# things we like but are afraid to admit.



## chefjohnpaul (Mar 9, 2000)

OK, we talked about things we hate, as culinarians sometimes we like things we hate to fess up to. I'll start...........................

Kraft Mac N' Cheese, I beef it up a bit but it is very comforting to me, and although I love beluga and champagne I am just as satisfied by a big juicey cheese burger.

What are some of your secret comfort favorites?


----------



## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Durian fruit, 
Asian jellies made from agar, added to sundaes,
Raw quail eggs..

I could go on, but I'd really embarrass myself!


----------



## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

As a pastry chef I probably shouldn't like all the cheap packages of cookies and candy but I adore all sweets. Smarties, tooties rolls and neccos to frozen Sara Lee cakes, my sisters short cut toffee bars that are made with SALTINE crackers with brown sugar over them (so fake, but tastie).



Oh I also don't mind coolwhip on or in jello molds.....

this is gross, canned bought frosting on graham crackers late at night....


----------



## cape chef (Jul 31, 2000)

I love grilled cheese and bacon,P,B&Js

cc


----------



## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Coca Cola
McDonald's fries
Popeye's fried chicken (the spicier version)
Cheezits
Wispride (with or without the "port Wine"), Velveeta, & Cheese Wiz

Sigh. Will any of you ever trust me again?:blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush:


----------



## cape chef (Jul 31, 2000)

I also love fried chicken, and snickers bars and twizzlers.

And I love to grab a couple of my kids Gummy worms when there not looking


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

Corn pops. 

TIm Horton's donut holes, the chocolate ones.

I never buy those things because it's all I would eat.


----------



## coolj (Dec 12, 2000)

I'd have to agree with CC on the grilled cheese, PB&J and fried chicken. And Isa, the chocolate sour cream timbits are the best. Another item that I happen enjoy is a monte cristo sandwich with ketchup in it.


----------



## kimmie (Mar 13, 2001)

Velveeta and Cheez-Whiz make me really happy! :blush: :blush:


----------



## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

What are timbits?


----------



## nancya (Apr 30, 2001)

I've admitted it before, I'll admit it again...

Velveeta...on instant mashed potatoes (the really good instant mashed potatoes, of course)

LOL :lol:


----------



## thirteendog (Nov 16, 2001)

oh. I am gunna get in so much trouble if my chef's see this... hehehee
I like White Castles for breakfast.
For those not familiar with them, they are squishy greasy little hambugers that are steam grilled on a bed of onions.. I should work for them... I live in Arizona which has NO white castle restaraunts and I am dying. Thank god they have them frozen at the supermarket. I was raised in the midwest and it's ******'s all the way!!:lips:


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

frozen twinkies. beef hotdogs, saurkraut, canned chili. freshetta pizza.mac and cheese. fried fruit pies. that pea salad in the gallon milk container.


----------



## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Pea salad? Must be a Texas thing.


----------



## thebighat (Feb 21, 2001)

I once wanted to get a custom bumper sticker..."This truck brakes for potato chips." I'll eat anything that make that little man stop rattling the bars..snickers, crisp turkey skin, ice cream, and more ice cream, pizza I find irresistible.


----------



## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Isn't it great that we are comfortable enough with each other that we can make these admissions?!

BTW, I forgot to mention Mars Bars (the dark chocolate version).


----------



## coolj (Dec 12, 2000)

Momoreg, timbits are what Tim Hortons call their donut holes.


----------



## chefjohnpaul (Mar 9, 2000)

I'm glad I started this thread, we're all just big kids at heart!

Oh, pork rinds...tater tots...and In N' Out burgers. The nice thing
about In N' Out is that everything is fresh down to the fries they peel, cut , and fry. In fact I need a burger and pizza fix at least twice a month! For you guys on the East Coast....In N' Out RULES!
Sorry White Castle........


