The official ATOT Fast Food discussion thread

[Fritzo]

I eat pizza at events, never order it myself. I make it at home on occasion using my homemade sauce which I can from home grown fully vine ripened tomatoes. I made some sauce last year that I labeled Italian Sauce Supreme, because it was just the greatest imaginable. I can eat it right out of the jar. So sweet you'd swear I added sugar, but no, the tomatoes are just that sweet. It gets sweeter and thicker the more you cook it down before canning.

The only difference between pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce is pizza sauce is generally not cooked (which makes sense since it's applied in a thin layer and cooked in an oven).

That being said, my absolute favorite pizza in the world is from a place called Inky's in Toledo. They have a House Special pizza where they use their meat sauce for pizza sauce, cover it with meatballs, onions, and mushrooms, then smother it with cheese and bake the hell out of it. It's made in 80 year old ovens and absolutely heavenly So, the moral of the story is: you can put any damned sauce you want on your pizza as long as it works in the end.

 

[Linux23]

i ate at Chipotle's once and....

 

[Muse]

The only difference between pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce is pizza sauce is generally not cooked (which makes sense since it's applied in a thin layer and cooked in an oven).

That being said, my absolute favorite pizza in the world is from a place called Inky's in Toledo. They have a House Special pizza where they use their meat sauce for pizza sauce, cover it with meatballs, onions, and mushrooms, then smother it with cheese and bake the hell out of it. It's made in 80 year old ovens and absolutely heavenly So, the moral of the story is: you can put any damned sauce you want on your pizza as long as it works in the end.

View attachment 5079

"So, the moral of the story is: you can put any damned sauce you want on your pizza as long as it works in the end."

Yeah, pizza variations are infinite and often times the weirder ideas work better than conventional ones with pizza, if for no other reason than the conventional doesn't surprise, it's what you expect. A different concept has no expectations and you just react to it, a new experience. A gourmet pizza restaurant around here was like that. They'd have a pizza of the day, and it was sure to be different.

 

[Kaido]

Hazelnut Spread M&M's:

* About the size of a PB M&M (large)
* I had high hopes - I'm a big Nutella fan & was really hoping it tasted like that
* They just taste like really sugary plain M&M's...decent at first, but then they get kinda saccharine. I couldn't finish them.

On a tangent, I miss the plain M&M's I ate as a kid in the 80's & 90's. You know, when they'd advertise "melts in your mouth, not in your hand", but they really melted in your hand, and they were made from pretty decent chocolate back then. I don't enjoy eating plain M&M's at ALL these days...peanut, PB, or bust! But rewind 20 or 30 years & even plain M&M's were an awesome treat! It was right at the "good" level of chocolate that you wanted as a snack. The chocolate they used today is cheap & doesn't taste as good as it used to...you have to step up to Dove or something to get a decent-tasting chocolate these days (to the point where M&M's had to change their name to "chocolate candies" due to all of the new ingredient changes). Not only that, but the manufacturing process has changed - some interesting reading on this reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/acfe3/hey_american_redditors_have_you_noticed_that_the/

I may have to go on a side quest to sample all modern milk chocolates to see what's actually legit these days. For science, of course.

 

[Fritzo]

Hazelnut Spread M&M's:

* About the size of a PB M&M (large)
* I had high hopes - I'm a big Nutella fan & was really hoping it tasted like that
* They just taste like really sugary plain M&M's...decent at first, but then they get kinda saccharine. I couldn't finish them.

On a tangent, I miss the plain M&M's I ate as a kid in the 80's & 90's. You know, when they'd advertise "melts in your mouth, not in your hand", but they really melted in your hand, and they were made from pretty decent chocolate back then. I don't enjoy eating plain M&M's at ALL these days...peanut, PB, or bust! But rewind 20 or 30 years & even plain M&M's were an awesome treat! It was right at the "good" level of chocolate that you wanted as a snack. The chocolate they used today is cheap & doesn't taste as good as it used to...you have to step up to Dove or something to get a decent-tasting chocolate these days (to the point where M&M's had to change their name to "chocolate candies" due to all of the new ingredient changes). Not only that, but the manufacturing process has changed - some interesting reading on this reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/acfe3

I may have to go on a side quest to sample all modern milk chocolates to see what's actually legit these days. For science, of course.

