minoanmiss | Food Questions Post #1

dialecticdreamer asked me two excellent questions:

Quick dinners and annoying food research

"To start it off-- what's your favorite "fifteen minutes from ingredients to plate"

This is more of a method than a recipe. It requires some frozen vegetables, preferably in bite-size pieces, a cooked or very quick cooking protein (leftover meat, tofu, eggs or cheese), and particular noodles.

I love ramen noodles, but I usually throw away the packets and handle the seasoning myself. Actually, these days I buy packages of ramen noodle pucks without the seasonings. They come in 10, 12, or 14 pucks in a package, and the ones sold that way tend to be less oily.

So, what I do is: per serving:

take a wide frying pan with a lid. Add a splash of oil and the vegetables in an even layer. Turn heat to medium-high and put on the lid. Start checking at 3 minutes, cook until 5. What you want is veggies browned on the bottom; it's okay if they're not thawed through yet.

Toss the veggies in the pan. Add 1 puck per person, or 2 if they're hungry, and a couple tablespoons of water, and a couple teaspoons each of soy sauce and cooking wine. (TBH I measure by the size of the splash) Cover, turn down to medium, and cook for about 4-5 more minutes. You want to see the veggies thawed and the ramen about halfway through hydrating and slumping out of its neat pucks.

Meanwhile slice the meat and chop up some scallions and/or herbs. Add these, along with a couple more tablespoons of water if needed, cover, turn down to low, and cook 2 to 5 minutes until the ramen is fully hydrated and everything is hot. If using eggs you can scramble them in or break them in and fry/poach them whole, as you like.

Meanwhile, on researching recipes:

Ahahahahaha in American recipe websites, at least, any recipe that could have been made by someone's grandma/nonna/abuela will have angry comments on it on how it's not the writer's Granna's version and therefore it's wrong.

The exception, of course, is Jamaican recipes. They INEXPLICABLY REFUSE to use MY Grandma's version and therefore they are OF COURSE all INCONTROVERTIBLY wrong.

Current Mood: cheerful

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

dialecticdreamer

I hear you about 'wrong,' but in my case, the first major argument that my boyfriend and I had was in the making of chili. I made it, he stared in confusion at the bowl and asked, "But where's the pasta?"

Making chili with BEANS was a compromise in our family, and my aunt (in-law to my mom) would make subtle digs that we couldn't afford a meat-only "proper" chili.

Anyone who knows the regional chili recipes, can make a decent guess at where both of us grew up, just from that one argument.

But where do you get the pucks of just ramen noodles? I used to buy packets and toss out the foil of seasoning mix, but that's a HUGE waste of plastic wrappers. Also, is one puck less than 35 carbs? For the blocks, I /have/ to break the two layers apart.

From:

julian

What. Pasta? Oh! Is this the Ohio chili-and-spaghetti-and-cheese thing?

Personally, I avoid chili with beans, but I am a heathen.

From:

dialecticdreamer

Not Ohio, but close. No cheese. VERY close, though.

(While at the time I had no problem adding raw chopped onion and cheese to the usual chili that I made. )

From:

julian

OK, then Kentucky?

(I mean, OK, raw chopped onion, it'll just cook a little in the chili.)

From:

full_metal_ox

Where I come from, the regional signature chili is a runny Day-Glo orange cinnamon-flavored sauce with very fine-grained ground meat—and the question becomes what you layer it atop:

1-Way: just the chili.

2-Way: chili served over spaghetti.

3-Way: chili, spaghetti, and grated cheddar cheese.

4-Way: chili, spaghetti, cheese, and diced onion.

5-Way: chili, spaghetti, cheese, onion, and red kidney beans.

6-Way: chili, spaghetti, beans, onions, cheese and fried jalapeno caps.

Also used as a hot dog sauce.

Geo-guess me!

From:

dialecticdreamer

Somewhere urban. First guess is Chicago, second is New York... third is Boston.

How far off am I? LOL! This is fun!

From:

full_metal_ox

Thank you for crediting my hometown—which, when Hollywood deigns to notice it, tends to be portrayed as Sticksville, USA—with urbanity; I’m from Dayton, Ohio, and therefore within Cincinnati’s sphere of influence.

From:

dialecticdreamer

Dayton has the National Aviation Hall of Fame AND the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park! Those are places I've always wanted to hunker down and spend two full days, each, exploring!

From:

full_metal_ox

I can also recommend the Boonshoft Museum of Natural History.

(Which includes a zoo that used to be called Wild Ohio, before they expanded their purview to include non-native species; it’s a crapshoot as to what they’ll coax from its cozy burrow at the crack of February to present with great solemn ceremony to the news media. The zoo’s last resident groundhog died in 2016; Walnut the (Four-Toed) Hedgehog has done the honors for the past two years. Previous officiants have included Penelope Possum, Qwilliam (an African Hedgehog), and Odyssey Otter (whom I seem to recall was portrayed by a human in a fursuit.)

There’s also Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, right across the street from the University of Dayton, it’s a magnificent scenic spot for walking (if you’re sufficiently abled), photography, picnicking, pointing out the pre-vaccine mortality rate, and dark Gothic lurking—-but mind the fallen acorns and ginkgo nuts in late summer through autumn.

From:

dialecticdreamer

A person after my own heart! I wish I was more able to get around for things like walking tours, museum tours, etc. (I'd settle for being able to walk around the block without stopping every ten feet.)

From:

minoanmiss

Central Ohio?

From:

full_metal_ox

See my answer to

julian.

From:

julian

Isn't that Cincinnati-style? I've never had it, but I think it'd be fun on a hot dog. If impossible to eat without dropping things onto yourself.

From:

full_metal_ox

DING DING DING! I’m from Dayton, about an hour’s drive north; that approach to chili has also made its way to Columbus.

Various Levantine immigrants brought that (vehemently polarizing) trope into the Ohio foodway pool, including the Kiradjieff brothers from Macedonia, the Daoud brothers from Jordan, and Nicholas Sarakatsannis and Nicholas Lambrinides from Greece:

(1). https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/united-states/skyline-chili-explained-by-a-cincinnatian

From:

pameladean

I guessed right too, but had an advantage -- one of my partners grew up in Cincinnati, and the first thing he ever served me was his dad's version of Cincinnati-style chili, modified because I don't eat meat and can't eat dairy. It was DELICIOUS. Then again, I'm from Illinois/Missouri/Nebraska, and chili is not what you argue about there.

We went to Cincinnati for his sister's wedding some time later, and he HAD to get Skyline chili, and apparently at the time you could get a more or less vegan version, so I got to have it again. I'm not sure why I don't just make some. It feels like a gift that descends from time to time, I guess.

P.

From:

full_metal_ox

Perhaps ironically, my own preference runs to what might be termed farmer’s (as distinct from cowboy’s) chili: beans, far from being anathema, are de rigeur—and the more kinds, the better; vegetables are welcome; meat is optional, and meat impersonators are fine. (I believe this would be the Santa Fe school?)

From:

julian

I like food history, thank you! (Didn't realize it had spread to Columbus, but it makes sense; things do migrate.)

From:

full_metal_ox

Moreover, Buckeye snowbirds have extended Skyline Chili’s reach as far south as Naples and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

From:

dialecticdreamer

That particular style of chili is sold in cans, elsewhere in the USA, as "hot dog chili." As for making a mess, just make macaroni noodles, then douse the chili over it, both piping hot, and eat with a spoon.

And still expect a mess.

Or is that just me?

From:

beradan

My father once put allspice in tuna salad, on the grounds that you put allspice in Cincinnati chili so it couldn't be that weird.

Once.

