What Pre-Processed Foods Do You Use/Like?

Morning Glory said:
Looks like hardly anybody makes their own puff pastry.
Click to expand...
I was taught to laminate in school in Paris. On a rainy winters day my wife and I spend it listening to music and laminating. I do the puff Marina does 3 types of Croissant plain chocolate and my fav Frangipane, We will start in November. I have made rough puff here a couple of time. You cant really get good quality all butter puff here.
I made this chicken and mushroom with R/Puff
92402000_805351486621035_1669188908732121088_n.jpg
 
I don't want to sound a pretentious nelly but normally apart ketchup, mayo, Thai chili sauce and frozen veg. My wife took my cardiologists advise on processed to Heart. With the move she has loosened her choke hold a bit. But like with the butcher made civapi and pljeskavice I posted they were disappointing. Balkan people like everything double fine minced.
 
Morning Glory said:
I think we need to hear or see more about your experience training as a pastry chef...
Click to expand...
It's was never career minded. It was because I loved food and women. When I was in my twenties I made a few bob with my younger brother. He bought a boat, I enrolled in a private patisserie school that was contracted to "finish" young ladies. I did three one month intensive courses. For tart and pie cooking cooking I still tend to hand do Pate Brisee and Sucree.
Make Brisee chill , in a heavy bottomed pan sweat some thin mandolin sliced onions on a low heat so no color. Crumble a good blue cheese like a Stilton and gently work into a past. Line a quiche tin with the brisee and blind bake. Let cool and smear the cheese and onion on the base. Wish some egg yolks and cream together and pour in. Bake in a hot oven til the middle bounces. Serve luke warm with an endive and segmented orange salad.
Back In the day in the UK I used to make cake for friends and family. I made my wedding cake with my wife.
img045.jpg


img046.jpg


img047 (1).jpg


img043.jpg


img049.jpg
 
Morning Glory said:
Thinking about this more - it depends what you are including as pre-processed.
Click to expand...
While I don't like to really limit anyone's response, I do realize this was a very general question. By pre-processed (or processed), I was thinking more of ready-made versions of things you could fairly easily make from scratch.

For example, I can buy a box of dehydrated potato slices, and it comes with a dry mix that, when mixed with milk/water, gets stirred together and tossed in the oven...POOF!...scalloped potatoes!

I do note the difference in meaning between here and there of the word "sauce." I definitely wouldn't put ketchup, mustard, or mayo in the sauce category, even if technically they are. Here, we'd call those condiments. By sauce, I meant more like jarred pasta sauces, jarred pesto, that kind of thing.
 
Last edited:
More than I realized.
Pasta
Puff Pastry and phyllo
When yeast was not available I purchased
- rise and bake frozen bread dough
- rolled out pizza dough from a local pizza joint.
Boxed chicken broth. Costco's brand organic broth is lower in sodium than most and very tasty.
Better Than Bouillon beef and chicken paste.
I rarely add additional salt when using the broth or paste.
My confession - I rarely make dark roux. The jarred roux is excellent and such a time saver. It also keeps forever. When I do make roux I make a large batch.
When I do not have fresh basil in the garden I will purchase jarred Pesto, When I have fresh basil, like now, I make my own.
Morning Glory I like Nutritional Yeast for the mild, cheesy flavor. I use it mostly on vegetables.
I do not like premixed seasoning with the exception of Benoit's Best. It is salt free and the best mix of spices and herbs that I have found. I like being able to control the salt.
 
I like to make things from scratch. I make my own pizza dough, bread dough, biscuit dough. (I learned the art of biscuits from Nathalie Dupree.) I make most of my own sauces and gravies, although I do have a few "mixes" on hand for times when I am too tired or busy to really cook. I don't like anything from a box, no mac and cheese (although my wife insists on eating the blue box) or potatoes or hamburger helper (ugh) or any of that stuff. I do have things on hand like ketchup, squeeze bottles of ginger and garlic, all kinds of spices and cans of soup which I use occasionally as a shortcut. I buy bbq sauce and asian orange sauce because they taste good enough that i don' t see the point of making it. The same with pie crust. I mastered it back in my teens but haven't made it for over 10 years probably. I use jarred pesto because I think it tastes pretty darn good too. I buy loads of chicken broth and stock. So I do a mix of things but my focus is really on scratch cooking.
 
ElizabethB said:
My confession - I rarely make dark roux. The jarred roux is excellent and such a time saver. It also keeps forever. When I do make roux I make a large batch.
Click to expand...

Oh my! And I spent all that time learning how to make it from scratch from you guys. :D Mind you, I can't buy it here ready made so there is no option.
 
Morning Glory said:
Why not? Maybe you don't enjoy making pastry but I find it therapeutic if I'm in the right mood.
Click to expand...
I'm the same way with pie crust. I probably make it once a year, and then only when I really, really want a pie and don't have any boxed crust on hand.

For me, I think it's a combination of the supermarket product being very good in its own right, and (as counterintuitive as this sounds), homemade pie crust is so easy (especially if you use the food processor) that it's almost not worth the trouble.
 
I think the laziest thing I buy rather than make is minced ginger and garlic. I buy the Asian brands which I find great for time saving, mid week meals for a stir fry or add to soup. However it's not as good as fresh which I use when I have time at the weekend.

I'll occasionally buy sabra humous for a picnic if I don't have time or forget to prepare the chickpeas.

One thing I've never made is mayonaise, but I do make vegan mayonaise.

This is actually really interesting to get thinking why I buy rather than make something and if I really should make my own. Sometimes, though, a little cheat helps enormously.
 
Morning Glory said:
Oh my! And I spent all that time learning how to make it from scratch from you guys. :D Mind you, I can't buy it here ready made so there is no option.
Click to expand...
:oops:
I know. It is kind of embarrassing. It is available on line but the shipping would probably be prohibitive. If any of you do decide to order on line I like Savoie's. It is the closest to home made.
I do still make Dark Roux from scratch just not very often. It pays to know how. A couple of years ago I spent a week with my brother in Colorado. He wanted a Gumbo. I brought fresh pork sausage, Andouille, Tasso and File. I started to bring a jar of Roux. Brother said there was a specialty store where we could get it. Wrong. So first I had to make a roux. I learned something. At an elevation of 5,000 ft. it took twice the amount of flour. Two cups flour to one cup oil.
In '08 G had open heart surgery in Grapevine, TX. - a sub-burg of Dallas. Long story but after his surgery we spent two weeks at the home of his cardiologist (a cousin of his Ex-wife.) She asked me to make a gumbo. I was able to find fresh and smoked sausage. No Andouille, Tasso, File or roux. First I had to make a roux.
Two occasions where knowing how to make a roux saved the day.
 
Last edited:
Morning Glory said:
Oh my! And I spent all that time learning how to make it from scratch from you guys. :D Mind you, I can't buy it here ready made so there is no option.
Click to expand...

There is a downside to roux in a jar. It is like concrete right off the shelf. If I use it, I have to put the jar in my sous vide setup for an hour of more to make it come out of the jar.

But, it tastes fine, but I rarely use it.

CD
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom