Who is the Maker?
I doubt that “stewed Duck Legs” would be labeled as Confit but ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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I think it is probably from one of the colonies around here or a local producer. Maybe the grocers themselves put it out there. I’ve only purchased frozen breasts.
Intriguing. I haven’t made any duck con fit in years. Maybe time to start again. Just odd if I were to see them is a frozen section anywhere.
I think Costco has them, and Whole Foods.
Holy crap. I’ve been living in a cave. I need to get out more.
I’m buying way less frozen products these days, compared to 18 months ago.
I am still buying dumplings.
These Siwin brand pork and chive dumplings were decent. I haven’t bought enough other brands lately to compare. I have been avoiding the Farm Boy House Label Pork Dumplings, which I didn’t like.
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You might appreciate this! I love the whole series. https://youtu.be/KngGfnki8D8?si=WlEaY8HUD1h_12Lg
A bag of frozen tamales from the Texas Tamale Company is pretty good when I am too lazy to drive to the gas station in Menchaca for home made.
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Doing chicken leg confit in a mix of peanut oil and duck fat is a great substitute for true duck legs in duck fat.
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This product has changed dramatically since my first two samples - now lamb ‘meat’ balls, not chunks of lamb. More meat but less tasty. Boo/hiss.
Haven’t been to TJ’s in over 3 years but I gather the wonton soup has been dropped.
Recently tried the Deep Mixed Vegetable Handvo from VIshala Grocery near me, a Gujurati lentil cake/muffin stuffed with vegs. I really liked it and want to try to make this at home, too.
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You can buy handva / ondhawa flour mix from the store, or there are instant packets (Gits & other brands). Good with or without grated / minced vegetables. You can substitute semolina or idli batter for a quick fix, but the taste and texture will be slightly different.
Of late, instead of baking, I’ve been cooking it stovetop in a small frying pan, flipping it when it’s 80% done (like a Spanish tortilla). For me, the tempering and the crust are the best parts, and the crust gets maximized this way!
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Thanks. Had already thought of stove top rather than baking, in a large skillet. I do like the thickness of the store product. Have one left from the pkg. Have had a problem with drying out too much using pkg directions. I like them w/some moistness.
Idlis are another thing - none at restaurants close to me that I know of, so plan to be trying to make them.
If you have a large Indian grocery store nearby, there are frozen idlis these days, as well as chutneys and sambhar. If not, most places carry ready batter in the refrigerator case.
Re cooking handva in a pan – you probably don’t want to use too large a pan, or it will be too thin (I like it about 1.5-2") – think cornbread. To keep it moist, use yogurt in the batter, and grate in some zucchini or add sauteed cabbage. Also, buy Eno fruit salt at the store while you’re at it.
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We’re so bummed to hear this but really appreciate the honesty about your experience with our updated Lamb Saag, Bruce. If you’re open to sharing more with customerservice@saffronroad[dot]com, we’d love to hear your feedback and make this right! Hope to hear from you soon.
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I think the main staples for us are various kinds of dumplings (slash pelmeni slash pierogi). I was a big fan of the Trader Joe’s dumplings for their price, convenience, etc., but we have easier access to Asian markets now so there are usually five or six kinds of Korean dumplings, sometimes some bao.
Oh, and radish cakes, I try to keep those on hand. That’s an easy meal as an alternative to boxed mac and cheese—heat up a couple radish cakes, steam some broccoli and dumplings.
We don’t have a go-to frozen pizza anymore, unfortunately. I like Digiorno’s Detroit-style pizza pretty well for a frozen pizza, but liked their croissant crust much more, and it seems to have been discontinued except for their breakfast pizza. I have a feeling on some level I’m gravitating towards styles of frozen pizza that don’t invite direct comparison to what I could get delivered, because I can get Domino’s in less time than it takes to cook a frozen pizza (and plenty of other places, obviously, but Domino’s is closest, fastest, and half the price).
I used to always have a bag of Tater Tots in the freezer and seem to have got out of the habit when there was a prolonged shortage during COVID. We do have Trader Joe’s hash browns right now, though. (When I used to give up meat for Lent, Tater Tots were a staple “I’m following the rules but still having junk food” food.)
I’ve gotten better about not buying Hot Pockets as often (almost exclusively the pepperoni pizza; I have given up hope that they’ll bring the sloppy joes back, and really, what are the odds I’d like them as much as when I was 13? I don’t think I like anything as much as I did when I was 13 except hot dogs, Moxie, and Flash Gordon), but we usually have some White Castle sliders in the freezer, both because they’re an easy adjunct to some other meal (mac and cheese and sliders is a common “we both had a shitty day at work” dinner), and because they’re good for the salt/fat/protein cravings of migraines.
I think my all-time favorite frozen food, though, was discontinued ages ago—Ore-Ida made a mini corn dog type thing, except it was mashed potato instead of cornmeal.
Wait, that’s not technically my favorite frozen food, because I have about twenty Hubig’s pies in the chest freezer right now. They weren’t sold frozen, though. (Hubig’s is a Louisiana brand of hand pie, cf. Hostess or Drake’s pies for Yankees, but with a tallow crust* and, most importantly, coconut as one of the flavor options.)
*Because it’s nice and flaky, not because they’re demonizing seed oils.
ETA: Shit, that was long again, sorry. TLDR: dumplings! radish cakes! White Castle! sometimes Tater Tots occasional pizza.
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I like your summary 
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If I could make a suggestion… pick up one of these sandwich makers. You can make homemade hot pockets with any filling you like!!
Some of my favorites are cheese and ground beef, cheese and tuna fish, cheese & chopped ham, cheese and chopped broccoli, etc.
I don’t see why you couldn’t prepare some sloppy joe mixture and make up some great sloppy joe hot pockets!! By that way, that sounds yummy (with or without cheese).
I found this one at Goodwill for a couple bucks, brought it home, gave it a good cleaning and put it to work. I do like using my own homemade bread in it, but that isn’t a necessity.
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Ohhh this is a good idea. I bet this would be good to make Bombay sandwiches too! Oh, or Thanksgiving leftovers sandwiches.
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You can make up a bunch of them and freeze them (for later).
If you come home from work and don’t feel like cooking, grab a couple, throw them in a toaster oven and serve.
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