Yeah, a lot of famous chocolate bars/candies are being made from what I call "grease chocolate"- the use of fats/oils to dilute the cocoa butter that makes chocolate actually taste/feel like chocolate. They then add more sugar or vanilla to compensate for the flavor. It used to be only bottom-barrel chocolate makers did this (brands like Palmer that made those crispy Easter coins or Chocolate bunnies for example), but now with cocoa butter becoming so expensive they're all doing it.

For the most part, the only reason we have chocolate at all has to do with the equivalent of slave labor that picks cocoa beans for the world market. These workers are disappearing due to quality of life improvements, the areas cocoa beans are grown are disappearing due to development and climate change, and we may be reaching a point where 'real' chocolate becomes a luxury item like caviar or champagne.

Brands like Dove, Ghirardelli , Lindt, as well as the new crop of artisan chocolate bars popping up are your best bet if you want quality chocolate. The top ingredients in your chocolate should be cocoa solids + cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla (which ironically is what makes chocolate taste like chocolate), and lecithin (a type of fat that acts as an emulsifier and prevents the chocolate from separating).

Weird thing I've noticed- of all places, TARGET seems to carry a large supply of quality artisan chocolate brands for decent prices. If I'm making chocolate donuts, ganache, or something similar it's my go-to place I can get 10 72% bars there for the price of a small bag of baking chocolate, it melts just as well, and it a lot richer/higher quality.

 

[Kaido]

Yeah, a lot of famous chocolate bars/candies are being made from what I call "grease chocolate"- the use of fats/oils to dilute the cocoa butter that makes chocolate actually taste/feel like chocolate. They then add more sugar or vanilla to compensate for the flavor. It used to be only bottom-barrel chocolate makers did this (brands like Palmer that made those crispy Easter coins or Chocolate bunnies for example), but now with cocoa butter becoming so expensive they're all doing it.

For the most part, the only reason we have chocolate at all has to do with the equivalent of slave labor that picks cocoa beans for the world market. These workers are disappearing due to quality of life improvements, the areas cocoa beans are grown are disappearing due to development and climate change, and we may be reaching a point where 'real' chocolate becomes a luxury item like caviar or champagne.

Brands like Dove, Ghirardelli , Lindt, as well as the new crop of artisan chocolate bars popping up are your best bet if you want quality chocolate. The top ingredients in your chocolate should be cocoa solids + cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla (which ironically is what makes chocolate taste like chocolate), and lecithin (a type of fat that acts as an emulsifier and prevents the chocolate from separating).

Weird thing I've noticed- of all places, TARGET seems to carry a large supply of quality artisan chocolate brands for decent prices. If I'm making chocolate donuts, ganache, or something similar it's my go-to place I can get 10 72% bars there for the price of a small bag of baking chocolate, it melts just as well, and it a lot richer/higher quality.

Interesting, I'll have to check out Target for supplies! I used to not be so picky, but mass-produced food has changed tremendously due to corporate greed, rising costs, supply & demand, etc. Some companies are working on improving their formulas; I've had a couple of the updated Nestle Crunch Bars with the label "Made with 100% real chocolate" & they are better than the waxy version they had before. As far as higher-end chocolate goes, for example, I have the world's best chocolate-chip cookie recipe (available upon request!), which is flexible in what kind of chocolate you use in it. But, once a year, for Christmas, I spring for 72% Valrhona Araguani, which is like $20 a pound: (recipe requires 1 & 1/4 pounds)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I5UZ3OA/

