I absolutely love Bachman Sweet Potato Tortilla chips. They have the saltiness of standard tortilla chips while providing that unusual sweet from sweet potato flavor. I like to dip them with hummus so it always offers a nice contrast. If you need some variety from standard tortilla chips, these are a great option.
From the back of the bag, a quote worth mentioning:
“Next We Continue the centuries old tradition of soaking the corn for hours and then grinding it with lava stones to the perfect consistency.” Lava Stones? That’s very metal.
This is also another regional snack product, coming from Pennsylvania. I’m noticing that Eastern Pennsylvania is quite a snack food powerhouse (so far I’ve also posted Real Deal Veggie Chips). To this end I am introducing a new tag: the Pennsylvania Fertile Snack Belt
Note1: These chips are gluten free.
Note2: These chips have turmeric extract in them which is an anti-inflammatory.
I was looking for snacks to add into the weekly rotation and came across Karison’s Toasted Corn at Punjabi Deli.
The small 5oz bag was only $2. It has a simple ingredient list of sweet corn, salt and canola oil. It’s also made locally in Flushing, NY too boot.
They give you a great crunch. I like the mild saltiness to contrast with the corn’s sweetness. You could probably serve this in bars and do really well. I think they’d also make a great addition to a homemade chex type of snack mix. Corn! Did you think of Liz Lemon too?
I’m a big fan of the NBC Comedy show 30 Rock. You have to admire the writing on this show. No other food related gag has stuck this close. The clip below is from season 5, episode 2 (When It Rains, It Pours).
I check ingredient lists for practically everything. Corn, corn starch, and corn syrup show up all the time. This isn’t even considering all the corn derived stuff described in Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma. Now whenever I see anything made from corn I think 30 rock and giggle to myself. I probably look quite strange giggling to myself to fellow grocery store goers. If they saw the clip, they would have the same reaction surely. Until this episode I didn’t realize how often corn is used in different foods. This might me the smartest subliminal advertising ever. There isn’t a better food for them to use and get the same mileage. When I eat popcorn I think of 30 rock. The other day making spoonbread I thought of 30 rock. When I read the word corn it’s in the Liz Lemon voice (Tina Fey). Maybe this is how they planned to boost viewership?
Haldiram’s Aloo Bhujia, are we starting to get serious? This makes twice in a row I bought you over plain jane Bhujia at the legendary Punjabi Deli. Your flavor is extremely different. You have the familiar potato flavor profile but along with it you get a hint of mint (mint powder) and a pleasant citrus flavor. I mistook it for lime, but apparently per the ingredients, tartness comes from amchur (mango powder). You are a coy mistress aren’t you? It’s much less spicy than the other bhujia and after consecutive weeks eating plain, it’s a welcome change. Aloo Bhujia are we going steady? Don’t get your hopes up as Plain Bhujia is kind of my thing. I’ll stop to check on you from time to time though.
Note: It’s worth noting that this product appears to also be gluten-free (and it does not mention being made in a facility where wheat is processed). This is a top 5 RoodonFood snack.
Seaweed is either starting to get trendy or a distributor seems to be cutting some good deals as it’s available at my two nearest bodegas. I had to try it out. How could I not? Look at how happy the fellow on the front of the packet looks. Don’t you want to be that happy too?
Full disclosure: I bought and went through several bags of other types of snack crunchies before finally opening this one as I was a little scared to try it. I had seaweed before, though unflavored. I was fairly neutral about it.
The Tao Kae Noi seaweed tastes light with an enjoyable crispiness. It’s not oily. This bag is called “Original Flavour” and comes in a 0.28 oz packet. The small bag is sensible because many people are probably trying seaweed for the first time. Additionally I only paid a $1 so I don’t feel ripped off while taking part in this snack food experiment. The bag is not resealable so you need to eat it in one sitting or transfer to a Tupperware to retain the texture. The pieces are manageable rectangles you can fit in one bit. The flavor is sort of liked crisped fish skin. It was alienating on first bite as I didn’t expect the added flavorings. After a few pieces I don’t mind it but don’t love it.
I can see why some people may appreciate this flavor of seaweed. They want the satisfaction of meaty taste without having to cook. I have a mental block on any sort of meat flavored crunchy no matter what the form. I’d rather have a piece of fish rather then fish flavored seaweed. Or actually lamb with mash over lamb flavored chips. The ingredients are seaweed, palm oil, salt, pepper and flavor enhancer. Unfortunately it does not define what that flavor is. . I’d guess it’s some sort of fish stock or it’s the sea coming through. It’s tough to get the fishiness off your tongue. I would not buy this product again. Alternately I’d buy some plain to cleanse the palate. I would however try another flavor. I’m still interested in achieving the level of happiness the mascot appears to have.
Yesterday the Landlord and company were having the best smelling barbeque.
He has unwittingly provided me food ideas multiple times lately. The closest I had to barbeque was a McCormick Mesquite spice which I mixed with panko breadcrumbs and coated chicken burgers. I opted for pan-frying. They turned out great.
They had just the right amount of sweet to spicy. On the side we had some enviable foods:
Roasted brussels sprouts – flavored with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika and a little chili powder.
Roasted cauliflower – flavored with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper. After roasting we coated with a sesame oil, agave, tahini dipping sauce. The brilliant source for this recipe sadly, is not but me but rather ZestyVegan at Serious Eats.
