Culinary and Kitchen-Related Pet Peeves

[gfweb]

5 hours ago, weedy said:

 

really?

 the cajun "trinity" ?

you're discounting an awful lot of great food based on that.

 

I'll eat it and like it. But it could be so much better without celery and green pepper. Amazing it is so tasty starting out with a handicap like that .

[IowaDee]

I like any and every color of pepper.  I especially love the packages of the little ones of every color.  They are ideal for stuffing and look so pretty on a plate.  And I agree, green ones are best eaten raw.  One of my kids tells me that green peppers taste like dirt to her!  

[GlorifiedRice]

1 hour ago, Arey said:

Is this a regional type thing.  I've never ever seen green bell peppers on a Italian sub.

 

Maybe they are referring to the sweet (pickled) pepper strips?

 

Or something from Subway

Edited January 25, 2017 by GlorifiedRice (log)

[Kim Shook]

I have no problem with other folks who love any kind or color of peppers.  But I detest all Bell peppers (I find their flavor is so invasive - even a small amount) and hate the heat of the others.  It has gotten to the point where I have to go all old lady at restaurants and quiz them about the ingredients and the heat level of dishes.  Sometimes it seems like every dish has to have hot chilies in it.  And don't get me started on all the chipotle infused condiments!

[GlorifiedRice]

Heat for heats sake is my peeve.

I dont mind spicy food, but I hate CAYENNE. Cayenne has no flavor, its all heat.

Jalapenos are delicious and fruity...

Cayenne is crap.

 

Im tired of buying Buffalo flavored anything and all it is is CAYENNE. Theres no fruity vinegary goodness, just heat.

UGH.

[Porthos]

2 hours ago, Arey said:

Is this a regional type thing.  I've never ever seen green bell peppers on a Italian sub.

 

They are available for all sandwiches at Subway.

[munchymom]

Well, who knew. It is a regional thing. I grew up in northern New Hampshire, but what I grew up eating is apparently known as a "Maine Italian Sandwich"

 

Italian Sandwiches: Portland, Maine's unsung contribution to the world

 

Note the green peppers prominently shown in the graphic.

[GlorifiedRice]

58 minutes ago, munchymom said:

Well, who knew. It is a regional thing. I grew up in northern New Hampshire, but what I grew up eating is apparently known as a "Maine Italian Sandwich"

 

Italian Sandwiches: Portland, Maine's unsung contribution to the world

 

Note the green peppers prominently shown in the graphic.

 

Ill bet you that someone in Maine wanted an Italian Hoagie and they didnt have the sweet or hot pickled peppers and just threw on a few slices of green pepper strips. No one would do that on their own. Amazon wasnt available at that time.

Heres the real thing

https://www.amazon.com/Tallaricos-Sweet-Sassy-Pepper-Strips/dp/B004V4JDZ4/

[munchymom]

If they did have Amazon in 1899, they wouldn't have been able to order those pepper strips anyway since that company didn't exist then. I'm not disputing the larger point that green bell peppers are a profoundly weird thing to put on a sandwich - but I guess when you get used to something, after a while it starts to seem normal.

[gfweb]

4 hours ago, Arey said:

Is this a regional type thing.  I've never ever seen green bell peppers on a Italian sub.

Pickled italian hot and sweet peppers...all the time.

Roasted red peppers ....perhaps on an artsy fartsy, cheffy hoagie.

Green peppers would be new to me too.

[GlorifiedRice]

28 minutes ago, munchymom said:

If they did have Amazon in 1899, they wouldn't have been able to order those pepper strips anyway since that company didn't exist then. I'm not disputing the larger point that green bell peppers are a profoundly weird thing to put on a sandwich - but I guess when you get used to something, after a while it starts to seem normal.

 

Ive done some research...

 

This Amato guy was a baker first in 1899, he started serving sandwiches in 1921

The "buns" were hot dog style soft bread rolls, not Italian bread.

So its American Cheese and Boiled Ham, and Greek olives.

