jedovaty
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Posts posted by jedovaty
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Anyone try these ketchup chips?
Have you ever left some McD's fries and ketchup out overnight, and then the next morning unapologetically dipped a limp fry into the somewhat dried up ketchup that was soaking into the ripped paper bag, and then ate the rest that way? Just like that, but really crunchy and crispy without the stale sog. Nothing at all like Canadian ketchup chips (how I miss those). Needless to say, I ate the bag in one sitting.
Don't judge me.
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17 hours ago, Smithy said:
Have you had a chance to try that pan yet? Is it more or less this one from Williams-Sonoma?
Yes, similar shape, although it's an older variation so different cladding/finishing/etc. Family got it on clearance many years ago and uses it mostly to make tomato sauces (it's too heavy for her for anything else). I used it to make three meals, it worked great and decided I like my DO better.. Physically the two are very similar however the handle and subsequent lever physics makes the pan unwieldy and tough to store in my kitchen. If someone gifted this to me and I didn't have the DO, I'd be... souper... happy with it. On the other hand, if I had to purchase one, I would look for something else unless the WS was on steep discount compared to other options.
At some point in the next couple weeks, I'm going to visit the snooty stores and check on the 3-4qt options in order to familiarize myself with size and weight. All these years I've been able to make various 1-2 portion dishes in my 2qt one, it's just... souper... tight, often times there's spillage or splashing, a little more space would make stirring and adding ingredients less stressful.
To be continued!
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Of course, BD.
Carbon steel and its variants are definitely out now following a few days of "I'm only going to use the SS DO and see what happens". It's almost perfect, works well for my current cooking style, keeps foods contained, deglaze anything stuck without worry, no need to season, etc. Here it is, it's actually 6Q, not 8Q like I thought. Several years ago, a coworker remodeled his kitchen and gave me his wolf cookware set (I thought I posted about it here but I can't find the topic, oh well - I gave a family member most of the pieces since I didn't have room for it at the time and I kept the 2qt saucier and this DO). The DO is still a bit large for making 1-2 portion soups, which is what I'm going to focus on for now.
I've borrowed a family member's old "Williams & Sonoma Hestan Essentials Pan" to test shape and size later this week.. it's 5QT, not nanobond, and has that saucier style rounded bottom. I really like the shape but it is large and quite heavy, so will go look at 3 and 4 qt rounded-bottom pots to see which size I would prefer. I'm keeping an eye on all-clad second hand store as well.
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I appreciate the responses everyone, thanks!
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3 minutes ago, gfweb said:
did you season the carbon steel pans?
My two are nearly as good as nonstick with seasoning.
Yes, sorry I didn't mention that. I correctly seasoned it, and tried multiple times over the years. I have always seemed to have trouble with carbon steel. Even the vollrath fry pans I had which I gave away several years ago after giving up. They would be okay as long as I used them almost daily.. if I didn't use them for a couple weeks, they would begin to rust or get very sticky. Again, no issues with cast iron. FWIW, I can make eggs scrambled and fried eggs on my stainless pans without sticking, too, so I like to think I have achieved some level of home-cook-wizardy - still working on french omelettes, maybe some day I'll get that down. Hopefully this post will not go down the "here's how you season a pan" or "how to keep from rusting" or "too much oil" etc.. I'm more interested in deciding what pan, if any, to get next, and shared the background to demonstrate the basis of hesitation for going down a path I've tried before.
Fun side note, about 15 years ago, a family member and I welded/built a solid-steel outdoor wok station/rolling cabinet out of metal and wood to hold an outdoor high-BTU wok burner. That was fun, many grease fires were had as we learned to control the flame. Now that's out of my system, I've repurposed the rolling cabinet for garden storage and my pizza oven
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I'm having trouble deciding whether I want/need a fry pan with high sides, like a wok or similar, or maybe a larger saucier, or both.
Currently I have 12" and 8" SS shallow saute pans, a 10" lodge CI, a 12" round CI griddle, a shallow/wide 8qt SS dutch oven, and a 2qt saucier. 20yr GE gas range, with possible upgrade to induction in a few years if the range stops working (probably won't, it's been easy to make repairs so far).
Past 18 months my diet has transitioned to super quick, easy meals with heavy plant and fish/seafood. I rarely sear anything anymore. Some soups when I have left overs.
