NYTimes Articles on Food, Drink, Culinary Culture 2013–

**ElsieD** · April 20, 2016

Tonight we had the salmon. We normally do not eat salmon as neither one of us cares for it so we were not looking forward to this meal. I should mention here that they "chose" our meals. If I had been choosing, 2 of the 3 would not have been picked. Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise. One thing I noticed right away was that the fish was very fresh without any fishy smell whatsoever which probably explains why we liked it as much as we did. So basically, it was preboil all 7!!!! of the very small potatoes, cut them in half, toss with olive oil, garlic, s & p and into a 450 oven. The asparagus gets the same treatment, the salmon gets a spread of grainy Dijon mustard. After the initial 10 minute potato bake, the asparagus and salmon go in for 10 minutes. I think 8 would have been better. While that was happening, I diced the tomato that was sent, then threw it out as it had gotten a bit squished in the packaging and had a mealy texture to boot. So, I did up some small ones I had. To this was added chopped basil, white balsamic vinegar and some olive oil. This was put on top of the salad.

Unlike Anna N, my garlic was not in it's own little bag, but loose in the big bag the meal ingredients were packed in. No problem there. I think the asparagus could have been fresher and a better tomato could have been sent and packaged better. All in all, though, we were pretty happy with our meal. Oh, I did pull out the smoking gun and smoked the fish a bit before it got the mustard and oven treatment.

Anna N · April 20, 2016

@ElsieD

Amazing how very similar the meal kits seem to be to one another in terms of packaging and recipe cards. Your first meal certainly looks like something I might enjoy. Looking forward to more reports from you and I think @JoNorvelleWalker should be getting kits very soon.

JoNorvelleWalker · April 20, 2016

6 hours ago, Anna N said:

@ElsieD

Amazing how very similar the meal kits seem to be to one another in terms of packaging and recipe cards. Your first meal certainly looks like something I might enjoy. Looking forward to more reports from you and I think @JoNorvelleWalker should be getting kits very soon.

My purple carrot kit arrived yesterday. Took an unpacking picture when I got home last night but no time to deal with it. (The picture nor the kit.) Hopefully I can report tonight.

**ElsieD** · April 20, 2016

I'm sitting debating which one to cook up tonight. There's the maple-glazed pork chops which looks pretty good except for the fact the pork chop is thinner than I would like. It is about 1/2 " and since it is done in a frying pan, I'm worried about the thing being dry. The bigger problem is with the lamb & beef Kofta. It came with a tin of chick peas which we both loathe. The treatment for the chick peas is to cook the aromatics (ginger, spice blend, shallot and garlic) then add the chick peas and some lemon juice. I'm thinking about substituting the chick peas with rice. I could use either cooked rice or raw rice and cook it on the stove. Any thoughts?

KennethT · April 20, 2016

I would use raw rice and cook it like a pilaf - first sweating the aromatics in a little oil, then toast the raw rice and then add water or stock, cover and cook like normal rice. Or, you could do it like a risotto, and add water/stock gradually, simmering away uncovered.

**ElsieD** · April 21, 2016

So here we are, the beef and lamb Kofta. I did as Kenneth T suggested for the rice. That is, the aromatics went into some oil in a pot, the rice was toasted and then cooked. The recipe said to put some of the taztziki over the Kofta but I served it in a bowl alongside.

Uncooked, there was 10 ounces of minced beef and lamb. After it was cooked, I poured just over 1/3 cup of fat into a measuring cup. The fat weighed 2 7/8 ounces which is a lot of fat coming from that amount of meat. Also, we both love lamb and eat it fairly often but I did not care for the smell of this while it was cooking. I'm wondering if it was mutton dressed up as lamb. It had a peculiar fatty smell, which I have not noticed when I cook lamb. The taztziki was very good, and the rice saved the meal. I missed having some veg. My husband liked the meal, me not so much. As far as the plate goes, it wasn't much to look at. I don't think it would have looked any better with the chick peas instead of the rice.

