Beyond Boyardee

[CanadianGuitarist]

The Christmas dinner our camp served to the clients tonight. 1500 of them newfie bastards.

 

Beef Tenderloin Strips with a Shallot Reduction.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

Ravioli with Asparagus and Asiago Sauce

Chateau Roast Potatoes

Wild Rice

Roasted Root Vegetables and Brussel Sprouts

Pumpkin and Apple Soup

Yuletide Christmas Logs

Christmas Cake

Egg Nog

Antipasto Platter

Smoked Salmon Platter

Cheese Platter

Double Smoked Bacon Salad

Asssorted Meat Platter

 

I know this sounds a little silly, but I just can't grasp 'ravioli' as a legitimate food, even with the nice-sounding preparation above. It just strikes me as a Chef Boyardee food, or something that would be in a buffet at the end of the night.

[Guest Vitamin X]

The hell? You need to eat some good ravioli, dude. That's like saying you can't grasp having amazing mac and cheese because you can only think of the crap Kraft makes in a box.

 

Fresh ravioli with some real cheesy goodness inside is heaven. Look at this one with butternut squash and goat cheese:

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

That's like saying you can't grasp having amazing mac and cheese because you can only think of the crap Kraft makes in a box.

 

I actually have a strong association between mac and cheese and KD, kind of like the one I used to have with eggos and waffles (a trip to Europe has thankfully changed that one). I've never heard of good mac and cheese.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

This warrants a thread.

 

Ravioli's a little labor-intensive if you've never tried your hand at making pasta, or don't have a roller. I almost never make fresh pasta because I'm lazy and not very good at it. I have no complaints about the stuff in the box. Cook it right, and it's just fine. The only time I do anything like that, it's always egg noodles for stroganoff.

 

Let's look at the old chestnut, Macaroni and Cheese.

 

Now, I like a box of orange death as much as the next guy, but this shit's waaaaaay the fuck better.

 

How do you feel about spinach? I picked this one up somewhere online and never looked back. You need a casserole dish and a saucepan. It's easy as fuck.

 

1. Get your oven up to 350.

 

2. Boil your pasta. Use a small tube like penne or elbows. Cook it al dente and rinse. Set it aside.

 

3. Make a roux in the pan with some flour and butter. Stir in a cup of whole milk and don't stop. Don't use lowfat milk. Season it.

 

4. When it's getting thick, gradually add a bag of fresh spinach until it wilts, and add the pasta. Stir in whatever cheese you like. Not important, just use something that will melt. Cheddar, mozzarella, something soft. I use cheddar and gorgonzola.

 

5. Butter your dish and add the pasta cheese bullshit. Throw bread crumbs or panko, herbs, parmesean, or whatever on the top, and bake it for 20 minutes or so. Whenever it crusts and bubbles like fuck around the edges.

 

Eat the bitch, it's good, and it shouldn't take you any more than 40 minutes top to bottom.

[CanadianGuitarist]

Could have quoted The Rocket to start the thread - this looks like a random ravioli rant now, and makes even less sense with the "mentioned above" line in the thread's opening post.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Probably. How's quoting it for a nice compromise?

 

 

[Lord of The Curry]

While in line at the local grocery store I noticed that they carry 4 cheese and prociutto (sp?) ravioli. I'm all up ons that.

[CanadianGuitarist]

Perfect!

[starvenger]

I don't see how one could hate on ravioli. To me, it's yet another variation on the dumpling. Dumplings are interesting because so many cultures developed a version of dumplings independent of one another, yet they're all so similar. And tasty.

 

So don't let the fact that Chef Boyardee bastardized the food make you question it's legitimacy in the gastronomical world. Like deep fried food, it's good stuff.

[Lord of The Curry]

More to the point: deep-fried ravioli is good stuff.

[Guest Czecherbear]

That's like saying you can't grasp having amazing mac and cheese because you can only think of the crap Kraft makes in a box.

 

I actually have a strong association between mac and cheese and KD, kind of like the one I used to have with eggos and waffles (a trip to Europe has thankfully changed that one). I've never heard of good mac and cheese.

That's what I used to think, that macaroni and cheese is always mediocre. But the barbecue place I go to makes it with heavy cream and three kinds of cheese. It is the most decadent macaroni I've ever had.

[CanadianGuitarist]

I don't see how one could hate on ravioli. To me, it's yet another variation on the dumpling. Dumplings are interesting because so many cultures developed a version of dumplings independent of one another, yet they're all so similar. And tasty.

 

So don't let the fact that Chef Boyardee bastardized the food make you question it's legitimacy in the gastronomical world. Like deep fried food, it's good stuff.

