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Badly-made food you love

Hest88

By Hest88
in Food Traditions & Culture

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CopperTop

CopperTop

Posted
Posted
"Hungarian Goulash" - the variety I'm thnking of is neither Hungarian nor is it a true gulasz.  This is the elbow macaroni with sweetened red sauce and browned hamburger variety. I just love the stuff even when it's poorly prepared. Don't get me started on Sloppy Joes.  :biggrin:

In our family it was called "American Chop Suey" and made with Campbell's tomato soup.

Didn't we talk about a lot of this on the thread about stuff we like that most people think sucks?

In my house, it was prepared with the extra wide egg noodles, Campbell's tomato bisque soup, cooked ground beef and garnished with shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese. The dish name was "slumgullion". My siblings would turn their noses up at it, which would prompt my dad to reply, "Oh well, more for me!" :cool:

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jsolomon

jsolomon

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A chili dog with Hormel or Stag chili, sour cream, Kraft sharp cheddar (grated), and some onion.

There, I've said it.

Otherwise, the scalloped potatoes and ham at my school. The white sauce was perpetually separated, and it was way too salty, but it was oddly comforting. I was the only person I know of in my school who actively defended it as "not too bad".

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

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fifi

fifi

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The all time family favorite here is "Muck". That lovely name was bestowed by my kids when they were little. It is basically SOS that evolved out of a dried beef dip that my sister made. The kids had to have it one day so I thinned it down a bit.

Basically, a little wilted chopped onion in butter, a jar of shredded dried beef, a block of cream cheese, a drained jar of Green Giant mushrooms. Thin it with milk.

Here is the kicker... It is served over the canned fried "Chinese" noodles. (I have no idea where that came from. It must have been what I had the day they demanded it.)

They are now adults and adventurous and pretty sophisticated eaters. But when we get together, even now, I know that I had better have the ingredients around.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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dougery

dougery

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Posted

Oh yea, I'll never forget elementary school "Pizza" day (Seattle Public Schools, 1975ish). Soft French bread with tomato sauce and some kind of meat and cheese. If you were able to get your hands on one of these babies you would have the choice of any other kid's lunch AND their show and tell toy for trade. These pizza's were highly sought after prizes by the children in Wallingford, I kid you not!

"Live every moment as if your hair were on fire" Zen Proverb

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patti

patti

Posted
Posted (edited)

Tuna casserole (canned tuna, Kraft Mac'n Cheese, canned cream of mushroom soup) topped with crushed Lay's potato chips.

A dip made of melted Velveeta (!) and a can of spicy Ro-tel tomaotes, plus a bag of Fritos for dipping.

School cafeteria pigs-in-a-blanket.

Chili Fritos.

Edited by SmrtAss (log)

Dear Food: I hate myself for loving you.

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Jinmyo

Jinmyo

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Posted
Burned cheese. Like the part that drips over the edge of the pizza and gets brown & crunchy? I love that.

That's called "frico" when it's done on purpose.

Eggs. When serving poached eggs for example I am very particular that the whites be soft and the yolk molten.

But I'll eat eggs however they're served to me. Greasy, blackened, and all smushed up when I ordered "over very easy" at a diner? Still tastes great.

I love eggs. :smile:

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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formerly grueldelux

formerly grueldelux

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Eggs. When serving poached eggs for example I am very particular that the whites be soft and the yolk molten.

But I'll eat eggs however they're served to me. Greasy, blackened, and all smushed up when I ordered "over very easy" at a diner? Still tastes great.

I love eggs. :smile:

"So many little eggies, and I'm still starving, and I'm going to eat them all before I go to sleepie."

"Tis no man. Tis a remorseless eating machine."

-Captain McAllister of The Frying Dutchmen, on Homer Simpson

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Radio7

Radio7

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We-ell,

I'm not sure if this is odd or not...And you might say its 'badly-made' in that I dont prepare it....

I like to eat raw (silken or firm) tofu straight from the package. Plain. I mean, I'll have it with soya sauce too, no problem, but I like eating it plain almost as well.

I have found, during our current heatwave, its most refreshing when I get home at the end of the day - slippery and cool! :rolleyes:

the tall drink of water...
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Jinmyo

Jinmyo

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We-ell,

I'm not sure if this is odd or not...And you might say its 'badly-made' in that I dont prepare it....

I like to eat raw (silken or firm) tofu straight from the package. Plain. I mean, I'll have it with soya sauce too, no problem, but I like eating it plain almost as well.

I have found, during our current heatwave, its most refreshing when I get home at the end of the day - slippery and cool! :rolleyes:

This is called hiyayaku-tofu.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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browniebaker

browniebaker

Posted
Posted (edited)

Two of mom's bad-cooking idiosyncracies have become my faves:

(1) Pork chops coated in flour and baked a long time, to rigor mortis.

