The eGullet Hall of Shame

[dhdav66]

French's yellow mustard. I LOVE LOVE LOVE French's. A burger with American Cheese and French's = sublime. I shudder when I request mustard for a burger in a restaurant and they bring out Dijon. WTF???? NOT for a burger. One shameful snack, about which only my partner (and now eGullet) is privy, is squeezing French's mustard onto chips (potato or corn chips), one at a time. One chip, a dollop of mustard -- YUM! I've been known to dig through half a bag of chips this way. And thank God for the squeeze containers. My mother used to get so mad when I would just dip them into the mustard jar (does it even come in jars anymore?).

Another secret: I love peanut butter with dill pickles. Not just any pickle, mind you, but Vlasic Kosher dills. A bit of peanut butter on a spoon, then a bit of pickle. Always alternating, never mixing. Something about the salty sweet followed by the vinegary pickle really tickles my fancy. My mom used to serve us peanut butter toast as a snack, with a pickle on the side. Guess I come by that one honestly.

Then there's the blue box and mixin's. A cheesy box of blue (powdered kind with American cheese for extra oomph) with a can of Hormel chili poured into it and heated -- or maybe some ranch style beans -- or ranch style beans and some Rotel. A feast for a snowy New England Day.

And though I haven't had it in years -- I used to drool over Dinty Moore stew. Always with lots of Texas Pete.

OMG -- so craving my shameful secrets. May have to go grab a spoon, the peanut butter, and the giant jar of pickles from Costco!!!!

[Aloha Steve]

French's yellow mustard. I LOVE LOVE LOVE French's. A burger with American Cheese and French's = sublime. I shudder when I request mustard for a burger in a restaurant and they bring out Dijon. WTF???? NOT for a burger. One shameful snack, about which only my partner (and now eGullet) is privy, is squeezing French's mustard onto chips (potato or corn chips), one at a time. One chip, a dollop of mustard -- YUM! I've been known to dig through half a bag of chips this way. And thank God for the squeeze containers. My mother used to get so mad when I would just dip them into the mustard jar (does it even come in jars anymore?).

Another secret: I love peanut butter with dill pickles. Not just any pickle, mind you, but Vlasic Kosher dills. A bit of peanut butter on a spoon, then a bit of pickle. Always alternating, never mixing. Something about the salty sweet followed by the vinegary pickle really tickles my fancy. My mom used to serve us peanut butter toast as a snack, with a pickle on the side. Guess I come by that one honestly.

Then there's the blue box and mixin's. A cheesy box of blue (powdered kind with American cheese for extra oomph) with a can of Hormel chili poured into it and heated -- or maybe some ranch style beans -- or ranch style beans and some Rotel. A feast for a snowy New England Day.

And though I haven't had it in years -- I used to drool over Dinty Moore stew. Always with lots of Texas Pete.

OMG -- so craving my shameful secrets. May have to go grab a spoon, the peanut butter, and the giant jar of pickles from Costco!!!!

With all due respect: Are you in the Club ? When's the due date ? LOL Just joking, I'm gonna have to try to potato chip and French's, which is the only mustard my BH will use.

[dhdav66]

LOL -- I know -- sounds that way, doesn't it. Don't get me wrong about other mustards. I'm a fan of all mustards -- I just think of French as the go to for cheeseburgers and my chip obsession.

Let me know when the next club meeting is. I'll bring the French's, you bring the chips.

As for the pickles and peanut butter, if I'm expecting, I'm gonna report it to the news and be the first biological man to give birth! I could retire on the proceeds. But, as a man, I don't think I could go through that birthing process. Too much pain for me!

Loving this forum.

[nakji]

Interesting. In your risotto with plain white rice, how is the texture as compared to arborio rice? This would be great and I can make risotto more often if I can use my house standard (jasmine).

I'm not sure how it would come out with jasmine rice, but my house white is japonica rice - either from Korea or Japan. Sometimes, I'll even cut in about 25% mochi rice if it's hanging around. Is it exactly the same as a risotto made with arborio? Not really - arborio seems to be a longer grain, and seems more, "ricey" when I've made risotto with it. When I use the short-grain rice, it comes out very creamy and smooth. I like it, and it's a lot cheaper, so that's enough for me for week-night dinners.

[pyrguy]

Another secret: I love peanut butter with dill pickles. Not just any pickle, mind you, but Vlasic Kosher dills. A bit of peanut butter on a spoon, then a bit of pickle. Always alternating, never mixing. Something about the salty sweet followed by the vinegary pickle really tickles my fancy. My mom used to serve us peanut butter toast as a snack, with a pickle on the side. Guess I come by that one honestly.

My wife loves peanut butter in a Ritz cracker with a hamburger dill slice on top.

[Panosmex]

Interesting. In your risotto with plain white rice, how is the texture as compared to arborio rice? This would be great and I can make risotto more often if I can use my house standard (jasmine).