 

It's not so much that I'm close-minded towards it, it's just that I haven't yet explored my options.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Agent's spinach mac and cheese up there is pretty interesting. I'm not a fan of vegetables in my mac and cheese though, and penne pasta being used in mac and cheese is criminal. You've got to use elbow macaroni, or it's not real mac and cheese in my opinion.

 

Also, the roux is right on, except I would throw in some dry mustard in there to make it a creamier, more flavorful sauce. Throwing in a tempered beaten egg in with the milk is a good idea also. It makes something resembling a Mornay/bechamel sauce. I only like using sharp cheddar cheese with a bit of panko on top, to keep things simple.

 

If it sounds like a lot of work, it is, but it makes a whole bunch after you put it in a 9x13 baking pan and you can refrigerate it. OH, and cayenne pepper is, for me, essential. I want to play around with it and make a more "cajunized" mac and cheese- I already put cayenne pepper in mine and add hot sauce to the served product on the plate. And for those who can't imagine what good mac and cheese looks like, here you go:

 

 

I am going to make one soon that'll include bacon, too. Maybe all together now, with a bit of andouille sausage. Holy shit I'm full of good ideas for this. One of my favorite dishes to make out there.

[starvenger]

I don't see how one could hate on ravioli. To me, it's yet another variation on the dumpling. Dumplings are interesting because so many cultures developed a version of dumplings independent of one another, yet they're all so similar. And tasty.

 

So don't let the fact that Chef Boyardee bastardized the food make you question it's legitimacy in the gastronomical world. Like deep fried food, it's good stuff.

 

It's not so much that I'm close-minded towards it, it's just that I haven't yet explored my options.

Fair enough.

 

 

[Cheech Tremendous]

Also, the roux is right on, except I would throw in some dry mustard in there to make it a creamier, more flavorful sauce. Throwing in a tempered beaten egg in with the milk is a good idea also. It makes something resembling a Mornay/bechamel sauce. I only like using sharp cheddar cheese with a bit of panko on top, to keep things simple.

 

If it sounds like a lot of work, it is, but it makes a whole bunch after you put it in a 9x13 baking pan and you can refrigerate it. OH, and cayenne pepper is, for me, essential.

 

That is essentially the same recipe that I use. Could I be so bold as to suggest that you picked up a few mac and cheese tips from Alton Brown?

[Jaxxson Mayhem]

So..... Vitamin X... How the FUCK do you know so much about cooking?

 

 

 

Same goes for a lot of you others too.

[Darthtiki]

At least for me, I was raised by my mom only for most of my childhood and every weekend we would watch the cooking shows on PBS, TLC, & Discovery. Also, my great-grandma could make some damn good food too.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

penne pasta being used in mac and cheese is criminal

 

How do you figure? A small penne is the same damn size, only not bent.

[Copper Feel]

So..... Vitamin X... How the FUCK do you know so much about cooking?

 

He probably just cooks a lot. That would lead to a desire to try new things. Have you ever considered that possibility?

[Maztinho]

More to the point: deep-fried ravioli is good stuff.

 

Your ideas interest me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

 

[BUTT]

Maybe I'm just lowbrow. But I don't like mac & cheese as a casserole. I only like the store-bought "pasta in cheese sauce" variety. Anyone ever have Boston Market mac & cheese? It's rotini in a three-cheese sauce! Excellent! If I haven't outgrown it by now, I never will.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Also, the roux is right on, except I would throw in some dry mustard in there to make it a creamier, more flavorful sauce. Throwing in a tempered beaten egg in with the milk is a good idea also. It makes something resembling a Mornay/bechamel sauce. I only like using sharp cheddar cheese with a bit of panko on top, to keep things simple.

 

If it sounds like a lot of work, it is, but it makes a whole bunch after you put it in a 9x13 baking pan and you can refrigerate it. OH, and cayenne pepper is, for me, essential.

 

That is essentially the same recipe that I use. Could I be so bold as to suggest that you picked up a few mac and cheese tips from Alton Brown?

 

HA! Caught me red-handed.. To be fair, the first two mac and cheese recipes I learned (outside of the box- the Kraft box that is) were his and the infamous and incredibly delicious if expensive Martha Stewart mac and cheese. What I tend to do with a lot of the things I've made that I didn't learn- much of which is stuff that is outside Cuban or Italian cooking, so embarrassingly enough, I have to figure out a lot of American and French dishes from recipes online- is to figure them out and make a couple so I get the basic premise down, then I start modifying each one more and more and testing different things in them, until I've made several variations on them that give me more flexibility to do whatever I want based on what I'm craving or, more commonly, what's in the fridge.

