Kitchen Tip: Stubborn Jar Lids and When to Apply TNT

Most of us have been there. The jar lid is too tight. The jar opener is not working or can't be found (and you swear you just saw it yesterday). 

Time to explore other methods: 

You bang it on the edge of the counter, tap the sides with a spoon, run hot water on it...but nothing is working! It is still not budging. 

The next step is to ask someone for help, but if no one who can help is around, you are stuck waiting. Well, before you activate the Bat Signal, try this out: 

Get out your bottle opener, if you have one. If you don't, then get one. 

The simple one. No bells & whistles. Pointy end; straight end. It looks like this:

These are still being manufactured and can be purchased at some department or grocery stores, but if you see one in the wild at a garage sale or estate sale, grab that thing! The vintage version isn't as flimsy. We actually have one of those, but it wasn't where it was supposed to be, so I had to grab the stand-in. 😆 

I am glad these are still in production. Pop tops cans are more prevalent now, but that pointy end still comes in handy for some cans, like evaporated milk, if you only want to use a small portion of it. (History note: I remember when we used to use these to open cans of motor oil. Big poke on one side, small poke on the other so the oil would flow freely.)  

And now, back to the lid: 

Place the jar on a flat surface. Gently work the pointed end underneath the side of the lid as depicted in the photo below. You might have to try a couple of spots before you find a void. Then, while holding the tip in place, just push down on the bottle opener. You don't need to strong arm it - just slow and steady until you hear the seal pop. After that you will have no problem unscrewing the lid. 

You could try the method with a flathead screwdriver, but using the bottle opener is much safer. If you use the flathead, you have to force the tip under the side and it can slip and possibly cause an injury (trust me on this - BTDT, got the T-shirt & a bandage too. 😁). 

And yes, we still get Pace Picante sauce from time to time. Go ahead and laugh it up. 😆 Nostalgia flavor. It's legit! It still tastes the same after all this time (at least the original does) and sometimes that's just the comfort we need. 

*Please note: This method works for one-piece lids. If you need help with a two-piece Mason jar lid, go ahead and activate that Bat Signal. 😆 Just kidding! Go into the garage and get that oil filter remover. That should work. No incendiary devices necessary. 😆

Kitchen Tip: Avocado Storage - Keep Your Guacamole Green

Sometimes in life you end up with leftover guacamole. What?! Say it ain't so! How can that be? 

Even the most avid guacamole lover, who seeks out the very last speck with dogged determination, has this problem from time to time. 

 Question: What is the best way to store mashed avocado or guacamole to prevent browning (oxidation)? 

What I started doing a while back was this: 

Find a container with the smallest diameter that will be big enough for your leftovers with some headspace left after the guacamole has been placed inside. You don't need a lot of headspace: 1 to 1 1/2 inches is enough. 

For the leftover portion of mashed avocado below, (1/4 to 1/2 cup), I used a small, vintage serving bowl. It has about a 3" diameter on the top part but it's "fluted," so the bottom part is slightly smaller. The little ramekins used for single servings of creme brûlée or lava cake are of similar size and would be ideal for a portion this size. 

Put your leftover guacamole or mashed avocado in the bowl and smooth out the top with a spoon so it's nice & flat.  

Add a layer of your favorite salsa to cover the guacamole. It won't take much to cover it. (You can't tell from the pic but the layer of salsa on this batch was about 1/8"-1/4" deep.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a lid if it has one).

The picture below was taken the next day, 12-18 hours after the protective layer of salsa was added. If you zoom in you can see that the specks on the inside near the top are brown. (I should have left a larger schmear or a small glob o' guac uncovered, but I didn't think about that until I was taking the picture the next day. Of course!)  😁

Remove the layer of salsa to consume separately, or mix it in. Look at this lovely green color. No oxidation. No altered flavor. Oxidation does affect the flavor too, btw. But I am blessed (cursed?) with so-called "super receptors," so I can always tell. (P.S. - let's call it blessed rather than cursed. lol)

Placing a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the guacamole and maneuvering it around so it's airtight is also an option, but you do lose some during removal, and unless it's super airtight, you will still experience some oxidation. (Also, I'm not a huge fan of using plastic wrap, so if I can find an alternative method, I'm all in!)

You can do the same thing if you only need half an avocado for a recipe. Leave the skin on the other half. Place it on the flattest plate you have, nestled in a small puddle of salsa. You can do it without the salsa, but unless it is completely level, air will get in. Wrapping the plate with plastic wrap is optional because the intact avocado skin will protect the rest of the avocado.

I once read (and I don't remember where) about someone putting water on top of guacamole to keep it from oxidizing. Okay, but then you lose some of that good green gold when you drain it off. It may also make your guac too watery. 

Don't use water. If you're not a fan of salsa, there are other things that can be used: mayo, sour cream, hummus, a thin layer of olive or avocado oil, etc.

This would also be a good option if you make a batch for a potluck or a party. You can make ahead of time and not have to worry about it turning on you before the party gets started. 

This method may have already been posted on the internet 10,000 times. I didn't check, but one more won't hurt. So in case you missed the other 10,000 posts, here it is again. 😄 

The amount I saved is roughly the same amount that Chipotle gives you if you decide to order it as an extra. I don't know what the current price is, but the last time I was there, it was still a pretty penny.  

