Food in the time of a pandemic

[lindag]

14 minutes ago, chromedome said:

 

 

 

When it gets into the last 1/3 to 1/4, I just refill it from a larger jar using a scrupulously clean and sanitized utensil. It's a modest amount of extra work (though no more than cutting and scraping the squeeze bottle, for sure) and it means I don't have to waste fridge space on my mayonnaise.

I don't understand.  Doesn't the larger jar have to go into the fridge also?

[chromedome]

1 minute ago, lindag said:

I don't understand.  Doesn't the larger jar have to go into the fridge also?

 

Commercially prepared mayo itself doesn't require refrigeration, as long as it's uncontaminated by other foods (as an aside, in laboratory testing, it has shown itself to be pretty good at killing pathogens).

 

Over time its flavor or texture may degrade, but I use enough of it that this is not an issue. Homemade mayonnaise of course is a whole other story, and foods containing mayonnaise are susceptible to cross-contamination from the other ingredients.

[ElsieD]

@liuzhou  What are kewpie mayo's used for?  Is the regular one the same as what we have here?  And what is the sweet one used for?

[lemniscate]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

When it gets into the last 1/3 to 1/4, I just refill it from a larger jar using a scrupulously clean and sanitized utensil.

I also do this with the "normal" mayo (which I won't touch, Hellman's is demanded by the Household, not me) with a eternal squeeze bottle.   The Kewpie bottle is a design that cannot be refilled, it's narrow, tall and very supple.  It's weird, but iconic.   I've never seen jarred Kewpie in my AO.  

 

 

[chromedome]

2 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

I also do this with the "normal" mayo (which I won't touch, Hellman's is demanded by the Household, not me) with a eternal squeeze bottle.   The Kewpie bottle is a design that cannot be refilled, it's narrow, tall and very supple.  It's weird, but iconic.   I've never seen jarred Kewpie in my AO.  

 

 

 

Okay, that's a crucial detail for sure.

[liuzhou]

15 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

@liuzhou  What are kewpie mayo's used for?  Is the regular one the same as what we have here?  And what is the sweet one used for?

As far as I can make out, most of it is used as a dressing for revolting fruit salads - both regular and sweet versions. And slathered on "pizzas" and "sushi", both of which have been fashionable in recent times.

 

I guess the regular one is the same as what you have there, but I've never been there, so can't be sure.

Almost the only times I use mayo of any sort are with potato salad or tartar sauce, but I make my own and certainly don't sweeten it. The non-sweet Kewpie version does contain sugar according to the ingredient list.

[KennethT]

When we were in Beijing, we visited a tea house with one of my wife's friends and another person we ran into while walking through the hutongs to get there...  The owner of the tea house put out a huge spread of snacks for us (which we were all too full to eat since we just came from a large lunch), but among the snacks was a plate of fruit smothered in what looked like mayo....  I can only imagine that it's the kewpie stuff.... let's just say that curiosity did NOT get the best of me...

 

[liuzhou]

32 minutes ago, KennethT said:

When we were in Beijing, we visited a tea house with one of my wife's friends and another person we ran into while walking through the hutongs to get there...  The owner of the tea house put out a huge spread of snacks for us (which we were all too full to eat since we just came from a large lunch), but among the snacks was a plate of fruit smothered in what looked like mayo....  I can only imagine that it's the kewpie stuff.... let's just say that curiosity did NOT get the best of me...

 

Yes. That's typical. Horrible.

[heidih]

In fairness I will own the mayo and fruit thing as typical US Midwest. I am from California and even here was subjected to gloppy versions. Not anymore a thing but I am sure there are lots of cook booklets out there with versions. 

[kayb]

Ah, but if you're going to put mayo on fruit, you must then add a little grated cheddar cheese on top.  Off the Kraft block from the supermarket.

 

I will confess to occasionally getting a flashback moment and wanting this. Preferably on a mix of canned mandarin orange segments,  canned pineapple tidbits, and frozen grated coconut. With maraschino cherries, if you want to get fancy.

 

Actually, though, I only add the cheese on top if it's pineapple slices or canned pear halves.

[Toliver]

6 hours ago, ElsieD said:

@liuzhou  What are kewpie mayo's used for?  Is the regular one the same as what we have here?  And what is the sweet one used for?