My saute pans and the CI lodge have worked okay for sautes, but they tend to be messy with contents falling over the edges, annoying. The DO is shallow enough to reach my utensils in to stir things around, but it has been really awkward to toss the pan, maybe the shape being so wide or it being bottom heavy.
I prefer to keep my tools minimal and multi-purpose.
The 2qt saucier is too small to make myself 1-2 portion soups in the winter, and the DO is so wide such that solids stick out of the liquid. So.. it seems a 3qt or 4qt saucier would be the right choice?
I have looked into woks, too.
Costco at the moment has an induction hob + cheapo carbon steel wok for $100; Sur La Table has a typical carbon steel wok for $35 on sale now; River Light has a nice nitride-gassed carbon steel wok for about $80-90. There are other wok options I found but I dunno. The local "asian stores" near me only stock non-stick coated woks (wtf?!) which I can't use due to my pets, and I've found the super premium snooty fancy fancy oxenforge stuff but yeah.. no.
I've tried woks twice over the last 15 years, and totally disappointed each time: once was a "pow" shape carbon steel that would either rust or get super sticky if I didn't use it enough, and second was some cast iron thing that I couldn't get any seasoning on it. That's why the nitride gased CS wok looks interesting. But then the Costco induction hob would be a new toy, much fun, and I waffle to saving money on the SLT, but both that and the costco are standard carbon steel which I've had no luck with in the past.
Any thoughts? Blah.
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I measured the width and depth of the big dipper's bowl for @TdeV using my trusty calipers purchased for another hobby years gone past, since precision is important. Sadly, I'm not very good at measuring fiddly things (weird shakes combined with terrible astigmatism) so these are approximately close enough amounts:
The bowl is nearly circular, with diameter of approximately:
US: 1.84 goldfish crackers
UK: 0.0038 london double decker busses
French: 0.071 baguettes
Rest of the world: ~46mm
Depth is ~14mm.
If you'd like a picture of it containing certain foods familiar to you, in order to give you a better idea of size, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Free of charge, I've performed the most important test no one has yet requested: put knuckles up against the back of the spoon. It fails at giving me a great bum, however, it does give me a glimpse of what it would be like to have an amazing pair of prehensile knockers.
As to what hobby: coffee; the spoons make cupping fancy pantsy coffees more fun! The following video illustrates what I went through when deciding to purchase a set, and is far more accurate than I'd care to admit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlYMZUKoaX8
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I was influenced to pick up some fancy schmancy spoons (big dipper by umeshiso) for a different hobby, and turns out they are even better for both soup, stews, curries, and most importantly, shoveling cereal into my mouth. Excellent multi-purpose kitchen tool.
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10 hours ago, Duvel said:
Okonomiyaki, edamame, pickled daikon and yakitori …
In addition to the food, I'd like one tablecloth please. Lost it at the smiling shark 😁
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Ooo... I made shrimp tonight, too, but as "shrimp rolls"
I recently discovered tarragon and it's amazing how just a few leaves can both transform and unify the flavor.
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I've been on a "reduced animal protein" kick for over a year now, and recently discovered something called "soy curls".. these are a fun alternative to the usual sources and are especially great with heavy-sauced recipes
If you haven't tried soy curls before (different from TVP), and you like exploring different cuisines, I think it's worth a purchase from butler foods. They have a texture similar to mushroom-stems with a mild soy flavor that goes away once sauced.
soy curls and broccoli in us-asian junk food inspired sauce (melting pot of all the sauces at once together hahaha)
soy curls, squash, and cauliflower with carribbean curry-ish sauce
home-grown squash sauced linguini (my bastardized version of noodles alla nerano)
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At what point does grana padano become parm? Mine was poorly wrapped, now 4 years in the fridge and has completely dulled every side of my box grater. I'm in process of improving my patio deck, perhaps I can use this cheese to reinforce the footings?
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Hey, since it's been a couple weeks already, have you tried it at all? I'm like you and before I make something relatively new to me, I look at a bunch of recipes to study and become more familiar with it before actually making it. I will generally settle either on one or a mix of one that works for my tastes. If there are techniques new to me, I'll try a few of them over the course of a couple weeks.
