FOODIES: What prepared or pre-packaged foods do you use?

[mike carey]

38 minutes ago, BetweenTheSheets said:

i went to a culinary school... and my final exam was making a pear puff pastry tart

ever since that day, i use frozen puff pastry (haha) but it does matter which brand you buy - read the label carefully for ingredients you don't want... to me the best is the Dufour brand

Different countries, different brands, but there are choices here about which one you want. I went out and bought some pastry after hearing that segment on the radio. Store brand, $2.30 ($US1.65) for a one kilo packet, six sheets 25x25cm, great for simple recipes like sausage rolls and quiches. I'd pay more for a fancy dessert recipe. That price isn't much more than a kilo of flour.

[+ Charlie]

I love soup,but I have never made any. I have been addicted to Progresso, Campbell's and Amy's for years.

[pubic_assistance]

6 hours ago, BetweenTheSheets said:

to me the best is the Dufour brand

Yup

That's my go-to if I make dessert for a sit-down dinner party.

Marscapone cheese with almond extract, a little brown sugar and sliced pears wrapped inside a Dufour puff pastry buttered on the outside with another sprinkle of sugar.

Delicious.

[BetweenTheSheets]

26 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Yup

That's my go-to if I make dessert for a sit-down dinner party.

Marscapone cheese with almond extract, a little brown sugar and sliced pears wrapped inside a Dufour puff pastry buttered on the outside with another sprinkle of sugar.

Delicious.

you can up your game just a little by making your own vanilla creme patisserie... give it a look!

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020475-spiced-pear-tart

 

[Dallas Jayson]

On 10/17/2021 at 5:55 PM, MikeBiDude said:

Let’s see:

• Make my own stock, duck, turkey, chicken, veal stock all in freezer now
• Make my own sourdough bread 2-3 times monthly from starter I created about 12 years ago
• Make my own pizza dough (some ready for tonight) and sauce too
• Make my own tomato sauce from summer garden, about 8 quarts in freezer now
• Pesto from the basil in the garden too
• Roast my own coffee beans
• Dry age primal cuts of prime beef, and occasionally ducks in dry aged locker in my garage.
• Occasionally brine brisket into corn beef, smoke some of that into pastrami

Yes on canned pumpkin, and I buy Italian tomato paste.

Single?

[MikeBiDude]

4 hours ago, Dallas Jayson said:

Single?

Yes….but with dependent living with me.

[Epigonos]

Phyllo Pastry

Puff Pastry

Cento Brand canned San Marzano Tomatoes

[+ JEC]

I generally make my own pasta saucy (gravy).  I have recently discovered Silver Palette Roasted Garlic San Marzano sauce....which is the best jarred sauce I have found, I keep  ajar in the pantry in case I need some quickly.....

[samhexum]

33 minutes ago, JEC said:

I generally make my own pasta saucy (gravy).  I have recently discovered Silver Palette Roasted Garlic San Marzano sauce....which is the best jarred sauce I have found, I keep  ajar in the pantry in case I need some quickly.....

View Nutritional Information »

San Marzano Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce     25 oz. jar  $9.49 6-Pack (6 x 25 oz. jar) $8.90 per jar - save $3.56! $53.38

Silver Palate's pasta sauces start with high quality whole peeled tomatoes - not paste. Our tomatoes are grown in the rich volcanic soil of the San Marzano region in Italy as well as the fertile earth of the Central Valley of California. This outstanding blend provides the ideal balance between sweetness and acidity. So delicious, so mouth-watering, it's like no other.

Our Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce is our deluxe blend of balsamic vinegar and tomatoes from San Marzano and California.

Ingredients:

Tomato Puree (water, crushed tomatoes), Chopped Tomatoes (including puree, salt, and citric acid), Black Olives (ripe olives, water, salt, ferrous gluconate), Fresh Onions, Balsamic Vinegar, Blended Oil (canola oil, extra virgin olive oil), Sherry Cooking Wine, Salt, Fresh Green Bell Pepper, Fresh Mushroom, Parmesan Cheese (part skim milk, culture, salt, enzyme, calcium chloride, and sorbic acid), Garlic, Sugar, Herbs, and Spices.

Edited October 23, 2022 by samhexum
just for the hell of it

[handiacefailure]

I love raos prepared spaghetti sauce  I prefer to make my own soup but love a couple of the refrigerated soups Costco has

[Rudynate]

On 10/23/2022 at 2:19 PM, JEC said:

I generally make my own pasta saucy (gravy).  I have recently discovered Silver Palette Roasted Garlic San Marzano sauce....which is the best jarred sauce I have found, I keep  ajar in the pantry in case I need some quickly.....

You must be Italian - American.  They are the only ones who call spaghetti sauce gravy.

[pubic_assistance]

On 10/31/2022 at 10:19 AM, Rudynate said:

You must be Italian - American.  They are the only ones who call spaghetti sauce gravy.

"Gravy" is a meat sauce that's been slow cooking all day as opposed to a simple fast Marinara made in a pan.It's a term most commonly used by Sicilian-Americans...but other Italian-Amsricans have adopted the word.

[Rudynate]

5 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

"Gravy" is a meat sauce that's been slow cooking all day as opposed to a simple fast Marinara made in a pan.It's a term most commonly used by Sicilian-Americans...but other Italian-Amsricans have adopted the word.

An (Italian) Italian woman once told me that slow-cooked sauces are virtually unknown in Italy - that they are mostly an Italian-American thing. I went to school with lots of Italian kids.  Every family has its own recipe for "gravy." My sister-in-law was Italian.  She said proper gravy needs to have both beef and pork.  She made hers with beef and a single pork chop which she dropped into the sauce pot just for the pork flavor, then she removed it when the sauce was done.