Same goes for cocoa powder. For most recipes, I'll just get Hershey's cocoa powder or even store-brand cocoa powder, no biggie, but when I'm making my super-duper brownies (also available upon request!), I only use Chefshop's Pernigotti cocoa powder. $24 for 2.2 pounds with 22-24% butterfat & real vanilla:

https://chefshop.com/ChefShop-Cocoa-Powder-P8544.aspx

The economics aren't bad, it's only about a dollar more than boxed brownies (you just have to buy a couple pounds of the good cocoa powder up-front & then use it multiple times to get the cost to non-insane levels). The recipe calls for 4oz of Dutch cocoa & the $24 bag has 35oz, so that works out to about $2.90 worth of cocoa powder per batch. When you add in the other ingredients (flour, eggs, sugar, etc.), it's not really much more than a box of premium boxed brownie mix from the store, it's just a harder pill to swallow up front for a large bag of the cocoa powder, haha!

 

[PJFrylar]

I'm going to bust out my Mellow this weekend.

Anyone want to hit me up with an idea of what to make first? I've got a prime rib steak in the freezer, but I'm open to suggestions.
Edit: wrong thread ... I saw Kaido and a topic with a capital A. Alternative explanation: I'm an idiot.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Interesting, I'll have to check out Target for supplies! I used to not be so picky, but mass-produced food has changed tremendously due to corporate greed, rising costs, supply & demand, etc. Some companies are working on improving their formulas; I've had a couple of the updated Nestle Crunch Bars with the label "Made with 100% real chocolate" & they are better than the waxy version they had before. As far as higher-end chocolate goes, for example, I have the world's best chocolate-chip cookie recipe (available upon request!), which is flexible in what kind of chocolate you use in it. But, once a year, for Christmas, I spring for 72% Valrhona Araguani, which is like $20 a pound: (recipe requires 1 & 1/4 pounds)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I5UZ3OA/

Same goes for cocoa powder. For most recipes, I'll just get Hershey's cocoa powder or even store-brand cocoa powder, no biggie, but when I'm making my super-duper brownies (also available upon request!), I only use Chefshop's Pernigotti cocoa powder. $24 for 2.2 pounds with 22-24% butterfat & real vanilla:

https://chefshop.com/ChefShop-Cocoa-Powder-P8544.aspx

The economics aren't bad, it's only about a dollar more than boxed brownies (you just have to buy a couple pounds of the good cocoa powder up-front & then use it multiple times to get the cost to non-insane levels). The recipe calls for 4oz of Dutch cocoa & the $24 bag has 35oz, so that works out to about $2.90 worth of cocoa powder per batch. When you add in the other ingredients (flour, eggs, sugar, etc.), it's not really much more than a box of premium boxed brownie mix from the store, it's just a harder pill to swallow up front for a large bag of the cocoa powder, haha!

Ghirardelli dark Dutch chocolate $13.49 for a 2 lb can. .49 oz. Not the best but, not bad. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/ghirardelli-2-lb-majestic-dutch-cocoa-powder/40862100.html

 

[Kaido]

Ghirardelli dark Dutch chocolate $13.49 for a 2 lb can. .49 oz. Not the best but, not bad. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/ghirardelli-2-lb-majestic-dutch-cocoa-powder/40862100.html

Thanks, I'll have to see how it compares to the ChefShop stuff! I order the ChefShop brand about twice a year. I'll have to send some brownies out your way, now that I've got my kitchen almost completed post-flood from a couple years ago, haha! Will be nice to have a fully-functional kitchen again

 

[Craig234]

Last night I went to in-n-out after 10PM, saw the 15+ cars in line, and left. It's the same at midnight.

 

[sdifox]

I am just going to leave this here

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantecol

 

[Craig234]

I like Chef boy-ar-dee. What can I say.

 

[Kaido]

Lay's Poppable Honey BBQ: (may have covered these before)

https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/lays/lay's-poppables-honey-bbq

Currently my favorite "chips" (official verbage: "poppable crispy potato bites"). A real gem among crappy packaged snack options. The ingredients list is also surprisingly minimal & fairly "clean"! The white cheddar flavor is also pretty good. The honey BBQ is super good though, and the delivery format is weirdly addictive.