(2) Eggs over easy, with the yolk broken. It started out as an accident, but she started intentionally breaking the yolk for me since I loved it so much.

My own (intentionally) badly made foods that I love are:

(1) Macaroni and cheese, noodle kugel, or lasagna with the pasta cooked an extra-long time until very soft.

(2) Hot dogs microwaved until a bit rubbery and chewy before being stuck into a fluffy white roll.

I know it's illegal, but I love it.

Edited by browniebaker (log)
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tryska

tryska

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Posted

(2) Hot dogs microwaved until a bit rubbery and chewy before being stuck into a fluffy white roll.

oh my this reminds me of a delicacy i haven't had in a long long time....

oscar meyer cheese hot dogs (the one's with the little cheese globs in the hot dog itself) nuked til it's rubbery and wrinkly and the ends are cracked, dipped in frank's hot sauce. i used to love eating that.

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Bicycle Lee

Bicycle Lee

Posted
Posted

(2) Hot dogs microwaved until a bit rubbery and chewy before being stuck into a fluffy white roll.

oh my this reminds me of a delicacy i haven't had in a long long time....

oscar meyer cheese hot dogs (the one's with the little cheese globs in the hot dog itself) nuked til it's rubbery and wrinkly and the ends are cracked, dipped in frank's hot sauce. i used to love eating that.

whatever happened to those Oscar Meyer hotdogs with the chili in the middle? All I can find now are the ones with the cheese.

"Make me some mignardises, &*%$@!" -Mateo

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Hest88

Hest88

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
oscar meyer cheese hot dogs (the one's with the little cheese globs in the hot dog itself) nuked til it's rubbery and wrinkly and the ends are cracked, dipped in frank's hot sauce.

Oh, do they still make those? I remember my mom buying them for us when they first came out and I loved them! Now I'll have to get a pack (and disgust my husband)!

Eh, if he's lucky I'll find them inedible now that I'm an adult. :cool:

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Mabelline

Mabelline

Posted
Posted

Scalloped potatoes the way my mom made them. She sliced her potatoes and they went in the casserole raw.Then evaporated milk,sliced mushrooms, and shredded rat cheese. Before it was done, she topped it with buttered breadcrumbs. It was all browned way too much, and we absolutely went wild for it. I cannot duplicate it--sniff.

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tryska

tryska

Posted
Posted
oscar meyer cheese hot dogs (the one's with the little cheese globs in the hot dog itself) nuked til it's rubbery and wrinkly and the ends are cracked, dipped in frank's hot sauce.

Oh, do they still make those? I remember my mom buying them for us when they first came out and I loved them! Now I'll have to get a pack (and disgust my husband)!

Eh, if he's lucky I'll find them inedible now that I'm an adult. :cool:

i haven't looked in prolly 10 years, but Bicycle Lee says they do.

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marlena spieler

marlena spieler

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Oh God, Mabelline! the edges get crisp and browned, and you gotta keep the yolks soft and liquidy, so that when you cut in you get that combination of soft white, crisp white and almost saucelike yolk.

and i like too much s and p on mine. mmmm that crisp bacony edge!

ps out here in the middle of nowhere hampshire england, i have discovered that pancetta, thinly sliced and browned in a pan, is the best ever bacon you could imagine. waitrose has a two for one going on now, and the idea of eating pancetta with the lavishness that one might fry a couple of strips of bacon........is too divine dahrling.

Marlena the spieler

www.marlenaspieler.com

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intraining

intraining

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Posted
How about when you fry eggs in bacon grease, and spoon some on the eggs? The top is full of the crunchy transparent bubbles...look out!

you are eating some serious eggs now!!

just thought i'd change it a little in saying that my mum's skinless sausage casserole was absolutely yuk. oh well.

back to the topic though, my mum would never flip the eggs but splash fat over the yolk to "white it", this contained vegetable oil, bacon fat and sausage fat, and sometimes black pudding bits too!! yummy

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phaelon56

phaelon56

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Posted
That burned cheese from pizza is not awful food! That's a delicacy!

I was at the truly weird International Foods Warehouse in Lodi NJ a coule years ago and one of their vendors was handing out free cheese samples. One of them is a sort of spongy cheese with fine holes in it that comes from Cyprus. They were cuttign slices, throwing them onto a non-stick griddle and then serving when it was totally browned and almost crunchy on both sides (almost like a slice of burnt crusty pizza cheese that's still soft in the middle. I loved it. They claimed that it's a popular breakfast food in Cyprus but I have yet to ever find that cheese again.

Jimyo - you're so right about the eggs. I spent four housrs painting my patrents house last night after my day job and was too burned out to cook a real meal. I threw two brown eggs in the pan, scrambled 'em up with some S&P, chopped parsely and tomato from the garden (my first garden ever - yay!) and tossed in a couple slices of gruyere. Served on wheat toast as a sandwich - it was the best meal I've had in weeks :biggrin:

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