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?

One of my kids took a dislike to orange cheddar at a very early age, he claimed, despite my protests, that it tasted different, he called it "evil cheese" (i think it was probably just that the orange cheese he had outside the home was medium cheddar and i always had yellow extra mature and this turned him into a junior cheese snob).

I've got an American shortcake recipe which makes delicious scones, and from the same American Sampler cookbook (DM's from Sainsbury's in the 1980s) a brilliant brownie recipe.
The shortcake recipe is really easy too.

I've only been to the states once, a very long time ago, but my brother who is a massive foodie was touring there for a few months and said the food was really good.

American restaurant food is fab...just some of the recipes are different....

Orange cheddar is Wrong.

@LongPauseNoAnswer

I fucking HATE the measuring system. A tablespoon of melted butter?! A cup of flour?’ WHY DO YOU USE VOLUME FOR WEIGHT AND LIQUID MEASUREMENT FOR SOLID FOODS

Totally agree, I tend to avoid USA recipes mostly

I'm a cheese snob so real Cheddar has to be made within spitting distance* of the village of Cheddar in Somerset. Otherwise it's just Cheddar-style cheese. Despite what the protected status bods may say!

This applies to British cheeses too so don't go thinking I have something against US cheddar-style cheeses!

*mild exaggeration for comic effect.

I am not America, but I have a quite old copy of The Joy of Cooking. Julia Child apparently said it taught her to cook. I still refer to it when I want to brush up on techniques. It is very comprehensive.

My Mum, also not American, used condensed mushroom soup quite a bit. I confess I still keep it in the cupboard for the rare occasion that I crave one of her specialities. Particularly meatballs with onion and rice (uncooked) baked in watered down mushroom soup. The rice swells in the oven. Very much comfort food.

Just watched a video on Facebook - so they made loads of candy floss and squished it into a pancake. Then covered it in gummy sweets, What looked like ice cream, sprinkles and smarties. Then I think they got a side order of insulin...

The American recipe groups do seem to love their sweet stuff...

Where the heck are y'all finding these outlandish cooking videos?

There are actual baking and cooking websites, magazines, TV shows, and blogs out the wazoo in the US, all US owned and operated, all with nice recipes for real, wholesome food...

www.food.com/
www.allrecipes.com/
www.marthastewart.com/1509043/food-cooking
www.americastestkitchen.com/
www.rickbayless.com/recipes-from-chef-rick-bayless/

'American cheddar' eh?

Just one type of cheddar, found everywhere?

Ooh I like that Rick bay less website. Thank you, I have a load of chillis I was given I think he might help!

DH cooks a lot from the Skinny Taste website. I tend to go to Martha Stewart or Epicurious.

I suspect the big food companies are very good at using SEO to push their recipes (which are full of their processed food products) to the top of recipe search results. I ignore them and look for sites I know will feature fresher ingredients.

You will definitely go through a lot of chilis with Rick Bayless recipes. If you're ever in Chicago, try to book a table at one of his restaurants.

This is an interesting article that popped up when I fired up my PC today:
getpocket.com/explore/item/friday-food-post-the-economics-behind-grandma-s-tuna-casseroles?utm_source=pocket-newtab

The author refers to staples such as cream of mushroom soup as echoes of the past.

@mathanxiety

You will definitely go through a lot of chilis with Rick Bayless recipes. If you're ever in Chicago, try to book a table at one of his restaurants.

This is an interesting article that popped up when I fired up my PC today:
getpocket.com/explore/item/friday-food-post-the-economics-behind-grandma-s-tuna-casseroles?utm_source=pocket-newtab

The author refers to staples such as cream of mushroom soup as echoes of the past.

Thanks for that article, that was a really interesting read. I actually really enjoy reading about food history, it's fascinating to see not just what people used to eat in the past, but also to understand why.

@mathanxiety great article thanks. Especially the bit about there being a lot of bad cooks around.

My mum and my sister are both good cooks who gave up in the face of catering day in and out....and embraced ready meals.

I've not read the full thread, but my boyfriend is American and we have had a few lively discussions around tinned soups being used as a sauce/base for dishes, and them calling them casseroles, so I've looked into those dishes a bit.

The green bean casserole was developed by the Campbell's soup company, I think in the 50s, because people always had cans of the soup on hand, the mushroom one. It wasn't a very popular recipe to begin with but they persisted with it! I think tater tot casserole is basically the same thing, with added tots.

He's trying to tell me how good these things are but I remain unconvinced.

I suspect the big food companies are very good at using SEO to push their recipes (which are full of their processed food products) to the top of recipe search results. I ignore them and look for sites I know will feature fresher ingredients

Good point. I had one pop up on FB yesterday “2 ingredient crock pot beef stroganoff”- yep, beef and mushroom soup.

It’s always american recipes like this that pop up in these ads.

I occasionally do search for recipes but tend to avoid american ones because they seem to go the other way and have millions of ingredients. I don’t cook indian recipes for the same reason.