I have made this dish before, however, it was with bottled sauce from Trader Joe's (not sure they carry it anymore?) a few years back. It was okay. I tried chicken, pork, and fish (first two used as marinade, second as a dipping sauce). It was too overwhelming and I didn't taste the proteins in any. However, the BL video crossed my sites a few days ago before seeing your post here, so I've been considering trying it with different protein (maybe shrimp or tempeh). The second video was interesting, if a bit cringe.
Not many here have posted comments on the specifics of the two recipes, so hopefully sharing my thoughts would be helpful. My personal preference would lean towards BL's video.. he's not smothering the thing in smoked paprika before applying the marinade. To my tastes, that would overwhelm the rest of the flavors, and probably taste like an ashtray. I've had that brand smoked paprika powder he is using, and it tastes like an ashtray to me (one of my exes was a smoker so I know what it tastes like yuuuuuuuck). BL's recipe additionally uses a small mix of peppers, rather than just fresno. I don't like the second video's stovetop pressing technique.
I don't know why people remove the backbone when spatchcocking chicken, that has such a great bit of skin and little bits of meat it's a chef's treat once it is grilled up.
Consider both recipes at the same time if you haven't already, half chicken on one, half on the other (whether using whole or pieces or whatever), roast/grill/pan fry both up. The BL technique is similar to BBQ chicken with the basting.
I'll probably try this recipe next week, and here's what I plan to do: I'll use a few peppers (sweet peppers, aji amarillo, and a little calabrian growing in my garden). Onion instead of shallot. Lemon and lime together. Considering subbing some hotsauce instead of vinegar since I am out of vinegar and don't like smoked paprika. Grilling outside. If I were doing a protein that needs more than 10 minutes, I would throw a small chunk of wood between the flames to add smoke, but shrimp, fish, and tempeh cook so fast that won't really do much so will skip it. I will, however, drop some left-over marinade into a hot pan to simulate the caramelization from basting.
Let us know what you've done, I am curious
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It still reeked this morning, I could see bits of stuff inside through the ports and toothpick extration proved frustrating. Screwdriver leverage into a port and the thing came apart fairly easily - closer inspection, unfortunately, it is a one-way task, reassembly not logistically possible.
What I found inside.. the horror.. the horror (with apologies to Joseph Conrad).
I don't want to share a picture, it's rather gross.
Can this be prevented, I ask rhetorically, and promptly respond to myself, not sure. The spacing inside is pretty tight and if you get thicker bases pulled up in there, simply rinsing/soaking will not be enough to evacuate. So now I'm on the fence whether to even bother purchasing a replacement lid since this is likely to happen again. Based on this thread only with the several users, it seems like I am the only one experiencing this issue.
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13 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:
If I noticed an odor from the lid, I’d suspect something, even moisture, trapped under the big ridged O-ring in the lid and I was a bit surprised that Mr Water-Pik, in all his thoroughness didn’t address that.
Hah, didn't realize the gasket could be removed thank you! There was a little moisture, and a little schmutz, cleaned right up. However, the smell remained, and I took a closer look into the holes along the top side, and sure enough, there was growth inside. Toothpick got some of it out, and since I don't have a waterpik, I aimed the faucet on spray mode at hottest into the little holes, wiggling the paddle the whole time. Also soaked in hot, soapy water for a few minutes, eventually the toothpick got more gunk out. Can't tell if any remains.
I rarely use bleach to clean things, and may consider it after this dries. I suspect some lingering smell may remain if it was absorbed by the plastic. On closer inspection, it does look like the lid can be disassembled, however, it is pretty tight and it may be a one-way install that'll break. Curiosity may get the better of me since replacement lids are available, currently debating whether it is worth it given how detailed a cleaning needs to be uggh. What I found fascinating: there are unbranded, knockoff lids available for same cost as the official lid. Huh.
Thanks again
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Found a video where the dude uses water through the side ports and has the paddle half-way open. It's for a deluxe model, my lid is from the first gen units so I'm sure it is similar. He uses a waterpik for extra power if necessary. That gives me a place to start. If I manage to take it apart, will share.