**ElsieD** · April 22, 2016

Here is the third and final meal, pork chops with a maple/mustard glaze, oven fries and rapini. I was worried about the pork chop drying out as it wasn't very thick but it actually turned out rather well, nice and pink and fairly juicy. I remembered from the dinner thread to soak the spuds which I did and the fries were excellent. They were tossed with olive oil, s & p and rosemary. The rapini was okay, we liked the stemps best. We find rapini bitter so are not particularly fond of it but that is a personal taste thing. It was tossed with olive oil and s & p and roasted.

I would rank the dishes as 1) pork chops, 2) salmon and the Kofta last. I thought the freshness of some of the ingredients could have been better and a bit more care taken with the packaging. The quantities were bang on. I may try a couple of other meal services and if I do, I'll post about it. I have found only one such service in the city I live in but they charge $40 which is more than I care to spend. I know Montreal has another one so may give that a whirl.

JoNorvelleWalker · April 23, 2016

As promised:

This is my delivery from The Purple Carrot earlier this week. Everything seemed reasonably fresh. Plenty of ice to keep things cold. Not shown is the poor tomato on the bottom that got squished. Has anyone mentioned to Mark Bittman about not refrigerating tomatoes?

The bottle with the red lid is one of two organic smoothies that were included in the box. Why I am not sure. Among the ingredients were two cans of organic beans and one can of organic tomatoes. Small cans.

Tonight as my first experiment I prepared Black Bean Burgers with Spiced Sweet Potato Fries. Listed time was 40 minutes. It took me an hour, all work. I went through the recipe as an automaton, trying not to think too much. Rum helps.

The sweet potato fries were done, or more like over done, at the minimum time. But better than expected. Too bad I don't care for sweet potato fries.

The burger looked and tasted more like a burger than the last two hamburgers I've made from Lopez-Alt. The patty even held together. It tasted OK. Not great but OK. The whole wheat English muffin bun was good.

Condiments supplied were packets of Grey Poupon and Heinz high fructose corn syrup ketchup, not even organic. I must say I was disappointed, considering the price. I skipped the packet and served with Heinz organic.

Shown in the photograph of the dish but not supplied nor referenced in the recipe was a white condiment that looked like mayonnaise. Very strange. I chose to substitute ranch dressing, which admittedly makes the result somewhat less vegan.

The portion size was generous by my standards. If you are male or a teenager your mileage may vary.

One mystery is the directive to use "half the cayenne". There is no mention anywhere that I can find for the other half. Units are a little odd. In one place the recipe calls out for "a sprinkle of salt and pepper". In another place for "a little salt and pepper". How much is that? I have a scale.

The bottom line is that the recipe made what looks like the photograph (except for the missing mystery condiment) and which was eatable and probably nutritious. It dirtied a dishwasher full of stuff. For a fraction of the cost and the same one hour elapsed time I could have cooked up a mess of RG black beans in the pressure cooker -- dirtying one canning jar and one small saucepan. And a spoon. (OK, and a knife for the onion.) I would have enjoyed the result far more.

For that matter I could have opened up a can of Progresso black bean soup.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Smithy
Added image per member request (log)

Anna N · April 23, 2016

@JoNorvelleWalker

Thanks for sharing. Once again it seems (reasonably) that those of us who love food and cooking and know a few things about both are not the target demographic for these kits.

DianaB · April 23, 2016

This weekend's Financial Times shows that 'dinner in a box' is in the UK: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c1e9daf8-0683-11e6-9b51-0fb5e65703ce.html?siteedition=uk

I also read somewhere that Maxims in Paris was offering gourmet meal boxes via a third party but can't find the link now. As I recall the box itself looked beautifully made but the contents were minuscule.

JoNorvelleWalker · April 25, 2016

Tonight was The Purple Carrot Aloo Paratha with Mustard Seed-Scented Eggplant. Specified time 40 minutes, it took me an hour and a half. But unlike the Black Bean Burgers with Spiced Sweet Potato Fries, this recipe was really good. I can see myself making it again, and probably will, since I have half the stuff left.

I served it with a bit of garlic pickle and Major Grey's chutney (not supplied).

A few notes: The Purple Carrot people were really stingy with the cilantro and mint, and even said not to use it all. When I attended a demonstration of Indian cooking techniques the presenter employed a very large amount.

