Shel_B

In another thread, we were discussing making homemade Egg McMuffins. Yesterday I discovered a great looking recipe for making Big Macs, including the Secret Sauce. The Big Mac reciped saved about 200 calories over the McDonald's item, and fat and salt were reduced as well. Here's the link to the recipe: http://amazingwellnessmag.com/lean-mcdonalds-big-mac/ With this in mind, I was wondering what healthy and homemade recipes have been developed for other fast food favorites. Got any?

The fast food joints have turned the hamburger from something tasty and enjoyable into, as you suggest, dry, grey and tasteless imitations of the real thing. I've never met a fast food burger that had any taste beyond that which was created in a laboratory in New Jersey and any succulence greater than damp cardboard. Salt, fat, and chemicals do not a burger make.

Another problem with Egg McMuffins is that they are only available until 10:30am, which is very limiting.

Doubtful that I'll make my own muffins, although those rings are the perfect size and will allow me the option to use them for baking and as egg rings. Might be worth thinking about. It's been a long time since I've seen a tuna, or any other can for that matter, that has a bottom that can be cut with a can opener. And, as someone pointed out in another thread, many cans today are lined with material containing BPA. I think I'll stay away from tuna and other cans.

Monterey Market may also be a choice for the papaya, and it's closer to me than Berkeley Bowl and downtown Oakland. Thanks for the tip about Kasma's site ... it looks to be quite interesting.

Mostly the flacid, minimally if at all toasted English muffin, the lack of choice as to how the yolk is cooked, and the excessive amount of salt. I can also do better with the ham, choosing from numerous options, such as a nice, low fat Black Forest ham, or a thick piece of Niman Ranch ham steak. My goal is to eat a McMuffin that I enjoy.

Taking them home and cooking them seems to defeat the purpose of going to a fast food joint. If I'm going to all the time and trouble of doing that, it's far easier to make the McMuffins at home with better ingredients done "my way," as well as cheaper.

I've never had any problems carmelizing yellow onions. I caramelize long and slow, and get a nice, deep brown color as a result. Ruhlman's recipe calls for Spanish onions. I'd like to try using them just to see what the difference is between them and yellow onions.

More and more these days, I'm eliminating stock and using plain, good quality water in my soups. I, too, am generally pleased with using just water.

So, use less cheese. The cheese is just a topping. FWIW, I agree with you.

I, too, like nicely toasted English muffins. I had my first McMuffin around 1978 or so, and I have NEVER had one that was toasted to any degree of crispness, and many seemed totally untoasted.

My nest "first attempt" will be a green papaya salad. I've checked and downloaded a few recipes from various cooking sites, and have a pretty good idea of how I want to proceed. However, I do have some questions: What kind of papaya is best suited to this salad? It seems that the big ones are most often used, but which big ones, or does it matter? If anyone has made this dish, any tips and suggestions would be appreciated, as would any comments on your experiences making the salad. Thanks!

Has anyone made this? How'd it turn out? Any comments on the recipe/technique or variations you've tried? Thanks! http://ruhlman.com/2011/10/french-onion-soup-recipe/

Thanks to all who've helped me understand the reason for oiling the carrots. Some very useful and appreciated information here.

Will do ... thanks!

Roasting times for the size of carrots I'll be using and the degree of caramelization I'm looking for seems to be between 45 minutes and an hour. Is that considered a brief time? How does time affect oil absorbtion?

What I said was tablespoons of oil ... sometimes three or more. And even 1 Tbs might be a lot depending on the amount of carrots, don't you think?

I'm trying to understand the need for oil - sometimes copius amounts of oil - when roasting and caramelizing carrots (and other root vegetables, like parsnips). If just a small amount of oil is helpful to enhance flavor and texture, that's fine. But many of the recipes I looked at suggested tablespoons of oil, and that seems excessive, and certainly so for how Toots and I prefer to eat these days.

My idea originally was to coat the carrots with a light glaze of orange juice and honey, or maybe an orange marmelade, and roast 'em in the oven at a suitable temp and time.

To expand on that you may want to check out this article from Modernist Cuisine on the Maillard reaction as well as the link to the caramelized carrot soup http://modernistcuisine.com/2013/03/the-maillard-reaction/There's no way I'm going to go through all that just to make a simple soup for dinner at home. Kudos to those of you who have the patience for such an undertaking. In any case, I don't have a pressure cooker, nor am I planning on getting one. However, there are some ideas in that recipe that could be incorporated into what is more my style of cooking. Thanks for the link.

I have some ideas for making caramelized carrots, and poked around looking at some recipes and techniques to help clarify my ideas. What I noticed is that most all the recipes I looked at called for adding oil or fat to the carrots. I'd like to make this dish without the oil. What purpose does the oil or fat serve?

When we make cauliflower soup, we often just throw the leaves in ...

How mundane a topic, however, I have learned here that there are substantial differences in many run-of-the-mill kitchen tools and gadgets, so why not box graters? My old grater has seen better days, and I'm not sure how good it was to begin with. So, what do you look for in a box grater, and what suggestions might you have to replace my old one? It'll be used mostly for cheese and vegetables (including squash and root vegetables), maybe ginger. Thanks!

When I made the carrots, I got some nice caramelization. I'm sure I used a bit of sugar. The results were pretty good, and gave me an idea to something more with roasted, caramelized carrots.

McDonald's shows how to make an Egg McMuffin at home .... http://lifehacker.com/5974825/mcdonalds-shows-you-how-to-make-an-egg-mcmuffin-at-home