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  • Post #121 - November 10th, 2017, 7:34 pm
    Post #121 - November 10th, 2017, 7:34 pm Post #121 - November 10th, 2017, 7:34 pm
    Spurred on by G Wiv's post, I headed for Trader Joe's this afternoon. Got the stuffing-flavored potato chips, but also got the pumpkin-flavored corn chips and cornbread crisps -- so pretty much everything but the turkey.

    All three are very tasty though the cornbread crisps are probably most dead-on as far as flavor. Really addictive. The pumpkin chips wisely (I think) added no sugar. Pumpkin flavor is good. The potato chips offer memories of the things that flavor stuffing. So very much a fun round of sampling.

    It occurred to me that a fun thing to do with potato chips would be to crush them and use them to coat chicken for frying -- kind of having the stuffing on the outside.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #122 - November 11th, 2017, 7:58 am
    Post #122 - November 11th, 2017, 7:58 am Post #122 - November 11th, 2017, 7:58 am
    Cynthia wrote:
    It occurred to me that a fun thing to do with potato chips would be to crush them and use them to coat chicken for frying -- kind of having the stuffing on the outside.


    Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #123 - November 26th, 2017, 2:21 pm
    Post #123 - November 26th, 2017, 2:21 pm Post #123 - November 26th, 2017, 2:21 pm
    I have long wished for meal/energy bars that are not sweet. Apparently, I'm not alone. Read an article a few weeks ago that a few companies are now putting out savory options. This week, Jewel offered a dollar off of one of the options, so it seemed like a good time to try it -- the Epic bar. They had chicken or venison. Can't really imagine picking chicken if venison is an option, so that is the one I got. Slightly softer than jerky. Good flavor. Not like eating venison in a restaurant -- but for me, a better choice than most of the energy bars out there. Made a nice lunch. Next time I need meal replacements for a road trip, Epic will be on my shopping list.

    Oh -- and here's one of the articles that came out about some of the other savory options now out there. I'll be looking for the others (I'm guessing at Whole Foods, rather than Jewel ). https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/8 ... y-healthy/
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #124 - November 26th, 2017, 3:21 pm
    Post #124 - November 26th, 2017, 3:21 pm Post #124 - November 26th, 2017, 3:21 pm
    I think Jewel has Kind bars. Those were the only ones on the list that I had heard of. I believe you can find coupons for Kind too. I am not into granola bars though.
  • Post #125 - December 10th, 2017, 8:31 pm
    Post #125 - December 10th, 2017, 8:31 pm Post #125 - December 10th, 2017, 8:31 pm
    NFriday wrote:I think Jewel has Kind bars. Those were the only ones on the list that I had heard of. I believe you can find coupons for Kind too. I am not into granola bars though.


    Lots of places have Kind bars. They even have them at Starbuck's. But they're not really anything like granola bars -- more like just a clump of nuts and seeds glued together with a bit of fruit. Which doesn't sound very appetizing, perhap, but they actually are much heftier than granola bars.

    However, Epic at least has nothing in common with a granola bar. It's a hunk of meat, just transformed into bar-shape.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #126 - December 11th, 2017, 9:15 am
    Post #126 - December 11th, 2017, 9:15 am Post #126 - December 11th, 2017, 9:15 am
    Bought these as a joke. Tried one. It wasn't disgusting. It was ok, for a twinkie.
    peppermint twinkies.jpg
  • Post #127 - December 11th, 2017, 3:08 pm
    Post #127 - December 11th, 2017, 3:08 pm Post #127 - December 11th, 2017, 3:08 pm
    Pastrami from Hungarian Kosher (Skokie).
    Wow, that's good stuff (but Ronnie's is still better, if not certified Kosher).
    Moderate spice level, nice smokiness, lean and just plain delicious. Almost too good to put on a sandwich.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #128 - December 11th, 2017, 3:32 pm
    Post #128 - December 11th, 2017, 3:32 pm Post #128 - December 11th, 2017, 3:32 pm
    JoelF wrote:Pastrami from Hungarian Kosher (Skokie).
    Wow, that's good stuff (but Ronnie's is still better, if not certified Kosher).
    Moderate spice level, nice smokiness, lean and just plain delicious. Almost too good to put on a sandwich.


