I don't use it fast enough to justify a tin of them, though I do have a tin in my pantry for when I do.. So i use the tube paste mostly. Amore is the brand I can find most readily. I don't have any complaints. I use their tube tomato paste too.
I use the Amore brand tomato paste and they also have anchovy paste. I've never bought it. I always open up a fresh can of anchovies each time I need anchovy paste but I don't use all of it, and then I store it away but throw it out. Does the anchovy paste keep well because of how much salt is in it?
The packaging helps too. Only the bit at opening is exposed to air and such. Minimal oxidation and contamination. I'll often discard the 1/4 inch or so in the tip because it dried a bit or discolored. How long it keeps? I've never had it go bad so i don't know; 8 weeks at least i think.
I have a tube in the fridge now that's over two months old. I'll make a Caesar tonight, if you don't hear back from me you will know what happened./img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif
My local grocer had the Reese brand anchovy paste on my last visit. I've not used that one. Any opinions on it?
I noticed they also had a Cento brand tomato past in a tube to compete with the Amore. The Cento was cheaper. I picked one up to see if I can tell a difference. It would be hard to differentiate I think with how tomato paste is commonly used.
I've tried several brands and it's pretty much all the same I mean a processed anchovy is a processed anchovy. Back home in Greektown we got whole anchovies packed in layers of salt - now that's an anchovy.
It's cheaper for me to buy tomato paste in the can and I usually use half and save half in a ziploc and keep it in the fridge. Good for up to two weeks that way if you get all the air out of the bag. It's funny to pull a "lid" of tomato paste out of the ice box.
I've tried several brands and it's pretty much all the same I mean a processed anchovy is a processed anchovy. Back home in Greektown we got whole anchovies packed in layers of salt - now that's an anchovy.
I never used them for a Caesar they don't emulsify like canned, or paste does. We used to just rinse and eat with warm bread and butter, maybe some cheese, olives and of course Retsina.
I may be courting botulism, but I always buy tins of anchovy fillets and what I don't eat, I put in a jar and cover with olive oil and keep it in the fridge. Sometimes for a very long time.
I may be courting botulism, but I always buy tins of anchovy fillets and what I don't eat, I put in a jar and cover with olive oil and keep it in the fridge. Sometimes for a very long time.
Personally, I don't care for canned or tubed. If you are not utilizing an ingredient often enough, dump it and buy fresh. There are many applications for same ingredient.
Personally, I don't care for canned or tubed. If you are not utilizing an ingredient often enough, dump it and buy fresh. There are many applications for same ingredient.
In the US, federal law requires an expiration date on all packaged food products. It can't be more than two years out. This applies even in cases where things don't go bad per se. Dried pasta for example.
Exactly what the dates mean is a little vague anyway. Best by, Sell by, Use by, don't mean the food automatically turns bad on that date.
And fresh anchovies, even if readily available, aren't the same for using as the processed ones. Recipes are built around the processed ones, even in Italy. I've never seen them in the salt stack as shown above.
I'll admit another tube product I use. Lemongrass. I've never figured out minced lemon grass. It always comes out like fingernails in the finished dish. I'll bruise it up and steep it or use the tube, but I've given up trying to peel it and mince it.
I'll admit another tube product I use. Lemongrass. I've never figured out minced lemon grass. It always comes out like fingernails in the finished dish. I'll bruise it up and steep it or use the tube, but I've given up trying to peel it and mince it.
I mince it as finely as possible and then pound it usually with sugar in a mortar and pestle. It still gives a little texture to the finished dish... so if I marinate baby back ribs in a marinade that has lemongrass, they'll have a little crunch to them, the lemongrass creating something like a bark almost. I don't mind it, in fact I enjoy it. But it's been pounded to death so that it doesn't come out like wood splinters.
I've tried frozen minced lemongrass once and found it tasteless. I'd rather just omit it. I've never tried the tube stuff though.
I see what you mean, but other ingredients add volume like garlic, onions, whatever else is going in the recipe along with the lemongrass to constitute throwing a little chunk in.
I don't really like the texture you get as a result of putting lemongrass in a food processor. The food processor cuts, so that you're still left with little bits of lemongrass that may feel like wood splinters.
I much prefer the mortar and pestle to tame that woody texture.
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