Lasagna soup anyone? American recipes that just never sound quite right...

[MaryIsA]

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/lasagna-soup-2268968

Partly its all the low sodium chicken broth, half and half, sticks of butter - but very often its the actual recipes. Just a bit off?

Sloppy Joes are always part of my camping repertoire. Basically Bolognese in a burger bun. My kids love them.

80% of American everyday cooking recipes on Youtube seem to involve:

• Crock Pot or Instant Pot
• Add meat
• Add a can of cream of chicken soup
• Add one block of cream cheese
• Add one stick of butter
• Add half a bottle of Ranch Dressing
• Cover with grated cheese
• Cook until you unfold all the tasty 5000 calories per portion

Definitely seen a few lasagne soups. Taco soup also comes up pretty often.

My brother makes really good Sloppy Joes he adds jalapeños I have made them for ds and his friends and they love them (I put bowls out of things they can add so little like making a taco)

My family who live in the states (California) love M&S and Sainsbury’s microwave meals they are a much better quality than you get in the states. My dad is South Asian but loves the curries he thinks they taste great.

Parmo is Middlesbrough isn't it? Never had one

The really weird thing about Parmo’s is my grandparents, mum, and me are all born and bred Middlesbrough and have never heard of them until the last 5 years or so.

I spent my college years clubbing in town, and occasionally in uni holidays, so up until 1995 or so?

Food was always KFC, MacD’s, the chippy or the burger van.

Never, ever had, or was offered, or saw a parmo on a menu anywhere.

Then suddenly it’s this local signature dish?

Bizarre.

I think the quality of American eating out is generally very good, and cheaper than the UK - and the portion sizes are huge and designed for doggy bags - so I expect people eat out more rather than cook.

My very unscientific thinking through of American friends is that they cook less and get takeout and eat out more than we do.

@knittingaddict

I remember when they had flan on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. It wasn't flan as I know it and was more like a set custard. Very strange.

It looks like the dessert that I know as creme caramel, but it might be different.

I spent some time living in the South growing up and my parents still have a house there which we visit a lot for holidays. There really is some great food. grits are probably an acquired taste but are really missing out if you haven’t had chicken biscuits with sawmill gravy.

@bluebluezoo

Parmo is Middlesbrough isn't it? Never had one

The really weird thing about Parmo’s is my grandparents, mum, and me are all born and bred Middlesbrough and have never heard of them until the last 5 years or so.

I spent my college years clubbing in town, and occasionally in uni holidays, so up until 1995 or so?

Food was always KFC, MacD’s, the chippy or the burger van.

Never, ever had, or was offered, or saw a parmo on a menu anywhere.

Then suddenly it’s this local signature dish?

Bizarre.

Is it a student thing? My DH was at Teesside uni in the late 90s and had them then.

@StepOutOfLine

Geoffrey! Is he still going? Used to love Ina but always used to long for the day when Geoffrey turned round and didn't respect the "Geoffrey's going to love this" instruction.

Talking of deep fried pizza when pissed. In Manchester we did pizza sandwiches with those mini pizzas inside toasted bread with French mustard spread on the toast. You had to be there.

Geoffrey's gonna love this! Hahaha! Yes!!!

Now then, inspired by this thread, I've been googling various homemade enchilada sauce.
Have discovered that American Chilli Powder isn't chilli powder at all but a mix of spices! No wonder US recipes have blown our heads off in the past!!!

have made pumpkin pie with both fresh and tinned pumpkin. Tinned pumpkin just works better in a pie.

Agreed. Pumpkin is my favorite pie. I have made it both ways, and the canned pumpkin gives a much better result. What you have to be careful of is that there is also a canned product called "pumpkin pie filling". It has all the ingredients and you just pour it into the pie shell and bake. That would not be my choice for pumpkin pie at all. Canned pumpkin is just the pumpkin.

Sweet potato pie is similar to pumpkin pie and very popular in the South. I use fresh sweet potatoes for that, although some people use canned sweet potatoes. I roast mine in the oven and I think that gives a deeper flavor to the pie.

I think you need to be raised on pumpkin pie to love it. I've tried it a few times and it's just not for me.

Is it a student thing? My DH was at Teesside uni in the late 90s and had them then

I don’t know. I didn’t go to Teeside Uni but did a lot of hanging out with students as friends did, and went to all the clubs etc, so should have come across them as we nearly always went for post night out food...

It might have caught on later as I stopped going there about ‘95. I just find it really odd that everyone seems to think they’ve always been common.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar @knittingaddict

Flan is a Mexican dessert...but it is also the same origin as creme caramel.

It arrived in Mexico via the Spanish Conquistadores, but having spread through Europe at the hands of the Romans.

A lot of “set custard with something sweet” type desserts originate from a Roman recipe using honey.

My pumpkin pie love comes from my love of all things custardy. Put milk and eggs together with sugar and I am all in. Pumpkin pie shares favorite pie honors with key lime pie. So I have my fall and winter favorite and then my spring and summer favorite.

My favorite fruit pie is peach, which is as it should be since I grew up in Georgia. But the best way to eat cooked peaches, in my opinion, is peach cobbler. I'm afraid DH and I overdid that a bit during peach season last summer.

Key Lime pie is such a zesty delight. I adore it.

I love pecan pie best.

@LunarCatAndDaffodils Finding out more about Roman cookery is on my to do list when I retire. I loved Rome on holiday and reading Rachel Roddy in the Guardian and the way they can trace food back a couple of 1000 years.

@terrywynne American pancakes are basically Scotch pancakes/drop scones, the difference being there's a raising agent as well as the flour/egg/milk.

Nigella has a good recipe: www.nigella.com/recipes/american-breakfast-pancakes

And I quite fancy making buttermilk pancakes - presumably like soda bread, the raising agent is the acid from the buttermilk + the bicarb: www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/buttermilk_pancakes_10390

An American friend, on learning that I loved to cook, said she must give me her moms recipe for Chicken Royale. She raved about this beautiful dish and how her mother always made it for special occasions.
Here's the recipe.
Chicken breasts
Can of campbells mushroom soup
Put in casserole dish and bake

You're welcome!

[quote LunarCatAndDaffodils]**@BlackAmericanoNoSugar* @knittingaddict*

Flan is a Mexican dessert...but it is also the same origin as creme caramel.

It arrived in Mexico via the Spanish Conquistadores, but having spread through Europe at the hands of the Romans.

A lot of “set custard with something sweet” type desserts originate from a Roman recipe using honey.[/quote]
We've had it in Portugal, where they call it "pudim flan".portuguesediner.com/tiamaria/easy-caramel-flan/

@sugarcherry

An American friend, on learning that I loved to cook, said she must give me her moms recipe for Chicken Royale. She raved about this beautiful dish and how her mother always made it for special occasions. Here's the recipe. Chicken breasts Can of campbells mushroom soup Put in casserole dish and bake

You're welcome!

Yes, that's my experience. I have nothing against packets and cheats but when you find out the 'special' recipe someone is known for is actually a brand I find it really odd.

I mentioned that I make my pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin because I know it's 'wrong', everyone says use tinned, it's just I always have the ones my husband grows so it would be odd to me to buy a tin. I cut the pumpkin in half and roast it until the liquid comes out and it caramelises, it works for us. I'm definitely doing it 'wrong' though!

I love pecan pie best.

I love it too. Also it's cousin Kentucky Derby pie, which has the addition of chocolate and Bourbon.

Oooh.. when's the Kentucky Durrby on then? I could celebrate!

I think the Kentucky Derby is run in May.