with shallots, wine, mustard, a little butter. Fried eggplant slices with aioli & a little parsley. Nice and quick. edit: oops.

My Italian market guy in Philly turned me on to (Italian) Caroli brand. It is full-bodied and deep green in color -- really smells like olives. I like it. In Philly it cost 19.99 for a 3 litre can. In the lower midwest they gouge on anything that's not crisco so it is 27.99 a can, but that's still not bad for nearly a year's supply. (I use a lot of olive oil.) I keep it in the basement, and refill my smaller bottle to use in the kitchen. I don't know where you are located but if you have any sort of access to an Italian market try to get it there. Cans really save a lot of money. Also, you can try brands from less-known countries. I've seen Koura brand from Lebanon in some Indian and arabic fod stores. It is not bad, especially if you are looking for bottles rather than cans. edit: just checked my can. Make that a 6-9 month supply Still, better than the usual $10-12 for 750ml, and even higher where I am now.

jrt, always glad to hear there's another Murakami fan around here Last night my husband's GA & roommates invited us over to dinner. I must say these students really outclassed most faculty members around here in terms of hosting & cooking skills. Very nice evening. I made my first Ciabatta, but (thanks SethG) I think the dough wasn't wet enough and I may have overkneaded. I feel bread baking is going to be a life-long obsession. There's an intensely satisfying manual "craft" to it that I really miss in my day job. I can't wait to try my next loaf. Today we had white bean and escarole soup, with particularly good pancetta. Then we went for a run (first time in a LONG time), and now I am eating peanut butter and jelly. I always crave peanut butter after running, for some reason. I am looking forward to losing my midwestern winter pudge. Sigh. Susan, love the lemongrass broth. It looks like you are getting really fluent with the thai flavors.

I think that may be the problem. I expected it to be a little sticky, not as wet as you describe. I will give it a shot next weekend and report on the results. Thanks, Seth! (Having said that, it doesn't look like this stuff will be going to waste or anything....)

Hello, I'm joining the party late but this is the first semester where I have enough free time to play in the kitchen. This was my first attempt at a Rienhardt bread (apart from pizza, which I make quite often.) Ciabatta. I was happy with the crust, but the crumb is way too small. What happened to my holes?? Bah. I suspect it may be that my oven is too wimpy. I had to set it at 550 to get it to come anywhere near 450. Do you think that might have been the problem? In any case, I made a photo: Crumb detail: All suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

Fold them back up like lemons and pack them in the jar. Welcome to eGullet!

Dim-somewhat. Scallion pancakes, pan-fried dumplings with mushrooms & cellophane noodles, blanched baby bok choy with a little soy and sesame oil (I'd run out of oyster sauce) and egg drop soup. Oh, and beer. We watched BBC news. RIP Arthur Miller. Sorry about the weird lighting, the spouse ran off with all the dishes so I had to chase him into the (dark) living room with the camera. Yes I felt a little silly. I see I have a lot of reading to catch up on, I've only read the shadows book and the short stories. I am getting the new Murakami from amazon soon though, so if you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll know what happened.

This deserves a whole new thread (After I run a few errands though )

too cute! Thanks for doing the blog, it was definitely one of my favorites.

Our neighbor's truly adorable little girls sold us 4 boxes last year. We had two cookis each (one thin mint, one something else), then the boxes sat in the pantry for 10 months. I guess neither of us liked 'em. (Weird texture, waxy.)

I don't think people realize how extreme the love of garlic is over there. One time we were cleaning my brother's room (he was about 5) and we found a bunch of garlic peels in his nightstand drawer. It turned out he was stealing heads of garlic for midnight snacks.

Dude, so's mine! Best middle name ever. And I also made paneer pizzas with a tomato chutney once. But I think that's about where the similarity ends. Well, you also both used to be vegetarians. ← Oh, I didn't know that. She was also the only person I know to have heard of Junichiro Tanizaki. Maybe she is my (better at cooking, not to mention wittier) alter ego. Or perhaps, she is a daydream of eGullet members, come to life. I think my blood sugar may be getting low right now, I am starting to get loopy. I need some toast.

I think I've mentioned being a former veg a few times, so I'll bite. I never had any issues with killing animals for food, just with the way they were raised and slaughtered. I couldn't afford grass fed/organic until recently, so I just didn't eat meat. Well, to be honest that is part of it. The other part is that I started travelling a whole lot more, and it is easier to get along as a traveller and guest if you don't have too many dietary restrictions. Meat is still a much smaller part of my diet than what is probably typical in the US. Which is fine, it is probably healthier and certainly cheaper that way.

No longer vegetarian. That's a pretty big change.