The instructions call for cooking the eggplant over medium high heat stirring frequently while at the same time peeling, trimming and chopping the onion and three garlic cloves. Just no. Maybe Mark Bittman does this. I don't.

Another place I did not follow the recipe: it calls for adding chopped tomatoes to the eggplant, onions, and garlic before the mustard seed. This seems so very wrong to me. I added the mustard seed, cooked for a couple minutes, and then the chopped tomato.

Because the recipe serves two, it calls for frying both portions in the skillet at the same time. My largest skillet scarcely fit one. Clearly I need a larger skillet.

Criticism aside, it made for a good and satisfying meal.

rotuts · May 3, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/science/eugenia-cheng-math-how-to-bake-pi.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

decided for yourself.

Anna N · May 3, 2016

Curious. Thanks.

pastrygirl · May 3, 2016

I wouldn't necessarily agree with this:

"If you’re making a cake, you can throw together the flour, sugar, butter and eggs however you please, and the cake will come out fine — that’s an associative process. Not so for preparing custard. You must first combine the sugar and egg yolks and whisk them into a froth before you pour in the cream. Blend the ingredients in a different order, she said, “and you end up with a runny mess.”"

But what do I know?

JoNorvelleWalker · May 4, 2016

5 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

I wouldn't necessarily agree with this:

"If you’re making a cake, you can throw together the flour, sugar, butter and eggs however you please, and the cake will come out fine — that’s an associative process. Not so for preparing custard. You must first combine the sugar and egg yolks and whisk them into a froth before you pour in the cream. Blend the ingredients in a different order, she said, “and you end up with a runny mess.”"

But what do I know?

Haha! I came here to post about seeing that today!

JoNorvelleWalker · May 4, 2016

After a week off, tonight I took delivery of the next kit from thepurplecarrot. The recipes looked pretty good, I must say. Though I was not pleased that the cabbage came pre-sliced. I mean come on, please, when the instructions call for using a mandolin to slice the cabbage or that a knife is sufficient -- why ship the cabbage pre-sliced and all that much more likely to spoil? And not very well sliced at that. This is poor form. I ACTUALLY ENJOY SLICING CABBAGE. Have you considered this?? And I can do it much better than you can. Apparently.

Such a debacle I could almost forgive. But the kit contained an apple. It's been wet here and I have not been able to make it to the store, and I confess I have really been craving an apple. So I caved:

Tonight's dinner was the apple, half of last night's baguette, a block of aged cheddar and some other cheeses...

IT WAS A MEALLY APPLE. Served within hours of arrival on my doorstep. Sixty eight American dollars for a mealy apple. In case you wondered that's sixty eight dollars. FOR A MEALLY APPLE. For a twenty dollar delivery fee I can get almost any delicacy of earth or sky or sea. I call balderdash and shenanigans. Bittman and company should be ashamed.

Unless I wake up feeling quite differently, the purple carrot people will ne'er have another groat from me.

blue_dolphin · May 4, 2016

@JoNorvelleWalker, thanks for reporting your experiences with Purple Carrot. Did you actually get delivery of one meal at a time? That's a little different from some of the other services that ship 2-3 meals together.

I thought Purple Carrot might offer some interesting vegan umami flavoring options to explore since I usually reach for the usual parm, pecorino Romano, anchovies, fish sauce for that purpose. The little ketchup and mustard packets you got with the black bean burger kit are disappointing in that regard as are the paltry amounts of fresh herbs.

Sorry about the mealy apple as I'm sure you were craving something crisp to go with that baguette and cheddar. Used to be hard to get good apples around this time of year but I would think the Southern Hemisphere apples would be good now. Ah well, hopefully there was some wine?

JoNorvelleWalker · May 4, 2016

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

@JoNorvelleWalker, thanks for reporting your experiences with Purple Carrot. Did you actually get delivery of one meal at a time? That's a little different from some of the other services that ship 2-3 meals together.

I thought Purple Carrot might offer some interesting vegan umami flavoring options to explore since I usually reach for the usual parm, pecorino Romano, anchovies, fish sauce for that purpose. The little ketchup and mustard packets you got with the black bean burger kit are disappointing in that regard as are the paltry amounts of fresh herbs.