I'm not sure how it would come out with jasmine rice, but my house white is japonica rice - either from Korea or Japan. Sometimes, I'll even cut in about 25% mochi rice if it's hanging around. Is it exactly the same as a risotto made with arborio? Not really - arborio seems to be a longer grain, and seems more, "ricey" when I've made risotto with it. When I use the short-grain rice, it comes out very creamy and smooth. I like it, and it's a lot cheaper, so that's enough for me for week-night dinners.

My shameful confession: I've never eaten, let alone made risotto. I would probably never order it in a restaurant. I'd eat it if it were served to me at a private dinner.

[sng sling]

My Dad used to swear by sweet pickle relish and peanut butter on toast or crackers as a hangover cure...

Edit -- spelling

Edited March 14, 2010 by sng sling (log)

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Here's my most recent Hall of Shame entries... Cilantro Lime Big Fish sandwiches from Burger King, and Chicken McNuggets from McD's with the Sweet Chili dipping sauce (which is just thickened Mae Ploy).

[nakji]

My shameful confession: I've never eaten, let alone made risotto. I would probably never order it in a restaurant. I'd eat it if it were served to me at a private dinner.

Because it sounds like you wouldn't like it? Actually, I'd never tried it either until a year or two ago when my husband took it in his head to try to make it. It's a nice change from pasta. I also commit the unpardonable sin of keeping the leftovers and heating them up for lunch the next day.

[plum tart]

I love their Swedish meatballs too with the gloppy gravy although I tweak it a little. I always have a bag in my freezer and a jar of Ikea's lingonberry preserves. Then I boil a potato and add some Danish red cabbage that I always have on hand even though it isn't Christmas. Yummmm....

[plum tart]

Yup, agree on all three. Duck is best when it is falling off the bone.

[plum tart]

I am so proud of you for confessing that you do not own, have not read, have not cooked from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Now I can come out of the closet and admit that I don't, and haven't any of the above. It just doesn't turn on my tastebuds and "flavour" and umami are what I am after.

I have terrible knife skills, and my omelet skills aren't that great either but my food tastes good and it looks good too.

I have a friend who in the 60's worked her way through Julia Child. She always sharpens her knife before she cooks, she can toss an omelet in the air and it lands on the pan in a neat perfect little roll. I must say, I am impressed. Her food looks gorgeous but as for taste??? Well.. She thinks I am a graduate of Julia Child too and that I moved on to other things, like italian and Mexican, and Chinese and Thai but the truth is, and I can't bear to tell her, is that I never went there in the first place. The recipes are too long and THERE ARE NO COLORED PICTURES and she just didn't make me feel about the taste of things the way Elizabeth David, or James Beard made me feel. I love her, I can watch her tv shows forever but she used "dried basil" in one recipe for God's sake;. In the 70's when we were all growing our own basil. So thank you for allowing me to reveal my dirty little secret!

[Darienne]

Ha! While we are outdoing each other in shame...I can say that I gave away my Julia Child cookbook many years ago and I just had to look up the word 'umami' to see what it meant.

Top that, little sister.

[andiesenji]

Yup, agree on all three. Duck is best when it is falling off the bone.

Oh, thank you, thank YOU! I feel exactly the same way.

I love duck but it has to be totally DONE! I shudder every time I seed a chef on FoodTV slice rare duck breast and gently place the fan of slices on top of a tablespoon of some kind of greens.

I have been eating (and cooking in various ways) duck, both wild and domestic for nearly sixty years and in my opinion there is a great deal of flavor development as the meat reaches the point where the skin is crispy, and most of the fat has rendered out, and yet it retains just the perfect amount of juices that are totally non-bloody.

Wild duck that has not been hung long enouth, or cooked to a sufficient done-ness, has a decidedly game-y flavor that has a slightly fishy note that to me is most unpleasant.

[melamed]

I like dayglo cheetos, the kind made with 90% MSG.

I googled (marshmallow) peeps as had no idea what they were.

I try to avoid recipes that tell me to brunoise, don't have the patience for that (and don't have any cookbooks by Julia Childs).

I threw my foodmill out and mash my potatoes the old fashioned way.

I never ate kraft mac and cheese, am I missing something?

and....... am a bit perplexed when reading descriptions of gourmet wine, have no idea what they are talking about

[Aloha Steve]

I made Chinese style roasted duck yesterday. I followed instructions. Two hours in, I thought, I wonder what temp the breast should be; probably like chicken ? I web searched, saw anywhere between 128-138.....Aghast, I took mine out of the oven for good and let it sit. After the last basting I did, 5 minutes before, I decided to check and the temp was at 173

First duck I ever made, my family are very picky eaters, my 6 year old does NOT eat food which have names of living things he knows. At dinner time, we all ate every single piece of meat possible and the 6 year old whinning for more, we had to promise him I would make two, one for him and one for the rest of us, the next time.

I don't own JC's TAOFC and do not intend to buy it. I am 90% sure, I like Italian food better than French

[Darienne]

I don't own JC's TAOFC and do not intend to buy it. I am 90% sure, I like Italian food better than French

Aloha Steve makes an excellent point. We like Chinese (especially Szechwan) food, African and Middle Eastern food and Indian food best, followed by others, like Mexican, Italian, Caribbean. Can't think where, if at all, that French food really fits in.

