Food that should never come from a can?

[Sumeri]

OMG, anything with the name "Hormel" on it is definitely un-canworthy! Blech!

And the cranberry "sauce" (more like cylindrical gel with tin can ruffle marks on the exterior -- you know, to make it fancy enough for your formal table!). Good one, GVC! I'd almost forgotten about that since we actually make our cranberry sauce from scratch.

I am coming out. I love Mary Kitchen corned beef hash. I mean, fry it up in butter with some eggs and a couple pieces of toast from crappy white bread? THERE IS NOTHING BETTER.

And speaking of cans, I made chana masala for supper tonight with canned chickpeas and tomatoes. Thought of this thread the whole time.

[Maggie Mae]

I have a sudden urge to go buy myself some corn beef hash in a can and cook it.

[Mary C Doates]

Canned squid. Saw this at the supermarket this evening. I can only imagine....shudder...

[Sobeknofret]

Sauerkraut comes canned? Good lord, there is no telling how old that cabbage is! Gross!

I'm with you! My half-German grandmother drilled an avoidance of the canned stuff into me. She thought it was an abomination, but the jarred stuff was passable. We just had sauerkraut baked with apples, potatoes and sausage for dinner tonight. Filling and so yummy. She also put pork chops in hers, but nobody but me likes pork so I leave it out.

[Wolfie]

I am coming out. I love Mary Kitchen corned beef hash. I mean, fry it up in butter with some eggs and a couple pieces of toast from crappy white bread? THERE IS NOTHING BETTER.

And speaking of cans, I made chana masala for supper tonight with canned chickpeas and tomatoes. Thought of this thread the whole time.

My dad loves it too. He cooks it up the exact same way- but for health reasons it is a very rare treat for him. As a child I called it cash, and loved both the fried canned stuff and the homemade stuff made from leftover beef, onions and potatoes. Another favorite that has come up on this thread (but we always had bagged or jarred, I recently discovered making it at home) was what I called sourcrap.

[Deleted03]

I had a pressure cooker and gave it away (I'm mostly vegan and don't cook anything from scratch without beans in it, and a pressure cooker just does NOT work -- beans are much too foamy). But you'll pry my 6-qt. crockpots out of my cold dead hands. I bought canned beans when I lived in the dorms and couldn't cook, but crockpots make the process so much easier, and they're about a fifth the price of the canned, if that. I just cook in bulk and then freeze.

if it's a small pressure cooker then it does not work, but my new pressure cooker is sure cooking all my beans for me! no more cans!

[gilora]

What? Who needs to MAKE corned beef hash when you can just buy it... in a CAN?? :lol:

It really looks like dog food for humans. Complete with the sllllluuuuuurrrrrrppppp! sound as it sliiiiiides out of the can.

Speaking of which, how about canned cranberry sauce? Traditional thing at so many US Thanksgivings. The trick is to get it out of the can still in the can shape, and slice it!

The cranberry sauce is definitely one of those things that is just a food all by itself - there's regular cranberry sauce that's more... sauce (usually homemade) which is good, and then there's the canned jelly stuff, which is also good, but just a completely separate thing entirely.

I love Hormel canned corned beef hash. Slide it out of the can (compete with glop sound), cut into slices and fry in butter on both sides until crisp ... Yummy.

[desertvixen]

I am coming out. I love Mary Kitchen corned beef hash. I mean, fry it up in butter with some eggs and a couple pieces of toast from crappy white bread? THERE IS NOTHING BETTER.

This used to be one our hangover breakfasts when I was in language school. Occasionally the one guy who usually hosted the parties did fry bread to go with it.

[rezski44]

What? Who needs to MAKE corned beef hash when you can just buy it... in a CAN?? :lol:

It really looks like dog food for humans. Complete with the sllllluuuuuurrrrrrppppp! sound as it sliiiiiides out of the can.

When I was a kid my mother would cook this in butter and it was really good. But I don't eat that way now. :)

[YPestis]

I almost never buy canned food unless it's pickled veggies or jam. My SO likes to buy canned sauces to put into meats and other foods. The few times I buy canned food is when I have a craving for clam chowder or chicken noodle soup. I can't make those things and I like the taste of it. However, they are high in sodium so I treat it like any other junk food (i.e it's not part of my regular diet!).

To me, most canned stuff should be eaten sparingly because it's not fresh and often high in sodium. I also don't think the canned vegetables and meats tastes very good (with some exceptions). However, I know that canned foods is necessary for convenience....it's pretty hard to make everything from scratch. I try to buy fresh for the main food stuff like meats, vegetables, bread and rice. The Duggars' appalling eating habits sends me into a tizzy because their main courses are directly from the convenience aisle. I bet you they are like my patients who say that the canned items are can't be high in "salt" because it doesn't taste salty! It drives me nuts that the Duggars kids are taught such poor eating habits from a young age because the family can't prioritize healthy eating.