Sorry about the mealy apple as I'm sure you were craving something crisp to go with that baguette and cheddar. Used to be hard to get good apples around this time of year but I would think the Southern Hemisphere apples would be good now. Ah well, hopefully there was some wine?

Yes, wine, thanks! Methode rotuts, actually.

The purple carrot ships me three meals at a time, two serving per meal.

MelissaH · May 4, 2016

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

After a week off, tonight I took delivery of the next kit from thepurplecarrot. The recipes looked pretty good, I must say. Though I was not pleased that the cabbage came pre-sliced. I mean come on, please, when the instructions call for using a mandolin to slice the cabbage or that a knife is sufficient -- why ship the cabbage pre-sliced and all that much more likely to spoil? And not very well sliced at that. This is poor form. I ACTUALLY ENJOY SLICING CABBAGE. Have you considered this?? And I can do it much better than you can. Apparently.

Such a debacle I could almost forgive. But the kit contained an apple. It's been wet here and I have not been able to make it to the store, and I confess I have really been craving an apple. So I caved:

Tonight's dinner was the apple, half of last night's baguette, a block of aged cheddar and some other cheeses...

IT WAS A MEALLY APPLE. Served within hours of arrival on my doorstep. Sixty eight American dollars for a mealy apple. In case you wondered that's sixty eight dollars. FOR A MEALLY APPLE. For a twenty dollar delivery fee I can get almost any delicacy of earth or sky or sea. I call balderdash and shenanigans. Bittman and company should be ashamed.

Unless I wake up feeling quite differently, the purple carrot people will ne'er have another groat from me.

Did you report this to the Purple Carrot people? I would hope that they would want to know why you won't be a return customer.

JoNorvelleWalker · May 5, 2016

Tonight I suspended my membership in the purple carrot. Not cancelled. I'll cook up this week's dishes before deciding what to do. But, really, really, sixty eight dollars is not reasonable for three meals -- not counting any cost of labor -- no matter if the produce were perfect. For that I could just about eat at a nice restaurant. They do the work I'd enjoy and leave me with the drudgery.

Though except for the miserable mealy apple the purple carrot produce does look pretty good.

(Shuddering, thinking about the vile packets of Heinz high fructose ketchup -- not a good way to build brand confidence.)

Anna N · May 5, 2016

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Tonight I suspended my membership in the purple carrot. Not cancelled. I'll cook up this week's dishes before deciding what to do. But, really, really, sixty eight dollars is not reasonable for three meals -- not counting any cost of labor -- no matter if the produce were perfect. For that I could just about eat at a nice restaurant. They do the work I'd enjoy and leave me with the drudgery.

Though except for the miserable mealy apple the purple carrot produce does look pretty good.

(Shuddering, thinking about the vile packets of Heinz high fructose ketchup -- not a good way to build brand confidence.)

Well you did better than me. I gave up on my plan after only two meals. They keep sending me menus by email and they still look tempting but I have learned my lesson. I am simply not their target audience.

gfweb · May 5, 2016

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Tonight I suspended my membership in the purple carrot. Not cancelled. I'll cook up this week's dishes before deciding what to do. But, really, really, sixty eight dollars is not reasonable for three meals -- not counting any cost of labor -- no matter if the produce were perfect. For that I could just about eat at a nice restaurant. They do the work I'd enjoy and leave me with the drudgery.

Though except for the miserable mealy apple the purple carrot produce does look pretty good.

(Shuddering, thinking about the vile packets of Heinz high fructose ketchup -- not a good way to build brand confidence.)

That does sound pricey, esp since there's no meat. $30 for a meal of all vegetables?

KennethT · May 5, 2016

And now, the NY Times is getting into the food delivery business themselves!!!!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-05/new-york-times-to-start-delivering-meal-kits-to-your-home

rotuts · May 5, 2016

very interesting

hope the Times does well. their revamped cooking sections on line is decent

$$ 29 - 39 for a meal for two ?

maybe in NYC

Anna N · May 5, 2016

13 minutes ago, KennethT said:

And now, the NY Times is getting into the food delivery business themselves!!!!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-05/new-york-times-to-start-delivering-meal-kits-to-your-home

That's just mind-boggling.

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