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pandemic pantry - food, getting it, storing it, baking during lockdown

#161
MJ5150 said:
I've wondered the same thing.
The conclusion I came to is some of those food trucks are not all that concerned with quality to get repeat customers.
If they can be flashy, have something popular, they can draw in people over and over who want to try it out. It ends up being not so good, but there are some folks who will try it again thinking maybe that was just a one time deal. They try again, and realize it's just bad and stop going.
That approach won't work everywhere, but in areas with high traffic and turnover of people, the business from repeat customers is probably not that big a deal.

-Mike
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A lot of crappy food survival also depends on individual taste. I worked with a guy from Georgia who always mentioned a one man barbecue joint in his home town as being the best Q on the planet. On a trip to Atlanta wifey and i drove an hour off route to try this famously good pork. To say it sucked was being generous. The meat was hard and dry as wood chips and the "sauce" tasted like it was mostly lacquer thinner and roofing tar with brown sugar and molasses added for a little kick of sweetness. I realized that even though i thought the place should be burned as a public service, the locals apparently liked it enough to patronize the place long enough it was run by the son of the guy who started the place. When i returned to work my co worker asked what i thought of his favorite Q. I told him we got lost and never found the place. To this day when wifey or I taste something horrible we mention that barbecue joint. It has become our standard by which all poopie posing as edible table fare, is judged. :D
 
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#162
Local guy raves about a sushi restaurant, we've tried it twice & it was awful both times.
What bugs me is he'll post about how it's the best he's ever had, but won't try the place I suggested.

This sort of thing happens to me with gear as well, people claim X is the bee's knees & then I buy X & think that it sucks, LOL!
I simply cannot trust other folks' opinions about things.
 
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#163
fhm555 said:
A lot of crappy food survival also depends on individual taste. I worked with a guy from Georgia who always mentioned a one man barbecue joint in his home town as being the best Q on the planet. On a trip to Atlanta wifey and i drove an hour off route to try this famously good pork. To say it sucked was being generous. The meat was hard and dry as wood chips and the "sauce" tasted like it was mostly lacquer thinner and roofing tar with brown sugar and molasses added for a little kick of sweetness. I realized that even though i thought the place should be burned as a public service, the locals apparently liked it enough to patronize the place long enough it was run by the son of the guy who started the place. When i returned to work my co worker asked what i thought of his favorite Q. I told him we got lost and never found the place. To this day when wifey or I taste something horrible we mention that barbecue joint. It has become our standard by which all poopie posing as edible table fare, is judged. :D
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This my friend is a great point.
The wife and I have also made many a journey such as this one to only be disappointed.
The most recent was when we were in Colorado in December. The friends we stayed with swore up and down the Chinese place in town was the best ever, on the planet. We gave it a go.
Frozen dinners tasted better. It was so bad (I ordered a Chinese staple, chow mein and a side of pork fried rice), I couldn't finish it. Thankfully our friends were not overly sensitive to my dislike and acknowledged that living in Colorado, your options for good/authentic Chinese food are limited. :D
On the subject of Chinese food, I ate and claimed Kung Pao Chicken to be my favorite Chinese dish for years. Little did I know I was having the westernized version. I finally had traditional Kung Pao Chicken prepared by a real Chinese person, and wow was it good. I don't order Kung Pao Chicken in restaurants anymore.

-Mike
 
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#164
Tom Bomb said:
Hooked, I've become, on cacao nibs — 'nature's dark chocolate' — as the latest dietary addition :) I picked up a whole bunch a few months ago. Turns out cacao is involved with the production, inside us cats, of nitric oxide :)
​
I've even milled some and could start making chocolate, dark as you like, if I wanted to. But I'm happy with the healthier angle. After indulging sporadically in Link Removed, over recent years, I'm very comfortable with the bitterness. And it's an excellent food for the times — superb lockdown nibblies :cool:
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It took a couple weeks to get our cocoa nibs, then we forgot about them.
We made vanilla ice cream tonight and this thread came back to me as we were serving it up. Thank you @Tom Bomb for the tip on cocoa nibs. These are indeed excellent. I like them better than chocolate.
The bitterness at first is different, but in a good way.
Next up, were going to make banana bread tomorrow and sprinkle these in.

MVIMG-20200523-212723.jpg


-Mike
 
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#165
Glad you're getting some benefit. I'm still hooked :) We have an unending supply of organic cacao nibs, as the paleolithic people like to label them, on tap, and just a hundred yards away from our front door, in the local health-food shop.

I can happily nibble away on just the nibs. But my two favorite recipes are nibs, walnuts, and royal gala apple — quarter the apple, straight out of the crisper, one small bite per walnut and one level spoonful of nibs. Bliss! Or swap the apple and walnut for dried dates and macadamias.

Chocolate's now a thing of the past — inferior in every way :) And don't forget, nor underestimate, the remarkable benefits of nitrates, in cacao etc., and the flow-on effects — best excuse ever, for the hapless chocoholic. Happily reformed, on the wagon now, me :)
 
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#167
Here in the UK the supermarket shelves have been bare of flour. It turns out the millers can produce plenty but they haven't got the packing capacity to produce enough 2kg (or whatever) bags.

My wife ordered two 16kg bags (self raising and bread) online. More than we need so she's distributing it to friends in return for a donation to the food bank. We have people turning up on our doorstep and leaving with a tupperware container of white powder. I imagine it's a bit like being a drug dealer.
 
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#168
underwhelmist said:
Here in the UK the supermarket shelves have been bare of flour. It turns out the millers can produce plenty but they haven't got the packing capacity to produce enough 2kg (or whatever) bags.

My wife ordered two 16kg bags (self raising and bread) online. More than we need so she's distributing it to friends in return for a donation to the food bank. We have people turning up on our doorstep and leaving with a tupperware container of white powder. I imagine it's a bit like being a drug dealer.
Click to expand...

We ran into the flour issue here a few weeks ago. Not a bag of any kind of flour to be had in grocery stores, even the specialty kinds only a few people buy.
Fortunately we live just a few hours from one of the largest wheat producing regions in the USA. We contacted a small farm that mills to order and ships. We agreed up front to buy a certain amount over the next year, so we're all set now.
Maybe an option like that exists near you?

-Mike
 
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#173
Metalbasspro said:
How does one know how much yeast to add to the flour?
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I follow the recipe or this suggestion from King Arthur Flour if I'm making it up as I go:
Depending on the recipe and rising time, you may use as little as 1 teaspoon, or up to 2 1/4 teaspoons (sometimes more) of instant yeast per pound (about 4 cups) of flour.

I don't generally like to experiment while baking as the results can be inedible rather easily.

-Mike
 
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