To say that I was severely disappointed with Wild Animal Crunch is an understatement of almost elephantine and Brobdingnagian proportions.

Oh, you like those fun words? Here are some more: mammoth, humongous, colossal, epic, ginormous, earth-shattering disappointment.

Look at the cute polar bear family. Woo - cubbies! They can haz mye heart. Hey and it’s brought to you by Animal Planet. Can’t go wrong there.

Plus the box sez: “NEW!” I am the wide-eyed sucker that advertising execs are targeting. NEW! How can you beat that. Must buy.

It also says this is a “Collector’s Polar Package”. Because there are a ton of people who collect nothing but cereal boxes. You haven’t heard? It’s the latest craze.

Yes, I fell for this hook, line and polar bear. I paid $1.50 for a cardboard picture of polar bears, a walrus, emperor penguins and seals (those are actually on the back of the box). Oh, I forgot - there was cereal in the box too. Kind of surprising - I thought they might have just filled it up with rocks or something and called it a day.

Actually, the cereal does look a little bit like rocks. This is supposed to be “naturally and artificially flavored vanilla-chocolate whole grain cereal”, with an emphasis on the “artificially flavored”. I think they were trying to make the shapes look like certain “wild animals”, but I couldn’t really make out what they were. A few were vaguely bear-shaped.

Hm… I changed my mind. These don’t look like rocks. They look like diseased polar bear molars without the roots. Yum. Hey, Polar Molars also rhymes! NEET-o.

The cereal tasted like chocolate flavored crispy weeds and sawdust, but I suppose that’s because it’s a whole grain cereal. I have to give them a little bit of credit - at least they’re trying to make it healthy. Although, the sugar content is enough to make my nose bleed. I don’t eat a lot of cereal, though, so it’s difficult to tell just how sweet this is.

In conclusion, this review sucked. Uh, I mean, this cereal sucked. A Freudian slip there. Sorry, I’ve been having writer’s block lately and can’t think of what to say about a cereal that looks like a Martian Polar Bear’s butt spatterings. But I think the flavor of this would improve slightly if eaten with milk.

Man, I need to stop buying all this crap at the dollar store.

Price: $1.50
Found At: Dollar Store
Cheap Eats Score: 2/10

Some quickie Cheap Eats news: it appears the price of your favorite daily morning Kellogg’s cereal may be going up. I read about it on Iateapie today. While the increase will only be in the single digit percentages, it’s going to affect most of their cereals (exceptions are Special K, All-Bran). Price increases will be across the board for stores apparently.

As the article notes, it’ll be interesting to see what General Mills thinks of the price rise. The reason for the increase is mainly the cost of ingredients. I don’t eat a lot of dry cereal, so I can’t say how much it’ll affect us. But I guess if you have 10 kids and buy boxes and boxes of cereal a week, then you might notice the difference.

Wait, does this include Pop Tarts?

Oh, woe is me.

Source: Yahoo Finance via Tanya from Iateapie

And a Happy Stuffed Sausage Bread New Year to you too.

I had a nice little dollar store Cheap Eats post all ready to go today. But that’s gotten preempted (much like all my favorite shows are preempted by stupid American Football nowadays) by some crazy Stromboli action.

I know it’s hard to believe, what with my dumblefingery baking skills, but I actually made a practical approximation of a Sausage Stromboli just an hour ago in the oven. I couldn’t believe it either. I hope this is a harbinger of Cheap Eats Baking to come for 2009.

I know you’re supposed to use a pizza stone for this kind of stuff, but I was able to make one using just a Silpat on top of a cookie baking sheet. I think because the dough was thin, it didn’t matter as much. It didn’t have as crunchy a crust as a real pizza, and the cheese leaked out of the bottom, but the end result was pretty amazing. I did use a broiler tray for steam this time, so maybe that helped the crust. This one had canned tomatoes, jack cheese and cooked Italian sausage in it.

It’s about this point that I need to confess that the recipe for the stromboli comes straight outta Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (abbreviated as AB5MD from now on) which I got for Xmas. I really think they should’ve taken out the word “Artisan” - it tends to scare non-bakers like me away. At first I thought it was some frou-frou book written by a poofy-hatted chef in Limoges. They should’ve just said Amazing Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

I hate to be one of those “book boosters”, but this bread tome is pretty damn good. I started off before this book going down the Jim Lahey No-Knead route (google it, for the NY times article, since the bastards prevent hotlinking). That recipe was the revelation, and this book extended it by letting you keep batches of pre-mixed dough in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Earlier, I’d experimented with making your own yeast - but I’ll save that topic for another day. Plus, it’s a little more inconvenient and requires more time. I just used the standard yeast packets.