Here's one current use for Kewpie mayo.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I made it back to Shoprite.  It was a beautiful warm evening.  The mixed game recipe I am making for calls for:

 

1 grouse

1 partridge

1 quail

1 pheasant

 

 

However the recipe notes hare or venison may be substituted.  I guess I'll make do with chicken breasts.  And unlike last trip, Shoprite had hot peppers.  Only Jalapeno sadly, but one cannot be too picky in these times.

 

[KennethT]

27 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I made it back to Shoprite.  It was a beautiful warm evening.  The mixed game recipe I am making for calls for:

 

1 grouse

1 partridge

1 quail

1 pheasant

 

 

However the recipe notes hare or venison may be substituted.  I guess I'll make do with chicken breasts.  And unlike last trip, Shoprite had hot peppers.  Only Jalapeno sadly, but one cannot be too picky in these times.

 

I don't think you'd find that stuff in Shoprite in the best of times!

[heidih]

18 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I don't think you'd find that stuff in Shoprite in the best of times!

 

And the song is missing

[liuzhou]

Bought a large pile of mixed dried wild mushrooms today. These will go in the emergency store.

 

Oyster mushrooms, tea tree mushrooms, chanterelles, almond mushrooms, cèpes, cordycep militaris, morels and bamboo pith mushrooms. All foraged in Yunnan province.

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

I don't think you'd find that stuff in Shoprite in the best of times!

 

I found a duck once.

 

[suzilightning]

11 hours ago, KennethT said:

I don't think you'd find that stuff in Shoprite in the best of times!

My usual Shoprite usually has duck in various incarnations - whole, breasts, legs as well as frozen rabbit.

I'd hit up Quattro's in Pleasant Valley NY for the other things.

[KennethT]

Ok... Duck is not hard to find... Or wasn't....  But grouse? 

[chromedome]

Just now, KennethT said:

Ok... Duck is not hard to find... Or wasn't....  But grouse? 

As it happens, my GF's daughter had a grouse volunteer itself a couple of days ago. Flew into their living room window with a resounding smack and fell to the ground, dead of a broken neck.

Sadly they were uncertain about cleaning and cooking it (and didn't call me, which says the "eww" factor predominated) so they left it at the edge of the woods for the local critters to enjoy.

[Martin Fisher]

For what it's worth...

Chefstep's Japanese (Kewpie-Style) Mayo

[Martin Fisher]

20 minutes ago, KennethT said:

But grouse?

 

Ruffed grouse can be one of the most difficult small game to bag.

You rarely notice them when they're at rest — when they take flight, the loud noise startles you so much that they're gone before you can recompose yourself. LOL 

They're tasty though, when you do get lucky.

[weinoo]

So yesterday I decided I (we) wanted linguini with clam sauce for dinner, old school (like college days) style, which means canned clams. I have both canned clams and jarred clam juice (pandemic buying), and I'm looking forward to the pasta all day long.

 

I start making the sauce, everything is lined up. Some spring onion, garlic goes into olive oil. The jarred clam juice goes in with a little white wine. A few chopped tomatoes. Etc. etc. Then I open the can of clams and say to myself: "Man, these are the weirdest looking clams I've seen in a while, canned or not."

 

Well, there's a reason for everything...

 

 

So not only did I open the can of tuna, it's solid white! Like when did I even buy that shit? Oh well,

 

 

Spaghetti con tonno, in a clammy sauce. Side of broccolini.

[KennethT]

Many years ago, I had grouse in a scandinavian restaurant in NYC.  I loved it. But finding it in a supermarket? Fuhgedaboudit... maybe you could find it in a meat market that specializes in game  - like Ottomanelli in Manhattan, but I haven't been there in a really long time.

[Katie Meadow]

@weinoo, old school linguini and clams for me means specifically babysitting my younger brother. Whenever our parents went out we made linguini with white clam sauce  and paired it with a nice bottle of coke over ice. So canned clams are a nostalgia food for me, and pandemic cooking is all about nostalgia. The "why" of that eludes me. Perhaps sheltering in place gives me permission to buy and eat things that are usually not on my radar. In my case that means date nut bread with cream cheese, root beer floats with coffee ice cream, and, in my dreams, Papaya King. 

 

I seem to be susceptible to all kinds of suggestions lately. I've spent years whining (to myself naturally, as no one else wants to hear it as much as I do apparently) about the lack of hard shell clam varieties on the west coast, so perhaps this is the therapy I need. What brand of canned clams do you like best? I haven't bought them in a million years.

[Anna N]

 

One day a sleeve of Ritz crackers and then there’s this — straight out of the jar.