Can't speak to LA, but nah. Cream cheese is the East coast trick. The Midwestern secret is "cream of [ ]" soup. Cream of mushroom is my go to, but when I ate chicken I used Cream of it a lot too. It's useful in casserole/hotdish where a roux would be great but a real pain in the ass.
this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2025
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Recipes
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A place to exchange kick-ass recipes. Either your own, or links to ones you've found and tried (and which worked) online, or tweaks to classics.
This community isn't for gourmet meals or Michellin stars, it's for real recipes people actually use and love.
Also, no cuisine gatekeeping here, please. If you love pineapple and strawberries on pizza, or mushrooms and jellytots in carbonara, them you do you!
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Yes about the Midwest.
LA on the other end has an insane variety of foods, so while they have organic, vegan restaurants where everything is super healthy, they also have southern BBQ foods, steak houses, Asian foods, Italian foods, etc.
I think there's a heavier focus on organic, vegan restaurants up in the San Francisco area.
LA on the other end has an insane variety of food
This is any city, really... At least on the east and west coasts. And Chicago.
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Recipes in the south: The secret ingredient is more butter.
That's the secret in lot of really nice restaurants as well. When in doubt, add more butter.
I don't see anything about cream of mushroom soup.
oh god the cans of cream of mushroom soup and if thats not enough to bake the cube steak in, have a pack of the instant mushroom soup powder for good measure
Don't forget the powdered french onion soup.
That meat isn't going to loaf itself.
Stop it yall my mouth is watering somethin fierce.
The bit about the food in LA being delicious might not be true but the second half is 100% true.
From the US of A and I can tell you the Midwest is a fairy tale. It doesn't exist, it isn't real. People who think they're in the midwest are not, people who are don't think they are.
You might find multiple award winning shortbread-sugar-cookie crusted apple pie recipes in the coal/bible belts, you might find world class sashimi in LA, and you might find amazing tacos for different strokes throughout, but otherwise I really don't think you can generalize the food in such a wide and diverse nation.
For something really similar to the example you could take Banana Bread, which is cherished throughout the USA, and the secret to making it perfect and delicious is this: 1. do not use milk and vegetable oil, instead use sourcream and butter. 2. coat the pan in coconut oil or lard for a soft texture. 3. you can cook at 350 or reduce the temperature as low as 270 as long as you cook it until absolutely no batter sticks to the fork or toothpick when you poke it in the center and let cool slowly for a long time.
Where are these steps followed correctly? People with either experience or wealth, as in literally anywhere.
I grew up in the midwest. We survived on processed ingredients. I now live in the Bay Area.
I tell my partner that I need the shitty Kraft cheese for my grilled cheese sandwich, not the cheeses from Whole Foods or Trader Joes, because that's what I had growing up. I need the shitty ingredients for certain specific foods because I want that taste. It's not a lot of meals, but a handful must match my childhood.
the microplastics give it that crunchyness
Im not a cheese eater but I was under the impression that American cheese made a better grilled cheese because of the way it melts.
Its a different dish. American cheese is very melty but unless you go for some specialty shit or do some kitchen chemistry, its a very uncomplex cheese. It'll taste like a blend of mild cheeses, predominantly unaged cheddar. That's sometimes good, but one of cheese's best features as a food is that it's got a wide range of deeper flavors available. For the cozy familiar dish you go with the cozy familiar version. But those of us who love the depths of cheese and don't have that craving, we often prefer more fancy cheese blends
That's actually correct, and a lot of people like to give American cheese grief because it comes individually sliced and packaged in plastic, but in reality it's just cheddar that has been reconstituted with extra milk. It can still be very high quality, with a uniquely creamy texture that is unmatched for a hot ham and cheese, or melting onto a burger.
The cheese melts faster. But I've def had better grilled cheese with, like, provolone.
I think there is such a thing as fancy American cheese that actually tastes good, but I've never seen it or tasted it.
American cheese is just cheese (usually cheddar) mixed with potassium citrate that acts as an emulsifier and prevents it from breaking when heated. It's as good as whatever cheese you start with.
Sodium citrate. Which I believe is there to allow the cheese to survive pasteurization, but it results in the texture and melting properties that make it the objectively correct choice for cheeseburgers. I still stand by provolone for cheesesteak sandwiches though.
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Kraft Deli Selects if you're looking for prepackaged, otherwise a deli counter probably has it.
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At the Minnesota State Faire last year, I had deep fried cheesecake batter. Yes, this is correct.
chocolate covered frozen cheesecake is way better. but i got banned from the state fair for complaining about the awful heat so i dont go there anymore
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I just got a bbq pork chop on a stick and saw some local band called Slipknot when I went to the Iowa State Fair
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When mom cooked breakfast, she'd collect bacon grease (as, like, supplemental butter) and add that to subsequent meals. AFAIK, it still happens, but is probably less common.
Cooking for two people, I do half a pound of thick cut bacon, and when it's done and the bacon off to the side, put in 6 eggs scrambled up right into the grease. I've found this is the perfect ratio of bacon grease to eggs.
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I can assure you that this is not uncommon at all xD
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French cooking: add wine, cream, and butter.
Universal recipe for any regional specialty
Ingredients
‑ local meat (TN: actually a slang word for meat, I don’t know the equivalent in English)
‑ local fat
‑ local booze
‑ onions
Preparation
① Sauté the meat and the onions in the fat.
② Cover with booze.
③ Let simmer for ages.
④ Serve. Grandma’s tip: it’s better the day after.
Comic by M. la Mine — reposted here
One of the most important influences on my life and cooking was a wonderful French woman who married a Brit and settled here. Quite apart from her tendency to ask my friends and I "how many are we for lunch" and cope with any number from 3 to 30, her approach to cooking was legendary and usually involved meat, butter, wine, and cream. That said, she did once try deep fried, leftover, spaghetti and that did not work at all!
And you'd better spend half a day stirring those onions on a level of heat you'd get from a cigarette lighter
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If it's in the South you have to deep-fry it as well.
Sounds accurate to me.
Cream cheese is universally beloved, even by those with lactose intolerance
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