Food in the time of a pandemic

[Toliver]

9 hours ago, rotuts said:

...the lower salt is impossible to find.

 

I dont eat this every day .  

 

But I could easily manage , say , one can a week ?  

 

and as a shopping substitute im OK with them and Target.com

 

for now.

 

The local Walmart Neighborhood Grocery Store (they really have to come up with a shorter name) carries the low sodium Mary Kitchen Corned Beef Hash.

I prefer the regular Mary Kitchen Corned Beef Hash. As someone else mentioned, they also have a Sausage Hash, too, though I haven't tried that, yet.

I also prefer a nice crust on my corned beef hash. I cook mine in a Calphalon non-stick skillet and it gives it a nice crust. 

[ElsieD]

18 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

Anywhere you would use oil and chives separately.  Salad dressing for sure. The oil has a "garlic-like" taste - garlic bread. Really anywhere. Have you tasted its strength?

 

No, I haven't tasted it.  You have given me an idea though.  I can no longer eat garlic😢  so if I am making something that calls for both oil and garlic I can sub this oil in for that..

[dtremit]

I have been craving corned beef hash for a couple of months now, but I've been afraid to pull the trigger on the canned stuff. I know I've had it plenty of times in restaurants and liked it, but somehow couldn't work up the courage. I think all your encouragement is helping!

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

I had given my neighbour some chives that came in my CSA basket last week and today she brought over some chive infused olive oil.  I have never used it.  What do I do with it?  I'm thinking it might be good drizzled over CSO'd fish but after that I'm stuck.  Love fish steam baked in the CSO.

 

It's lovely drizzled over potatoes (baked, fried, probably latkes, probably scalloped). As @heidih noted above, it can sub for garlic and oil, although it isn't quite the same. However - if you can't eat garlic, can you eat this? How do you get along with onions, leeks or scallions?

[Miriravan]

I love that canned hash, though I try to not buy it often or in quantity. I usually take it out of the can in its cylinder shape and then slice it like chilled cookie dough, about half an inch thick.  Bake in the oven until crunchy on both sides, douse with ketchup and black pepper, eat with buttered toast.  So good.  

[ElsieD]

31 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

It's lovely drizzled over potatoes (baked, fried, probably latkes, probably scalloped). As @heidih noted above, it can sub for garlic and oil, although it isn't quite the same. However - if you can't eat garlic, can you eat this? How do you get along with onions, leeks or scallions?

 

I'm fine with eating those other items.  This is a recent problem  and I'm really sad about that as I love garlic.  I am using more red onion than I used to in part because I find it has a sharper flavour.  

[kayb]

3 hours ago, Porthos said:

Can anyone tell me if Canadian Bacon is in short or no supply due to the pandemic?

Dunno, but it's easy enough to make. Ruhlman's Charcuterie has a good recipe,  likely found online.

 

 

And, re: canned hash. I make good corned beef hash. The canned is a sight easier. I prefer it with an over easy egg on top.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2020 by kayb (log)

[Porthos]

In my family of origin corned beef hash was dinner along with a salad. I was most likely in my 40s before I discovered it was also breakfast food also.

[Porthos]

My corned beef hash is basic but tasty. I prefer the canned corned beef.

 

I sweat down a couple of onion in bacon drippings, the added (thawed) frozen shredded potatoes and when they're mostly cooked I add the corned beef and salt and pepper to taste. My Sweetie and I really like it this way. I think that will be tomorrow night's dinner.

[chromedome]

When I was a kid it was always onions, leftover mashed potatoes and canned corned beef. More often a lunch or dinner thing than breakfast.

[Franci]

I opened this jar I bought from the spanish store. I really really like it, it has tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, sugar and salt as ingredients, that’s it. It’s a little chunky, sweetness of good tomatoes (I hope it’s not the sugar in there, but I doubt), definitely going to buy more. 

[AlexandraLynch]

21 minutes ago, Franci said:

I opened this jar I bought from the spanish store. I really really like it, it has tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, sugar and salt as ingredients, that’s it. It’s a little chunky, sweetness of good tomatoes (I hope it’s not the sugar in there, but I doubt), definitely going to buy more. 