Tomatoes were introduced to Italy from the Americas when some brave soul actually ate one. Before then they were thought to be poisonous. Tomatoes are MexiAmerican. Pickles arent they German or Jewish?

So basically the Maine sandwich is a ham and cheese with a few extras thrown on it. Nothing Italian about it.

 

BUT the Zeps, Subs, Hoagies etc were all created at the same time period but WITH REAL ITALIAN INGREDIENTS!

A hoagie has Italian meats and cheeses, Cappicola, Salami, Prosciuttino, Provolone, Pickled hot and sweet peppers (sometimes Pepperoncini) and Oregano. That's Italian!

[Chef Margie]

I used to not like any type of bell peppers, but I now enjoy them, when used in the right context and especially not as filler in dishes. They are supposed to compliment a dish, not overpower it. A few nights ago I made stuffed bell peppers with ground turkey for the first time, and they actually came out yummy. Just thought of a recipe, and wham!, here is the end result (see picture). I'll post my recipe some time today if any of you want to try it. Currently trying out my new baking gadget, my 9 inch tart pan.

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, Chef Margie said:

I used to not like any type of bell peppers, but I now enjoy them, when used in the right context and especially not as filler in dishes. They are supposed to compliment a dish, not overpower it. A few nights ago I made stuffed bell peppers with ground turkey for the first time, and they actually came out yummy. Just thought of a recipe, and wham!, here is the end result (see picture). I'll post my recipe some time today if any of you want to try it. Currently trying out my new baking gadget, my 9 inch tart pan.

 

Looks good.  I'd like to see the recipe.

[cakewalk]

3 hours ago, Chef Margie said:

I used to not like any type of bell peppers, but I now enjoy them, when used in the right context and especially not as filler in dishes. They are supposed to compliment a dish, not overpower it. A few nights ago I made stuffed bell peppers with ground turkey for the first time, and they actually came out yummy. Just thought of a recipe, and wham!, here is the end result (see picture). I'll post my recipe some time today if any of you want to try it. Currently trying out my new baking gadget, my 9 inch tart pan.

I think the filling looks great!

[FeChef]

I love frozen fruits like Mango, pineapple,grapes, and melon. Its impossible to buy them together without stawberries. I hate frozen strawberries. I have to buy mango and pineapple separately but can not find frozen melon or grapes. To make matters worse, the pre mixed fruits are like 50% or more strawberry.

[Kim Shook]

One of mine that I’ve been reminded of lately is using things that are too small for the job.  Knives, bowls, pans, etc.  It drives me crazy going to someone else’s house and watching them cut up vegetables for a salad with a little paring knife.  A friend of mine takes almost 30 minutes (I surreptitiously timed her) to make a salad that would take me 5 – and that does not include washing things. 

 

TV cooks are especially bad about using too small bowls.  They will add ingredients to the rim of a bowl and then try to stir.  I realize that most of them don’t have the power to insist on specific equipment, so that is the fault of the director, I expect. 

[chromedome]

14 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

TV cooks are especially bad about using too small bowls.  They will add ingredients to the rim of a bowl and then try to stir.  I realize that most of them don’t have the power to insist on specific equipment, so that is the fault of the director, I expect. 

In the cooking classes I hold regularly at a local supermarket, they've heard me say "in a very...LARGE...bowl..." so often that it's become a catchphrase. 

[Toliver]

2 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

TV cooks are especially bad about using too small bowls.  They will add ingredients to the rim of a bowl and then try to stir.  I realize that most of them don’t have the power to insist on specific equipment, so that is the fault of the director, I expect. 

Funny you should mention this. I was surfing through cable channels and stumbled on a FoodTV show where the "host" had done this, exactly. She went to stir the ingredients in the bowl, realized that it was over-stuffed, and used her hands instead of the spatula to combine everything. She was able to keep everything in the bowl and not let it fall on the counter top. DOH!

[blue_dolphin]

7 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

One of mine that I’ve been reminded of lately is using things that are too small for the job.  Knives, bowls, pans, etc.  It drives me crazy going to someone else’s house and watching them cut up vegetables for a salad with a little paring knife.

