Comment on Great Depression: Part Deux

• sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  The pasta is real, the seasoning is real, the cheese basically is not real.

  For example, regular Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper contains trace amounts of blue cheese, which is absent from the Deluxe Cheeseburger Macaroni Hamburger Helper. The “Deluxe” product also contains parmesan cheese, palm oil, and lactic acid. These can all impact the texture and taste of the dish.

  In an email to the Daily Dot, an Eagle Foods representative wrote the following: “The difference between the Double Cheeseburger Mac and the Cheeseburger Mac products are that, for the Double Cheeseburger, the ingredient ratios are slightly different and there is double the amount of cheese powder in the seasoning packet.”

  dailydot.com/…/regular-deluxe-cheeseburger-hambur…

  Its only ‘real cheese’ if you consider a dehydrated powder that you have to add butter or milk / water to, and then prepare with heat as a ‘cheese flavored sauce’ to be ‘real cheese’.

  Yep, the tiny trace amounts of ‘100% Real Cheese!’ it contains are indeed tiny denydrated crumblets of real cheese… but I am fairly sure that by that metric, Cheetos are also ‘real cheese’.

  For most Americans under the age of 40, the idea of making an actual cheese sauce out of… an actual block of actual dairy cheese from their refrigerator… that is literally a foreign concept.

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  • Rooster326@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Because to make a proper cheese sauce you need to make a proper roux, and idk who you think is teaching the average person to do that.

    That is certainly not common knowledge today, and I doubt it has ever been common knowledge your everyday person would know. Nor is it easy to do for the inexperienced cook.

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    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Used to be that parents and grandparents would teach the kids how to cook something a bit fancier for a holiday.

      But we’re all too atomized and busy and politically polarized these days for that.

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      • Rooster326@programming.dev ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Yeah and many have.

        I can make Chicken Parmesan with our family recipe sauce, and a proper lasagna. With coffee cake for dessert.

        Still was never taught how to make a roux.

        I learned how via YouTube, and I still can’t do it without fucking up 50% of the time.

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    • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      the cheese sauce i make is great and its roux is very improper.

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  • xorollo@leminal.space ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I’m aware you can, but also cheese is expensive.

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    • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      And making cheese sauce is like, the easiest thing to fuck up. I’m having trouble with an analogy, but it’s not easy. If we’re talking about a roux based sauce at least. If there’s an easier way I would love to know.

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      • notabot@piefed.social ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        • Heat a spoonful of butter in a pan.
        • Once it’s melted and just sizzling, add about a spoonful of white flour, and stir until you have a smooth paste.
        • Cook the roux until it’s slightly darker to give the sauce a richer flavour.
        • Add a spoonful of milk and stir until smooth. This is the critical step, but it works out fine unless you let it burn.
        • Keep adding milk, a spoonful or two at a time, and mixing, until the sauce is quite liquid and you’re not having to stir much.
        • Add the rest of the milk a little faster, still stiring.
        • Cook until the sauce is heated through, and bubbling.
        • Add unhealthy amounts of your prefered cheese, grated, and keep stiring.
        • Cook until the sauce starts to thicken and remove from the heat. It’ll thicken more as it cools.

        It seems like a lot of steps, but once you get the hang of it, it’s quick and reliable. The recipies that add flour to a lot if liquid have a tendency to get lumpy, this one cooks the flour in fat first and adds liquid slowly, which pretty much eliminates the issue.

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      • Duranie@leminal.space ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Throw a couple cups of milk in a pot, start to heat on medium/medium high (don’t let it boil.)

        While that’s heating, take about half a cup of milk, and a couple fat tablespoons of flour and whisk it together in a separate bowl. It should be thick, but not real lumpy. If it comes out like mashed potatoes, add more milk.

        Once the hot milk starts to bubble on the stove, slowly whisk in about half of your flour mixture. Let it come back to a slight bubble and see how thick it is. If you want it thicker, add more of the flour mixture. Once it bubbles for a minute or two, that’s almost the final consistency as it’s going to thicken a little as it stands. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc. to taste. Turn the heat off. Add a bunch of shredded cheese. If you heat it with the shredded cheese in it, you run the risk of the sauce breaking. Check it again for flavor, and if it thickens up too much as it cools, you can always add a little more milk.

        One of the biggest mistakes that people make is heating up a sauce too much after it has the cheese in it. This can make the cheese break and get gross. I also have zero issue with using pre-shredded cheese this way either. And bonus tip, if you throw a slice of American cheese in there, it’ll have enough sodium citrate to help make it a very smooth cheese sauce.

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      • Rooster326@programming.dev ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Yeah you can do what that other guy said or just buy Sodium Citrate. It’s like $20 for a bag but it will last you a decade or more.

        Add 1 tsp to 1 cup of water. Boil. Add 1 lb of cheese, any kind. Give it about 5 minutes to heat up.

        That’s it. Your done.

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      • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        seriouseats.com/cheese-sauce-for-cheese-fries-and…

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      • xorollo@leminal.space ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        It’s way outside of my skill set. Lol. But I just need people to know that I’ll be impressed with gifts of cheese. You know, if anybody wants to impress me. 🤣

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    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Oh I’m not saying its all 100% bad.

      Having a reasonably healthier, similar tasting alternative is good when it is a good deal cheaper.

      I’m just saying it doesn’t cross my bar of ‘real cheese’.

      Used to be a bit of a brie and wine snob, and I still have the strong opinion that basically all pizzas should be 3 cheese blends, not just one.

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• thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Usually not. I have not had the pleasure of this particular variety but in my experience it’s just plain old pasta and cheese and herbs.

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  • Eheran@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    What sort of cheese is that supposed to be?

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    • NateNate60@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      It tastes similar to Kraft macaroni and cheese (known in Canada as “Kraft Dinner”). So I would guess young, unaged cheddar or Colby cheese. There is also probably a good amount of whey powder, which is a by-product of cheese production.

      It’s not fake, just highly processed.

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    • thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      A quick search says cheddar and blue cheeses for this type.

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    • Duranie@leminal.space ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Different cheeses depending on the end goal. If you dehydrate cheese it can be ground into a powder. I’ve seen cooks on various shows do this to recreate powders for popcorn seasoning, home made Doritos, Cheetos, or even for long term prepping/storage. Makes it easy to create sauces in a pinch as well.

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