Slight modifications:
-We actually roasted the cauliflower for 30 minutes rather than 20.
-We also doubled the amount of sauce for the purpose of coating thoroughly. (We had a very large head of cauliflower)
You have to love stuff you can just throw in the oven.
Fantastic news. Cadbury Crème Eggs are now available at least one retailer: CVS. I spotted and promptly bought a handful. Valentine’s Day just ended so the candy hearts are gone at retail outlets. There is no lag time these days between holidays, this means they’re already stocked up for Easter related stuff.
Cadbury Crème Eggs have always been a favorite. I credit the ad campaign of the 1980s for the positive association. It featured an adorable clucking bunny (the Cadbury Bunny who is meant to be the Easter Bunny) who lays the Cadbury Crème Eggs. The voiceover, done by voice actor Mason Adams provides a warm tone. He sounds like an easygoing uncle who tells the truth. Then of course the killer slogan for the campaign was : “Nobunny knows Easter better than him.” I can think of few other candy campaigns which were so convincing and memorable. (Aside from the famous “I get the sensation of….” York Peppermint Patty one from the 80s through early 90s).
The eggs were sold as far back as 1923 though with other, presumably less awesome fillings. The fondant filling came in 1963. In 1971 the name was changed from “Fry’s Crème Eggs” to “Cadbury Crème Eggs.”
They’re coveted by fans because they’re only available seasonally in the U.S. Like your favorite band coming to town, they’re here today and gone tomorrow (until the next tour). The shell is milk chocolate, the inside crème (cream) is made from fondant (colored to look like yoke and egg white). They’re extremely rich. You almost feel decadent eating one. When consuming it, it’s important to have some black coffee to cut the sweet. The coffee accompaniment is a rule I follow with any sweet. My favorite way to eat Cadbury’s is to bite a hole in the narrow top and then eat the creamy yolk inside. The rest of the chocolate shell is like a delicious chaser. There are actually quite a few articles/videos about how people like to eat theirs:
What’s yours? Per Smithsonian magazine, some people even use the eggs in cooking. A Cadbury McFlurry sounds a little criminal.
If they were available year around, the way they are in England I don’t think I’d appreciate them nearly as much. They’re just a little too rich to be one of your regular candies of choice like a Snickers or a Kit Kat might be. In fact at one point the company did sell them year round in North America and sales actually dropped.
It’s worth noting that there are other versions Cadbury eggs including mini candy shelled eggs and eggs with a caramel filling. Those aren’t worth your time though since you can get caramel in a dozen other chocolate bars. There is a reason that those other types don’t sell out but the crème eggs do.
If you don’t know Cadbury Crème Eggs please remedy that as soon as possible. Last year they sold out weeks before Easter Sunday. I ended up settling for Russell Stover Coconut Cream and Maple Cream eggs. They’re delicious in their own right but Cadbury’s is a tradition.
Update: Please see before and after pictures below.
Spoonbread is not the most photo friendly food but it was delicious. It works well with baked beans because it’s fun to breakup and add into the sauce.It’s also covertly a desert since our version was on the sweet side.
We made a few modifications from the Smitten Kitchen recipe: It suggests blending the corn kernels. We skipped the blender part because we like corn kernels in spoon bread. We also used smasher to help the consistency. To help veganize the recipe we substituted in Ener-G egg substitute in place of egg whites. Also we like spoonbread sweet so we used 4 or 5 tablespoons of honey rather than the suggested one spoon of sugar. (I don’t get the appeal of savory cornbread). Lastly, the cook time suggested 45 minutes but being novices we feared it would dry out so we pulled it out after about 30 minutes. We ate it immediately because sadly, we’re only human. The spoonbread because of the cook time was very moist, bordering on corn pudding but fantastic nonetheless.
Before and After Pictures:
Summary: Spoonbread is a more evolved version of cornbread, it’s better known cousin. I’m already considering other foods it would go great with. Top of mind would be a nice hearty chili. I would absolutely make this recipe again. Upon discovering how easy spoonbread is, I don’t know if I can go back to cornbread.
The spoonbread will be ready in around 30 minutes and I’m super excited. I don’t know much about baking and am a cornbread novice. (Not counting a delicious Chi-Chi’s Sweet Corn Cake packet from the grocery. I can’t find a link to the product itself so that is a copycat link).
Yesterday I mentioned on RoodonFood, that food inspiration came courtesy of the landlord‘s place. The lovely molasses and brown sugar smell of baked beans emanating from the floorboards resulted in us having the same meal ourselves today. What’s a good food pairing with baked beans? Spoonbread of course. We settled on a great spoonbread recipe from a website called Smitten Kitchen. We chose this one because of the pictures.
Everyone gets in a food rut from time to time. And a difficult week can really kill your urge to make delicious meals. Sometimes though, the answer of what to cook comes right to your nose. I don’t know what happened in the last few months, but suddenly my landlord and/or his family learned to cook aromatic foods. I need only take a whiff in the hallway or the smell coming through the floorboards to get some great ideas.
Yesterday they had amazing smelling baked beans. That’s perfect as we’ve had an urge to make spoonbread(a decidely softer version of cornbread, you can eat with a spoon. It’s mostly a Southern thing). What a perfect combination. Thanks Landlord!
The other day they made Chicken Makhani, a cream based Indian dish. Guess what I haven’t made in months? Thanks Landlord!
