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Overrated: Wraps. The "bread" tastes like flat uncooked dough and the texture is gross. As posters have said about other foods, if that's in my mouth, I just want to spit it out.
Underrated: Tofu. Well, somebody is eating it because there was absolutely none available in my supermarket for most of April and May. I used to be a person who shied away from it, too. But like other foods that have very little taste of their own, it absorbs the flavors of whatever you cook it with and provides a good, lo-cal protein source. I make a stir-fry thing with tofu, peanuts, peppers and onions and sweet thai chili sauce.
First one that I've agree with 100%. Discovering white balsamic changed how often we eat salads around here. Just add some fresh cracked pepper and kosher or finishing salt. (half and half, huh? gotta try that. Do you think cream would work if watered down a bit?)
Since the IP, the only time I've touched my slow cooker is when we have parties and I need to keep something warm.
nmita and other sweet salsa haters - Try baking some chicken pieces in Salsa Verde. Brown the chicken first on both sides, put in the salsa verde in the bottom of the pan, leaving the skin exposed so it's gets crispy. I like the Herdez Hot brand. One of DH's new favorites that I cooked up during Covid when the pantry was a little bare. Serve with rice.
Interesting suggestion with salsa verde.
When I make my “house” dressing, I use EVOO, white balsamic vinegar a little half and half, and fresh ground pepper. I imagine cream instead of half and half would be wonderful. You don’t need much.
Underrated - Cabbage, its so versatile and delish. Ex, cabbage rolls stuffed with ground seasoned turkey, fermented cabbage with garlic for delicious probiotic, refreshing coleslaw, braised cabbage with mushrooms in butter
Overrated -Bacon......its greasy, its like snacking on chunks of fat, the pigs eat everything and then some, pork has know to have worms in it.
Modern pork is neither greasy, nor hazardous to your health. Properly cooked bacon is not greasy.
I haven't yet figured out caviar. I have had the sushi rolls that have salmon roe and what have you. Tasty fishy, salty, and crunchy. One day I went to a fancy brunch buffet for a friends b-day. They had a bunch of kinds of caviar with crepes, and all the other fixings. Honestly I just felt like they were a salt delivery device, like capers. Definitely don't need to buy any. Depending on the dish, I am ok if they are a garnish of some form.
Growing up my mom's "homemade" bbq sauce was the bottled stuff with a lot of vinegar, some extra mustard, and chili flakes. So I always thought that tart spicy bbq sauce was what you would get and that was normal. As BBQ sauce has become more and more staple sauce, I am always disappointed. It is just weird. Now if I have bbq sauce, like at a restaurant or something, I always add so much hot sauce to add that vinegar note and cut the sweetness. Crystal hot sauce is great to cut overly sweet sauce!
Ok, growing up my mom's favorite flavoring agent was apple cider vinegar. It was probably in half of the foods we ate growing up. Served for all green veggies (though sometimes we'd use the pepper vinegar instead), on fish, my mom likes it on fried chicken, and she put some in all of her roasted meats. So basically I grew up looking for a lot of acid in basically every dish. You may or may not remember the good seasonings Italian dressing mix and bottle - but anyway it was a spice packet with dried spices and you mixed your own oil and vinegar in it. The bottle looked for 2 parts oil, one part vinegar. We always made it one part oil 2 parts vinegar!
As an adult I started experimenting with more vinegars. And I have soooo many. All give me a different vibe in dishes, dressings and salad. On many days I pick a vinegar, pick and oil and there is my salad. Sometimes I do make a dressing. But a few favorites of mine: flavored white balsamic (I have a cucumber one right now - so good!), champagne vinegar - this a great sub for the white balsamic with a little more bite. I have a honey flavored champagne vinegar - great for salads. And I also have an orange muscat vinegar (from Trader Joes) I love for fish, and also those fruity salsas you all hate! I like a fruity salsa with heat e.g. mango habanero or something like that. For me good salsas have both heat and acid. And I am ok with a little fruit as a sweet agent. But not sugar. But I love fruit salsas with lighter meats - fish, chicken, and grilled pork.
I really like the bun dish - super bright and a lot of great texture. I prefer Thai, but I have now learned there are a lot of terrible Thai restaurants, and here in the Bay we have a little more variety and higher quality. Bad Thai is muted in both flavor and texture. Good Thai is a lot more amped up and offers the freshness you get in Vietnamese food, but with more spice and bolder flavors. You can definitely see how they are cousins, especially as you get more of the regional Thai dishes. But the average Thai restaurant is more like the greatest hits, and usually does them poorly (trying to cater to American tastes, so it lands as overly sweet and kinda bland).
I know this will sounds like blasphemy, but overrated - most Italian restaurants.
I think there is a lot of delicious Italian food. Unfortunately, since Italian food is one of the premium options, there are a lot of high-priced but mediocre places. Most I can eat there and think yup, I could totally make this and do a better job. I don't mind paying for high quality and well-prepared food, but when I go out for Italian it rarely delivers.
Underrated: Crystal Hot Sauce.
For whatever reason, Tabasco is the default "American hot sauce" option. But it has no flavor to me. So bland. Crystal is so much more balanced and has a very short ingredient list: aged red cayenne peppers, distilled white vinegar, and salt. And it is family owned!
Enjoyed your post. My fave hot sauce is Cholula. Tabasco is all heat and no flavor for me.
I didn't even know there was a white balsamic vinegar. Hmm. I could easily have said balsamic vinegar as "overrated". I really don't like it, but maybe a white one I would. Going to look for that.
I rarely use bottled dressings. Olive oil and lemon on salad for me, if I use anything.
Overrated: Almond Milk this stuff is Nasty. That's all my brothers family drinks. His kids have never had cows milk. If I visit him he buys a qt of regular milk for my coffee. Lattes, Frappes and all those high calorie foo foo drinks too sweet for me.
Underrated:Chicken livers, gizzards and hearts my DH favorite for me it would be spaghetti squash. Most people I know have never had it or know what it looks like. I love it.
Overrated: New York pizza. Closely followed by New Haven pizza. There are so many much more interesting variants around the globe.
Underrated: Meatloaf. Sure, it screams 1960 but a good meatloaf recipe is a great meal with leftovers for sandwiches. I use the Ina Garten recipe as the basis of mine. I use tons of sweet onion to keep it moist. Beef/veal/pork blend. Panko for breadcrumbs. I use the rest of the tomato paste, balsamic, a good mustard, and maple syrup for the glaze.
Overrated: New York pizza. Closely followed by New Haven pizza. There are so many much more interesting variants around the globe.
Underrated: Meatloaf. Sure, it screams 1960 but a good meatloaf recipe is a great meal with leftovers for sandwiches. I use the Ina Garten recipe as the basis of mine. I use tons of sweet onion to keep it moist. Beef/veal/pork blend. Panko for breadcrumbs. I use the rest of the tomato paste, balsamic, a good mustard, and maple syrup for the glaze.
NY Pizza is the best followed by Chicago Deep dish.
Underrated - fruit served at 85-95 degrees (the same temperature when you pick it and eat it straight from the tree)
Overrated - room temperature/refrigerated fruit
This is especially true for fruits that ripen in the dead of summer like peaches and figs.
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