Text 15405, 154 rader
Skriven 2014-08-02 19:33:00 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 15309 av Dave Drum (1:18/200.0)
Ärende: Gummint Cheese                                           [1]
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Hi Dave,

 DD> substitute" (Egg Beaters, etc) and that is more expen$ive than real
 DD> eggs - so, unlikely to be in cheap/bargain/low-end pasta.

 RH> Fake mac--white flour, chemicals and such like. Turns to mush in hot
 RH> water, no taste to it. Whole wheat mac is the antithesis of fake mac.

 DD> I don't find the macaroni in boxed mac & cheezoid substantially worse
 DD> than that in a Barilla or Ronzoni box. My rule-of-thumb on pre-made
 DD> pasta is - If the instructions tell you to rinse it, that is a sign of
 DD> the lowest quality. I do not waste time (or treasure) on it.

I don't spend time or money on the white stuff either. I was raised on
either Muellers or the A&P house brand of white pasta, and my mom always
oveer cooked it. IIRC, she rinsed macaroni after cooking but not
spaghetti. Those were the 2 types of pasta she used most often. We'd, on
the rare occaision, see lasagne noodles and even rarer times, egg
noodles. OTOH, I've got probably half a dozen pasta shapes/sizes on
hand, all whole wheat plus a pack of soba noodles.

 DD> Most "macaroni" is white or very pale yellow (from the eggs and the

 RH> The mac that goes into the boxed stuff is not a high quality type,
 RH> especially if you get the non name brand stuff.

 DD> See above. Even the generic boxed stuff in the white box with the
 DD> plain black label has proved decent enough for a quick meal - for me.
 DD> YOUR mileage
 DD> obviously varies. That being said, I seldom do straight Mac & Cheese.
 DD> Usually there is some ground meat involved, or canned tuna, and often
 DD> a can of cream of mushroom soup. And I don't boil the noodles like a
 DD> Southern cook boiling vegetables - into mush.

I don't do straight mac & cheese very often now, too many carbs for me.
When I do make it, I use the sharpest cheese I can find, whole wheat
macaroni and usually add a shot of spicy brown mustard to the "white"
(made with whole wheat flour) sauce. There's rarely any left over. (G)


 DD> off-white of the semolina) and made, essentially from white(ish)
 DD> flour. Whole-wheat pasta is pretty hard to find outside of the
 DD> specialty aisles or a specialised market. I do see the occasional WW
 DD> macaroni or buckwheat spaghetti at Hy-Vee or Schnuk's. But those are
 DD> considered "high-end" super daddy-o markets. We don't gots a Whole
 DD> Foods or Trader Joe.

 RH> I'm seeing WW pasta at a lot of mainstram grocey stores now. Even
 RH> Wal-Mart carries it, suspect Super Target does as well. Used to be, I'd
 RH> have to go to a natural foods store to get it (or places like Whole
 RH> Foods or Trader Joes) but not any more. More selection at the former
 RH> than the latter but also available in other stores now. And, at prices
 RH> comparable to the white stuff.

 DD> What I see so far, around here, is spaghetti, lasagna sheets (rarely),
 DD> and bucatini. Haven't noticed elbow macaroni, farfalle, linguini or
 DD> fettuccine. But, then, I haven't been looking for it. I don't *ever*
 DD> do *China* *Mart*. And I tend to avoid Target/Super Target as
 DD> everything I might be interested in is at maximum distance from the
 DD> entrance. Schnuk's, Hy-Vee, Shop & Save, Meijer, County Market and
 DD> ALDI are our "mainstream" stupormarkups - with ALDI bridging the gap
 DD> between warehouse, no-frills and "real" markets. Warehouse stores
 DD> include Ruler Foods (Kroger trying to sneak back into town), Sav-A-Lot
 DD> and, of course, ALDI. Still hard to beat my old, reliable, family
 DD> owned/run small supermarket - Humphrey's - for most things, especially
 DD> meats and locally sourced produce and specialty things.

I do a mix of stores. W-M gets business for some staples (no meats); we
get a lot of basics (including meats) at Lowe's. We go to Aldi's for
chocolate and odds and ends, a fair amount of buying at Whole Foods and
odds & ends at Harris Teeter and Trader Joe's. Some groceries at Target
if we're there for other shopping, not on a regular basis tho and a lot
of local produce at the farmer's market.

 DD> Pasta is meant to be neutral (essentially flavourless) which is why we
 DD> put sauces, etc. on it.

 RH> WW pasta adds its own flavoring to the sauces, etc. It's not detracting
 RH> and (most brands) don't get all mushy like the white stuff does if even
 RH> slightly over cooked.

 DD> Then one would need to plan for the extra flavour component as it is
 DD> then not neutral.

Yes, especailly if you're not used to the taste. I use it whenever we
cook for Life Group and have yet to get any complaints.

 DD>       Title: Homemade Pasta w/Seafood Medley
 DD>  Categories: Pasta, Seafood, Beans, Greens
 DD>       Yield: 4 servings

 DD>     115 g  Rocket

 DD>   Sprinkle over the rocket and cook until the rocket has
 DD>   just wilted.

 RH> Looks good but I'm trying to figure out what rocket is. I guess it's
 RH> some sort of leafy green vegetable but there are a lot out there to
 RH> chose from.

 DD> In England (whence cometh the recipe I posted) Arugula is known as
 DD> "rocket". According to the WIKI "an edible annual plant, commonly
 DD> known as salad rocket, roquette, rucola, rucoli, rugula, colewort,
 DD> and, in the United States, arugula."

 RH> OK, I'll add that to my "learn something new every day" file. Thanks
 RH> for the clarification.

 DD> I learned from it as well. I knew rocket was a salad green - just not
 DD> which particular one.


Just not the usual American association for the word tho. Conjures up an
interesting mental picture.


 DD> This is a *very* good sauce for most any kind of pasta - I've not made
 DD> it by substituting for the red wine. I know you don't do wine, etc.
 DD> So, feel free to substitute and let us know how it went.  Bv)=

 RH> In this case, beef broth would be a good sub. Especially with the
 RH> ground meats that are in it. I usually make a marinara type sauce with
 RH> tomato paste/sauce, water, oregano, garlic, basil, pinch of salt &
 RH> black pepper. Sometimes I'll add tomatoes. Other times I'll start with
 RH> some sauteed onions, bell peppers, garlic & mushrooms, add some skinned
 RH> & cut up tomatoes plus the above spices for a fresh veggie sauce.

 DD> Or, double up on the chicken stock/broth ... or use all beef
 DD> stock/broth.

Either one is a viable option.


 DD>       Title: Seafood Couscous Paella
 DD>  Categories: Pasta, Seafood,
 DD>       Yield: 2 servings

 DD>   Whole-wheat couscous soaks up this savory saffron-infused
 DD>   broth.

I use whole wheat couscous all the time. (And why are you not
surprised?) (G)


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... There cannot be a crisis today; my schedule is already full.

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 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)