From:

acelightning73

Possibly Kansas

From:

full_metal_ox

Dayton, Ohio: within the reach of the Cincinnati school of chili, influenced by early-to-mid-20th-century Levantine immigrants and embodied by the likes of Gold Star Chili and Skyline (the latter, in my social circles, got flippantly mispronounced “Skullini’” in the arch pretense that your dinner date was taking place at an upscale Italian joint—in the same sense that we’d refer to White Castle as Le Chateau Blanc.)

From:

minoanmiss

I buy those packs of pucks by sight in my local aSIAN grocery. I know they're also avoilable online (I do a lot of my shopping online by habit)

The low-carb specification will take a little more work. I know people make similar noodles out of various low-carb foods but I'll have to research a bit.

From:

dialecticdreamer

Now that I know where to find them, I can check the labels on my own, thank you!

From:

full_metal_ox

The foremost low-carb noodle component is konnyaku/konjac, a tuber that yields gelatinous starch; the noodles made therefrom are called shirataki, and tend to be available water-packed, in the Asian produce section near the tofu and wonton wrappers.

Note that the texture is firm, chewy, and not readily absorbent; this means that (A) cooking down whatever sauce you’re using helps increase the likelihood of penetration (as when pan-fried as a traditional sukiyaki ingredient), and (B) you want to chew it carefully, because there’ve been choking incidents.

From:

minoanmiss

Yeah, the choking incidents make me wary of recommending it (also I don't like it very much so I haven't done a lot of experimentation to find the best ways to cook it)

From:

minoanmiss

ahahahah REGIONAL FIGHT REGIONAL FIGHT

From:

dialecticdreamer

Nah, I'm taking notes on ways to make familiar chili into something different. *G*

From:

acelightning73

When my husband was working for a limo company, I never knew what time he'd be done. So I got into the habit of buying boneless skinless chicken breasts and cutting them up for stir-fry, and packing them in meal-sized ziplock bags. I start the rice cooker, and by adding some random vegetables or nuts or something, I've got a quick hot meal by the time the rice is done

And some of the grandma recipes I see are nothing like what my family cooked. I just think it's because grandma never wrote down how she made her famous specialties. So as a Crone, I write mine down.

From:

dialecticdreamer

When my husband stayed up too late gaming, he'd rush out the door the next morning, without eating the breakfast that was still in process. (I usually allowed half an hour before he left and aimed to plate up with at least twenty minutes to eat.) He would stop for McDonalds coffee and dollar mcmuffins.

So I made a huge batch of sausage patty mcmuffins, wrapped each, and froze them. He could drive to work and pour free coffee while breakfast was in the microwave. I used ground turkey and spiced it to taste like mcdonalds, with less salt.

From:

lunabee34

*takes notes*

From:

ororo

Not sure I can do fifteen. Maybe 20-30.

Tuna melts could take that short a time, if the tuna salad was already made or if a lot of things didn't have to get chopped up in it. My tuna melts are open-faced on English muffins and with whatever cheese I have in the house. I got a "La-de-DAH" from someone once when I said I made one with gruyere. One could stuff a bell pepper instead of using bread.

The quick anchovy butter pasta I posted recently. Butter, anchovies, parsley (dried is just fine), lemon, black pepper.

Cacio e pepe

Edited Date: 2024-11-29 06:28 pm (UTC)

From:

julian

Ooo, that anchovy thing sounds do-able. Hmhm.

From:

ororo

I hope you try it and like it! I usually have a jar of small filets in the fridge. The small jars from Agostino Recca aren't too expensive. For me, a tablespoon of butter and three of the jarred anchovies works wonders, but you'll find your savory spot, I'm sure.

From:

full_metal_ox

Hmm…sounds a bit like pasta puttanesca.

From:

pameladean

Thank you for this template! My default is to spend about two and a half hours in the kitchen making several different dishes, and this is very tasty and provides many leftovers. But sometimes it's not really possible to get started.