Dried potatoes, vegetable oil (sunflower, corn, and/or canola oil), potato starch, honey bbq seasoning (sugar, salt, maltodextrin [made from corn], spices, onion powder, yeast extract (aka MSG, lol), brown sugar, tomato powder, natural flavor, honey, molasses, paprika extracts, sunflower oil, garlic powder, citric acid, purified stevia leaf extract), sea salt, and tumeric.

Macros:

* 150 calories
* 1g protein (whoo!)
* 17g carbs (surprisingly low)
* 8g fat

However, I have to rejigger the macros for the whole bag, because impulse control. So 5 servings per container: (RIP, daily calorie count!)

* 750 calories
* 5g protein (whoohoo!)
* 85g carbs
* 40g fat

 

[Kaido]

Burger King is selling Unhappy Meals now. This is the actual product commercial. And yes, depression costs extra:

 

[KMFJD]

https://imgur.com/tyEZVNF

 

[lxskllr]

Got some LaCroix cola flavored seltzer water today. It's pretty good. I'd like to see a root beer also. Flavored seltzer made a show in the early 90s. but never took off. I was sorry to see them go. I've been enjoying the growing popularity of seltzer water, and would like to see them on tap at fast food joints.

 

[KMFJD]

https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/every-regional-barbecue-style-explained

interesting read on different American BBQ styles

 

[KMFJD]

Domino's in NZ bringing the fine dining

 

[IronWing]

Anyone try the jalapeño peanut M&Ms?

 

[nakedfrog]

Domino's in NZ bringing the fine dining

GTFO

 

[pete6032]

Hazelnut Spread M&M's:

* About the size of a PB M&M (large)
* I had high hopes - I'm a big Nutella fan & was really hoping it tasted like that
* They just taste like really sugary plain M&M's...decent at first, but then they get kinda saccharine. I couldn't finish them.

On a tangent, I miss the plain M&M's I ate as a kid in the 80's & 90's. You know, when they'd advertise "melts in your mouth, not in your hand", but they really melted in your hand, and they were made from pretty decent chocolate back then. I don't enjoy eating plain M&M's at ALL these days...peanut, PB, or bust! But rewind 20 or 30 years & even plain M&M's were an awesome treat! It was right at the "good" level of chocolate that you wanted as a snack. The chocolate they used today is cheap & doesn't taste as good as it used to...you have to step up to Dove or something to get a decent-tasting chocolate these days (to the point where M&M's had to change their name to "chocolate candies" due to all of the new ingredient changes). Not only that, but the manufacturing process has changed - some interesting reading on this reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/acfe3

I may have to go on a side quest to sample all modern milk chocolates to see what's actually legit these days. For science, of course.

I bought some last week. My wife and I enjoyed them but like you said they were pretty sugary. I'm not a big nutella fan.

 

[Kaido]

Anyone try the jalapeño peanut M&Ms?

Yup. Smells bad, tastes good. Kind of a similar idea to Mexican hot chocolate (cocoa with chili & cayenne).

Thai coconut ones were decent, smelled better than they tasted tho.

Hazelnut ones taste nothing like Nutella & were just sickly-sweet M&M's.

Oh, they do have sharing-size M&M mini's now, like they used to sell in the small lipstick tube back in the day. Great for snacking on or in cookies!

 

[Kaido]

Chick-fil-a Frosted Key Lime (seasonal flavor)

Pretty good, would buy a again! I'm a sucker for their frosted lemonade in general tho...

 

[Kaido]

I tried Welch's yogurt-dipped fruit snacks, they are the boooooooooooomb:

https://www.welchsfruitsnacks.com/product-categories/fruit-n-yogurt/

These are going on my permanent rotation. I tried the strawberry ones & am looking forward to the blueberry & cherry ones:

 

[sdifox]

Low fat yogurt = wtfbbq