 

I understand the issue with too-small bowls and pans but some people are very good with small knives!  Growing up, my mom made from-scratch dinners and fresh salads every night for the family and did it all - boning chickens, peeling potatoes, chopping onions and everything else with her sharp little paring knife.  She did it very quickly and efficiently.  As I recall, she had to pull out the big guns knife for winter squashes and it always seemed like a major event !

[Thanks for the Crepes]

10 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

They will add ingredients to the rim of a bowl and then try to stir.

 

That is why I make one single serving in a large glass petal bowl for seven layer salad. It takes quite a bit of mixing to get the veggies thoroughly mixed up with the mayo, tomato juices, egg yolk, salt and pepper dressing. Then, because I live alone now, I don't dirty another dish, but proceed to eat it right out of the over-sized bowl, Jethro Bodine-style. 

 

And yes, @blue_dolphin, I do almost every chopping or slicing chore with a razor sharp boning knife. The blade is 5" long, but the actual cutting business is only about 4" long. It also has a very thin blade. I find it most adept at almost every task except very large squashes or watermelon. I don't recall ever cutting myself with this knife in many years. Larger knives seem less precise, more unwieldy to me. In my experience, they are also more likely to bite the hand that is trying to feed me. People swear by their chef's knives design, including, chefs, but to me they seem like blunt instruments compared to my little scalpel-like beloved boning knife.

 

And wow! I am disliking the persistent trend for kale. I used to grow kale. I loved it, but I picked it young. I grew it in a flower bed along a brick wall in fall after the season for flowers was over. It's a cool weather crop in TN, and would very frequently start producing again in spring before it was time to put in the garden and flowers. This was good stuff, and I had enough to share with neighbors out of maybe a 30' x 3' bed. This young stuff was very fine boiled or sauteed. This stuff you can buy in the grocery store now is so overgrown it is ridiculous. I don't see how anyone can eat it, much less having it trend into the restaurants. The only use I can find for the grocery store variety is to shake and massage it in a produce bag with a little olive oil until every tough leaf is coated, then spread it out onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with a lot less salt and pepper than seems intuitive. Of course, you need to strip out the even tougher stems and discard. If you roast it in the oven, it becomes kale chips which can be very delicious, when done just right, but that is the only use I have found for what I can buy nowadays.

[Kim Shook]

9 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I understand the issue with too-small bowls and pans but some people are very good with small knives!  Growing up, my mom made from-scratch dinners and fresh salads every night for the family and did it all - boning chickens, peeling potatoes, chopping onions and everything else with her sharp little paring knife.  She did it very quickly and efficiently.  As I recall, she had to pull out the big guns knife for winter squashes and it always seemed like a major event !

Oh, I agree!  My grandmother could cook an entire meal extremely fast using only a paring knife held in her hand.  I used to love watching her make potato salad - peeled potatoes, pared them, chopped onions, pickles, celery and eggs - all in her hand with that little knife and FAST!  I think that the only thing the large knives were used for was carving meat!

 

I was really talking about people who I know would get along faster and safer using a bigger knife - like my friend!

[Katie Meadow]

Step up to the whine bar! 

 

I can't think of a worse topic for me, so I'm just saying Hi! 

[cakewalk]

And hi back atcha! We need listeners!!

 

One of my pet peeves is the insistence on saying how many ingredients are in a recipe - and the lower the number, the better it's supposed to be. This trend seems to be relatively new, but it's everywhere. Only five ingredients!! Only three ingredients!!! I'm waiting for a recipe to blare: No Ingredients!! Yes, even you can make this mouth-watering dish using absolutely NO INGREDIENTS!!!!  

[munchymom]

Or like the ads that say "Made with 100 percent natural ingredients!" That's right folks, no ghostly, angelic, undead, or otherwise supernatural ingredients were used in making this product.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

How about warning, contains wheat on a bag of flour.  As noticed just now.