Great Food From Discount Grocers.

My wife, like so many people today, does most of her shopping at discount stores and at stores that sell overstocks from other stores.

You can always get nutritious food for a very good price but in many cases it tends to be rather plain or bland.

This last time she has outdone herself. She found a package of frozen haddock filets with an artichoke and capers cream sauce that is just absolutely knock your socks of good.

Do not ever look down on the discount stores. What they have varies and it is not always wonderful but there are times that you can find an absolute gem when shopping there and stocking up on necessities that are cheaper than elsewhere is certainly not a bad thing at all in todays economy.

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How Not to Cook Food for a Buffet!

My wife's birthday is coming up and I took her out for dinner this evening. She loves Prime Rib and I have been driving past a restaurant that has a Prime Rib and Seafood buffet every Friday and Saturday.

With the Prime Rib there was a choice between medium rare and well done. Medium rare was raw and cold. Well done was like shoe leather.

The coconut shrimp was cooked to the point where is was almost burnt and tough.

The Crab Legs had a thick crust of Old Bay seasoning on them.

Apparently they used all the Old Bay on the crab legs because the Maryland Crab Soup had none in it.

The breaded and fried clam strips were actually quite good.

Perhaps the made to order items on the menu are wonderful and maybe this was just a bad night but I will not be back to The Pike Restaurant in Gettysburg anytime soon.

For 30 dollars a person I expect to have a meal that is at least reasonably good and enjoyable. In my opinion I am owed about 45 dollars of the 60 I spent since this meal was somewhat less than mediocre.

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Corn Meal

It is the time of year that foods made from corn meal are wonderful. There is nothing better in my mind than to get up on a cold snowy or rainy day and sit down to a large bowl of corn meal mush. When fresh out of the pot with a little butter and some sugar or molasses it is absolutely fabulous. Hot, sticks to your ribs and stays with you for a while. Another thing that is good about it is after you cook the mush and have your fill in a bowl, you take the rest, put it in loaf pans and refrigerate. In theory it solidifies and can be sliced and then fried another morning.

This is something that was quite common when I was a child. My father made this on a regular basis and it is really good. I have no problem with the initial part of cooking it and having bowls of it. I have not yet mastered the solidifying part. The liquid is wonderful and I cook it exactly as I learned to but it will just not solidify. I am wondering if something has changed about the way corn meal is processed from the way it was 35 or 40 years ago.

Should anyone have a possible solution to this please feel free to let me know.

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Making Do With What You Have

There are entirely too many folks that have absolutely no adventure in their soul when it comes to food.

Do not be afraid to experiment. I will be the first to admit that that I have on occasion had some spectacular disasters when experimenting with food while cooking but not too many and they become fewer and further between as you get some experience.

I would be quite comfortable in saying that I can walk into anyone's kitchen anywhere and with a few questions about likes and dislikes, with some kind of meat and a decent supply of assorted canned goods and spices or seasonings, I can cook up a pretty damned good meal that they will be quite happy with.

You need to listen to the folks you are cooking for. My wife for instance does not like pepper or peppers so I will generally cook with no pepper unless the dish is one that requires it as a main ingredient. Pepper steak for example is rather difficult to do without peppers.

The important point is, do not be afraid to experiment. You learn from mistakes and over time you can make some incredibly good things with just what you have on hand, which in this economy can be a very good thing.

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Don’t Be Afraid to Play With Your Food.

Just got home from work a bit ago and was hungry. My wife had gotten a bag of pretty good breaded Chicken Patties and I wanted those but perhaps a bit more exotic.

Mayonnaise, a little soy sauce, some Tabasco sauce, a little sesame oil and a bit of parmesan cheese makes for a seriously good spread for the roll on a chicken patty sandwich.

Never, ever be afraid to experiment in the kitchen. I will admit that I have on occasion made some absolutely spectacular disasters but the winners far exceed the ones that crashed and burned.

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