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Home > Blogs > Taste: Dayton food and restaurants > Archives > 2008 > December > 10 > Entry
Food and cooking tips to make you look smart — and thrifty
Here’s a copy of a story that I wrote that is scheduled to run in Thursday’s Dayton Daily News:
We have once again probed the newly released food products, scoured the food and consumer magazines, compared prices on the best kitchen gear and otherwise gathered up some of the best advice, tips and “nifty nuggets” of food wisdom from all corners of the globe, all to help you dazzle your friends with savvy epicurean knowledge while saving a few bucks to boot.
An ocean of possibilities
If you’re buying seafood for any part of your holiday bash — or for that matter, for Tuesday night dinner — consider one of the Dayton-area shops that specialize in seafood.
I’ve had very good experiences at Foremost Seafood at 1904 Woodman Center Drive in Kettering (www.foremostseafood.com or 937-298-1986), where I’ve shopped frequently for several years, and also at Oceanwide Seafood at 475 Victory Drive in Springboro (www.owseafood.com or 937-514-7439), where I’ve bought fish a few times (I live in Kettering relatively close to Foremost).
Dayton Fish Inc. at 3939 N. Main St. in Harrison Twp. (937-276-3474), and Arcade Seafoods at 111 W. First St. in downtown Dayton are also seafood specialists, though I’ve not had any recent personal experiences at those two shops.
Foremost and Oceanwide are essentially seafood wholesalers that supply Miami Valley restaurants and grocers, but which also sell to retail customers (don’t look for a fancy display case at Foremost, where they cut the seafood in the back to order, then bring it out for you to inspect before you buy). Prices at these wholesale/retail seafood specialists are usually less than grocery-store prices, and I suspect that in most cases, you’ll also be buying fresher seafood. Cheaper + fresher = good.
Ice cream and chocolate? Why yes, don’t mind if I do
Taste-testers for Consumer Reports/ShopSmart are clearly trying to fatten us up for the holidays with their recommendations for ice cream, brownies and hot chocolate in the magazine’s January edition, but since we’re still in splurge mode, why not enjoy? At least the ice cream they recommended is low-fat — and count me as a fan: Haagen-Dazs Extra Rich Light Vanilla Bean ($3.99/pint) was described as “the clear winner with our tasters.”
As for brownies, the magazine suggested Duncan Hines Oven Ready Homestyle Brownies ($3.69), which ShopSmart taste-testers “inhaled” (our home taste-tester wasn’t quite as enthusiastic, but would buy it again and make it in a pinch).
And of the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa ($4.89), the magazine raved, “We loved the rich, thick, milk-chocolatey flavor. It beat out nine other hot chocolates we taste-tested.” We tried it too, and no disagreement: This is not the sugary Nestle Quik of your childhood, but tastes of decadent chocolate, with just enough sweetness to balance out the cocoa. It’s a winner.
One stock that’s still worth something
You’ve seen Swanson broth on the grocery shelf for decades, but now the company has come out with stocks. Out of their cartons, broth and stock look similar, but the folks at Swanson (www.swansonstock.com) point out key differences: Stock is less seasoned, but has a meatier flavor than broth, and is best used in main meat dishes and gravies. Broth is highly seasoned and is geared for soups and side dishes. The stocks come in chicken or beef and sell in 26-ounce cartons for $3.49.
Cooking beef slooowly
The folks at the Ohio Beef Council (www.ohiobeef.org) offer these tips when cooking with beef in a slow-cooker, better known in these parts as a CrockPot:
— Use beef straight from the refrigerator. Do not use frozen beef for slow-cooker recipes.
— Trim visible fat from beef before cooking.
— Do not lift the lid of the slow cooker during cooking unless the recipe directs you to add ingredients or stir. The heat loss caused by removing the lid can result in the need for extra cooking time.
Best-value kitchen appliances
The best electric range for no-frills cooks, according to the January 2009 edition of ShopSmart Magazine (a sister publication of Consumer Reports magazine), is the Kenmore 9611[2], a white, 30-inch, smooth-top, self-clean range that the magazine’s editors said “packs a lot of performance into a low price.” The magazine lists the suggested price as $560, but a quick check last week on Sears’ Web site (www.sears.com) shows the range was on sale for $476 and was in stock and available for pickup at the Dayton Mall Sears (stores in Beavercreek and Kettering could get the range in eight days or so, the Sears Web site said).
If you’re looking for a gas range, ShopSmart recommends the Hotpoint Model RGB745WEH 30-inch freestanding gas range, which the editors described as having “a very good-size oven that bakes great as well as a very good broiler, and it simmers superbly.” The magazine lists the price at $600, but the range (both the white-on-white and black-on-black models) is marked down at Sears to $484. It was not listed as being in stock at any Dayton-area Sears store as of last week, though the Web site said it could be delivered to the store in about 15 days. The range is also sold at Home Depot, according to the magazine. Home Depot’s Web site (www.homedepot.com) listed the price last week as $569.
Turning your kitchen green
The traditional kitchen is by far the most energy-inefficient room in the house, according to the Fall 2008 issue of ELDR magazine. But you can “green up” your kitchen while reducing your energy bill and fighting global warming by following these tips from the magazine (www.eldr.com):
— Fill the dishwasher before running it and don’t use the pre-rinse or heat-to-dry options.
— Use the microwave to cook and reheat small items, and keep the microwave clean.
— Unplug small appliances
— Switch to cloth towels and napkins
— Match pots to the burner size
— Buy local produce
— Tote your own shopping bag.
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