[moonmonkey]

I was searching the web for Beef stroganoff recipes and the first 3 links are below:

Food Network (US)
Beef Stroganoff Recipe : Paula Deen : Food Network
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup??

All recipes
Beef Stroganoff III Recipe - Allrecipes.com
1 (6 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained??

Betty Crocker
Classic Beef Stroganoff Recipe from Betty Crocker
1 1/2 cups Progresso® beef flavored broth (from 32-ounce carton)

These are ingredients you would expect to find in post war europe - yet they seem common place in US recipe sites - is it really tough to get fresh food? Do people really put cans of soup in other food? Do people really eat tinned mushrooms?

[brassplayersrock²]

It's called being a lazy american't

[nonhuman]

I am almost definitely not representative, but the only time I eat mushrooms that come out of a can is when I use cream of mushroom soup in a recipe. And the only time I do that is when I'm making some highly midwestern casserole of some sort or other (usually a tuna noodle casserole), which is very rare.

Fresh ingredients are certainly available in the US, but, for some reason, it would appear that many Americans can't/won't/don't use them.

[Spheric Harlot]

Especially with mushrooms, I find that some recipes just need the canned ones.

I have a killer recipe for cheese soup which calls for minced meat, processed cheese, and a glass of mushrooms (among other things). It's just not right with fresh mushrooms.

[Waragainstsleep]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Especially with mushrooms, I find that some recipes just need the canned ones.

I have a killer recipe for cheese soup which calls for minced meat, processed cheese, and a glass of mushrooms (among other things). It's just not right with fresh mushrooms.

It seems odd to me that something with meat in it would be called a cheese soup. Actually cheese soup kinda sounds wrong anyway.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Well....it's convenient, isn't it?

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

It seems odd to me that something with meat in it would be called a cheese soup. Actually cheese soup kinda sounds wrong anyway.

Main flavor is the processed cheese. The minced meat is there for substance and as a carrier, with leeks, champignons, and (I'm not so much a fan) corn. It's thick soup, almost a stew. Yum.

[andi*pandi]

It's a time saver.

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

I have a killer recipe for cheese soup which calls for minced meat, processed cheese, and a glass of mushrooms (among other things). It's just not right with fresh mushrooms.

Killer recipe? Yes, I believe that could kill you. In fact, I think Mastrap's chest constricted just reading that.

I often create recipes from an amalgam of online recipes, and yeah, I close most US cooking sites pretty quickly.

Recipe: Thai Green Curry.

Ingredients: 1x packet green curry powder. Water.

[Waragainstsleep]

Apple-Roquefort-Bacon Pie � Marian’s Marginalia

[CollinG3G4]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

Do people really put cans of soup in other food? Do people really eat tinned mushrooms?

The canned cream of mushroom soup consists of tiny bits of mushroom in a weak cream sauce. It's used primarily as a base, like vegetable broth, and rarely eaten as a soup. Same deal with cream of chicken soup.

[Lateralus]

Yeah... I can't see going to the effort of making cream of mushroom soup from scratch when it's only being used to serve a larger recipe.

That said, I think to understand why recipes have gone the way they have insofar as calling for ready-ingredients, I think one needs to understand that Americans have the longest work weeks in the western world. That fact has slowly shaped many things in our society, as one would expect it to.

However, using canned/jarred/frozen ingredients has one major advantage beyond making things easier; packaged veggies are generally healthier by nutritional value than fresh produce because they're washed and flash-cooked almost immediately after being picked, locking in the nutritional value. 'Fresh' vegetables, on the other hand, spend anywhere from days to weeks off the vine before showing up on a shelf, and by that time have essentially died. Then there's the cooking process they would go through in your own kitchen, which is as well far slower than what packaged veggies are put through.

[Ω]

Originally Posted by Lateralus 

I think one needs to understand that Americans have the longest work weeks in the western world.

I work 60+ hours a week and don't eat shit from a can.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

How?

I'm actually curious. At a minimum of 60 hours a week, I'll assume you're then working 6 days a week, 10 hours a day, from 8am to 6pm. That doesn't leave you much time to make all your meals from scratch.

I generally use a mix - some stuff is pre-packaged, but I try to have fresh whenever possible. But it simply takes much longer to cook everything from scratch, and I work long hours and don't want to spend too much of my precious time just doing food prep.