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

momo,
Surely you jest! I can remember pea salad groing up in NY. A little different here, peas, cheddar (smoked or sharp) pearl onions,chopped onions, celery, ranch,Bam!! spices. I'll be back, I will have to make some or go to the Golden Corral to get some. I have never purchased anything else there, 4.99 unlimited salad bar, I load up on pea salad to go. They and you all probably think I'm nuts. Ya'll are right!!!!!  :smiles: :smiles: :smoking: :bounce:


----------



## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

Okay, you are all going to think I'm hopelessly PWT with this one....
I like Mircacle Whip. 

I grew up eating it on cooked broccoli and spinach (it was the only way Mom could get us kids to eat vegetables). I can't bring it into the house without suffering no end of living grief about it.

But the best way to eat it is slathered on homemade white bread and tomato sandwiches.


----------



## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Panini, as soon as you mentioned the pearl onions, it rang a bell. I've seen it behind some deli counters. It doesn't look too bad.

But I'm not saying you're not nuts!


----------



## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Diet Apple Slice was a past favorite beverage of mine. 
grilled plastic cheese sandwiches.
America Burgers and fries much like In and Out Burger, they are fresh! Massappequa NY
White Castle. Hogies from the Hogie hut near Highland Park IL. 
Hot Dogs from a NY street vendor. 

The list could go on for days............

Ohh food! My favorite!


----------



## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

If you've been to hogies have you had a dog at Micheals in H.P, there pretty good. Where else can you buy a simple dog for such a inflated price?

Someone here mentioned Whiteys ice cream, they ROCK! On that note from Iowa, LOOSE MEAT SANDWICHES from Ross's. To die for! Rosanne Barr got that right.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

My sister in law is a Miracle whip die hard....I end up making 2 potato salads when we eat together....one with Hellmans....

grocery store avacado sushi....it is my standard pick up when I'm shopping

I still go for Wink when it's available or Squirt...something about grapefruit soda.


----------



## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

Krispy Kremes! (and the opening date of ours was moved back to Spring of 2002.....)

Plastic Cheese grilled sandwiches with ketchup -- conversely grilled brie and pear and fresh thyme...

Apple Jacks cereal -- but not since they turned half the o's green -- that turns me off...


----------



## rachel (Oct 27, 2001)

Salt and vinegar crisps, now those I could live on, very easily. Chips that they make in British fish and chip shops. Big greasy ones that are covered in salt and vinegar and the wrapped in brown paper. It's all I want when I come home after being out late at night. When I'm abroad i can't find anything to replace them!


----------



## rachel (Oct 27, 2001)

P.S. What on earth is miracle whip?


----------



## athenaeus (Jul 24, 2001)

As a Greek that produces some olive oil, I feel embarassed to answer that...

Well...:blush: 

I LOVE all kinds of fat!! I even spread fat on bread, I eat fat with a spoon...just a spoon of pork fat... :blush: :blush:

and the worse...

I like Italian country food better than Greek:blush: :blush:


----------



## chouxbacca (Aug 10, 2001)

Plastic Cheese grilled sandwiches with ketchup, peanut butter and cheap pickled banana pepper sandwiches...burgers...fake falafel powder...K.D...pb'n'j...and a whole slew of others I don't have enough time to mention presently. As a kid I would eat butter with a spoon... You're not alone Athenaeus!


----------



## thebighat (Feb 21, 2001)

Miracle Whip is the brand name given to a mayonnaise-like substance produced in the US which is described as a "dressing" on the label. It looks like mayo, but doesn't have the same mouthfeel or taste. I can't locate a jar in our fridge right now, though I know we had one recently, so I can't give you any comparison on fat and cholesterol content to mayo.


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

and what is so bad about Italian Country food!!!???


----------



## athenaeus (Jul 24, 2001)

Panini I feel that I make a sin for prefering Italian country Food to Greek Food. But I like sooo much Italian Food... 

Greeks do not boast for their looks!
Have you ever heard anyone boasting for the obvious?


