Confession Time: Share Your Culinary "Sins"

[bushey]

She does not approve of my desire to eat green beans sans utensils.

This is most likely why I continue to do it in front of her.

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She would really have loved eating with my youngest daughter last summer, who had lost one of her eye teeth and used the resulting gap as a convenient place to insert green beans to eat them.

[canucklehead]

I love fried chicken - and in particular Church's frrrriieeed chicken - it has already been mentioned on this thread.

But this love has gotten me into trouble. Once - I must have been possessed - I had all this leftover KFC. I thought too myself - why not mix it into some marina sauce and make quick chicken caccitore. I was trying to be frugal. It was the singularly most disgusting thing I have ever ever made. It looked like vomit and tasted like .... well you get the idea.

But my brother went to a potluck where someone had made some homemade vindaloo and someone else brougt over Churches fried chicken. The two mixed on his plate and he said it was soo good that his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Crispy skin and succulent curry....hmmmmm. He is now trying to recreate this mutant dish on purpose.

Fried Chicken Skin - how I love thee.

Other big guilty pleasure - frozen pizza that has been baked until super super crispy. I tell myself that this makes it closer to thin crispy neopolitan style pizza - I am surprised that I have not been struck by lightning yet.

Edited February 25, 2005 by canucklehead (log)

[auntdot]

Vindaloo and Church's.

Reminds me of a time I was told about a fantastic Indian takeout.

One day was in the area, and we went in. Realized it was vegetarian, but I ordered anyway.

On the way home, got tired of the protestations about the vegetarian stuff, so pulled into a Popeye's.

The combination of the fried chicken and the vegetarian Indian dishes (I ordered almost everything they had at the Indian place, it was cheap) worked perfectly.

[mizducky]

Oh dear ... where to start?

I have been sampling bits o' raw meat while getting ready to turn it into cooked meat for years now. I haven't come down with food poisoning yet (knocking on Formica), so I'll probably continue to do this until I get my negative-reinforcement come-uppance.

I like to eat the skin of citrus fruits. I'm not talking candied peel here, or even marmelade--I mean the raw peel, after I've eaten the orange or grapefruit or whatever. If a lemon wedge is served with my fish or iced tea, I will eat it. Peel and all. Must have some goat genes in the family genome...

I am dangerous when at any kind of buffet--a danger to my stomach as well as to the proprietors' bottom line.

I have been known to eat leftover Thanksgiving giblet gravy straight, by itself, no stuffing or mashed potatoes or anything. All that stuff is just a glorified vehicle for gravy anyway--right? So why not just cut to the chase?

Sometimes I find that there is just nothing that can appease me like a fast-food fix. As long as it's *NOT* Mickey D's! But I've been guilty of heart-attack-hazard by Jack-in-the-Box more often than I care to contemplate.

There are other oddities I could confess to as well, but I think that's more than enough for now.

[judiu]

When (MUCH) younger, jonesing for chocolate, I'd take a square of unsweetened chocolate (the only kind my mother kept in the house) and a plate of sugar, lick the chocolate, dip it in the sugar, and scrape a modicum of chocolate coated with sugar off with my teeth.

[fero style]

I ate a piece of white paper napkin after dipping it into the choco sundae at mcdonalds a long time ago , of course I won the bet

[Kim Shook]

In the spirit of the Miracle Whip thread and in honor of those brave souls who admitted liking it, I am making this confession....I love that sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows on top. I know, I know - time to turn in my card. Now I'll go on that list and I'll never be able to get a reservation at any important restaurant again for the rest of my life, but dammit, I love that stuff. Roasted sweet potatoes - mashed, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple syrup, brown sugar, marshmallows on top and when they just melt, stir them in and put a few more on top to brown (and sometimes burn - then you scrape them off and start that layer over again). Bourbon syrup served on the side. I know it sounds like a dessert, but I'm Southern folks, and we serve lots of sweet sides.

Some of us have also admitted a sneaking liking for congealed salads and green bean casserole (not so much), so I am being brave here. Anyone else?

[BryanZ]

Sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter and marshmallows are actually a pretty new thing for me. I was never served it as a kid so only in the past couple years have I been made privvy to that cloyingly sweet but delicious combination.

I keep it simple with the just three aforementioned above ingredients, but I do think it's tasty and will be serving it for Thanksgiving for the second year in a row. It's retro, kinda gross in concept, but damn tasty nonetheless.

[srhcb]

In the spirit of the Miracle Whip thread and in honor of those brave souls who admitted liking it, I am making this confession....I love that sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows on top. 

so I am being brave here.  Anyone else?