    I'm assuming it's the chuck and not the shoulder. For best results get it sliced thin. It's an entirely different product than a New York pastrami but wonderful on its own merits.
  • Post #129 - December 11th, 2017, 5:14 pm
    Post #129 - December 11th, 2017, 5:14 pm Post #129 - December 11th, 2017, 5:14 pm
    spinynorman99 wrote:
    JoelF wrote:Pastrami from Hungarian Kosher (Skokie).
    Wow, that's good stuff (but Ronnie's is still better, if not certified Kosher).
    Moderate spice level, nice smokiness, lean and just plain delicious. Almost too good to put on a sandwich.


    I'm assuming it's the chuck and not the shoulder. For best results get it sliced thin. It's an entirely different product than a New York pastrami but wonderful on its own merits.

    Not brisket or navel?!

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #130 - December 12th, 2017, 6:43 am
    Post #130 - December 12th, 2017, 6:43 am Post #130 - December 12th, 2017, 6:43 am
    ronnie_suburban wrote:
    spinynorman99 wrote:
    JoelF wrote:Pastrami from Hungarian Kosher (Skokie).
    Wow, that's good stuff (but Ronnie's is still better, if not certified Kosher).
    Moderate spice level, nice smokiness, lean and just plain delicious. Almost too good to put on a sandwich.


    I'm assuming it's the chuck and not the shoulder. For best results get it sliced thin. It's an entirely different product than a New York pastrami but wonderful on its own merits.

    Not brisket or navel?!

    =R=

    I haven't had it . . . but if it's that good, I'm assuming it has to be brisket or navel. And put me in the camp of preferring thicker slices. I want those chunks of fit hitting my tongue with reckless abandon!
  • Post #131 - December 12th, 2017, 2:52 pm
    Post #131 - December 12th, 2017, 2:52 pm Post #131 - December 12th, 2017, 2:52 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:
    spinynorman99 wrote:
    JoelF wrote:Pastrami from Hungarian Kosher (Skokie).
    Wow, that's good stuff (but Ronnie's is still better, if not certified Kosher).
    Moderate spice level, nice smokiness, lean and just plain delicious. Almost too good to put on a sandwich.


    I'm assuming it's the chuck and not the shoulder. For best results get it sliced thin. It's an entirely different product than a New York pastrami but wonderful on its own merits.

    Not brisket or navel?!

    =R=

    Does this shot tell you what cut it's from? Light isn't optimal, flash probably hurt it.
    Definitely not brisket. I thought loin was used traditionally for pastrami?
    Image
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #132 - December 12th, 2017, 2:58 pm
    Post #132 - December 12th, 2017, 2:58 pm Post #132 - December 12th, 2017, 2:58 pm
    JoelF wrote:Does this shot tell you what cut it's from? Light isn't optimal, flash probably hurt it.
    Definitely not brisket. I thought loin was used traditionally for pastrami?

    Navel was traditional and over time brisket has more or less replaced it as the standard.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #133 - December 13th, 2017, 6:09 pm
    Post #133 - December 13th, 2017, 6:09 pm Post #133 - December 13th, 2017, 6:09 pm
    For dinner this evening, I prepared the bag of frozen soup base that I picked up at KD Market (formerly Krystyna's Deli, but they multiplied, and the name changed). This one was Zupa grzybowa z makaronem. As I've learned over time, grzybowa means porcini/cep mushroom, so I figured it was worth a try. Always nice to have something interesting in the freezer when one gets hungry of a winter's evening.

    Well, it's not quite as dense as it looks in the photo on the package -- but the chunks of mushroom are actually much larger than what is pictured -- really substantial chunks, in fact. So the flavor was good -- at least if you love porcini mushrooms. I like porcini enough that I even buy the grzybowa bouillon cubes most Polish delis carry, so I was happy. But simple to make: liter of water, add bag of stuff plus a bouillon cube of your choice, and boil for "about 10 minutes." Then, and this part amused me, "season to taste with salt, pepper, cream." Didn't have cream, but whole milk was fine. But a mighty useful thing to just have in the freezer for when you're working late but don't want to just eat microwave popcorn. :)

    Oh -- and should probably add that the brand I bought was Poltino. Just in case there are others.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #134 - December 13th, 2017, 6:36 pm
    Post #134 - December 13th, 2017, 6:36 pm Post #134 - December 13th, 2017, 6:36 pm
    Cynthia wrote:Well, it's not quite as dense as it looks in the photo on the package -- but the chunks of mushroom are actually much larger than what is pictured -- really substantial chunks, in fact. So the flavor was good -- at least if you love porcini mushrooms.


    So, next time use less water, or let it cook down till it's more thick/dense.
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #135 - December 13th, 2017, 7:41 pm
    Post #135 - December 13th, 2017, 7:41 pm Post #135 - December 13th, 2017, 7:41 pm
    stevez wrote:
    Cynthia wrote:Well, it's not quite as dense as it looks in the photo on the package -- but the chunks of mushroom are actually much larger than what is pictured -- really substantial chunks, in fact. So the flavor was good -- at least if you love porcini mushrooms.


    So, next time use less water, or let it cook down till it's more thick/dense.


    I was thinking less water might work. I'd just have to use broth instead of a bouillon cube (and the package suggests broth as an option), as it would be a bit salty otherwise. But it wasn't a problem having it actually be a soup, as I was expecting soup -- even though the picture on the front makes it look more like a side dish. But yes -- I agree -- with less liquid, and accommodating the salt, it would definitely get thicker and probably a bit more intense. Definitely enjoyed the mushrooms, however -- and at $2.99 for three servings, it's an economical way to get a porcini fix.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #136 - December 19th, 2017, 2:49 pm
    Post #136 - December 19th, 2017, 2:49 pm Post #136 - December 19th, 2017, 2:49 pm
    Back to KD Market Sunday. Liked the frozen mushroom soup mix enough to try another variety -- cucumber and dill. Haven't prepared it yet, as it's kind of an emergency freezer thing. But I have been indulging heavily in the house-made soups that are, in fact, my favorite offerings at KD.

    The soups, which are sold in one-pint or one-quart containers, are all traditional Polish recipes. I haven't tried them all, but I've tried a fair number, and so far, haven't found a loser in the group. My two favorites are Zurec Sour Soup, which is a sour-dough-rye soup with sausage (smoke, garlic, and sour are the dominant flavors - yum) and the mushroom soup -- but they have a few different mushroom soups, and while all are good, my preference is the grzybowa version, which has about three ingredients listed: mushrooms, sour cream, cream. The soups run $1.69 to $2.29 a pint, so cheaper than most canned soup. Also love the horseradish soup (not a strong horseradish taste, but tasty), which I enjoyed yesterday, and the sorrel soup, which I had for lunch today. Fun to have access to fun, tasty soup when one is busy.

    They also have a range of salads in the house-made area, and what has become my favorite deli item -- ENDS. At many busy European delis, they combined and package the last few slices of all those deli meats and sell them for a couple of bucks a pound. Great way to try just a little of all those meats that are not familiar.

    I usually go to the KD at the corner of 83 and Dundee Rd. in Wheeling, but there are at least three locations. I have also been to the one on Roselle Rd., which is much larger, and though farther, has the advantage of being near a number of interesting restaurants.

    But if you want to sample a bunch of great Polish soup, KD's house-made versions are an easy way to do it.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #137 - December 20th, 2017, 6:51 am
    Post #137 - December 20th, 2017, 6:51 am Post #137 - December 20th, 2017, 6:51 am
    Cynthia wrote:[KD] also have a range of salads in the house-made area, and what has become my favorite deli item -- ENDS. At many busy European delis, they combined and package the last few slices of all those deli meats and sell them for a couple of bucks a pound. Great way to try just a little of all those meats that are not familiar.


    Hah - I never thought of ends that way! We would get ends at the deli counter of the ShopRite store because they were cheaper than the thin slices you would normally put on a sandwich. I hated them! Thick uneven slices of deli meat or cheese that made my sandwich harder to eat because they would fall out.
    Leek

    SAVING ONE DOG may not change the world,
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  • Post #138 - December 20th, 2017, 3:56 pm
    Post #138 - December 20th, 2017, 3:56 pm Post #138 - December 20th, 2017, 3:56 pm
    leek wrote:Hah - I never thought of ends that way! We would get ends at the deli counter of the ShopRite store because they were cheaper than the thin slices you would normally put on a sandwich. I hated them! Thick uneven slices of deli meat or cheese that made my sandwich harder to eat because they would fall out.