[B5SnowDog]

And the cranberry "sauce" (more like cylindrical gel with tin can ruffle marks on the exterior -- you know, to make it fancy enough for your formal table!). Good one, GVC! I'd almost forgotten about that since we actually make our cranberry sauce from scratch.

I hated cranberry sauce until I tried my sister-in-law's homemade sauce. It turns out I just hated the canned stuff.

[SealFan1963]

What? Who needs to MAKE corned beef hash when you can just buy it... in a CAN?? :lol:

It really looks like dog food for humans. Complete with the sllllluuuuuurrrrrrppppp! sound as it sliiiiiides out of the can.

When I was a kid my mother would cook this in butter and it was really good. But I don't eat that way now. :)

One of my comfort foods is canned roast beef hash. I don't eat it very often, but it is so good when it is cooked until it is kind of crispy. Served with english muffins and fried eggs. You can hear your arteries clogging as you eat it. :) I agree though it does look like dog food for humans.

[yewnique]

Canned veggies is a no-no for me. I'd rather buy frozen rather than canned.

The only canned fruits I buy are tomatoes, apricots and very occasionally, fruit for pies.

Canned meat is a no-no as well.

[DistantStar]

I will also cook with evaporated milk. I use it as a lower fat substitute for cream. It works in saag paneer --

Saag paneer just might be my favorite food on Earth. Do you make the paneer yourself? It's really very easy, if you haven't, and is to DIE FOR delicious.

[Patsy]

Tinned beetroot is an Australian staple apparently rarely eaten elsewhere. You eat them on burgers and salad sandwiches :)

[Gypsy]

Canned beets? It's a staple at salad bars. A lot of us hate it, but its popular enough to stay on the shelves and in restaurants. I love them.

[Patsy]

So glad to hear it :D

[DarkAnts]

Canned haggis and canned bacon. Tried both. The haggis is worse then the fresh stuff. The canned bacon is wrong on so many levels.

[Guest Anonymous]

if it's a small pressure cooker then it does not work, but my new pressure cooker is sure cooking all my beans for me! no more cans!

What are your timings? I know they can be done, I have just never worked out how to factor in the time needed to slow release the pressure, so the skins don't split but the beans retain the perfect amount of bite?

[freejoytoo]

I saw someone on Wife Swap getting cheese from a can. That's wrong on every level.

[Deleted03]

What are your timings? I know they can be done, I have just never worked out how to factor in the time needed to slow release the pressure, so the skins don't split but the beans retain the perfect amount of bite?

I use the timings that come in the leaflet in my pressure cooker. When I use the ones I have in vegan on 4$ a day, it's usually undercooked. The only problem I had was with black eyed peas, and I think it was my fault for soaking them. I could scan the times and send them to you. I know that the size of your pressure cooker matters a lot in terms of the foaming becoming dangerous.

[OkToBeTakei]

Canned beets? It's a staple at salad bars. A lot of us hate it, but its popular enough to stay on the shelves and in restaurants. I love them.

In a can? We have them in a jar, not sure I've seen a can 8-)

[2xx1xy1JD]

Saag paneer just might be my favorite food on Earth. Do you make the paneer yourself? It's really very easy, if you haven't, and is to DIE FOR delicious.

There's an Indian grocery near me that sells paneer.

I know that this may be complete heresy, but I make a mock saag paneer with tofu.

It goes like this:

2 packages frozen chopped spinach

1 package extra-firm tofu, cut into cubes

1 tub 1% cottage cheese

1/2 can evaporated milk

1 or 2 tomatoes

1 cube each frozen garlic, ginger and chili

2 Tbsp green curry paste

bunch of cilantro

ground spices or garam masala

I heat up the spinach in a big saute pan, then add the cottage cheese and garlic, ginger, chili, curry paste and cilantro. Then, I add the evaporated milk. I mix it all together on a low flame, so that it's well mixed but the evaporated milk doesn't curdle or form a skin. Take out half, stick in a blender, and then return to the pan. I toss the tofu in the garam masala or ground spices, then add to the pan and cook another couple of minutes. The tomatoes get cut into wedges and put on top.

It may be a sacrilege, but it's quick, reasonably healthy and an easy meal to throw together because I can stock up on frozen spinach and canned evaporated milk.

To continue with the "Caker cooks curry in a hurry" theme, I also do canned diced tomatoes, canned chick peas, cubed tofu and whatever veggies I have lying around, together with some spices or curry paste, as a quick, cheap and healthy curry dinner.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I see canned beets at my supermarket in the US, like this:

Never eaten 'em, so I cannot judge the taste.

Meanwhile what about Vienna sausages?

Always those seven to the can, squished in there so they're sort of hexagonal when you take them out of the can.

Seems it used to be always you needed some "Vienna Sausage cans" for projects at school, as if they assume every family must eat these, I think we only bought them if we needed the can for school. (That and the big metal coffee cans with the plastic lids. Bring one to school, surely every family has plenty lying around?)

[itsnikki05]

Whole chicken... in a a can. :) EWWWWWWW!