Jayeless.net

Posts categorised ‘Food’

Last night I was cooking a chicken stew, and I had to double-check my recipe to remember which herbs I put in it (rosemary, thyme, basil, sage and a bay leaf). As I was grabbing the little jars out of the cupboard, it occurred to me that this list is pretty similar to that famous lyric – parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme – and wondered, “Hmm, why is it I never put parsley in this? Or, actually, into anything?” So I pulled out my little jar of parsley, gave the contents a sniff (parsley really doesn’t have a very appealing smell, hey) and read the description on the jar’s side:

A popular herb used to garnish or add a touch of colour to your favourite meal. Great with sauces and egg dishes.

“Oh yeah!” I remembered. “Parsley is so crap that even the parsley jar can only suggest adding it to anything for cosmetic reasons. That’s why I never use it.”

Clearly, it’s time we change the line in that song to “basil, sage, rosemary and thyme”. And a bay leaf.

Link: “‘Lunch of suffering’: plain ‘white people food’ goes viral in China

Original post found at: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/jun/15/lunch-of-suffering-plain-white-people-food-goes-viral-in-china

The social media platforms Weibo and Xiaohongshu have been inundated with photos and reviews of cold sandwiches, raw carrots and canned tuna. Many are from Chinese international students surprised by the simple lunches eaten by their peers overseas.

lmao, I am definitely white but I can completely relate to the Chinese people here. I HATED my school lunches – cold white bread sandwiches every day – and as a substitute teacher I saw ideas of appropriate school lunches have changed… but are still usually joyless. Now in addition to the sandwich, kids can have teeny-tiny containers full of plain, pre-chopped carrots and celery 🥴 There’s no way chopping all those veggies is less labour than actually making something nice… surely. The lunches I respected most were the insulated containers full of noodles or pasta or something. Those parents knew what was up.

Had a go making a vegetarian lasagna tonight! First time I’ve tried making any kind of lasagna. It turned out pretty delicious, if not especially photogenic, but next time I’ll know not to believe the lies of the “no precooking required” lasagna sheets 😅 Actually most of the layers were OK, but the top one didn’t get the moisture it needed in the oven, so I’ll presoak that next time.

Sometimes I go through phases where I’m really excited to cook different things and seek out new recipes to try, and other times I’m just like, “Ughhhh, I have to work out what’s for dinner AGAIN?! How does this happen EVERY DAY?!?!?” Definitely been going through one of the latter kinds of phases lately… 😔

Experimented today by cooking a “chicken” quesadilla with “chicken free strips” (textured wheat & soy protein). End result was fine – obvs it wasn’t “just like chicken” (regardless of what the label on the package said) but it was delicious enough served with all the flavourful ingredients of a quesadilla 😛 The price was actually comparable to real chicken too, instead of significantly more expensive like usual. All in all, a successful experiment I think.

So I somehow, accidentally, bought this shit type of butter which is less than 50% actual butter, according to the ingredients list. I didn’t realise such a thing existed, or that if it existed, that it was allowed to be sold as just “butter”, without big glaring warning text on it like, “52% NOT BUTTER! Probably do not buy this unless you have some very specific reason for doing so!” I shouldn’t have to scour the ingredients list just to be assured that when I buy butter it actually is butter! 😠

Last night I made chicken cacciatore for dinner, working off Alexandra Wolfe’s recipe(external link). It came out sooooo well! 😋 Big hit with both of us, and of course we got to enjoy the rest of the bottle of red wine with it, haha. I think this’ll be going on the regular rotation.

close-up of chicken cacciatore in a white bowl

The shocking truth dairy farmers don’t want you to know: oat milk actually tastes better than dairy milk 😱

In all seriousness, I bought some (instead of dairy) a week ago on a whim and I’m a convert. It actually does taste so much better to me than dairy (plus it’s supposed to be better carbon-emission-wise, yay). It is like double the price, but at the rate I go through milk that’s like $3 a week, which I don’t think is going to break the bank…

Link: “Are plastic containers safe for our food?

Original post found at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/18/are-plastic-containers-safe-to-use-food-experts

Not a new article, but I came across it today from this Reddit discussion(external link) about how plastic containers shouldn’t be microwaved (even the ones that say it’s fine) because the chemical bonds of plastic start to break down under heat, leeching plastic particles (including microplastics) into your food. I’ve heard this before, but kind of always brushed it off because TBH a huge amount of what I eat is meal-prepped food reheated in plastic containers so this microplastics stuff was really not something I wanted to be true 😂 But maybe it’s time to stop sticking my head in the sand and switch over to glass…

Had a go at a new recipe today – jollof rice, working from this Kitchn recipe(external link). I did add chicken and chickpeas to make it an all-in-one meal, rather than having to cook a separate protein. Overall, it was DELICIOUS! The three birds’ eye chillies I blended into it gave it a good amount of heat 😋

close-up of a rice-based dish, with the rice coated in red sauce and at least one piece of chicken prominently visible
a cartoony avatar of Jessica Smith is a socialist and a feminist who loves animals, books, gaming, and cooking; she’s also interested in linguistics, history, technology and society.