Food and Recipes while under Coronavirus quarantine #8

[slowpoke]

If you like sourdough bread, my favorite is Stone House Bread from Traverse City, Michigan. It has few ingredients and is the best I’ve ever had. It makes excellent toast, grilled cheese, garlic bread, croutons for salad, and sandwiches.

I buy it when I’m working in Michigan, other times I have ordered directly from the bakery to be shipped to my home. I have introduced my friends to it so when I go to Michigan or order for delivery I have a large order.

Many Meijer stores in Michigan and northern Indiana carry it in their bakery departments.

Stone House Bread – stonehousebread.com

stonehousebread.com

I *love* a good sourdough bread. For a grilled cheese sandwich, it’s my favorite bread to use with cheddar cheese.

Over here in SoCal, so far my favorite that I’ve been able to find is the sourdough bread by United Bakery. Fortunately, it is carried by a local supermarket chain.

From what I could find, their ingredients list:
Unbleached unenriched wheat flour, filtered water, naturally aged sourdough starter, unprocessed sea salt, wheat gluten, ascorbic acid, natural enzymes.

Of course, these days I am really limiting my bread intake. But thanks to your post, I researched and see that real sourdough is better than white bread (lower glycemic index) due to the fermentation process involved. That’s good to know!

 

[IceIce9]

I *love* a good sourdough bread. For a grilled cheese sandwich, it’s my favorite bread to use with cheddar cheese.

Over here in SoCal, so far my favorite that I’ve been able to find is the sourdough bread by United Bakery. Fortunately, it is carried by a local supermarket chain.
View attachment 655531
From what I could find, their ingredients list:
Unbleached unenriched wheat flour, filtered water, naturally aged sourdough starter, unprocessed sea salt, wheat gluten, ascorbic acid, natural enzymes.

Of course, these days I am really limiting my bread intake. But thanks to your post, I researched and see that real sourdough is better than white bread (lower glycemic index) due to the fermentation process involved. That’s good to know!

My daughter used to make sourdough bread and we’ve been eating it ever since then. She started making during COVID (like many others) when she had lots of extra time and bread was in short supply in grocery stores.

She had done the research and (like you) found out that sourdough was healthier. And we love the way it tastes.

The ingredients in the Stone House sourdough that I buy are:

INGREDIENTS: CERTIFIED ORGANIC UNBLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, WELL WATER, SEA SALT, CULTURED WHEAT, PLANT BASED ENZYME

Some of their varieties have additional ingredients but I usually buy the basic sourdough.

 

[Knox]

I *love* a good sourdough bread. For a grilled cheese sandwich, it’s my favorite bread to use with cheddar cheese.

Over here in SoCal, so far my favorite that I’ve been able to find is the sourdough bread by United Bakery. Fortunately, it is carried by a local supermarket chain.
View attachment 655531
From what I could find, their ingredients list:
Unbleached unenriched wheat flour, filtered water, naturally aged sourdough starter, unprocessed sea salt, wheat gluten, ascorbic acid, natural enzymes.

Of course, these days I am really limiting my bread intake. But thanks to your post, I researched and see that real sourdough is better than white bread (lower glycemic index) due to the fermentation process involved. That’s good to know!

Do you get the Brian's Sourdough down there? If I don't make my own, we love their Rosemary Sourdough. He used to be a baker at San Luis SD, when they sold out to Bimbo - he started his own company.

 

[slowpoke]

Do you get the Brian's Sourdough down there? If I don't make my own, we love their Rosemary Sourdough. He used to be a baker at San Luis SD, when they sold out to Bimbo - he started his own company.

I’ve never come across that, but I’ll be sure to be on the lookout for it!
It appears it may only go as far south as Santa Barbara, though. (link)

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

My daughter used to make sourdough bread and we’ve been eating it ever since then. She started making during COVID (like many others) when she had lots of extra time and bread was in short supply in grocery stores.

She had done the research and (like you) found out that sourdough was healthier. And we love the way it tastes.

The ingredients in the Stone House sourdough that I buy are:

INGREDIENTS: CERTIFIED ORGANIC UNBLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, WELL WATER, SEA SALT, CULTURED WHEAT, PLANT BASED ENZYME

Some of their varieties have additional ingredients but I usually buy the basic sourdough.

DH bought a loaf of Stone House sourdough bread at Nino Salvaggio today. We never noticed that they carried it previously because it's not in the regular bakery area but with other pre-packaged breads, rolls, bagels, etc. I chomped on an end piece and thought it was pretty amazing We're having Brats with sauerkraut and apples tonight. Maybe I'll make a sandwich with the Stone House sourdough bread.

 

[Seni]

I can also get sourdough from an artisanal bakery just near us. It opened a few months ago. They bake on Sat, Tues and Thurs. Everything is gone by 8.30 a.m!

My favourite is with green olives, followed by walnuts. P prefers a plain ciabatta. They are great frozen also.

 

[slowpoke]

Chow mein, homemade.

I tried using the wheat spaghetti noodles instead of Chinese noodles, but I threw it out after trying to eat it, lol. Doesn’t work. I just ate the other stuff on it. It includes snow peas, bok choy, celery, red bell pepper, sliced onion, and char siu pork in a sauce/gravy.

I usually boil then pan fry the noodles, but we tried air frying it this time. Worked well enough for the Chinese noodles that the others ate, but the wheat spaghetti just did not.

 

[Seni]

Looks great. It is pak (?) choi for me when I get it and I steam it, then serve with sprinkling of sesame seeds and soy.