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I like sweet potatos, and who doesn't like toasted marshmallows? I have no objection to being served the combination in casserole form, although I don't know if I'd make it myself.

I think people claim to dislike dishes like this on the basis of perceived banality? This could be a legitimate objection in the case of the green bean/canned soup/crunchy onion casserole, which I suspect was invented in the test kitchen of either a soup or crunchy onion manufacturer, and "traditionalized" by mass media.

However, I think the idea of toasted marshmallows atop sweet potato may have spontaneously originated in a country kitchen, possibly as a way to entice children to try another vegetable, and then spread via church suppers, all-you-can-eat buffets and cafeterias.

Then again, I like not only Miracle Whip, but Velveeta on Saltines?

SB

Edited November 22, 2006 by srhcb (log)

[annecros]

Happening here, and I love it. Also have a congealed cranberry salad in the fridge.

Why the objection to conjealed salads? I never have understood. After all, a conjealed cranberry salad is the same theory as the cranberry sauce dumped from the can and sliced.

We don't do green bean casserole, but I buy Miracle Whip from the Gordon's Food Service store...

[shellfishfiend]

Never a huge fan of sweet potato and marshmellows, but it is often served for the holidays. Always loved green bean casserole and broccoli, rice and cheese casserole. My sister is in charge of the green bean caserole this year.

[SusanGiff]

Every year I swear that I will NOT make my mother's orange jello mold, and yet not five minutes ago, there I was arranging canned mandarin orange slices in a pretty circle at the bottom of the ring. Next up: making three boxes of orange Jello and to THAT adding a pint and half of orange sherbet. This is a SIDE dish, and a darned good one; weirdly enough, it's kind of tasty even when it melts into the gravy or falls on top of the slices of turkey.

And to think my husband grew up without so much as a sweet potato at his Thanksgiving table. What can I say? Unlike my family (New York Jews who raised us in Tennessee), they're savory people.

Susan

Edited November 22, 2006 by SusanGiff (log)

[miladyinsanity]

See, as a dessert, I would make it at least once.

It's a sidedish. That's what puzzles me.

[SusanGiff]

I think the fact that it has actual fruit in it disqualifies is as dessert for my folks.

[BeJam]

Love the green bean casserole too. One year, I decided to make it from scratch. Mushroom cream soup, fresh beans, my own fried onion topping. It was terrible! Maybe it was missing msg and phophates.

[jgm]

Here's what I don't get: we foodies oohed and aahed over all manner of roasted vegetables.

Marshmallows, when roasted to a deep golden brown, are incredible. And they're even more incredible than roasted vegetables. Any excuse to eat them works for me; I'd even become a Girl Scout and sleep in a tent again if that's what it took.

Yes, that marshmallow/sweet potato combination is quite sweet, but who cares? The sweet potatoes are good for you, and the marshmallows are just plain good.

Case closed, as far as I'm concerned!

[Kent D]

If I HAVE to eat sweet potatoes, it's only mashed with marshmallows. I "catered" a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for my co-workers, and they wanted their sweet potatoes that way, so that's what I gave them. Boiled and mashed, little butter and cream, some brown sugar and molasses, couple pinches of pie spices, dash of salt, top with the marshmallows...yummy. And I made real cranberry sauce - 1 bag cranberries, 1/2 cup merlot, 1/2 cup sugar, zest and juice from one orange, pinch of nutmeg. Cook em til they pop, mash them down a little.

I will never feel guilty for any family "traditions" that we serve at Thanksgiving, green bean casserole included. But we're a bunch of middle-class hillbillies, anyway.

[robyn]

I don't much like marshmallows - so I make a sweet potato casserole with sauteed apples on top. As for things being too sweet (I don't like things that are tooth-aching sweet either) - you can just add brown sugar *to taste* - whatever your taste happens to be. That goes for sweet potato pie too. Robyn

P.S. They serve the very authentic version of the sweet potato/marshallow casserole at Golden Corral every day .

P.P.S. My congealed cranberry salad recipe contains sour cream. Never met a dish with sour cream that I didn't like!

Edited November 22, 2006 by robyn (log)

[dockhl]

Love the green bean casserole too.  One year, I decided to make it from scratch.  Mushroom cream soup, fresh beans, my own fried onion topping.  It was terrible!  Maybe it was missing  msg and phophates.

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Ditto.......gross, bland......just not good......

