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Dining is and always was a great artistic opportunity. ~Frank Lloyd Wright

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Interview with Matt McLean of onemattDOTcom

October 4, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi Jones

I know, you’re only here for the food. But this is Thursday and there’s no review today (there is a review scheduled for tomorrow: California Pizza Kitchen Thai Chicken Pizza). Lacking a review, you might as well click on through to OneMatt and check out my interview. Yes, it is all about me. The interview contains revealing information about my personal life and even the names (and locations) of a couple of my latest food-related projects.

Is there anyone you’d like to see me interview here on HeatEatReview.com? Please note that Bob Evans (of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits fame) passed away this summer, otherwise he’d be my first choice.

Enjoy,
Abi Jones
Editor, www.HeatEatReview.com

Stouffer’s Lasagna with Meat & Sauce

October 3, 2007 | Reviewer: Nicole

Price: $2.50
Serving: 1/3 package, 7oz.
All nutritional information below is for the entire package
Calories: 780
Fat: 39%, 18g
Cholesterol: 27%, 90mg
Sodium: 87%, 2070mg
Protein: 51g
Carbs: 27%, 84g
Fiber: 39%, 9g
Weight Watchers Points: 16 Points

Stouffer’s says: Traditional lasagna noodles layered with an herb seasoned tomato and meat sauce and three kinds of natural cheese

Nicole says: I dislike having to type out the names of what I’m eating as it often creates unexpected hostility. I was happy enough to be eating Meat Lasagna, but now I know that they felt the need to specify that it has SAUCE. You know, since lasagna doesn’t traditionally have sauce. Next time, I’m going to look for the “Lasagna with layered meat, sauce, lasagna noodles, and cheese

la-sag-na. [luh-zahn-yuh, lah-] noun.
1. large, flat, rectangular strips of pasta.
2. a baked dish consisting of layers of this pasta, cheese, tomato sauce, and usually meat.

(Source: Random House, unabridged, via dictionary.com)

OOOH, I see - Stouffer’s meant the first definition. Gotcha. The second wouldn’t be helpful here at all, really.

So the actual versus contrived disappointment with this meal is cooking time. The microwave in my office zaps things right quick - I usually use a time towards the lower end of a range or knock 10-20 seconds from the cook time. But I didn’t here, as lasagna is dense and notorious for not cooking through. I cooked for seven minutes. Which meant it was too hot to eat for another seven minutes. At this point I am starving, so I start eating this mighty tasty lasagna (although I’m sure inedible for those of you who recently took a “sabbatical” to Italy) - thick, hearty with a mild tomato sauce, lots of reasonably well-spiced beef and more cheese than exists in an entire freezer’s worth of Lean Cuisine meals.

Halfway through, there it is - the cold center bite.

Not frozen, not lukewarm. Cold. We’re talking cheese and BEEF. The cheese is still in shredded form, although it’s slightly softened.The beef is cold. I realize this isn’t exactly raw beef, but it’s not Goood Eats (see that extra “o” there? I’m not stealing any trademarks). So it has to go BACK IN the microwave for 45 seconds. That does the trick - but again, too hot to dig right in.

Wait two minutes.

Ahhh. This really is quite yummy and better than average, though it’s not Boston Market lasagna. The sauce could use some spice - but you can tell it’s made from tomatoes! Ground beef is featured on a range of sizes from tiny to a good (thumbnail) sized chunk. The entire tray is slightly overcooked on the top edges - but I like the crunch that creates - and the thick pasta sheets cooked thoroughly without falling apart. Finally, there’s plenty of cheese, cheese, cheese - thank you Stouffer’s!

I’m extremely pleased with size of this meal - it is “large” and filling, but not to the point of feeling particularly uncomfortable or ill. However, they do call this “three servings” which is a funny joke.

Pink For October

October 2, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi Jones

For a second year, HeatEatReview.com is going pink in October to help raise awareness about breast cancer. Also, Lean Cuisine is hawking those lunch bags again. After they sold out last year, approximately 18,439 people send me emails asking where they could get the official Susan G. Komen Lean Cuisine Breast Cancer Lunch Tote. Well, you can get it at Lean Cuisine’s lunch bag site.

Go, buy it now instead of bugging me when they sell out. There’s a little note on their site that says that the actual design you receive may vary, so I just decided to use last year’s lunch bag image. This year’s lunch bags probably look slightly different, though I’m sure that they’re also pink.

You know, you’ve really got to feel sorry for those causes that haven’t already snatched up a symbolic ribbon color. While typing this I thought “Wikipedia must have an entry on awareness ribbons.” I was right, they do. Check it out so that you can quiz your friends and question the reasonableness of a ‘Puzzle Ribbon’.

How to Help: There are some good suggestions about how to help on the Pink For October Official Site. Here are HeatEatReview.com I am going to donate a dollar to Breast Cancer Research and/or Survivor Care for each thousand visits that the site gets in October. We average about 100,000 visits a month, so it will likely be around $100.00. But if you tell your friends and family members about the site, maybe I’ll be writing a bigger check.

Video Update: I finally found the Kid Cuisine meal, so now I can make the video. Yes, it took me months to find a single frozen meal. I could make a video just about the search for Kid Cuisine Fish Sticks. But I won’t.

Gerber Original Fondue

October 1, 2007 | Reviewer: Guest Reviewers

Price: $14.80
Serving: 100 grams
Calories: 237 per serving
Fat: 25%, 16g
Protein: 14g
Carbs: 1%, 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 per 100g

Gerber says: Sein harmonischer Geschmack ist äusserst beliebt.

DB says: Ja! Ja! Es ist geil!

If you have ever tried to make a fondue at home you will love Gerber ready-to-heat-eat-and-review mix. It works every time.

The Swiss state department of cheese recommends avoiding all effort to locate the required authentic Gruyere and Vacherin in the United States or substituting these with inferior ingredients imported from countries like France. And even with the right cheeses it will require you years of practice to achieve what’s readily available in a foil pouch. Gerber manufactures a variety of fondues. The classic Emmentaler, Gruyere, Tilsiter and the moitié-moitié Gruiyere-Vacherin fribourgeois kinds are most popular.

You can microwave an individual fondue package, but a gas stove is required for the one tested here. The expensive ingredient in my fondue was the notorious cast iron Le Creuset pot and a warming trivet. It must be the absolutely heaviest kind. The authentic Swiss variant is not exported, so I bought mine in Geneva for about two hundred Swiss francs (150$). Use about 400 grams of fondue mix per well-fed person and high heat until the cheese is completely melted. Stir constantly. The fondue is now ready to eat. Keep it on the warming trivet, increasing or decreasing the heat to keep the fondue liquid but not too hot. Dip pieces of bread (Swiss-German) or boiled potatoes (Swiss-French style) into the cheese until you reached the bottom of the pot. The crusty remainder is called “La Religieuse” (”the nun”) and is the best part of any fondue. Scrape the bottom and consume with much licking your fingers.

A good fondue, such as the Gerber ready-to-heat-and-eat variety, naturally tastes like yummy cheese. As a bonus, your minuscule New York City apartment will smell like the Swiss alps. You’ll like it.

This review is courtesy Daniel Doubrovkine (aka DB), the brains behind FoodCandy.com, a social networking site for foodies. FoodCandy is a longtime supporter of HeatEatReview and featured editor Abi Jones in an early interview.