 

One cool thing is that roux/mornay/bechamel sauce Brown made in that recipe actually inspired me to make a really light roux with gruyere to put on a sad old ham and cheese sandwich and made it really good.

 

penne pasta being used in mac and cheese is criminal

 

How do you figure? A small penne is the same damn size, only not bent.

 

It's all in the name. If you want pasta penne ala formaggio, go for it- but I have one big other reason to, which also came from Alton and I totally see his point on this. The whole point of the noodle being bent is how the cheese sauce is able to stay in, leaving each bite to be a flavorful explosion of cheesy goodness.. On the other hand, penne pasta (and I generally dislike penne quite a bit because of this) tends to have a lot of the sauce that goes in it dribble out. To each his own, though- my two least favorite pastas happen to be regular old spaghetti and penne.

 

So..... Vitamin X... How the FUCK do you know so much about cooking?

Many reasons.

 

For one thing, it's pretty much the only hobby I have these days when I'm at home, and the only reason why I even bother having cable outside of watching sports (which I can and usually do at a bar anyways, unless I'm feeling lazy). Another is that it's one thing to do that is pretty much necessary for day to day living anyways, since eating is essential, and it makes my life a whole lot better. I feel really passionate about food, and how it's grown, supplied, and made- I feel a lot of times like I got in the wrong profession and have spent way too much goddamn money doing it, so I'm kind of locked into it. But I really, really adore cooking and if you are really into doing something, you learn as much as you can about it and enjoy it.

 

In person, I may probably be the biggest foodie you'll ever meet. I remember I was in Georgia and I somehow found an IPA beer down there and none of my friends had ever tried that sort of brew before- which shocked my Oregon resident ass, so I bought a couple sixers of them and split them among my crew and told them why IPAs are so bitter and stuff and people were shocked at how much crap I knew about that off the top of my head.

 

Another thing that's helped is how and where I buy my food- a lot of the stuff I get at my house I buy it from local markets, farms, and food vendors who specialize in what they sell so they've taught me a lot of little things just from talking to them and all. At least a couple of the things I've learned from this is that preserved fruit jellies/jams take an extremely long time to go bad because the sugar keeps them from spoiling and that fresh pasta should be either cooked from room temperature or from being frozen, but never refrigerated.. this is because the humidity/moisture that would build up in the fridge would make the pasta stick together and not taste very good.

 

Anyways, back on topic...

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

It's all in the name. If you want pasta penne ala formaggio, go for it- but I have one big other reason to, which also came from Alton and I totally see his point on this. The whole point of the noodle being bent is how the cheese sauce is able to stay in, leaving each bite to be a flavorful explosion of cheesy goodness.. On the other hand, penne pasta (and I generally dislike penne quite a bit because of this) tends to have a lot of the sauce that goes in it dribble out. To each his own, though- my two least favorite pastas happen to be regular old spaghetti and penne.

 

I'll concede the name. I tend to not get into semantics where pasta and cheese is concerned. With a thick enough sauce, and the right time in the oven, it shouldn't run out of the penne any more than an elbow. I'm talkin' about the leedle guys here. Not the 1.5"x.25" tubes.

 

I don't like angel hair. Long pasta in general kind of irritates me unless it's a really hearty sauce, in which case I go for fetuccini or something like it that can stand up to the pressure of holding an alfredo or thick meat sauce. In general, when I go for pasta, I like super simple buttered noodles with garlic, olive oil, herbs, and parm, or else some kind of decadent baked gratin kind of deal that bubbles like the labrea tar pits just under the surface.

 

My favorites are the medium tube pastas, like penne, ziti, and rigatoni. Oh, and fusilli. Don't know why, I just really like it.

[Guest Vitamin X]

See now baked ziti's awesome, and I even like myself some rigatoni. I just can't get into penne, even though penne and rigatoni are fairly similar. Fusilli's pretty awesome, and versatile too just like rotini- it can be used in soups, salads, or as an entree.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Y'know, the more I think about it, the more I think Italians have the noodle all wrong. Eastern european egg noodles are better than spaghetti noodles. So are nearly every kind of asian noodles, I think. Udon, soba..both superior to spaghetti.

[NoCalMike]

I make a mean Clam Linguini, and sometimes if I feel adventurous I buy some mussels to put around the pasta.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Although that has relatively little to do with the topic, I am interested in hearing a recipe for Clam Linguine, especially a mean one with mussels around it.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

My next goal: Developing a badass Sloppy Joe.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I've never had a good sloppy joe.

[Red Baron]

Wha?