Restaurant Review: Yellow Étouffée? It's an "Etouffail"

 Take a look at the picture above. Does this look like étouffée to you? Yellow étouffée. I have never seen yellow étouffée. When they brought this dish out, my face must have fallen 1,000 miles. WTH?

This pic is from a local restaurant here. I'm not going to name it. People from around here might recognize this "etouffail." Any other inquiries can be made via email.

We decided to stop in for lunch one day. It hasn't been around that long, but forgive me because I can't recall exactly when they opened. We were a party of three. One other person besides me ordered this monstrosity. We both ate what we were served because we don't like to waste food. 

Don't get me wrong though. It was palatable. It wasn't bad. It didn't have much flavor at all, really. It tasted like white sauce with some spices (?). It didn't taste like crawfish at all, and there weren't many in there. I ordered a meal and the "étouffée" was used as a sauce over a blackened filet of unknown origin. I dodged a bullet there, because I almost ordered the standalone étouffée option. 

It was pretty hilarious...actually, hideous and hilarious at the same time. The first thing our friend said was: "What are they hiding?" Indeed. 

What are they hiding? It must be flavor because we didn't find much of that. That has the be the blandest "Cajun" meal I ever ate. Even the dirty rice was too clean. Frozen green beans. I don't mind those in a restaurant (or at home sometimes), if they are prepared the right way. These were acceptable. 

So I'm guessing they just took a powdered sauce, rehydrated it, and added some S&P, maybe some turmeric, curry, or a bit of saffron. Probably not saffron though. Or maybe it was simply a bagged powdered concoction and they added nothing extra. This is pure speculation on my part -- all I know for sure is that it wasn't true étouffée prepared from scratch. The blackened filet was okay, at least it had some flavor. It had no real heat though, unfortunately. 

But that yellow étouffée...I thought it was going to taste like mustard. Thank goodness it didn't. But...yellow? For those who have experienced the real thing: Have you ever seen yellow étouffée...ever? 

I am not an expert at Cajun cooking or Creole cooking -- I can pull off a few dishes really well and I'm always willing to try my hand at others -- but I know étouffée, and Honey, that ain't it! Justin Wilson would have had a coronary if he saw that stuff. 

I completely understand about wanting to add your own twist, but they added so many twists to this one that it spun out of existence. There wasn't even a hint of the "Holy Trinity" present. They didn't use it. 

Frankly, I was appalled; but I held my tongue. We were hungry and exhausted after a busy morning of parade duties in a neighboring town. We ate our meal and tried to drown our disappointment with copious amounts of water & iced tea. 

Cajun étouffée is one of my favorite dishes; sometimes I enjoy the Creole version too. I have had both many, many times over the years. Sometimes I make it at home, if I have time. I have eaten it in restaurants in Texas & in Louisiana. I have eaten it at potlucks. Never out of all those times, have I ever seen yellow étouffée. I did an extensive internet search and I never found any that had even a hint of freakin yellow. I don't know where they got the idea that it is yellow. 

It's pretty much a universal thing, like with other famous (or infamous) dishes. Étouffée has a certain flavor profile. People who order it are expecting that. I don't know how much of this stuff they sell, because people who have had the real thing before are only going to order that crap one time. 

I had high hopes for the restaurant itself, so it was a disappointment. We have been back since then. Once. This time we experienced woefully undercooked shrimp & some pretty terrible coleslaw. I had catfish & shrimp that day. The catfish was passable, but again, hardly any spices at all. If you're going to serve Cajun, DO IT. Especially if it is listed as Cajun. The best thing out of the second meal? French fries. 

I don't order fried food very often, so I was doubly disappointed on our second visit. And that coleslaw...UGH. We had better coleslaw at a chicken joint I worked at in my youth. (Finely shredded, fresh ingredients, good recipe.) This one...well...the salad itself was slightly discolored, but there was no bad odor, so I ate mine. The cabbage had a strange cut, and the coleslaw had a lot of the thicker leaf stems in it, which would have been fine if the cabbage had been shredded properly, but as it was...no. 

So at this point, we don't really want to go back again. They call themselves a steak & seafood joint,  but after all of that, I'm afraid to order the steak, or even a burger. 

It's too bad. They pretty much cornered the market on seafood here. Aside from them, there's a fast food seafood joint that's independently owned. Other than that, we have about 42 Tex-Mex restaurants 😆, and some other offerings unrelated to seafood. Oh yeah, and too many fast food joints. 

We'll either enjoy seafood when we go out of town or we'll prepare it at home. I am not planning to go back there again. Oh, it could happen, but it is less & less likely the more I think about it. 

Mainly because they just don't seem to care. They open this restaurant, knowing that they have an advantage opening one here. Then they serve subpar food. I'll bet a lot of it is pre-made too. It's a damn shame. 

My scathing(?) review will not affect their business. I am not an "influencer" on Instagram or on any other platforms. But I decided to speak up about it anyway. Bottom line is, don't waste your money. Unless fried food is your thing, but they even screwed that up as far as the shrimp were concerned. I can't speak about the steak, but if the seafood is any indication, then the steaks aren't much better. They might be like the ones people used to sell door to door. Yeah, I bought some of those. Once. Decades ago. 😆 I don't know if anyone does that now, but don't buy any if they do. 😄