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Boasting and exaggerating is the key to populatity. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I will go out for authentic Thai food before Italian, ****! I'll take a bowl of dirty Gumdo over Minestrone any day. Oh my gosh, I'll bet my Grandmother just removed my plate from the table in Heaven.
bye

 :chef:


----------



## angrychef (Jan 15, 2001)

Hot spicy cheetos. I read the nutritional label and I'm disgusted with what I read, but when PMS time comes around ---gotta have them. 
I'm with Chefjohnpaul ---IN & OUT burgers RULE! This coming from a ex-vegetarian(2 years now). My husband and I get really embarassed when we order it "animal style"(no guys, get your minds out of the gutter...), meaning the patty is grilled with mustard and grilled onions.
Salt & vinegar potato chips(Tim's cascade style are the BEST!).
I will choose a Twix bar over any fancy mousse.


----------



## nancya (Apr 30, 2001)

Nobody has mentioned peanut butter and jam and potato chip sandwiches...can't think why not!

I prefer apricot jam on these sandwiches and thin, crispy potato chips. Oh, and extra crunchy peanut butter.


----------



## marzipan (Oct 19, 2001)

Steak burgers at Steak-n-Shake. nothing better in the world!

Cheap beef jerky. In college, during finals week, I would go to Sams and buy a huge package of jerky and gnaw on it while studying. 

Kraft white chedder mac-n-cheese

count chocula cereal


----------



## melina (Nov 6, 2001)

Jelly beans,Tweenkies with french fries and ketchup and jelly beans, jelly beans, jelly beans.


Gee Panini you are such a mature person!


----------



## kylew (Aug 14, 2000)

I think I can! 

For me, fast food. Big Macs, Whoppers, it doesn't matter I love the stuff!


----------



## risa (May 11, 2001)

Jalapeno poppers and/or deep-fried mozzarella sticks with red pepper jelly (like at Arby's). Cafeteria-style roast beef sandwiches with shredded iceberg lettuce, pre-packaged horseradish mayonnaise and plain potato chips. Campbell's tomato soup cooked with milk. McCain Frozen Deluxe Chocolate Cake! Wasabi peas. Grilled cheese sandwiches. Tofu, seitan and tempeh. Frozen pierogies cooked with onions, bacon and sour cream. Fried egg sandwiches or fried eggs on steamed white rice with Tabasco. Chinese jellyfish salad -- so much so that I actually bought a pack of instant jellyfish salad this weekend. Chinese sausages and green onions cooked with the rice.


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

Favourite junk food? chicken wings, not the one I occasionally makes but the one I could buy at a small restaurant that is way too close to my place.


----------



## peachcreek (Sep 21, 2001)

Campbells Cream of Tomato Soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. And Andy Griffith on the T.V...


----------



## henry (Jun 12, 2001)

Ketchup on scrambled eggs!!


H.


----------



## snakelady1 (Mar 7, 2001)

Every variety of Captn Crunch ......pizzaria pretzel combos.....pringles.....whoppers.....mac and cheese with ketchup...I really try to stay away from these temptations though


----------



## pollyg (Mar 12, 2001)

I'm with Risa. Wasabi peas, tomato soup with milk, and packets of jellyfish salad are yum.
I'll eat pickled jalapeno chillies on anything, and wasabi paste spread on buttered toast.
B.L.T's- anytime all the time.
sara lee frozen cheese cakes
salt and vinegar chips
oh, and I could almost live on lamb loin chops grilled with hoisin sauce until the tails of fat are all crispy... :bounce:


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Fat... Athenaeus, let's have a party! I love the cracklings left over from rendering poultry fat (in Yiddish we call them gribines). That may explain my taste for pork rinds. Ever try frozen Hostess Ding Dongs? (for those uninitiated, they're little chocolate-flavored cakes with "cream" filling and icing) Okay, here's a really, really trashy admission: I like the hot fudge pudding-cake at Old Country Buffet. My head says it's fakey and awful, my mouth says "YUM".

Then there's kishke- the Jewish style, which is also called "stuffed derma" (how appetizing). It's basically a meatless, doughy mixture of flour, schmaltz and seasonings stuffed in beef casings, baked alongside chicken and roasts. Think a knish is heavy? It's LIGHT compared to this delicacy!  