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I appreciate the response, and sorry for the confusion. Removing the blade is not my issue. The lid with the paddle which holds the blade is what smells really bad. When I have cleaned it in the past, I would run a soapy sponge through the hole, then block the hole and fill with hot soapy water and open/close the latch several times, and clean the whole thing with a sponge as well. Then shake out and let air dry. It smells pretty bad. Since it has moving parts and a tensioned action, there should be a way to disassemble it. If no one knows, I guess I'll give it a go and if it breaks, oh well, I don't want to use this for now due to the smell.
Could those of you who use the unit on an infrequent basis take a sniff of the lid and see if it's tolerable or gross?
The nooks at the shaft are also bothering me.. I found a few repair videos (here's an example quick teardown) and am going to try to take it apart and see if maybe my unit had different tolerances such that stuff got up inside (I bought a refurb unit).
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I haven't used mine in a few months. Apparently I didn't clean the lid well enough, it reeks of mold. I can't figure out how to take it apart, shining a flashlight, I don't see anything but clearly there are some nooks and crannies. Ideas?
The surrounding nooks around the shaft seem to be prone to collecting stuff as well, I used a toothpick and guess I hadn't cleaned it well enough before putting it away last time.
Yuck
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Haha great
Recently and coincidentally I was reading up on dried chili recipes and the idea of possibly mixing up pineapple juice with some of the dried chilies instead of citrus popped up. I wish I had more time to play.
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5 hours ago, curls said:
I don't think that sous vide or any closed environment would work. Water needs to evaporate from the apple mixture to make apple butter.
I wonder if done long enough, one might still get low-temp caramelization of the apples, like with garlic or onions. Different product from apple butter of course, and might be an interest experiment.
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On 1/29/2025 at 7:34 AM, TdeV said:
It's good in soups - doesn't get mushy.
This is how I grew up eating it, pealed and cut into ~1/2" cubes, then added with other veggies especially in chicken or turkey soup.
Also pickled - I recall Alpine Village (RIP) carried some jarred version of julienned, pickled celery root, unsure if other euro markets offer this. Really good as a snack or side to fatty foods.
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I've made non-wheat pastas with my older philips pasta maker. It is challenging but doable. There are facebook groups dedicated to home pasta making and those folks might be able to help? I don't have facebook, I'm not sure why the groups are more popular than forums which are so much easier but anway... I have been able to gleen some info from them browsing. One in particular is pastafanataholics, which is a collab between the italian company Pastidea and some home cooks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/767285674024266/
There are also german and french groups dedicated to it.
Pastidea is an italian company and I'm sure they might have insight how to create corn-only noodles, you can even reach out to them directly, in my experience they have always been helpful but there is a little language barrier.
The ingredients suggest it is simply ground corn, and as suggested above it's possible there are trace other ingredients. However, I think their success is likely to do with different methods of processing which would allow it to correctly bind, perhaps specific pressure, temperature, steam, etc. If available to you cheap, you might try using masa, since that corn has undergone nimxtamalization (and might make it easier to bind... ? If you are okay doing so, a little xanthan gum or perhaps something like ground chia/flax might be helpful, too.
I once made noodles from wheat flour and avocado, as an eggless-egg pasta, maybe the avocado could be used with the corn flour, too. Lots to experiment!
If you do learn something, please get back to us here, I'd be very curious to know
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In 2017 my local TJ's had Pickle Chips. These were amazing, and then I never saw them again. They showed up this past week! I bought it to try - same flavor, although the chips were fried a bit more boldly. Despite this, I'd recommend. They also have begun carrying some horseradish ruffled chips, these are addicting. Also recommended! Sadly, mine did not have freeze dried mangosteen - only figs and mangos, and these are good.
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HI.
I tried the Korean Beefless Bulgogi from the freezer section for laughs (been on a vegetarian kick most of this year now). The overall flavor is great, even has this high-heat seared taste to it! However, the texture was rather odd when I gave it a poke: a springy, spongy mass, with an unexpected familiarity to it. As I prepared to take a taste I somehow instinctively gave this peculiar thing a couple shakes and then slowly came to my now terrified realization that I've recently (and certainly daily) handled something with such a texture before.
Anyone else dare try it?
Trader Joe's Products (2017–)
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
They're only $3.50 and in stock at the San Clemente TJs. I grabbed a couple more bags today. It's the texture.
Left over from one bag on the drive home, combined with their low priced impossible nuggies: 'tis a vegan alternative to McD that hit a craving.
Don't judge me.