    That would be unpleasant. But purchased as a "sampler" -- or, as I did this week, as really cheap ham and sausage to cook with split peas -- it's a great resource. And yes, the fact that it is cheaper is the top draw for me, as well. But it's a bonus that it can also lead to some great discoveries.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #139 - December 21st, 2017, 10:49 pm
    Post #139 - December 21st, 2017, 10:49 pm Post #139 - December 21st, 2017, 10:49 pm
    Probably worth noting, after my rhapsodizing about the soups: while I've had fair bit of Polish food, having had a fair number of Polish friends, I had never had zurec before Sweet Willie arranged an LTH lunch outing to Bacowka, on Roselle Rd. in Schaumburg. There, I had my first bowl of what is also sometimes called white borscht. It was sensational. But Roselle Rd. is not terribly close to home, and eating at a restaurant all the time is not in the budget, so finding it available closer to home and cheaper was more the discovery than the soup was. And I enjoyed finding that so many other things were good at the Wheeling KD location.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #140 - December 22nd, 2017, 12:10 am
    Post #140 - December 22nd, 2017, 12:10 am Post #140 - December 22nd, 2017, 12:10 am
    Smakosz On Lawrence just west of Central makes a wonderful zurek.
  • Post #141 - December 25th, 2017, 4:59 pm
    Post #141 - December 25th, 2017, 4:59 pm Post #141 - December 25th, 2017, 4:59 pm
    Octarine wrote:Smakosz On Lawrence just west of Central makes a wonderful zurek.

    Good to know. Thanks.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #142 - December 26th, 2017, 8:56 am
    Post #142 - December 26th, 2017, 8:56 am Post #142 - December 26th, 2017, 8:56 am
    JoelF wrote:Does this shot tell you what cut it's from? Light isn't optimal, flash probably hurt it.
    Definitely not brisket. I thought loin was used traditionally for pastrami?
    Image

    D'oh, it would help to read the label, which clearly says shoulder. I thought it was too lean to possibly be shoulder, but beef shoulder must be less fatty than pork shoulder.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #143 - December 27th, 2017, 8:30 pm
    Post #143 - December 27th, 2017, 8:30 pm Post #143 - December 27th, 2017, 8:30 pm
    Today's discoveries are fun facts, rather than tasty treats. Reading Mark Kurlansky's wonderful book Salt, and ran across a few delights that I had to share the only place I think folks might care.

    Lithuanians are so fond of, and reliant on, pickled vegetables that they "recognize a guardian spirit of pickling named Roguszys."

    The Polish national poem, Pan Tadeusz, is about the Polish national dish of Bigos. (I love Bigos, which Kurlansky describes as being essentially Polish choucroute garnie, though originally with game—hence the name—Bigos means "Hunter's Stew.")

    I knew that the word ketchup/catsup came from the Indonesian kecap, but I didn't know that the first Western ketchup was made in England -- from anchovies. More like Roman garum than like what we Yanks recognize as ketchup. This was followed by walnut ketchup, mushroom ketchup, and salted lemon ketchup. I've had mushroom ketchup, but now I want to try walnut and salted lemon.

    Great book. If you haven't read it—and you love getting saturated with history—I recommend it.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #144 - December 27th, 2017, 11:26 pm
    Post #144 - December 27th, 2017, 11:26 pm Post #144 - December 27th, 2017, 11:26 pm
    Hi Cynthia,

    The very first Culinary Historians meeting I attended was in September, 1995. It was Andy Smith talking about his book Ketchup. He likened the first ketchup as akin to fish sauce or the Roman garum.

    I brought a bottle of Concord grape ketchup to the meeting, which was quite the novelty.

    I remember feeling silly getting up early on a Saturday morning to drive 50-miles round trip for a lecture on ketchup.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #145 - December 28th, 2017, 10:40 pm
    Post #145 - December 28th, 2017, 10:40 pm Post #145 - December 28th, 2017, 10:40 pm
    Cathy2 wrote:Hi Cynthia,

    The very first Culinary Historians meeting I attended was in September, 1995. It was Andy Smith talking about his book Ketchup. He likened the first ketchup as akin to fish sauce or the Roman garum.

    I brought a bottle of Concord grape ketchup to the meeting, which was quite the novelty.

    I remember feeling silly getting up early on a Saturday morning to drive 50-miles round trip for a lecture on ketchup.

    Regards,
    Cathy2


    Concord grape sounds like an interesting ketchup, too.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #146 - December 29th, 2017, 9:23 am
    Post #146 - December 29th, 2017, 9:23 am Post #146 - December 29th, 2017, 9:23 am
    Cynthia wrote: As I've learned over time, grzybowa means porcini/cep mushroom, so I figured it was worth a try


    Quite often, those are the mushrooms used, but gzybowa is simply the adjective form of the word grzyb, meaning "mushroom." It can be any type of mushroom from pieczarki (our common white button mushrooms) to prawdziwki (King Bolete/porcini/cep) to kurki (chanterelles) to whatever. With soup, it's just about any mix of mushrooms. My mother makes it on buttons and some dried boletes for flavor, for example. In Poland on my aunt's farm, it'd be pretty much any mix of mushrooms from picking in the forest. But those boletes are particularly prized. In fact, their Polish name, prawdziwki, comes from the phrase grzyby prawdziwe, or "real/genuine mushrooms," so the name in Polish is something like "real ones."

    And the bit about bigos is interesting. The word itself doesn't mean "hunter's stew." That's just how it's usually translated in English. I tried looking up the etymology of it, but the origins of the word look like they're lost in history. Most of the suggestions seem to indicate the word comes from German meaning, depending on the source, "basted," "sauce," "to chop," or even "a piece of lead." In Polish itself, the word doesn't have a meaning other than that particular meat & sauerkraut dish. "Hunter's stew" in Polish is literally gulasz myśliwski, which is usually a type of meat & mushroom stew.
  • Post #147 - December 29th, 2017, 12:55 pm
    Post #147 - December 29th, 2017, 12:55 pm Post #147 - December 29th, 2017, 12:55 pm
    Binko wrote:
    Cynthia wrote: As I've learned over time, grzybowa means porcini/cep mushroom, so I figured it was worth a try


    Quite often, those are the mushrooms used, but gzybowa is simply the adjective form of the word grzyb, meaning "mushroom." It can be any type of mushroom from pieczarki (our common white button mushrooms) to prawdziwki (King Bolete/porcini/cep) to kurki (chanterelles) to whatever. With soup, it's just about any mix of mushrooms. My mother makes it on buttons and some dried boletes for flavor, for example. In Poland on my aunt's farm, it'd be pretty much any mix of mushrooms from picking in the forest. But those boletes are particularly prized. In fact, their Polish name, prawdziwki, comes from the phrase grzyby prawdziwe, or "real/genuine mushrooms," so the name in Polish is something like "real ones."

    And the bit about bigos is interesting. The word itself doesn't mean "hunter's stew." That's just how it's usually translated in English. I tried looking up the etymology of it, but the origins of the word look like they're lost in history. Most of the suggestions seem to indicate the word comes from German meaning, depending on the source, "basted," "sauce," "to chop," or even "a piece of lead." In Polish itself, the word doesn't have a meaning other than that particular meat & sauerkraut dish. "Hunter's stew" in Polish is literally gulasz myśliwski, which is usually a type of meat & mushroom stew.


    Wow -- thanks for the education, Binko. Pretty much all I know of the Polish language is from reading packages at the grocery store. This is really helpful. Makes me want to head now to the store, to go look for other types of mushrooms.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #148 - December 29th, 2017, 1:43 pm
    Post #148 - December 29th, 2017, 1:43 pm Post #148 - December 29th, 2017, 1:43 pm
    Frozen 4 oz lobster tails at Jewel for $3.99.

    I picked up 2 for lunch for the omnivores. I call that a Value Meal!
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #149 - December 30th, 2017, 9:11 am
    Post #149 - December 30th, 2017, 9:11 am Post #149 - December 30th, 2017, 9:11 am
    pairs4life wrote:Frozen 4 oz lobster tails at Jewel for $3.99.

    Great tip! We're having lobster in garlic butter for dinner tonight. Thanks!
  • Post #150 - January 11th, 2018, 3:36 pm
    Post #150 - January 11th, 2018, 3:36 pm Post #150 - January 11th, 2018, 3:36 pm
    Norpaco Mediterranean Olive Medley with lemon and rosemary (and garlic and sun-dried tomatoes) at Costco, refrigerated. The castelventranos and kalamatas are nice - not overly salted - but it's the lemon chunks (fresh but they make it most of the way to preserved in this packaging) and tomatoes that make this sing, ready for a party as much as I do like marinating my own. Stir in some Marcona almonds if you like. Competitive with WF at 32 oz for under $10. There are other people obsessing about this jar on the company Facebook page.

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