[andiesenji]

I don't own JC's TAOFC and do not intend to buy it. I am 90% sure, I like Italian food better than French

Aloha Steve makes an excellent point. We like Chinese (especially Szechwan) food, African and Middle Eastern food and Indian food best, followed by others, like Mexican, Italian, Caribbean. Can't think where, if at all, that French food really fits in.

I like ethnic foods too. However, if I want to prepare something for someone who really needs a bit of comfort, I go back to the classic cassoulet, which I consider the original "comfort" food.

[nakji]

I am so proud of you for confessing that you do not own, have not read, have not cooked from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Now I can come out of the closet and admit that I don't, and haven't any of the above. It just doesn't turn on my tastebuds and "flavour" and umami are what I am after.

I have terrible knife skills, and my omelet skills aren't that great either but my food tastes good and it looks good too.

I have a friend who in the 60's worked her way through Julia Child. She always sharpens her knife before she cooks, she can toss an omelet in the air and it lands on the pan in a neat perfect little roll. I must say, I am impressed. Her food looks gorgeous but as for taste??? Well.. She thinks I am a graduate of Julia Child too and that I moved on to other things, like italian and Mexican, and Chinese and Thai but the truth is, and I can't bear to tell her, is that I never went there in the first place. The recipes are too long and THERE ARE NO COLORED PICTURES and she just didn't make me feel about the taste of things the way Elizabeth David, or James Beard made me feel. I love her, I can watch her tv shows forever but she used "dried basil" in one recipe for God's sake;. In the 70's when we were all growing our own basil. So thank you for allowing me to reveal my dirty little secret!

Oh wow, I think we have our own little trend here; add me to the club. I have never nor want to mastered the art of French cooking. Some day I may want to bone a chicken, but really, not in the near future. Much respect to Julia, and everyone who has worked their way through that book, but for me, now....no.

I also like duck that's been cooked the whole way through. It's hard to chew, otherwise.

[pax]

Let this be a lesson unto you: when pouring your bulk grains into their nice clean clear canisters, LABEL THEM IMMEDIATELY lest you do what I did last night and accidentally serve:

Teriyaki vegetables with fried oatmeal.

Husband, "Honey, this is delicious, but what kind of rice is this?"

Me, "The oatmeal kind."

Husband, "Oh. Did I say this was delicious?", to child, "Shhhh. Just eat it."

[Solomon]

Boxed Wines and NON french baguettes and "Gourmet" Things

1. I love my boxed wines.

But for some reason it is considered bad in the states. The worst part is that I show no shame when serving it to friends. I hold tightly to my (BIB) 3- 10 litre boxes of lovely French and Spanish wines.

Oh, how they fill me with joy daily!

2. I don't care for french baguettes.

Basque region version of the baguette is lighter, has slightly softer texture and a lot more flavor. It is very noticeable.

3. I hate the words "Gourmet or Artisanal". These beautiful words have become so abused that soon new definitions or new words will have to be created.

[sadie4232]

I hate beets and can't stand liverwurst, but love pate.

I've never cooked a whole fish and can't bring myself to boil a live lobster.

Dark chocolate peanut M&Ms rule!

Count me in as a member of the Tater Tot Lovers Brigade.

Cheese-Its and Pepperidge Farm goldfish don't stand a chance in this house.

The Wright Table blog

[chefsteban]

*sigh* I am hopelessly addicted to the Carls Jr. breakfast burger. I have to have one at least once a week, but never more than twice in the same week--unless I am suffering from a nasty hangover.

[LindsayAnn]

I too like goldfish, although my favorite are the Parmesan variety (just look for the green and white bag!). Nothing shameful about that though, at least to my perspective. Have you tried the White Cheddar Cheese-its? DIVINE!

A little bit more shameful, but I could give a hoot anyhow: I like velveta cheese at times, meted on tortilla chips or even pasta. YUM

There is a time and a place when the green shaker plastic can of fake Parmesan cheese is really good with pasta. Sometimes I want the real stuff, freshly granted, albeit at times I have a hankering for the good old green bottle. Again, YUM.

I like American cheese (however I also love aged artisan sharp cheddar, all stinky cheeses and all goats, cows, sheep's, and buffalo milk cheeses I have tried...and that is a whole lotta cheeses trust me. I suppose I just don't discriminate .

I like cheese puffs....and the cheese balls rule all!

[sadie4232]

Contrary to all medical research, I believe bacon is one of the four major food groups. We ALWAYS have it around and it makes a regular appearance in many a menu.

We are cheese addicts and have one whole drawer in our refrigerator devoted to cheese -- the stinkier the better!

Other low-brow guilty pleasures:

- Pop Tarts - whether toasted or fresh out of the box, if they are anywhere in the vicinity, I'll cave and eat 'em.

- Making a meal out of a bag of Cheetos with a bag of Oreos for a chaser.