[pubic_assistance]

1 hour ago, Rudynate said:

She said proper gravy needs to have both beef and pork.  She made hers with beef and a single pork chop which she dropped into the sauce pot just for the pork flavor, then she removed it when the sauce was done.

Yup. I make mine with a cut of beef and some pork sausage. It's delicious. Much better than a beef Ragu.

[Rudynate]

44 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Yup. I make mine with a cut of beef and some pork sausage. It's delicious. Much better than a beef Ragu.

When I make a red sauce - not often-, I use Marcella Hazan's famous recipe. 

[Rudynate]

8 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

"Gravy" is a meat sauce that's been slow cooking all day as opposed to a simple fast Marinara made in a pan.It's a term most commonly used by Sicilian-Americans...but other Italian-Amsricans have adopted the word.

To me, marinara sauce is a pasta sauce, yes, but it's not "spaghetti sauce."  Spaghetti sauce is the slow-cooked sauce made by Italian grandmothers everywhere. When I was a kid, my parents got spaghetti to go from an Italian restaurant called "Angie's" We sometimes had dinner there too.  My father would take an empty pot to Angie's and come home with it full of spaghetti and meatballs with a bunch of sliced Italian bread.  I liked to go with him - it was in a part of town where we never went so it seemed like an adventure. 

[pubic_assistance]

2 hours ago, Rudynate said:

I use Marcella Hazan's famous recipe. 

Had to look that up.

VERY typical of  "Middle American" cooking. Almost no ingredients.  There's probably a similar version in the Betty Crocker cook book. Personally, I grew up eating that bland -no spices kind of food, and I always hated it. Very fortunate to have met so many people from Italy here in NYC who have shared their family recipes, and introduced me to the richness of real Italian cuisine.

Edited November 3, 2022 by pubic_assistance
spelling

[pubic_assistance]

28 minutes ago, Rudynate said:

To me, marinara sauce is a pasta sauce, yes, but it's not "spaghetti sauce."

I would agree.

When I make a marinara, it's a light fresh sauce with chunks of tomato and served over Penne Pasta

When I make "spaghetti sauce" it's thick rich sauce that does have the consistency of "gravy"...and served over spaghetti.

This is definitely the distinction my ( Sicilian) mother-in-law taught me

[Rudynate]

17 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Had to look that up.

VERY typical of  "Middle American" cooking. Almost no ingredients.  There's probably a similar version in the Betty Crocker cook book. Personally, I grew up eating that bland -no spices kind of food, and I always hated it. Very fortunate to have met some many people from Italy here in NYC who have shared their family recipes, and introduced me to the richness of real Italian cuisine.

Marcella Hazan was a native Italian.  Before you dismiss her recipe, you should try it. There's a reason it's famous.  Three ingredients and simply amazing. 

[pubic_assistance]

Yes. I see Marcella is Italian.

I am saying the recipe is the way my ( very middle American ) mother would cook.

Been there/ done that...and I dread being back in Central PA because this is the only kind of food you can find there.

Salt and Pepper are the only spices they know.

 

[Rudynate]

4 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Yes. I see Marcella is Italian.

I am saying the recipe is the way my ( very middle American ) mother would cook.

Been there/ done that...and I dread being back in Central PA because this is the only kind of food you can find there.

Salt and Pepper are the only spices they know.

 

I hear you, I learned to cook really well from Gourmet Magazine, where there wasn't a recipe that didn't have at least ten herbs and spices in it.  I still use that sort of recipe from time to time, but I'm now I'm more into the artistry of making simple food taste amazing.

[pubic_assistance]

35 minutes ago, Rudynate said:

I'm more into the artistry of making simple food taste amazing.

I do love some simple foods. Roasted vegetables of any kind. Simply tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt is a favorite at my house with everyone. YES..my kids LOVE vegetables ! ( You just need to know how to cook them )

[Rudynate]

14 hours ago, Rudynate said:

I hear you, I learned to cook really well from Gourmet Magazine, where there wasn't a recipe that didn't have at least ten herbs and spices in it.  I still use that sort of recipe from time to time, but I'm now I'm more into the artistry of making simple food taste amazing.

My husband has a great talent that way.  He is really good at coming up with unexpected additions of one or two herbs/spices that take a dish from good to great.

[Danny-Darko]

I buy some of the precooked entrees from Aldi and then make them my own ways. 

I really like this Thai Style Coconut Chicken Curry. I open sachet and heat it in a covered pan and sometimes even add some frozen long thin French cut green beans to it to make like a 'Panang Curry'. I'll either serve it with steamed Jasmine rice or cut up the chicken in small chucks and serve it with some kind of flat Asian noodles to make sort of like a Pad Thai. It's a nice no-fail quick meal for those that enjoy spicy Asian food.   

Edited July 22, 2023 by Danny-Darko

[ICTJOCK]

Well I'm not much of a cook honestly.   Not because I don't have the talent,  but because I primarily choose to spend my time in other ways.   Not the best decision as I'm a fitness junkie and a proper diet is essential.    I do search for what I call "quick meals",  something like the "Healthy Choice",  "Lean Cuisine" and others that are easy to fix,  but sadly are very high in sodium.   I try and build a balanced meal from that.    I also like to use packets of tuna and other meats for sandwiches for lunch.     Really no complaints,  but  as far as prepping a large meal.  I can assist,  but doubt if I'd take the initiative.