I acquired a taste for dried squid strips while rooming with a girl from Hong Kong. She also taught me to like sweet beef jerky.


----------



## rachel (Oct 27, 2001)

Dried squid strips actually sound quite good, but ketchup on scrambled or fried egg sounds disgusting So much so, I'll have to try it, just to make sure!!!


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

This was the meal of my childhood!


----------



## chefjohnpaul (Mar 9, 2000)

Whenever I go to NY I just have to stop at one of those roadside diners for a fried egg sandwich and fries. Last time I was at one the Greek owner, a waitor, and a customer were having this huge argument over something, everything stopped, they pleasently took our order, and then back to the fight........we had dinner and a show for under $12.......


----------



## dagwood (Nov 20, 2001)

Hebrew National hot dogs, No I am not kosher but those are some **** good dogs,dirty hummus, and any other soul food that you can think of.


----------



## slavegirl (Aug 7, 2001)

Vinegar, on everything. Mad amounts of it. So much people won't eat near me. It's great on mac and cheese. Or just plain straight shots from the bottle.

Salt and vinegar chips.

I love canned asparagus, I don't know why. It's so wrong.

Magic Shell on my ice cream.

Sour gummy candies, any kind.

CheezITS with green tobasco sauce on them. I don't each much junk food at all, but these are the things I go for when I can't stand the discipline anymore!


----------



## hubuk (Oct 8, 2001)

Doner Kebabs

The Great British Breakfast:
Bacon, sausage, black pudding, fried egg, fried bread, mushrooms, baked beans - oh, and a large mug of strong tea!

Bara Brith


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

I was fine until you mentioned black pudding, Hub.... At a little B&B in Wales I remember grilled tomatoes on my breakfast plate, alongside the excellent bacon and lovely, golden-yolked eggs with some real flavor. Hearty breakfast, view of the mountains outside the window, blistering hot cup of tea and a friendly proprietor: great memory.


----------



## shimmer (Jan 26, 2001)

Milk with ice cream (this disgusts my husband, so now I feel ashamed....) 

Tacos with KETCHUP (not salsa, not hot sauce, ketchup!)

Toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (I'm not ashamed of this one, it's incredibly good, especially grilled outside!)

Grande nonfat no-whip mocha valencia (it's funny for a west-Coast girl like myself to order these in midwest coffee shops, it's like speaking a foreign language)

Corn chips dipped in tuna

Those silly fruity applesauces (mango peach, etc)

Hot chocolate powder mix, straight from the packet. (Not good when one inhales, but yummy!!)

Frozen peas, when frozen

~~Shimmer~~


----------



## nancya (Apr 30, 2001)

Milk and ice cream? Wouldn't that be a milkshake? Nothing disgusting about that. 

Toasted PBJ is especially good with potato chips in the middle. Mmmm

Cocoa mix....straight...crunchy but okay.


You lost me with the ketchup, though. :crazy:


----------



## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

I love ice cold milk poured over ice cream. Freezes the milk and makes it crunchy.
If I could have 3 wishes #1 would be that I could eat ANYTHING I wanted to with out any repercussions. Fat, clogged arteries etc. I am a partially disciplined bad food junkie. I have champagne tastes coupled with a near insatiable appetite for bad things that I have to keep in check. If let free to roam I would be the star of a bad movie. Wandering across America with a fat wallet and a fatter gut! After midnight 7-11 microwave burritos with pepsi and a couple of hostess cupcakes. Corned beef hash, reubens, double cheeseburgers, 3 musketeers, buffalo wings, big messy steak subs dripping with mayo and onions. Grilled cheese sandwiches with mayo and tomatoes. Italian sausage subs, bagles with cream cheese and smoked fish. Prime rib, french fries, cake, cake and more cake. Eggplant parmesan, fried egg sandwiches, drippings and more drippings sopped up with rye bread. Fried foods of all kinds, nachos smothered in cheese sour cream and salsa. Little Tavern burgers (think White Castle)n the Waffle shop, kosher hot dogs and chili dogs. Have I made my point yet?