 

 

Let me know if it turns out to be low sugar. I can't use much tomatoes but I love various tomato dishes.  (If I have one or two tomato-bearing dishes a week I can handle it.  But if I did ziti with marinara for lunch and chili con carne for dinner and had fried potatoes with sausage and peppers for lunch the following day, by that evening I'd be so sore I could hardly stand up to cook the dinner.) 

Edited July 23, 2020 by AlexandraLynch (log)

[weinoo]

It's about 8% sugar by weight. 

[Franci]

In the last trip I bought also another brand. El Navarrico. Definitely Hida has more sugar. 4g of added sugar in a jar of 12.4oz. But El Navarrico between being very smooth and having more ingredients didn’t taste just tomatoes like the Hida. It is a small jar and they say to use within 5 days of opening. Today I used just 2 tablespoons to color my pasta sauce. 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Franci (log)

[weinoo]

@Franci I was looking at something similar to this:

 

 

From this web site...

 

https://yummybazaar.com/products/hida-fried-tomato-sauce-3-cans-x-5-5-oz-155-g

[heidih]

I had not seen Guerrilla Taco's kits. Interesting attempt. Unfortunately the open/no don't open after you spent money to re-vamp hurt so much. Still was a cool idea  https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/us/guerrilla-tacos-los-angeles-toilet-paper-coronavirus-trnd/index.html

[ElsieD]

Today I received 5! Llarge bunches of cilantro in my CSA basket.  Now, we love cilantro but is there any way I can keep it from going slimy?  I'm on a 2 week delivery cycle.

[robirdstx]

14 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Today I received 5! Llarge bunches of cilantro in my CSA basket.  Now, we love cilantro but is there any way I can keep it from going slimy?  I'm on a 2 week delivery cycle.

That’s a lot of cilantro! I find it keeps better when the leaves are kept dry and they have room to breathe. The bunches can be wrapped in paper toweling or place the bunch in a cup with some water. Cilantro Pesto freezes well.

[chromedome]

Alternatively, "buzz" a few bunches in your food processor with just enough oil to make a paste. The paste can be frozen and used to provide that fresh-cilantro taste in cooked foods through the cold months.

 

I do this with any herbs that don't dry well. You lose a bit of flavor, but not much.

[ElsieD]

2 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Alternatively, "buzz" a few bunches in your food processor with just enough oil to make a paste. The paste can be frozen and used to provide that fresh-cilantro taste in cooked foods through the cold months.

 

I do this with any herbs that don't dry well. You lose a bit of flavor, but not much.

 

Thank you.  Do you buzz the stem (not roots) too?

[KennethT]

I find that there's more flavor in the stems than there is in the leaves so I use the stems in lots of things I want that fresh cilantro flavor.  Roots are very flavorful too, but they need to be pounded - they're too tough... but they're a common ingredient in thai curry pastes because they have so much flavor.

[chromedome]

Yeah, what he said.

 

I'll often use just leaves in things like a quick salsa or a plate of tacos, but for everything else the stem goes in.

[chromedome]

Got to visit with my mom and daughter in Nova Scotia for the first time since February (the four Atlantic provinces have a total of <10 active cases, so this is not at all irresponsible). Bought a bag of fresh  mackerel from a fisherman at $1/ea a block from my mom's place, and am now making escabeche with some of them. The rest are filleted and in the freezer.

[heidih]

27 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Thank you.  Do you buzz the stem (not roots) too?

 

Ha! if we were lucky enough to get roots.

[heidih]

10 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Got to visit with my mom and daughter in Nova Scotia for the first time since February (the four Atlantic provinces have a total of <10 active cases, so this is not at all irresponsible). Bought a bag of fresh  mackerel from a fisherman at $1/ea a block from my mom's place, and am now making escabeche with some of them. The rest are filleted and in the freezer.

Ha can I sorta hate you with jealousy. That is a nice find!