Let me tell you guys a story about minced garlic in a jar.
Like many of you guys in this thread my ex-wife claimed the stuff to be an abomination. I told her she’s crazy and you couldn’t tell the difference once it’s cooked into the food. She said “Of course you can.” We went back and forth about this to ad nauseum.
FF, a week later, I’m making my own homemade spaghetti sauce. I lied and told my then wife that I made it with fresh garlic. Upon tasting it she said “See this is SO much better.”
Later on that evening I confessed to her that it was indeed the stuff in a jar. Upon reflection, I probably shouldn’t have done that. She was not pleased with my deception and the rest of our night was NOT fun.
But my asshatery aside (From over a decade ago), I still stand by my assertion that you can’t tell the difference once it’s cooked in the food.
As to the OP: Salsa. Much like salad dressing you can make a gallon of the stuff for the price of one jar. And it tastes way better too.
I find that odd. I literally want to love jarred garlic, because it would make my life so easy, but every time I’ve tried, it hasn’t worked out for me. Maybe it’s because I don’t cook pasta sauce for very long–maybe 20 minutes or so, and the fresh garlic flavor is that much more important. But it really doesn’t work for me. And the paste, like I said before, is much worse. I had to throw away the jar after two uses it just tasted vile.
Fresh-style salsa or cooked style? Fresh style is best when you have in-season, fresh-picked tomatoes, not something from the supermarket. For cooked, it’s a toss-up (to my tastebuds) between good store brands and homemade. I like Green Mountain Gringo and Frontera for nicer storebought salsa, and the Kirkland (Costco) version isn’t too shabby - I mostly use that for cooking with.
Well, you might like them. I just know I was never that fond of pancakes until one day I made my own. Voila! Delicious! I don’t know why my SO, who could be a chef he’s such a good cook, ever eats those.
Thanks all for the tips on onions. I have swim goggles close at hand; maybe those will work.
I always go for cooked style. Raw onions are too pungent for my taste buds. (I hate not being able to eat raw onions)
I have used fresh tomatoes before but most of the time I used canned whole tomatoes. Not ideal but it’s quick, easy and cheap. And still tastes better than any pre made salsa on the market.
Mrs. Frig, the Little Frig and I sit down together of a “main meal” six nights a week. (we go out Friday nights.)
This “main meal” is generally pretty balanced with meat, a veggie, and a starch.
Mrs. Frig and I both work. I cook most of the meals.
Depending on available time, price, convenience and taste preferences, our meals often contain combinations of fresh whole foods, frozen foods and more processed convenience foods.
A meal might have fresh chicken, cut up and stir-fried in olive oil and garlic mixed with canned “Italian style” tomatoes and rotini. Or it might be store-bought frozen meatballs with jar sauce over spaghetti and a side of frozen corn. Or it might be sauteed beef on noodles with jar gravy and fresh steamed zucchini. Or pork chops and a veggie with a side of packaged, processed Spanish rice mix.
If people want to slaughter their own organically raised chickens and chop each fresh grown vegetable and mix and simmer each and every sauce or gravy from scratch, that’s fine. For us, though, there is a place for prepared and convenience foods in a well balanced, eat at home diet.
As a note: buying all of the constituent parts of a fruit salad is often more expensive than a tub of pre-cut, mixed fruit when you consider you must buy whole melons, pineapples, apples, oranges, boxes of fresh berries, etc. you need to make it. Usually in our house part of a fresh cantaloupe will get thrown out unused, since only two of the three of us likes it and the two that do can only eat so much cantaloupe at a time. . .
I just looked up my favorite bottled sauce. You’re wrong.
Classico Spicy Red Pepper
Spicy Red Pepper
In Rome, crushed red pepper creates a bold, spicy “Arrabbiata” sauce. Here, classic Penne al’ Arrabbiata means “Pasta Enraged” – a spirited sauce with red pepper to add spice to any meal.
» View all Spicy Red Pepper Recipes » View Ingredients » View Nutritional Information
Ingredients:
I would agree with this statement, except that I took Home Ec in high school and I didn’t get anything out of it. Hopefully it’s different now, but the only thing I remember is drop biscuits. I could have used some knife skills because I’ll be damned if I can mince a clove of garlic in 30 seconds and the first three finger on my left hand have slices from the ceramic knife I just got (dayum those things are sharp!).
I have been preparing my own food for over 20 years and I have more than beginner’s experience in the kitchen. In fact, for the three weeks, everything I have been eating I have prepared from scratch. I have to say that while I love the way whole foods and homemade makes me feel, it is extremely time-consuming. Especially the beans aspect. I get why people buy canned cooked beans and the like. It’s really justa about levels of convenience. I’ll bet their are plenty of people who think buying prechopped veg is lazy, but are perfectly willing to buy a can of black beans.
Even the better quality brands have preservatives, they just don’t have to list them if it’s a small amount. Canned tomatoes contain sulfites, so I can’t have them. Many people react to sulfites and it’s hard to catch because it’s in SO MUCH food. Anything that’s been chopped and packaged has sulfites either sprinkled on or a bath.