I am not a big fan of most frozen vegetables, but maybe this method will make them more palatable. (Steaming them according to directions just makes them rubbery. Maybe I'm getting the wrong brand?)

P.

Edited (Punctuation mixup) Date: 2024-11-29 10:06 pm (UTC)

From:

dialecticdreamer

Try pouring out the intended portions a day or two before and letting them defrost in the fridge before steaming. The trick is to use the shortest possible steaming time that gets the pieces hot all the way through.

From:

minoanmiss

Yeah, I spend most of my Saturdays "cooking for the week", but it's always good to have quick immediate recipes to fall back on.

dialecticdreamer is right about how to steam frozen vegetables, but I don't bother. I pan-brown them (drives off moisture), blanch them (heats them through quickly), or mix them into things to cook inside the dish (useful source of added moisture to the dish).

From:

hitchhiker

"pizza" with pasta sauce (or even just tomato paste), sharp cheddar, and sliced green olives on pita bread! we used to have it every now and then when I was a kid and I still enjoy it as a quick meal.

From:

minoanmiss

Pita Pizza! In the same family as French Bread Pizza, Bagel Pizza, and English Muffin Pizza. Woot woot!

From:

full_metal_ox

For the gluten-free and low-carb folks out there, here’s Abura-Age (fried tofu puff) Pizza, courtesy of chef and cookbook author Hiroko Shimbo:

ABURA-AGE PIZZA

(I like to call it "Kitsune Pizza".)

“Fried thin tofu can be used in more than traditional preparations. When I want to prepare an easy appetizer, abura-age, which is always in my freezer, often plays an important role. I cut each piece in half, make pockets, and stuff them with tomato sauce, assorted cheeses, and basil. This is a quick tofu pizza--good with beer--and everyone loves it.”—-Hiroko Shimbo.

4 *abura-age* (fried thin tofu) sheets
1/3 cup spaghetti-style tomato sauce
3 ounces Parmesan cheese, cubed
3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, cubed
8 basil leaves, chopped

Condiments (optional):
1/3 cup grated daikon
Soy sauce

In a large kettle, bring plenty of water to a boil. Place the *abura-age* sheets in a flat-bottomed, wide colander, and pour the boiling water over them. Turn the abura-age over, and pour on more boiling water. This process removes excess oil from the abura-age.
Cool the abura-age under cold running tap water. Drain them, and gently squeeze them to remove excess water.

Cut each abura-age in half, and carefully slice open to make a pocket. With a spoon, spread about 2 teaspoons of tomato sauce on the inside bottom surface of each pocket. Stuff the pocket with a portion of the two cheeses and the basil.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F., or use a broiler. Cook the *abura-age* until the cheese is melted and the top of each "pizza" is golden. Do not overcook *abura-age*; it dries out easily.

Serve the "pizzas" hot, as they are, or cut them in half diagonally to form triangular pieces. For a Japanese-style appetizer, accompany the stuffed abura-age with grated daikon and soy sauce.

Yields 4 to 6 servings.

From:

minoanmiss

ZOMG

From:

full_metal_ox

And here’s a different Abura-Age Pizza Recipe, by a different Hiroko (Liston): this one treats the fried tofu sheet as a flatbread:

This is what I cook when I crave Pizza. It’s super quick & easy. I recommend this Abura-age Pizza for who have gluten allergy. The base is Abura-age (Fried Thin Tofu) that is available from most Asian grocery stores. Remove excess oil from Abura-age before use.

Makes

1 Serving

Ingredients

1 to 2 sheets Abura-age (Fried Thin Tofu)

Pizza Cheese Mix OR Grated Tasty Cheese (Cheddar)

Toppings of your choice *Today I used chopped Bacon, Parsley and Black Pepper.

Method

1.Wrap Abura-age with paper towel and warm in microwave. Then press it well to remove excess oil.

2. Spread some toppings and Cheese.