There's more but you get my drift. Thank god I have a little self control (aka wife)  

Oh I almost forgot my absolute favorite of them all. I could eat them by the dozen BLT'S Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


----------



## peachcreek (Sep 21, 2001)

O.K. Time to come clean. Chicken strips. They're bulletproof. Fresh or stale they still taste pretty good. It what the guy who made your really expensive meal had for dinner, most nights. And since I'm a connosieur, EXTRA Ranch dressing, please... While patrons will be snacking on one of my delictable delights, chances are the cooks had something that had sat around a while.
Hey! Don't toss that! I'm still drinking that coffee!


----------



## chefjohnpaul (Mar 9, 2000)

It makes me laugh when people think chefs eat filet and lobster every night! My mentor and one of the best chefs I'd worked for, who was Maurice Pugets (one time chef of MAXIM'S) sous chef, would eat cheese burgers almost every night. Yes, we were making sweetbreads grenobloise and lobster thermador for guests but downing a big greasy reuben and Pepsi for ourselves! It just cracks me up!!!!!


----------



## athenaeus (Jul 24, 2001)

I ate during the day a whole tiramishu cake with a litre of diet coke 



Chose, I think that I need to have a good talk with your wife. She may reveal me some effective ways to stop your husband eating things 24hours a day...


----------



## risa (May 11, 2001)

I've eaten half a pound of panforte since yesterday afternoon. I probably would have finished off the whole pound yesterday except that my teeth are starting to hurt and the sugar and almonds gave me a killer headache. I know many people don't like candied fruit, but I'm addicted to the stuff. However, this is not an open invitation for all of you to send me your doorstop fruitcakes!


----------



## coolj (Dec 12, 2000)

> _Originally posted by chefjohnpaul _
> *It makes me laugh when people think chefs eat filet and lobster every night! ]
> 
> I know what you mean, I get my break at 2 am every night, and if I treid to actually have a meal, we get busy and there goes my food, so I've learned to have ice cream, left over fries, or what ever baked goods are on hand.*


----------



## chiffonade (Nov 29, 2001)

Guilty pleasures...

* Nutella out of the jar.

* Canned ravioli (I had cravings for this when I was pregnant with my daughter. My father calls this "paste for the walls.")

* A good, rare cheeseburger and a heap of french fries onto which I'll pour 3/4 of a bottle of ketchup. When I was a kid, I had a saying: "French fries are a vehicle on which ketchup rides into my mouth."

* Fried Anything

* #1 Combination at McDonald's (my choice for crap food).

* Olive Garden Salad and that squishy bread they serve.

* Blooming Onion at Outback or Chili's.

* Green Jello thing called Summer Salad. Green jello with sour cream and pecans.

* Ricotta and jelly on toast. (My dad worked for Polly-O for 38 years.)

* Any innard or otherwise shunned delicacy - such as: Chicken feet, pig's feet, lamb's brains, calve's liver, chicken livers, lamb spinal cord, tripe. When I was a kid my mom knew a butcher who would sell her this meat that was against the law according to the USDA. We called it _sofrito_. It was the esophagus and windpipe of cows. She made it in tomato sauce. It pays to know your neighborhood butcher.


----------



## kimmie (Mar 13, 2001)

Oh Chiffonade,

I bet you would love Kokoretsi! Here's a link :lips:


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Risa, I'd love to taste panforte ever since I saw a show where it was made, but I'll admit to liking almost any fruitcake- the more electric green and red "fruit", the better. There's a cake from Texas, I think, that's stufffed with pecans; that one is awesome. Thank goodness I won't let myself buy one; one slice is about 2 days' worth of carb allowance for me.


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

Risa did you make the panforte yourself? If so would you mind sharing your recipe?


Mezz, I use to hate fruitcakes, the only one I ate was the one my grand mother made. Plenty of candied fruits and red and green cherries. 


A few years ago I decided to make fruitcakes with dried fruits and nuts. It changed my views about fruitcakes.


----------

