jimwormmaster's Profile
Walnut sauce for pasta?
Yep, there's even a video here that recommends using a small amount of the pasta water to put back in some of the starch lost in cooking, to get that smoothness to the sauce.
KFC Double Down? For Real?
The mcgriddle isn't that bad, really, at least the sausage one. Not the best, my favorite breakfast thing there is still the bacon/egg/cheese biscuit, but it's still pretty good. As far as the KFC "bowl o crap", think about it, it's basically fried chicken, with mashed potatoes and corn. And a little cheese to tie it together. As they're saying about the double down, is it really worth having a cow over, just cause it's all in one bowl? I think they're decent, if somewhat over-salty.
My dad, though, took the double down one step further...he gave it a bun again...with a Krispy Kreme doughnut...that's just too evil.
Buying packaged food with a bite already taken out
Sadly, it happens. These are the same kind of people that used to do stuff at the Wal-Mart I worked at like opening a 12-pack of sodas. Not even drinking any of it, not a single drop, just ripping the pack open, and maybe leaving a can or two nearby. Nobody was able to drink any of it, as per regulations, the whole thing has to go to claims, wasted. I still to this day want to catch someone in the act of doing such a thing, so an example can be made of them.
Convenience Products And The Environment-How Ridiculous Can You Get?
Yeah, I'm the same way with lunchmeat containers. The Hillshire Farm ultra-thin and hearty slices come in gladware containers(with the store brand equivalent in reynold's containers, but, meh, same thing). So I just wash 'em out, and they make great leftover containers. I live by myself, so that tends to be a good size for leftovers, anyways.
What are you a stubborn purist about?
Two things come to mind, for me. The first is pound cake. I *might* be willing to do the lime zest, like the grilled lime pound cake recipe on here (or the original is good with fresh strawberries and whipped cream), but I see way too many recipes that do stuff like glazing it, or adding chocolate, or stuff like that. The difference is that doing stuff like that totally changes the taste of it.
The second one for me is pecan pie. Now, don't get me wrong, my grandmother once made a good bourbon chocolate pecan pie, but personally, the best pecan pie will always be the original recipe, simple, nothing added to it, like chocolate, or anything like that.
Addicted to Cola what else to have to
The classic recipe for an italian soda is club soda, some sort of flavoring syrup (fruit-flavored, normally, but there are a few other choices), and cream, if desired. The only sugar in that would be in the flavoring, but I think there's a few sugar-free brands out there, or you could always make your own, then it would only have *natural* sugar, not refined sugar.
Favorite Out of the Ordinary Breakfast Recipe
Corny scrambled eggs. It sounds weird, and it is, somewhat, but darn if it isn't good. It's basically scrambled eggs with a bit of crumbled bacon, and a can of creamed corn thrown in. Of course, you use less milk/water than you normally would for the eggs, to balance out the liquid of the corn, but it gives it an interesting sweetness, plus the meatiness of the bacon. Quite highly recommended from me!
Need healthy and nutritious frozen food
Ah, can't remember the brand, but there was a brand of chinese frozen entrees that were pretty good. They came in a box shaped somewhat like the little cardboard ones you'd get at a takeaway chinese restaurant. You just pop them into the microwave, plastic and all, then unwrap, open, stir, and you're good to go. One thing to watch for, there are a few of them that are healthier than others. I seem to remember the bourbon street chicken was fairly low in fat, and pretty low in sodium, too, as far as frozen food goes.
One magazine you might want to look into is Taste of Home's magazine, Quick Cooking. They have articles monthly like things that you can make and freeze, basic recipes that you can make, then use the leftovers in other recipes, full meals that take less than 30 minutes to cook, even things you can use the microwave for, or recipes that you can throw in the slow cooker, and have waiting for you when you get home. I got a subscription a few years ago, and I was definitely impressed with it. I'd recommend giving it a look-in if you can find it!
Rules of stirfrying?
I also want to add that the cooking order is the same for if you leave items in, instead of doing them seperately, and taking each one out. Basically, in order of what takes longest to cook, goes in first. Meat takes awhile to cook, right? And hardier vegetables would also take longer to cook than things like bean sprouts.
am i the only one who hates recipies?
Well, usually I think of recipes as a general guideline. Yes, there's usually tablespoons, teaspoons, ounces, but then again, a lot of people that cook at home aren't necessarily knowledgeable to know the right proportions of ingredients. You can tweak recipes, certainly, even combine a few of them together (that's what my dad usually does when he "follows" a recipe, gets a few recipes, then uses them as a base), but you at least need some sort of starting point. I watch those commercials for Food Network where they just say the ingredients, but no measurements whatsoever, and I have no idea how much I would use, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one out there with that little problem.
So in short, I agree, boo to following recipes verbatim, but yay for them existing, so we can tweak them. After all, you can't bend the rules if there aren't any to bend :P
