Sack of potatoes
A few weeks ago, Iris invented this game called Sack of Potatoes, where I find an abandoned sack of potatoes (Iris) in the dining room and carry it into her room to make it into dinner. Did you know that potatoes can be made into, among other things, lasagna?
We had people over this afternoon, so I needed to come up with a quick dinner afterwards. Home fries came to mind, but I wasn’t sure I’d have time. I moseyed over to the freezer section, in the same way you might accidentally sidle up to the adult section at the newsstand. It turned out that Ore-Ida hash browns are just frozen cooked potatoes, with no vegetable shortening or even salt. (They do have some innocuous preservative.) So I took a bag home to try.
They took longer to cook than the package promised, but only about 20 minutes total. How did they compare to fresh? Not as good, but certainly not bad. They had a bit of freezer taste which was easily masked by a bite of scrambled egg, and not as much flavor as a fresh potato. But I would certainly consider using these again in a pinch. Probably I should have sprinkled them with some smoked paprika.
Is there a web site devoted to revealing which convenience foods are good and which are terrible?
Comment by Kathleen
Probably, yes. I know there are websites that will tell you which convenience foods are economically a good choice!
We have a game called Mashed Potatoes, in which the child gets washed, peeled, chopped, and mashed (no water actually involved).
Posted on February 11, 2007 at 10:39 am
Comment by Susan
Here’s one:
HeatEatReview.com
Posted on February 11, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Comment by Owen O'Neill
Not a web site per se but there’s a book called “Almost From Scratch”
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/2003/almost/index.html
The author has a slew of recipes that cut prep and/or cookign time by relying on convenience foods. He did fairly exhaustive personal research and offers what appear to be balanced and unvarnished opinions about which convenience foods suck and which are worthwhile.
Posted on February 13, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Comment by mamster
Thanks, Owen. I just put a hold on it at the library.
Posted on February 13, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Comment by MOM(Judy)
This book is sort of a cross between Todd Wilbur’s “Secret Recipes” and Sandra Lee’s crimes against humanity. Andrew Schloss is a better cook and writer than both of them. Some of his baking books are actually quite good.
Posted on February 13, 2007 at 10:39 pm