[KarenSherwood]

Hehe, I prefer Miracle Whip to any jarred mayonnaise, but I really like Vegennaise the best.

But I don't like that marshmallow thing at all. What a mean thing to do to a perfectly lovely sweet potato! I like my sweet p's cubed and baked with just a lil bit of molasses & butter, then mashed on my plate with more butter. Yum!

But I will admit to loving that evil green bean casserole, classic with cream of mushroom soup (try the new Campbell's version with roasted garlic!), and those crunchy onions. I'm really in it for the onions.

[robyn]

Sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter and marshmallows are actually a pretty new thing for me.  I was never served it as a kid so only in the past couple years have I been made privvy to that cloyingly sweet but delicious combination.

I keep it simple with the just three aforementioned above ingredients, but I do think it's tasty and will be serving it for Thanksgiving for the second year in a row.  It's retro, kinda gross in concept, but damn tasty nonetheless.

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If you want to "jazz up" sweet potatoes - make a vegetable puree with them. I add roughly equal amounts of rutabagas - parsnips - turnips - and carrots - boil them up. Puree them in the food processor. Salt - brown sugar - butter and heavy cream (lots of the last two) to taste. Robyn

[BarbaraY]

There are very few foods that I truly dislike but marshmallows are right in there with Spam, Velveeta, and Miracle Whip.

My mom used to make candied "Yams" from canned sweets. It was not good.

My sister is making the yams this year and her's are good and without marshmallows although I really prefer my sweet potatoes baked and buttered or cubed and pan-fried in butter with a pinch of Alspice.

[Daniel]

In the spirit of the Miracle Whip thread and in honor of those brave souls who admitted liking it, I am making this confession....I love that sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows on top.  I know, I know - time to turn in my card.  Now I'll go on that list and I'll never be able to get a reservation at any important restaurant again for the rest of my life, but dammit, I love that stuff.  Roasted sweet potatoes - mashed, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple syrup, brown sugar, marshmallows on top and when they just melt, stir them in and put a few more on top to brown (and sometimes burn - then you scrape them off and start that layer over again).  Bourbon syrup served on the side.  I know it sounds like a dessert, but I'm Southern folks, and we serve lots of sweet sides.   

Some of us have also admitted a sneaking liking for congealed salads    and green bean casserole (not so much), so I am being brave here.  Anyone else?

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Its interesting, its all in the phrasing.. If you said to someone do you like sweet potato casserole, it sounds a lot different then.. Do you like Butter, syrup, brown sugar, mashmallow,Bourbon and Sweet potatoes.. Oh you do, then combine all that and bake it.. Cause, there is nothing to be embarrassed about..

[PamelaF]

Many years ago I found a recipe for a sweet potato casserole, that I always made for Thanksgiving. It's baked and mashed sweet potatoes, a bit of butter, milk, seasonings and pumpkin pie-type spices, then beat in a couple of eggs, to lighten it. It will puff up a bit when you bake it.

Here's the secret confession part A few years ago I saw Emeril making a similar recipe on his show. Of course he embellished it.

First tip, Amaretto is the perfect flavor with sweet potatoes. Whichever way you like to make yours try adding a splash of Amaretto.

Then Emeril's topping, instead of the marshmallows, was a streusel-like mixture of butter, brown sugar, chopped macadamia nuts and shredded coconut. Very indulgent, yes, but very tasty.

[racheld]

I remember a Kinsey Milhone novel in which she said she'd sooner have licorice on broccoli. So much for Sue Grafton.

We're having sweet potatoes, baked ones, baked sloooowwwly until they're almost caramelized, and the juices escape onto the baking pan and make a little snick when you lift the potato.

And a quick tip, if you don't already: Microwave the potatoes for a few minutes to get them hot all through. Nuking them completely changes them from a good baked to something else entirely. But letting them get really hot inside---that just takes away a lot of the prelim time in heating them from the OUTSIDE in, then starting the actual OVEN-baking, which is the only way to go.

Ours will be cooled for a bit, sliced into THICK slices, maybe four per potato, with the little end-tips cut off for lying flat. They'll go into a buttered casserole, scratched a teensy bit with a fork to make more room to hold more vanilla butter. It's butter, light brown sugar, and a glug of vanilla. Dot and smear all over the potatoes, put back in the oven for a few minutes, then scatter with marshallows. Bake some more to brown or not---we like ours with the little white pillows still pale, but swelling their little sweet bodies into greater selves, ready for that first BITE.

And soft, peeled potatoes mixed with all the above, then more marshmallows on top, that's a good thing, too.