I’m only on the basic master recipe in AB5MD which uses water, salt, unbleached white flour and storebought yeast. But it’s been good enough for most everything - however, I was surprised it worked well for the Stromboli because I didn’t have a pizza stone. Also, I’ve been using a combination of the Lahey method and AB5MD method for all the bread. Basically, I said forget the pizza stone and used a non-stick cast iron pot like Lahey recommended. Use the cover for 1/2 the cooking time and you don’t really need to use a steam tray. The bread comes out pretty good, though not perfect. The dough recipe is just an ordinary 6-3-3-13. That’s 6 cups lukewarm water, 3 tbsp yeast, 3 tbsp kosher salt, 13 cups flour. Mix it, cover and let it stand for 2 hours and put it in the fridge. That is all - enough dough for 8 1lb loaves. Halve the recipe if it’s too much to store.

I’ll try get a full recipe up for the stromboli, maybe an AB5MD book review as well, when I get to the other enriched doughs of later chapters. For now, it’s pretty darn good and cheap eats. It’s great to be able to make larger batches in advance instead of just one at a time like the Lahey method I was using.

Hye there. I’m going to be doing something sort of lame starting today. Since we’re already splitting food review coverage between Cheap Eats and Cheaplander, I’ll be cross-promoting it between the sites. So, if there’s a review over there, I’ll mostly likely post a link up over here.

I know, I know. This is nothing more than a scheme to make it seem like I’m writing more content here at Cheap Eats than I actually am. I’d be stupid not to do it, however, since Cheaplander is just getting off the ground while Cheap Eats has much more traffic and has been around for nearly 5 years.

For those who haven’t visited yet, Cheaplander is “supposed to be” just like this blog, except it deals with any topic - not only food. The main focus of the site has to do with “living within your means” - I guess that’s as good a topic as any in this economy. We’re also running it as a pseudo-group blog, so if you’re interested in contributing reviews, let me know. I might put up a “help wanted” shingle here in a bit. I’m also planning on running “contests” over there eventually.

(A note for all the companies sending in food for review: you have an equal chance of having your product appear on the Cheap Eats site and the Cheaplander site. It’s pretty much random right now.)

To get started with, here’s a short list of recent reviews:

Cheaplander Review by Bryan: Suddenly Pasta Salad
Cheaplander Review by Andrea: Smart Ones Breakfast Quesadilla
Cheaplander Review by Linda: Fizzy Lizzy Sparkling Juice Beverage

Exsqueeze me, I have a little tear in my eye…

Ah, that’s better. You see - I was chopping up a few of my fave little oniony friends. I’m talking Shallots.

These have been a favorite over here at Cheap Eats HQ, and not only because Mr. A. Bourdain recommended them in his book. Nor was it the fact that a Mr. A Brown devoted a whole show to them - although it was nice to see them featured.

Shallots are sort of a mystery to most people. They certainly were to me until a few years ago. I didn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t just keep either brown onions or garlic on hand for the same effect. Then I discovered that they really “kicked it up a notch” (I can steal Emeril’s mojo since he’s no longer doing his show) on gravy.

And that’s actually the reason why I decided to make a post about it now - just in time for Thanksgiving. Minced and sauteed along with the fat/drippings before putting in the flour, they make a really good turkey gravy taste great. I mean, you can easily substitute minced brown onions for gravy, and I often do. But shallots seem to give it a little extra something.

For more information on exactly what a shallot is, you should read the Wikipedia article. I don’t really care what family or species of Allium plant they are - I just know that they are nice to have around. They look a little like oversized garlic cloves with purple skins. The smell and taste is pretty close to right in the middle between onions and garlic. And, oh yes, their fumes will turn you into a crybaby (try and chill them before mincing, that helps).

One of nice things about shallots is that they can keep for a rather long period of time without going bad. I usually store them outside in the kitchen for a few weeks, and then toss them in the bottom shelf of the fridge afterwards for the long haul. This is great for Cheap Eaters who try to have a good amount of “staple” type foods that don’t go bad so fast. I have kept them up to at least a month with no ill effects. Longer than that, and I started to see deterioration and/or the growth of shoots or mold.

Peeling a shallot can be a bit tricky. The skin is papery and a bit thinner than a normal onion. If it isn’t loose and easy to peel, it can be tough to get off. Sometimes I whack it with a knife in the manner you would garlic - that’s fine if you’re going to mince them anyhow. Also, cutting off the ends of each clove may make them easier to peel. Inevitably, I have a few where I actually peel off the outer layer of shallot on accident along with the skin. I was wondering - anyone have any tips on peeling these buggers?

