"Politically incorrect" practices in your very own kitchen!

Don't be embarrassed, Eva.

Tell us more!

Hi, my name is squinney and I use pasta sauce from a jar and have even used Stove Top Stuffing a few times at Thanksgiving.

Oh, and there's no way I could do better than the store bought red curry paste.


(Runs out of room in shame)

I am going to use Stovetop Stuffing today - course I'm gonna dress it up with celery/onions/herbs/cranberries ... - but it's Stovetop, and I like it.

That's the spirit!

I knew I could count on you, Squinney!

You're a pal!

Just hope & pray that Francis doesn't read this, hmmmm? :wink:

AND I am heating up frozen potato patties to take along as part of this morning's beach breakfast picnic.

They're going to be brilliant with the sweet Italian sausages that are in the grill pan next to the chicken breasts right now.

<gasp>

ehBeth, really?

(I always think of you (& the doggy person) as prefection in the kitchen!)

I'd be interested to hear what you folk have to say about "the el dente issue".

Not so long ago I almost had an argument with the cook in a Melbourne eatery. I swear the rice in the risotto he served me was half-cooked, hard, even! He insisted it was el dente. This took some time to resolve. :wink:

Question: precisely how el dente do you like your rice & pasta?
Do you cook it exactly the time suggested on the packet?

I like my rice and pasta fairly mmmmmm crunchy.

The doggy person prefers them on the errrrrrrr slurpy side. A tolerable mid-point has been found - but there are days where the doggy person makes himself slurpy pasta in the afternoon to eat before I get home.

Good compromise, ehBeth!

I like it firm, but not quite crunchy. Especially with rice.

Just to inform that's al dente..

I hate to admit it, Frenchy, but you're right! :wink:

Must have gotten the spelling confused with el nino!

Or...el dante for when it tastes like hell?

Abandon All Hope You Who Enter This Thread...

I like that, Deb!

Hmmmmmm ....

Interesting, Francis, interesting.

But, why ....?

OK, polenta...

here it's a fancy term for grits.

At Central Market, looking for grits, could only find in the bulk foods the bin labled polenta.


Brought home, boiled water, threw salt and polenta in, stirred once, put down to simmer, came back in 10 minutes, poured into bowl, add cheddar cheese, stir and eat.

Not lumpy, it's cheesy and smooth.

I've been known to thicken a stew with a small scoop of Instant Mashed Potatoes.

I make up a soup- -maybe it's a stew; only the purists know these things- -for my lunches. I make enough for ten meals, then freeze it in individual containers. To begin with, I select a chicken, raised naturally, meaning no hormones and the like, grain fed, etc. I boil it until very well done, remove it, then add next the harder veggies, such as organic carrots and corn off the cob. Also the onions. I am out to get as great a variety as I can, while making it taste good. So, before adding the soft veggies, such as kale, celantro, asparagus, and mushrooms, I add a large can of tomato sauce and A PACKAGE OF SICILIAN STYLE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP MIX, OR TORTILLA SOUP MIX OR SICILIAN STYLE PEA SOUP MIX. So, all my health measures become compromised somewhat. Lately have been pureeing the veggies before the freezing and then putting the chicken meat back in to give me something to chew on. It sounds crazy, but the finished product never gets boring. In this way I get a hot meal and don't spend all my money on crap, such as hamburgers and pizza.

I'm on the side of the al dente folks. Well, you could guess that..
Although I have occasionally been served rice or pasta that is pre-al dente, in my opinion. Never in Italy, but in one or two restaurants in California that were too quick to off the pot..

I was raised with cooked-too-long american-made pasta, can't eat it now.

I cheat by using bouillion or boxed or canned broth instead of making my own soup stock. Always have cheated. Probably always will.

Sometimes I use spice mixes by a company called Morton & Bassett, instead of individual spices. Oh well.

Sometimes I use masala sauce from jars, forget the name of the company, haven't seen it yet in this city.

Often use canned pinto, white, and black beans, though I used to almost always start with dried beans. Having beans soaking or dough rising is a sign of well being for me...

I guess I'm pretty politically correct but not for that reason. I'm just a picky person!! Or, discerning! Say, on cake mixes, I don't think from-scratch is that much harder, and mixes have all sorts of crappo in them.

Sometimes I use shredded machego instead of parmasan!