Have chucked my air fryer. Took ages more than oven or grill

 

[acutename]

Holy cow, look at this: (source Mountaineer)

A huge shipment of Nestle's crunchy KitKat chocolate bars was stolen in Europe, the brand said, warning that the heist risked causing shortages in stores right before Easter...KitKat, owned by Swiss food giant Nestle, confirmed in a statement sent to AFP on Saturday that "a truck transporting 413,793 units of its new chocolate range has been stolen during transit in Europe"...The shipment, weighing around 12 tonnes, disappeared last week while heading between production and distribution locations, it said.

Whoa.

read this... how is anyone hiding 413,793 kitkat bars?

 

[PayrollNerd]

read this... how is anyone hiding 413,793 kitkat bars?

I could maybe fit them in my 5cf freezer……. Just saying’.

 

[slowpoke]

Interesting fact regarding Kit Kat bars. They are very popular in Japan, and have offered many unique flavors.

(Way more flavors, but I just picture some of them here—more at the Wikipedia link)

It started with a clever campaign. The Japanese pronunciation of the candy is “Kitto Katto”, which sounds almost like “kitto katsu”—which means “you will surely win”—so it was promoted as a good luck item for exam takers!

Kit Kats in Japan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Curious Me]

I didn't know there were that many flavors, @slowpoke. What?... Miso Soup flavor? Not for me. There's lots of Potato flavors. Oh, I like Maple flavor. Wow, #23 is an intricate flavor.

I'd be interested in trying a Pistachio Kit Kat. It'd probably taste a little bit like those fancy Dubai Pistachio Choc bars. I got one and at first didn't think it was that special, but it was especially thick, rich, and a small piece was very satisfying. Only had a tiny piece each night and it lasted me a long time. Some shops make their own, but they're expensive.
​

. .

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

^ I was looking for someplace to buy Dubai chocolate but found nothing nearby. Next time I go to Salvaggio's, I will speak to a manager or put a note in the suggestion box. There are some Mozart chocolates with pistachio cream that I enjoy. I wonder if it is similar to Dubai chocolate?

 

[IceIce9]

^ I was looking for someplace to buy Dubai chocolate but found nothing nearby. Next time I go to Salvaggio's, I will speak to a manager or put a note in the suggestion box. There are some Mozart chocolates with pistachio cream that I enjoy. I wonder if it is similar to Dubai chocolate?

Costco and Trader Joe’s both have Dubai chocolate. My daughter loves them.

 

[IceIce9]

Interesting fact regarding Kit Kat bars. They are very popular in Japan, and have offered many unique flavors.

View attachment 655642View attachment 655644View attachment 655648(Way more flavors, but I just picture some of them here—more at the Wikipedia link)

It started with a clever campaign. The Japanese pronunciation of the candy is “Kitto Katto”, which sounds almost like “kitto katsu”—which means “you will surely win”—so it was promoted as a good luck item for exam takers!

Kit Kats in Japan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

We visited World of Coke in Atlanta, and they have a tasting room where you can sample Coke flavors from around the world.

Japan had some very unique Coke flavors, including cucumber, melon, cherry blossom, and some that included fiber. Several vegetable flavors of Coke or Sprite.

 

[Rikissa]

^ I was looking for someplace to buy Dubai chocolate but found nothing nearby. Next time I go to Salvaggio's, I will speak to a manager or put a note in the suggestion box. There are some Mozart chocolates with pistachio cream that I enjoy. I wonder if it is similar to Dubai chocolate?

No, the 'real' Dubai chocolate is nothing like Mozart chocolate (nor the Kitkat either). The thing that makes the Dubai chocolate special is the use of kadayif (chopped filo pastry) as a separate layer in the chocolate bars. The kadayif is thin, short, and crispy. Last summer one of the stores here had small frozen 'bisquit cookies' made with pistachio cream on a layer of kadayif, and covered with dark chocolate. They were very delicious, and made in Ukraine. I haven't seen them anywhere after they were sold out.
*OT - they looked like Swedish 'chokladviskvier' (Swedish chocolate meringue cookies). I think the recipe for bisquits could be used for Dubai chocolate ones too, a bottom layer of kadayif, pistacho cream, covered in chocolate, and frozen until ready to serve, as they tasted best after just a short softening in room temperature.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/258793/chokladbiskvier-swedish-chocolate-meringue-cookies/

 

[IceIce9]

Last night a group of friends went to a hibachi restaurant. There were 16 of us seated in a square with two hibachi grills in the middle. One hibachi chef at each grill, facing toward the outside, each cooking for 8.

We had been planning this for some time, but we wanted to wait until two of our out of state friends were visiting so we could include them.

Our server (who basically just took our orders and brought the bill) was quite put out with us and visibly annoyed because we didn’t all order the same thing. Some of us ordered vegetable hibachi, some ordered chicken, and a few ordered steak. The sever told us how difficult it was if we ordered different things because he had to write down all the orders instead of just writing down one thing for the entire group. Yikes. He even showed us his order pad, which had 16 spaces, one for each seat. He said it was like a map and if we didn’t all order the same thing he had to write on every square, instead of just writing one thing in the middle


The two hibachi chefs were wonderful, very talented and entertaining. They seemed to have no issue with the different items, cooking the vegetables on one side, rice and noodles on the other, and steak and chicken in the middle.

The food was excellent and we enjoyed the show as the chefs cooked everything in front of us.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

^ A restaurant server is there to do just that - serve you. It is not up to your party to accommodate the server by ordering what he/she wants you to have, not what you and your party want. I hope you and your friends weren't overly generous with gratuities.

 

[IceIce9]

^ A restaurant server is there to do just that - serve you. It is not up to your party to accommodate the server by ordering what he/she wants you to have, not what you and your party want. I hope you and your friends weren't overly generous with gratuities.

Because we were a party of 16 there was an automatic 20% gratuity added, which we knew because it was stated on the menu. But we made sure no one tipped any additional.

We read the reviews after we left and found that many people had complained about the servers. But, like us, everyone complimented the chefs.