Shallots can be a bit on the pricier side compared to garlic and onions. I often get them for cheaper in a bulk bag at ethnic markets. However, because you only need to use a small amount (usually 1 or 2 shallots is plenty for a recipe) and because of their longevity in storage, I’m inclined to consider them cheaper eats than many other types of vegetables.

As I said before, my primary use for them is in gravy. One other great idea is to introduce a little bit in any recipe that calls for garlic and onions. That way, you get what I like to call a “triple threat of oniony goodness“. I’ve used that technique in spaghetti sauce and chili beans. I put 1-2 shallot cloves minced along with the garlic and onions. Maybe it’s all the fumes from the oniony goodness getting to my brain, but it seems like the flavor palette expands to encompass a wider array of taste structures. Haha, that’s so rich. I should write a book.

Another way to use it is in a haricot verts (green beans) type of dish with tomatoes. I know a lot of people also deep-fry slices, similar to french-fried onions, and use it as a topping for things like soup. I haven’t seem them used raw in salsa yet, but I’ve wondered if they’d work there.

As always, I’m looking to expand my shallotty ways. I’d like to know if you have any great uses for them - please comment below if so.

Eggo-licious.

This was meant to be a longer post plus recipe on the merits (and pitfalls) of the Egg Salad Sandwich. I was going to get all fast and furious with the egg jokes too. But I’m still gurgling around in the bloggity-mosh pit on Cheaplander trying to implement things and track down various blogbugs. They bite, ouch.

So I’ll leave all the eggxtras for another day. Oh, before I go: I did have one tip for cooking hard boiled eggs. I’ve forgotten if I already posted this. Actually, this idea is originally from ex-jailbird Martha Stewart.

To get really nice, fluffy, but moist yolks for hard boiled eggs, place your eggs in a medium pot and cover with cold water. Crank up the heat - but don’t walk away. Because if you’re like me, you’ll forget the eggs are on the stove. When the water just begins to boil (but before it’s all going crazy-bubbling-with-the-cheezwiz), turn off the heat and put the lid on the pot securely. It needs to be pretty well sealed.

Then, just leave it for 12-15 minutes. I think everyone’s preference for yolk tenderness is different, so you may need to adjust the time. The carryover heat cooks the yolk nicely. We’ve been using this method pretty exclusively for years now.

(Oh, I’ve listed this post in the 3 dollars or less category, even though there’s no real recipe. But yeah, it definitely comes in under 3 bucks. Probably could make a half dozen egg salad sandwiches for that.)

One last thing - if you have a good egg salad recipe or any eggstra special ideas, please leave a comment. By the way, I like my egg salad with chopped ham in it - you might have been wondering if those pink things were red onions. Nope, it’s ham. I also chop the onion (green or white) eggstremely fine - I don’t like biting into chunkety chunks. But to each his own I guess…

Sorry for the later post this week - we’ve been dealing with a feeble internet connection lately. It was too frustrating to try and make blog posts when submitting the form could send 2 hours of work into Nowhereland. When it finally got fixed, I realized I didn’t have anything lined up to talk about.

So I turned to an old standby: Pico Pica Hot Sauce.

I don’t mean that I’ve written about this before, but I’ve been meaning to make a post about it for a year or so now. I call it a standby because we always have a bottle of this sitting in the fridge. My parents always had a bottle of this in their fridge. Actually, it seems like it was the same particular bottle for about 10 years…

Although it’s currrently distributed by Juanita’s Foods, it has been in production since 1937. According to the website, it was “one of the original bottled Mexican hot sauces in Southern California.” I believe that Juanita’s is also the number one seller of Menudo (not the band, the stomach pieces) in the U.S. as well.

What I always liked about Pico Pica’s hot sauce was that it IS an old standby. I originally got into it in the 80s after I discovered it tasted remarkably like Taco Bell hot sauce. It’s a little less watery and thin than I remember Taco Bell’s being, but not as thick as some other hot sauces. It’s a blended hot sauce made primarily of red chile peppers, tomatoes and spices.

On the heat scale, it’s not unbearably hot - I can take a lot more heat than this. But it’s pleasant to eat when you’re just hungry but want to add some zing to a bland burrito. It has a mild afterburn, but I wouldn’t call it mild hot sauce. The flavor has a fairly strong cumin or chile powder scent, and a bit of a “raw” taste to it that I suspect some people might not like. I think compared to Tapatio it’s milder and less of a cumin taste to it. But I haven’t tried them side by side.

What I like about it is that it doesn’t have as much of a vinegar taste like some other hot sauces - I mean I dig dashes of Tabasco for certain things like eggs and breakfast skillets, but if you want something to pour liberally on top of your meal then I like Pico Pica better.

Continue reading “Pico Pica Hot Sauce” …