[ghporter]

Using prepared ingredients does a couple of things. First, it saves time because the details of preparing the ingredients aren't part of the overall meal preparation. It also keeps you from having to have all the individual parts of the prepared stuff on-hand and fresh. And using prepared ingredients helps keep the way the resulting meal tastes as consistent as possible.

On the other hand, there certainly is a level of personal involvement that prepared ingredients removes from the process.

Final point: not all "prepared" ingredients are anywhere near the same. Case in point: the olive...

[ShortcutToMoncton]

It also makes your meal, with very few exceptions, entirely less healthy than if everything was non-packaged. So there's always that.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Lateralus 

I think one needs to understand that Americans have the longest work weeks in the western world.

This is so wrong... (Not the fact, but that it is a fact.)

I'm happy to be doing my part to pull that average down and maintain a relatively light workload despite making good money. Take that, suckers.

[imitchellg5]

It's quite easy to get fresh produce in America during the growing season. Heard of farmer's markets? Pretty much any town has one.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

For me it's generally not the issue of getting fresh produce - it's the problem of using it. I get a bunch of cilantro and parsley and half of it goes bad within the week, because for one or two people you're not using it all before that happens.

At least up here in Canada, it's tougher to grow your own herbs for much of the year. I've started with green onion and parsley but I've already lost one of both plants - not much of a green thumb it seems, but in all fairness during winter months it gets down to 12 degrees C in my house during the day....

[ort888]

These recipes are catering toward busy families.

It's great to make everything from scratch, but with two working parents and kids, doing it every day is a pipe dream.

Sure, some may be able to pull it off, but we put our priorities in other areas.

[mduell]

Reminded me of this:

<Beaph> Whatcha gonna make?
<Alacard2k> Spaghetti, beef stroganoff, or tacos. I don't feel like the chicken tonight.
<Beaph> Mmm... Beef Strokin' off.
<Alacard2k> well it's down to two now

[Ω]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

How?

I'm actually curious. At a minimum of 60 hours a week, I'll assume you're then working 6 days a week, 10 hours a day, from 8am to 6pm. That doesn't leave you much time to make all your meals from scratch.

I generally use a mix - some stuff is pre-packaged, but I try to have fresh whenever possible. But it simply takes much longer to cook everything from scratch, and I work long hours and don't want to spend too much of my precious time just doing food prep.

Work 7 days a week (Sunday being Gods day I only work about 4-5 hours doing paperwork), and typically the only things I have in the fridge is beer (and gin in the freezer). Work in a complex that has everything I need to cook a meal every night. May not be flash but still not sh*t from a can. I don't even own a can-opener. And when you can clock 40 hours in three days, getting past 60 is a breeze. I think my best effort was around 110 hours in a week where I was sleeping in my office and only going home to have showers.

Only really made the post to make fun of Lats for being downtrodden for being so hardworking! Poor 'Merkins.

[iM@k]

This link here shows the current culinary trends in the USA. for which I'm deeply embarrassed and ashamed:

5 Insanely Stupid Food Network Recipes | lovelyish

[andi*pandi]

I think the food network, and Paula Deen in particular, has to fill the airtime with anything. I mean, krispy kreme sandwiches.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by iM@k 

This link here shows the current culinary trends in the USA. for which I'm deeply embarrassed and ashamed:

5 Insanely Stupid Food Network Recipes | lovelyish

Wow. That's just... wow.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I think the food network, and Paula Deen in particular, has to fill the airtime with anything. I mean, krispy kreme sandwiches.

I remember when she was doing some sort of special with her sons and they made Snickers tacos. Really.

[Waragainstsleep]

Originally Posted by iM@k 

This link here shows the current culinary trends in the USA. for which I'm deeply embarrassed and ashamed:

5 Insanely Stupid Food Network Recipes | lovelyish

Bacon should never be cooked in a microwave. Not much should, but never bacon.

[ort888]

In defense of those (seemingly stupid) recipes... I'm pretty sure that the Food Network has a policy of putting every single recipe that shows up on any of their programs on their website. So, if Paula Dean had a recipe for a pork roast or something, and said it goes well with "english peas, which is just some peas with a 1/4 of a stick of butter mixed in" then it would be considered a recipe by default and go up. I doubt she spent more then 20 seconds talking about English Peas on her show.

[Tiresias]

Ha ha ha.

We've got a long way to go before they slog around the supermarket explaining the most obvious cost of the recession to the president.